Members Grace NAFEST Closing Ceremony

As the 31st National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) drew to a close last weekend, the Speaker and other members of the State House of Assembly were among dignitaries who witnessed the closing ceremonies, having been at the opening ceremony a week earlier.
However, it was the Public Hearing for the Rivers State College of Health Science, Management and Technology bill 2018 that took centre stage during last week proceedings at the Assembly.
The public hearing was a follow-up after the bill got a second reading on the floor of the house a forth night ago. The speaker, Rt. Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani thereafter in line with the order of the House, directed that a public hearing be conducted within 14 days, and report back to the House.
With the Public Hearing concluded, the bill will now get fresh debate a third reading and passage.
Students of the Rivers State College of Health Science and Management thronged the auditorium of the House of Assembly to witness the public hearing.
In his opening remarks, House Committee Chairman on Education, Hon. Farah Dagogo said the public hearing for the Rivers State College of Health Science and Management Technology, bill 2018 could not have come at a better time.
In his words, “The trajectory of this bill lend credence to the fact that nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. The fate that befall this bill in a classic testament to this aphorism”.
Hon Dagogo believes that when the bill is finally passed into law, it would repeal the institution law N03 of 2001, and put in place a Health Science and Management Technology Education architecture that would meet present health needs.
He therefore charged the school’s management to be focused and committed in improving the fortunes of the college through skills acquisition training.
Certainly, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Chike Princewill, expressed fears over the moving of the institution to be supervised by the State Ministry of Education. He maintained that it will be detrimental to do so.
Some of the reasons adduced by Prof. Chike are that any attempt to charge the supervisory Ministry of the College will affect professionalism in the school.
The commissioner for heath submitted that he was not against the revamping and upgrading of the college, but that as a health manpower generating institution it should be left to be supervised and managed by the parent Ministry of Health.
It was at the public hearing that Prof. Princewill disclosed that the State Government had already approved a grant for the upgrading of the college before now.
The Health Commissioner stated that though funds have not been released, but that plans have begun towards improving things for the better.