Prof. John Emaimo, Rector of the Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy Enugu (FEDCOTTEN), has announced that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently converted the institution into the Federal University of Allied Health Sciences. This change is in line with the federal ministry of health's goal to build upon the college's achievements and further improve healthcare services for Nigerians.
Prof Emaimo disclosed this while speaking with journalists, shortly after a town hall meeting with the staff and students of the institution on the developments in the college, where he informed the community that what they heard in the news was true and that the college has actually become a full-fledged university of Allied Health Sciences.
Emaimo noted that following the conversion of the college to a university, the Federal Ministry of Health would train its manpower in important healthcare courses such as medicine, Nursing, Laboratory Science, Radiography and so many others where the ministry can have direct supervision of the training based on its programmes for the healthcare development in Nigeria.
He also noted that the development is worth the efforts of venturing into the reshuffling of the health sector. He said, "within the healthcare sector, we have health professionals like Doctors, Medical Laboratory Scientists, Nurses and the rest, but we don’t have a school that is actually modeling towards the training and building of capacities in the aspect of manpower management, in healthcare financing, healthcare policies and healthcare coordination. This is where the Federal Ministry of Health feels it should be able to have a university of its own, to bring in these germane courses and to coordinate the efforts that have been on ground to see how it can have effective healthcare service delivery.”
