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Months after the Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Onojaeme, celebrated the ‘refund’ of undisclosed amount of unauthorized fees extorted from some students of the State-owned Colleges of Nursing Sciences, investigation has again revealed that, while the much publicized refund was been made to divert attention of the public, massive extortion of students still continues in the institutions.
Presently, the alleged illegal extortion is currently threatening the training and performances of students making them to cry out to the state governor, Sheriff Oborevwori to set up a full-scale panel to probe the administration of the Colleges before things go sour.
This is coming on the heels of Governor Oborevwori’s show of commitment to Health Education with the establishment of a new College of Health Technology at Ovrode in Isoko North Local Government Area of the State.
It was in furtherance of this that made the Governor to approve the refund of some unauthorized fees imposed on students of the Colleges of Nursing Sciences in Asaba and Sapele about a month ago.
It would be recalled that while addressing the press on the refund of the unauthorized fees that affected 162 students, the Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Onojaeme, did not disclosed the amount that constituted the fees nor the percentage of the amount the ministry refunded to each of the 162 students said to be affected.
A painstaking investigation has revealed amongst other things, that despite the said refund of the undisclosed amount, there appears to be a deluge of massive ongoing alleged extortions of the students currently going on in the state owned colleges of nursing sciences across which the governor is not aware of, a situation that has demean the free education policy of the governor in the State health institutions.
An impeccable source which spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, disclosed that a lot of alleged extortions and other forms of administrative corruption have been going on in the past two or three months, alleging that the ministry of health is aware of the development.
According to the source, “The outcry of those 162 students which led to the said refund is just a tip of the iceberg compared to the myriads of extortions currently taking place among the Colleges of Nursing Sciences in the State.
It was however gathered that the recently concluded Nursing Council Examination which commenced on May 7, 2024, the students who participated in that exam paid the approved Council enrolment fee of N53,200.00 each, adding that the fee was paid directly to government account through remittal.
An anonymous source also alleged that, “In addition to this approved amount, the office of the Commissioner also allegedly collected the sum of N50,000.00 per student as extra administrative fee which was not approved”.
Our investigations further revealed that the Nursing Council requirements fees for Post Basic Nursing Program for 2024 were also inflated by over 300% for the students to pay without the Council’s approval, including payment for Indexing, Research Proposal/Defence and Computer Training which were not part of the Council’s requirements.
According to the source, Acceptance Fee for which the Council approved only N20,000, the students were made to pay the sum of N30,000 each. While the Council also approved a flat rate of N3,125 each for Basic School Education Curriculum, Procedure Booklets and Record of Practical Instruction, it is surprisingly that the administration of each of the Colleges, without any council’s approval, has charged each student to pay N12,500.00 for the three items.
It was further gathered that the above extortions from the Post Basic Nursing Program for 2024 students, were also applicable to the Basic Nursing/Midwifery students with acceptance fees of N40,000 for Delta State students and N50,000 for Non Deltans.
A group of students who spoke with Journalists at Asaba the state capital, but do not want there names in print for fear of being victimized, said all they wanted was for the state Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, to wade in and take a deeper look at the Ministry of Health and the running of the government-owned Colleges of Nursing Sciences in the State, especially considering the huge financial commitment to the training of health professionals in the State.
“The fact is that most students come from poor backgrounds and are struggling to pay for their education”.
“We are calling on the Governor to prevail on the Commissioner to refund the entire N50,000 which they call administrative fee because it is a way of defrauding the students. We call for the refund of this whole amount.
“We want to put on record that the total amount currently being extorted from students from the various Colleges of Nursing Sciences across the State is about N200,000.00 per student.
Responding to these allegations, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Onojaeme, has stated that the Ministry will investigate the issue and take appropriate action against any staff found guilty of corruption. However, the students are calling for a full-scale panel to be set up by Governor Oborevwori to thoroughly investigate the administration of the Colleges of Nursing Sciences before it is too late.
The students are hopeful that with the Governor’s commitment to health education and the wellbeing of the people of Delta State, action will be taken to address the corruption and extortion plaguing the nursing colleges, and ensure that students can receive a quality education without being exploited.
