…We’re not bias, we’re faith based sensitive as a public tertiary institution – Provost
The management of the College of Nursing and Midwifery Yola, Adamawa state has suspended the sales of admission forms earlier advertised, following the public outrage.
The Provost of the college, Mrs Lami Aminu has denied the allegation that the management of the institution is arbitrarily using the public facility to financially empower a faction of faith they professed against the other or others.
The college has on August 16, 2022, issued a public announcement inviting applications from suitably qualified candidates for admission into Basic Nursing, Basic Midwifery, Community Nursing and Community Midwifery programmes.
The concerned Muslims, represented by one Shehu Ismail Thursday, in a protest piece titled, “We Say No To College Of Nursing Favouring EYN’s Bank Against Other Faith” identified clause considered as financially empowering EYN using public institutions the group would consider as exhibition of an uncontrolled unconscious bias.
The applicants,”irrespective of faith, should also pay N500 into the account of Adamawa State Nursing and Midwifery Council Committee at Brethren Microfinance Bank Yola.
“Our findings revealed that the BRETHREN MICROFINANCE BANK LTD, with the office address at NO. 1, EYN HEADQUARTERS, KWARHI, ADAMAWA STATE was incorporated in YOLA, Nigeria with Registration Number 1423616. It was registered on 07 Jul 2017 and its current status is unknown.
“As the Church’s establishment, through the bank, EYN will give the church some financial strength and grant the youth scholarships, capital, and the likes.
“This is unacceptable as the EYN will not accept any bank established by Islamic organisation or the Mosque to be patronised by public institutions in a plural religious state like Adamawa.
“We are hereby calling on those who can reach out to the Adamawa state governor to let him address our misgivings, we suspect as gradual Christianisation of the state structures” the group said.
In an interview with the Periscope Global, the Provost, Mrs Lami Aminu explained that the Nursing and Midwifery Council is a nongovernmental professional body that regulates the conduct of nurses and midwives, hence independent of the college of nursing and the state government that established the college.
For easy operation and administration, the Nursing Council has established committees in the entire states of the federation.
For every application form sold, the Nursing Council Committee has 500. The Committee, with a view to address the challenge associated with sharp practices capable of shortchanging the Council, requested the management of the college to have every applicant pay the 500 dues directly into the Council’s Committee bank account, for which the Provost of the college gave the approval.
The Provost of the college said she was not aware that the Brethren Microfinance Bank account presented by the Nursing Council Committee was faith based; she would have earlier objected to it considering the religious sensitivity.
It is based on this that the Provost of the college has directed for the immediate suspension of the sales of admission forms into the college pending the review of the notice, in due course.
The Nursing Council Committee represents members of all religions, it is uncritical not to come to the consciousness of the leadership, perhaps mostly Christians that operating a faith based account would face resistance, even if not by the passive recipients of received truth as members, the conscious of faith publics.
Some social commentators, represented by Yunusa Abubakar and Celine Moses, who are attracted to the development, would want to know the rationale behind “charging N500 on every applicant who must be subjected to a series of preadmission procedures in which the majority would end up not being admitted. Does it not amount to extortion?
“Membership Dues, in the understanding of every unionist, are levied only on the duly verified, certified and/or accredited members, why should the applicants be made to pay money to the Council they are yet to be or will perhaps not be members of?”
The answers to the questions take another story.