IS THE NORTH REALY NOTHING? A CALL FOR CONCERN TO
NOTHERNERS AND NORTHERN GOVERNORS.
“The north is nothing today…” A northern monarch made this
statement at an award given ceremony that I attended a week ago.
Although he was talking about the lack of unity and division in the
north, I want to give the statement another look.
The Northern part of Nigeria is believed to be left behind in all forms
of development (how true that is I can’t say for now) but I want us to
look at just one sector which is education and from there we can
judge ourselves.
In Nigeria as a whole, we have 31 Medical and Dental Council of
Nigeria (MDCN) recognized medical schools, 27 of which are fully
accredited while 4 have partial accreditation.
Out these 31 medical schools, 15 are federal government owned, 12
owned by state governments and 4 are owned by private sector.
Below is a table showing how these schools are shared to the north:
S/N TOTAL NUMBER NUMBER IN NORTH
Fully accredited FG owned 15 6
Fully accredited state owned 10 0
Fully accredited private owned 2 0
Partially accredited FG owned 0 0
Partially accredited state owned 2 1
Partially accredited private owned 2 1
From the above table, the North has only 8 of the 31 MDCN
recognized medical schools in the country out of which only 6 (all
federal) are fully established and can graduate students at the
moment.
Now the big question: what is the North doing about this?
Very few Northern state governments have taken the bold step to try
establishing such schools in their Universities. The first of which is
Benue State University whose medical school started about 10 years
ago though with some challenges because they are yet to graduate
their first set.
Kaduna State government saw the need for that and so introduced
the faculty of medicine to the state owned university in 2009 but
also facing her own challenges because her most senior classes are
still in preclinical stage (300 level) after 5 years.
A year after Kaduna State University took off the faculty of medicine,
Gombe State University follow suit and today they also have a 300
level ready for clinicals but no accreditation to start. Mind you for
now, only Benue State University out of this 3 is recognized by MDCN
with partial accreditation. That is on the part of government.
Talking about the private sector we have 4 of which only 1 is in the
North (a mission school). Two of the 4 private institutions are owned
by individuals and are the only fully established private medical
schools in the country. This is an indication that not only
government but even concerned and able citizens can do it.
Now, why haven’t we gotten it right for this long? What is it that
other regions have to establish these schools that we don’t? The
answer is determination and commitment.
There is a saying in Hausa “kayan yarda bata nauyi” which implies
the things agreed upon by the mind are never heavy to carry. This is
just medicine; we have others like Law and Engineering.
I will like to halt it here by saying; establishing a medical school is
not easy but it’s worth the sacrifice(s), states that have done it will
testify to that. If Northern governments and Northerners want to do it
and are determined, they can do it.. by MIKESON BANANG

am no rapper buh i think I LIKE your title Allow me to paraphrase



The NORTH is NOTHING

The WEST is WASTED

The EAST is VISITED

buh the SOUTH is SCOUTED