Fifty out of eighty five medical students of the Osun State University (UNIOSUN), who were sponsored by the Osun State government to Ukraine in 2013 to complete their medical studies returned to Nigeria on Saturday evening after four and a half years of study overseas.
The medical students graduated last month from the V.Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv in Ukraine.
They were received by the Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Hon. Remi Omowaye; Special Adviser to Governor Aregbesola on Higher Education, nScholarship and Bursary, Professor Grace Akinola among other top government officials.
It would be recalled that Governor Rauf Aregbesola had in 2013 approved a sum of N152 million to support the medical education of 85 students of the UNOSUN to Ukraine National University so as to aid the transfer of the medical students whose academic activities were stopped due to non-availability of medical facilities and lack of a university teaching hospital.
The beneficiaries of Osun State government’s sponsorship were the medical students from 300 to 500 levels of the university and the decision to sponsor the students was taken by the state government as part of efforts to allow the affected students to complete their medical studies and actualise their dreams of becoming medical practitioners and give back to the society.
Numbering 50 out of the 85 sponsored, these returnees graduated after qualifying final exams, having passed the prescribed 2017 KROK 2 Ukraine National Medical Examinations in June this year.
It will also be recalled that one of the sponsored medical students, Miss Oyeleye Lateefat Abiola, emerged the overall best student not only in the university but also in the entire Ukraine with an outstanding score of 95.6 per cent in the KROK 2 examinations.
Receiving the students at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos, Osun State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Hon. Remi Omowaye said the completion of the medical programme by the students was a testimony to the promise made and kept by Aregbesola’s administration.
He said despite the fact that the state was blackmailed and abused by some people over the initiative, the state government and the good people of Osun are now happy that Governor Aregbesola meant well for the citizenry.
According to him, “I am very happy because we started this programme in 2012 and some people didn’t want it to work. We had a lot of challenges but thank God we have made history. Our efforts to overcome the challenges posed by the initiative and our tenacity to succeed show that Aregbesola is a Governor of the people whose passion for humanity cannot be quantified.”
“Most of the promises made are now promises kept. Despite the fact that the state sponsored these students up to their graduation, the Governor also mandated us to get them registered with Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) for their professional licensing”, Omowaye remarked.
The students are: Adegunle Rebecca Temitope; Adebusuyi Annetta Gbolayinde, Adekanmbi Bakare Oladipupo, Adekunle Aisha Titilope, Adeleke AbdulSamah, Adetunbi Ebunola Mabel, Adewale Adedoyin, Adebimpe Adeyemo Khafilat Kehinde, Afolabi Omotolani Basirat, Ajayi Titilayo Temitope, Akala Oluwatosin Shakirah, Awotunde Akinwumi Gabriel, Ayodele Peace Adetoke, Eminowa Tomisin Ruth, Ezeokoye Maria Chizoba.
Others include: Garuba Khaduah Abiola, Igbinlade Adedamola Segun, Obayelu Oluwatobi Cynthia, Odejayi Segun Idris, Odewale Bosede Omolara, Ogidi Omareyemi Veronica, Ogunbiyi Praise Ajitoronini, Oguntoye Olufemi Kolawole, Ojo blessing Isaac, Ojo Kafayat Adesewa, Olaoye Sarah Opeyemi , Olubalogun Vivian Ifeoluwa, Oluwasayo Motunrayo, Oyelami Omotola Olubunmi, Oyeleye Lateefat Abiola, Shenge Yetunde Olamide, Tijani Aliu Adekilekun.
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