Rivers Turning Major Supplier Of Medical Personnel, Wike Declares

Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has directed the state commissioner for health and attorney general and commissioner for justice to sign a new agreement with PAMO University of Medical Sciences for the training of Rivers students in medicine and related fields.
The governor said the renewal of the agreement would enable PAMO University to continue to support the state to accelerate the production of the much-needed skilled medical manpower and professionals to service the healthcare system and enhance healthcare delivery.
Wike stated this when the board of trustees, governing council and management of PAMO University of Medical Sciences led by the Pro-Counsellor and former governor of Rivers State, Dr Peter Odili, paid a courtesy call on him in Government House, Port Harcourt, last Wednesday.
The governor noted with excitement how PAMO University of Medical Sciences had, within just five years of its establishment, become a centre of excellence in the training of medical doctors, pharmacists, medical technologists, and other healthcare professionals for the state and the country at large.
“The agreement between the government and PAMO University is expiring by December. It will be proper for the interest of our children to have another agreement so that the government that is coming in will understand that we have an agreement with this university to train our children who want to be medical doctors, pharmacists, lab scientists, biochemists.”
Wike’s administration had in 2018 instituted a scholarship scheme and signed an agreement with the PAMO University of Medical Sciences for the training of not less than 100 indigenous students studying medicine and other related courses in the university.
The special scholarship programme has benefitted over 500 Rivers students who are pursuing various medical courses in PAMO University of Medical Sciences from inception to date.
The governor said the renewal of the agreement with PAMO University of Medical Sciences would avail more indigent students of Rivers extraction, who want to study medicine and other related courses, the opportunity to actualise their dreams.
“We will encourage our students who want to read medicine and other related courses. We are here for our children; we are here for our people, whatever money that comes in should be used maximally for the interest of our people.”
The governor reiterated that his administration remains committed to support any Rivers indigene willing to establish private university in the state.
He regretted that five years after he first made the offer, no one has dared to emulate Odili to establish a private university in the state.
Wike expressed delight that with the support of the state government, PAMO University of Medical Sciences now has the necessary educational infrastructure to continue to propel its growth and capacity to deliver on its mandate.
“As the first private university in the state, you have not disappointed us. There are some people who will come up to say they need support being the first private university in our state, and after two years, you will ask what is happening.”
The Rivers State governor assured that his administration would not relent in its support for PAMO University of Medical Sciences to enable it realise its mandate.
Wike said the Consul General of United States Embassy in Nigeria, Mr Will Stevens, after a tour of the Dr Peter Odili Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease Diagnostic and Treatment Centre has indicated interest to support the state government achieve its objective of establishing the world-class specialist hospital.
Earlier, the Pro-Counsellor of PAMO University of Medical Sciences, Dr Peter Odili, had lauded Wike for the grants provided for the university as well as other forms of support to indigent students studying medicine and other related courses in the institution.
He said the scholarship offered to five hundred and fifty nine Rivers indigenes studying in the university would lift their families out of poverty.
Odili stated that when all the students on scholarship graduate, Wike would have succeeded in training no less than 400 medical doctors.
The pro-counsellor explained by December, 2022, the first set of students who studied Nursing Sciences would be inducted as qualified staff nurses, staff midwives, and public health nurses.
Odili, who described Wike as the best governor the state had produced, noted that the governor’s investment in the health sector would, in the near future, make Rivers State highest producer of medical professionals in the country.