35 Osun medical students receive hero’s welcome after study

Four years after 85 hopeless medical students of the University of Osun in Osogbo were given a lifeline to study in Ukraine by Mr Rauf Aregbesola, the state governor, following the inability of the institution to get accreditation for Medicine, 35 returned last week as certified medical practitioners. YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE reports that the joy of the students and their families knew no bounds as their dreams finally came true.

 

The atmosphere at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport was euphoric last Saturday August 12, 2017 as there was fun fare and jubilation as family and friends of 35 out of the 85 students sent on scholarship to study Medicine in Ukraine on bill of the Osun state government returned home after four years as a success story. Indeed, for the students, the excitement on their faces was even more contagious as it was more than the one they exhibited weeks ago at their convocation ceremony in V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkov, Ukraine.

It was jubilation galore as tears of joy flowed freely when the youths who left four years ago were reunited with their parents and guardians who would not have been able to finance their academic ambition beyond the shores of Nigeria. It was a heroic welcome as the young people who left the shores of Nigeria full of anxiety and fear that Ogbeni Aregbesola, on whose magnanimity they were going to study abroad might get tired of the financial burden and give up on them.

But this was not the case, they not only graduated but they came back home accomplished and were received not only by their parents and family but also by the state government delegation led by the Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Engr Remi Omowaiye and the Special Adviser to the governor on Higher Education, Bursary and Scholarship, Prof Grace Akinola.

Their induction as qualified medical doctors after passing distinctively the 2017 KROK 2 Ukraine National Medical Examinations few years back was a dream they had given up on as soon after being admitted into the Osun State University, established in 2006 by the Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola administration with five campuses spread across the length and breadth of Osun, found out that the compulsory approval and license that must be given by Nigeria University Commission (NUC) for the takeoff of all courses was not given to their department because the Osun State University College of Health Sciences didn’t have a teaching hospital.

The students, 85 in number, comprising of three sets; 2007, 2008 and 2009; were in a limbo and all hopes of realizing their dreams of becoming a medical doctor dimmed on a daily basis as weeks rolled into months and became years. And this was their situation until governor Aregbesola took over in November 2010, being a man that believes totally in the noble ideals of the Sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, that a lifetime empowerment starts with a liberated mind which stand on the bedrock of qualitative education, he set up a committee chaired by the Deputy Governor who doubled at the time as the Commissioner for Education, Mrs Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomori to look into the matter.

The committee gave various options; to second the medical students to other departments of less rigorous and stressful accreditation but the governor rejected the idea of burying their dreams. Other options were to appeal to fully accredited teaching hospitals in Nigeria to absorb the students for clinical training and though none rejected the plea, they were heavily constrained by the quota system in numerical strength allocated to each institution. Upgrading the State General Hospital Asubiaro, Osogbo into a full-fledged teaching hospital was not achievable due as an initial N4bn or more would be needed for the upgrade and there were already other teaching hospitals within the area.

The only option remaining was to turn a blind eye or send the students abroad for clinical training at one of the largest research centres in Ukraine, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkov, due to its pedigree over the decades in the field of medicine in the entire Eastern Europe which spans over 200years. Thus, the journey to stardom began due to Aregesola’s commitment to the cause of education and his belief that every Osun indigene must be liberated as if you want to keep a man in perpetual slavery; you do not give him education.

It was not an easy journey however as wide criticisms followed the governor’s decision. Some felt the government was engaged in frivolities when there are many teaching hospitals in the country and a General Hospitals in Osogbo that could have been upgraded. Also, they raised issues over the origin of the medical students enjoying the full scholarship grants but the governor demonstrated his resolve for regional integration and insisted that though some of the students were not indigenes of the state, none must be dropped using any non –insignificant parameter.

Consequently, students from neighbouring South Western states, South East including one foreigner made the bill and in spite of the dwindling allocation of resources which negatively took its toll on all states, all were supported till they graduated and they returned as certified medical doctors that can practice anywhere in the world, having been inducted into the professional circle of physicians but will write compulsory assessment Examination which is a mandatory and statutory pre-registration prerequisite of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) for them to secure license to practice in Nigeria.

And to crown it the efforts of the government, one of the students, 25 years old Latifat Abiola Oyeleye from Oyo State was declared the over best medical student of the Karazin Kharkiv National University as well as the 2017 overall best students in the entire Ukraine with an outstanding score of 95.6% in KROK 2 Exams.

Governor Aregbesola who couldn’t hide his joy while receiving the young doctors at the Government House, Osogbo, urged them to let their skills, knowledge and education speak for them, adding that sending all the stranded medical students irrespective of their state of origin to Ukraine was not about nationalism alone but about justice and fairness, as the students were admitted for medicine and it behoved the university and government to fulfil their obligations.

“We had advertised the medical course and admitted the students; it is the obligation of the government to see the students through the program. Human being will only succeed when he upholds justice and fairness. So, what informed our decision on these students majorly is justice and fairness,” he stated, adding that education is not about one discipline but about having skills, motivation and knowledge.

In their remarks, the students attributed their academic success to Aregbesola’s commitment to promoting functional education and concern on their plights when they were stranded in UNIOSUN and promised to embark on service to humanity and give back to the community, particular Osun state in appreciation of their free medical studies.

Oyeleye, the overall best students said, “I am one of the beneficiaries of Aregbesola’s gesture, he sponsored us to one of the best universities in the world and 50 of us have studied and graduated. We thank God that today; we have been made medical doctors through the support of the Osun state Government. It is a dream come true for me as well as my family and the government has made history through this. He made us something from nothing.”

Receiving the students at the airport, Engr. Remi Omowaiye, said the completion of the medical programme by the students is a testimony to the promise made and kept by Aregbesola’s administration, adding that despite the fact that the state was blackmailed and abused over the initiative, the state government and the good people of Osun are happy that Governor Aregbesola meant well for the citizenry.

“I am very happy because when we started this programme in 2012, some people didn’t want it to work. We had a lot of challenges but thank God we have made history, this reflects that Aregbesola is a governor of the people whose passion for humanity cannot be quantified,” he stated.