The Federal Government has earmarked the sum of N100 billion for infrastructure upgrade and rehabilitation of 18 select medical schools across universities in the country in a bid to increase enrolment as well as address acute shortage of medical personnel in Nigeria.
Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Alausa, made this known while inaugurating the Monitoring Committee on the High Impact Intervention Project for Medical Schools Rehabilitation across the Six Geo-political Zones on Tuesday in Abuja.
Alausa who made a startling revelation that Nigeria is in deficit of over 300,000 doctors, said the high-impact intervention by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) was designed to expand capacity and increase enrolment in medical education.
He revealed that government was targeting injection of over N1.5 trillion in repositioning of medical education in the country in the next five years with over N100 billion to be released by TETFund annually.
He noted the 12-member committee inaugurated would oversee the implementation of the comprehensive reform strategy, aimed at modernising medical training facilities and improving health-related academic programmes across Nigeria.
Alausa emphasised the need to provide access to citizens, saying Nigeria can’t continue to do what it did 50 years ago today, as the world has changed.
“Today marks another significant milestone in our collective efforts to reposition medical education in Nigeria and advance the broader goals of President Tinubu’s renewal agenda.
“As part of our strategic interventions under the Nigeria Educational Sector Renewal Initiative, the Federal Ministry of Education, working closely with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, has designed the TETFund Intervention Project for medical school rehabilitation across the geopolitical zones.
“Today, we are deploying over 100 billion naira in investments in our medical institutions across the country. This 100 billion naira includes 70 billion Naira for rehabilitating our medical institutions, as well as 15 billion naira for building new hostels at each of these institutions.
“Additionally, 76 of these institutions will receive medical simulation environments. And I’m going to repeat some words that the chairman of the board of trustees just said.”
He stressed that the project is a deliberate response to the urgent need to expand medical training capacity by rehabilitating and modernising key infrastructure, such as lecture theatres, medical simulation laboratories, hostels, and clinical learning environments, to significantly increase enrolment in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and nursing programs across the selected 18 universities.
“In this first step, we’re focusing on these four areas of learning: Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Nursing.”
According to the Minister, the committee’s terms of reference include collaborating with each institution on their needs assessment, determining which projects are to be executed, ensuring proper project monitoring, and recommending appropriate sanctions where necessary, among other tasks.
“We expect your work to be guided by the highest standard of accountability, transparency, and professionalism. This is not just about building structures; it’s about building trust, building confidence, and building a future.”
Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmed, on her part said the event marks an important milestone in the history of Nigeria’s educational and healthcare systems.
“We are gathered here because we recognize the critical need for a strong synergy between education and healthcare to build a robust and sustainable future.
“The TETFund High Impact Intervention Project for Medical Schools Rehabilitation is one of the government’s key initiatives to foster excellence in medical education, enhance the quality of healthcare training, and equip our future doctors and healthcare professionals with the skills and facilities necessary to meet the demands of an ever-evolving medical landscape.
“As we all know, the state of medical education infrastructure has faced many challenges in recent years, and it is no secret that a well-equipped medical school is fundamental to ensuring that our doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers are trained to deliver quality care to our people.”
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arch. Sonny Echono said the setting up of the committee was conceived as part of the Minister’s initiative to enhance the Nigerian education system, specifically the Medical Schools, by utilising the TETFund High Impact Intervention Projects efficiently and effectively to address critical national needs in the health sector.
He said it has been designed to improve infrastructure in medical schools through the rehabilitation of lecture theatres and laboratory facilities, thereby enhancing capacity to take in and produce more doctors, nurses, dentists, and pharmacists for the nation.
“There is absolutely no doubt that the intervention will go a long way in solving some of the challenges facing the health sector in the country. The provision of critical manpower in the health sector remains a huge challenge.
“The problems of insufficient and unqualified medical personnel have lingered for far too long. The challenges of ill-equipped medical facilities have also persisted. It is for these reasons that the intervention is considered not only important but also timely,” Echono said.
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