By Ahmad Deedat
Can Kano’s college of nursing sciences survived its current leadership? Well, despite my perpetual optimism, I doubt that.
College of nursing sciences, Kano, is a formidable nursing college that has its reputation in excellence and hospitality. It’s the first nursing school that was established in Kano State. It delivered nearly half, perhaps, more than half of the veteran Kano nurses who have excel in the pursuit of their career within and outside the shores of Nigeria.
However, in recent times, under the current provostship, I was not surprised to learned that students are allegedly expelled from the college on account of a very negligible deviance. Albeit, I tried to contain my disappointment, I could not resist when I heard a narration, in which five students were assaulted, violently, by unauthorized, unprofessional, unskilled, unethical, and uncivil watchmen. What an odd turn of event; a watchman assaulting a student! Certainly, the students’ fate is in limbo.
I take great pride in telling the truth to power. I believe in the nobility of being honorable, and I came from a system in which sugar-coating your view is alien. We have a reliable information from the inside that the provost is working in cahoots with the barbaric watchmen. These barbarians take pride in threatening the lives of students. Clearly, boundaries are not their strong suits. The provost is utilizing the most unhealthy tool for her leadership.
To let you in to some secret, recently, some male students from community nursing department of the college were held and assaulted by a pack of barbaric watchmen. They were accused of crossing over their hostels’ fence while heading back from a library at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) around 12 midnight. Now, apparently, examination timetable was set for this year December, and to excel in nursing, you’ve to venture in all your resources.
In a broader picture, the students of the college are restricted to move beyond the school gate at late evening, 6pm perhaps. However, to justify their stay in that library for that long, I’d say it’s as a result of the failure of the leadership to pay its electricity bills. The school is in blackout which the leadership has failed to address, but yet, cannot indulge the weakness of the students to seek life’s simple pleasures. They jumped over to AKTH to charge their phones and have some quality time reading – a right they are deprived of at the college.
Going back on track, these student were caught, held , and assaulted by the watchmen. They were threatened by expulsion from the college, the watchmen were bragging that the provost has authorized them with the veto to execute such actions. Besides, the watchmen collected a whopping amount of 10,000 Naira from the students – a token I’d like to call “bail fee”. I’m just perplexed! How could a watchman who barely obtained a primary school certificate threaten, beat, and extort money from student, a student who’s of higher moral and academic grounds? I guess, the patterns are firmly established now. Clearly, under this leadership, studying in the college is a dangerous pursuit. A comic figure is disguise in an ill-fitting attire to hold the helm of a noble college.
Nonetheless, this has been consistent for a long time. The students are now familiar with dangerous living. They’re forced to mute traumatic experiences. In the past, we had a story of female students who were expelled on account of staying until 7pm beyond the school gate. Similarly, so many events, at which the provost allegedly call female students prostitutes. This is unbecoming and unacceptable.
On a corresponding diversion, we have reasons to believe that, the provost is not making peace with people. A feud with Nursing and Midwifery Council examiners says a lot of her lax stance in the interest of her students. She is entirely the polar opposite of her predecessors. If at all the provost is as wise as she’s aggressive, college of nursing sciences would have maintained its proper place.
The objective of this article is to explore how the current occurrences have robbed the college off its honor. However, I fear that the current leadership is consistently greasing those wheels. Additionally, the article aims at calling the right authorities to analyze the crippled state of the college and take necessary measures. Also, the sack of those irresponsible watchmen. And yes, I don’t believe the college can survived its current leadership.
Deedat is a registered nurse, writer, and researcher. He was the former SUG president of college of nursing sciences, Kano. He writes from Kano, Nigeria.
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