The Ogun State government has sealed the Nursing Department of Harvarde College of Science Business and Management Studies in Abeokuta for offering a degree programme in Nursing Sciences without accreditation from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).
An enforcement team comprising officials from the State Ministry of Health and members of the State Nursing and Midwifery Committee (SNMC), carried out the operation on Tuesday.
Speaking during the enforcement exercise, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Kayode Oladehinde, said such unauthorised programmes contributed to quackery in the profession, which posed a threat to the health of the populace, maintaining that the Nursing Department of the institution would remain closed until fully accredited.
Dr Oladehinde, who was represented by the Acting Director of Nursing Services, Mrs Serifat Aminu, described a degree in Nursing obtained from Harvarde College and similar institutions without NMCN accreditation as worthless, explaining that graduates from such schools would be denied a license to practice in Nigeria and other parts of the world.
“We have discovered that many institutions, including Harvarde College, offer Nursing degrees to unsuspecting students. Our mission is to clamp down on such institutions because they end up producing quacks in the Nursing profession. This is dangerous for society. Unfortunately, most students are unaware that their time is being wasted”, he said.
The Permanent Secretary warned parents and candidates desiring to pursue Nursing or related programmes to be wary of institutions making false claims by checking the NMCN website for an updated list of accredited institutions, assuring that government would continue to checkmate quackery in the nursing profession.
