Students’ Protest Forces Postponement of Nursing, Midwifery Final Exams in Delta

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

The November 2022 Nursing and Midwifery Council Examinations for final year Nursing Students in the various State Schools of Nursing and the Delta State University, Abraka has been put on hold pending when all the contending issues are sorted out and a new date will be communicated to them.

The postponement of the final year nursing examinations followed protests yesterday  by final year students of the three nursing schools in the Delta State, which are located in Warri, Eku and Agbor as well as the Delta State University Abraka.

The protest started  when the students arrived the Asaba venue of the CBT examination and discovered that they were not properly enrolled for the examinations despite payment of the required fees to the state’s nursing and midwifery authorities.

THISDAY learnt that the over 300 enrollees decided to launch a protest over their unexplained inconclusive enrollment for the examination with the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, the authorities to the nursing examinations in the country.

Despite having duly paid the indexing fees to the school authorities, the enrollees’ respective index numbers could not be issued to them, which could mean that the final year students would lose one academic year if they missed the November 2022 CBT examination.

Nevertheless, the protesting students blamed the Delta State Director of Schools of Nursing, Mrs Gloria Igumbor, for failing to ensure that final year nursing students in Eku, Agbor and Warri in particular to enable them  write the National Nursing Council Examination yesterday.

However, the Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mordi Ononye,  later addressed the aggrieved students at the CBT Centre  in Asaba, venue of the aborted examination.

The commissioner, who stated that he was directed by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to step into the matter for a speedy resolution, said that the decision to postpone the exercise was reached after the intervention of the Federal Minister of Health, Registrar and Deputy Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria as well as the Delta State Ministry of Health.

“By next week every issue concerning the indexing and enrollment would be fully resolved and a new date will be given for Delta State which will obviously be in the next couple of days”, Ononye said, noting that Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria was out of the country at the moment.

He disclosed that nursing students qualified to write the final examination “after six months into the programme (when) the students would write the PTS Examination. And, if successful they are indexed and given an index number by the Indexing Officer who is a Staff of the Schools and appointed by the Nursing Council.”

Dr. Ononye further stated, “The State Focal persons, Mr. Ivwighren Lucky and Mr. Johnson Odoyevuli, had paid the indexing fees to the Council using approved Remitta Platform in 2020.

“Having paid the indexing fee, the Council would generate the Indexing number which would be sent to the Schools just before the final examination. On receipt of the Indexing number, the Focal Persons would enroll the students for the examination as this enrollment cannot be done without the Index number.”

The health commissioner claimed that although evidence available to the State Ministry of Health indicated that the Indexing fees were paid to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, not all of the students were given index numbers required for their proper enrollment for the examination.

Nevertheless, the commissioner apologized to the students over the discomfort and inconveniences the change of the examination date has caused them, urging them not to take laws into their own hands while expressing their grievance, assuring that the issue would be resolved and a new date communicated to them.