Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire.
By Marie-Therese Nanlong
Jos – The Provost/Chief Executive Officer of the Federal School of Medical Laboratory Technology, Jos Dr. Sunday Etukudoh has said the School is in serious need of infrastructural facilities to boost the training of students, enable research and ensure workers’ productivity through the essential services they would have rendered to the public .
The Provost lamented the institution which was established by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health in 1954 in Lagos to provide the then much needed middle and high levels manpower for the health sector has not been able to fulfill its mandate due to paucity of funds and appealed to the federal government to invest in the school and see the rapid turnaround in science technology.
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Speaking when the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire visited the institution’s permanent site at Lamingo, Jos, the Provost disclosed that the contracts for infrastructural development at the School permanent site was awarded in 1983, but not much has been achieved due to paucity of funds and non released of budgetary allocations which have led to grossly inadequate office accommodation for staff and lecturer halls for students.
He noted, “The School would have been one of the government approved covid-19 testing centre in the country if the laboratory had been completed with adequate and functional infrastructural facilities, the School would have been designated as centre for confirmatory test for some disease outbreak in the country,” and appealed to the Minister to as a matter of urgency “assist the School in these key area of needs.”
Responding, the Minister, Dr. Ehanire said he is aware of the problems of the School and advised the Provost to put them in writing in bullet points as each of the requests will be responded to by permanent secretaries of different organs of Government, pointing out that he has been advocating for 15% budgetary allocation for the health sector and assured that he was going to press for increase in budgetary allocation to the health sector.
