News
Nursing And Midwifery Council Portal Closure Leaves Nigerian Nurses Stranded, Unable to Pursue Overseas Opportunities
The NMCN portal is a critical platform for nurses practising in Nigeria to get registered and be verified as qualified medical practitioners.
Hundreds of Nigerian nurses are currently stranded due to the continued closure of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) portal.
It was learned that the leadership of the NMCN closed the portal in February 2024 and this has brought the verification process for new nurses to a grinding halt, leaving many in limbo.
The NMCN portal is a critical platform for nurses practising in Nigeria to get registered and be verified as qualified medical practitioners.
The issue started on December 22, 2023 when the Registrar of NMCN ordered the immediate closure of the portal without providing any justification.
“I am directed to by the Registrar/CEO, Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria to inform you to close the verification application portal by 4.00pm today being 22 December, 2023.
“Please note that notice for re-opening of the verification portal will be communicated to you in due course,” a press statement issued to that effect read.
The Nigerian Nursing Council’s online portal was reopened on February 7, 2024, following widespread outrage from affected nurses and intervention by the Ministry of Health.
In an unexpected turn of events, the NMCN authorities suspended the portal’s operations once more on February 27, 2024, attributing their decision to a directive from the House of Representatives. The future reopening date of the portal remains uncertain.
Media gathered that the closure of the portal has left many nurses frustrated and uncertain about their future plans.
As it stands, nurses, particularly new graduates, cannot work as professionals abroad because employers cannot verify their credentials due to the portal closure.
“Nigerian nurses are unable to travel out because NMCN portal is closed and new nurses can’t be verified. It’s from the same page that you will request for verification of your licence if you need to work or study overseas.
“So, nurses in Nigeria, both old and new cannot seek international education/work that requires verification,” one of the affected nurses revealed.
Another nurse said: “I know a man who had a job offer in Alberta, they took their offer back because he couldn’t verify his licence that he is truly a nurse (due to the portal closure).
“What it even means is you cannot verify that a nurse is not a quack in Nigeria as we speak.
“If you go on the UK NMC website, you can type in a nurse’s name and you will immediately see if they are registered or not, that’s verification in one word. If I need to work in Australia, I need to verify with the Australia board that I am a nurse, I just log in to my NMC page and download the verification document. Simple.”
“But Nigeria is now using the closure to restrict people from seeking employment or grant or work,” the nurse added.
Despite numerous attempts by media to reach Dr. Faruk Abubakar, Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN), for his comments, he remained unavailable. Repeated phone calls went unanswered, and messages sent via SMS and WhatsApp have yet to receive a response.
News
I regret obtaining NDA form for Lagbaja, says family head
The head of the late Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja’s family, Pa Tajudeen Lagbaja, has expressed regret obtaining Nigerian Defence Academic (NDA) form for the deceased.
Pa Tajudeen, the younger brother of the late COAS’s father, stated that he would not have bought the form had he known it would lead to his death.
Some family members also alleged that Lt. General Lagbaja may have been killed through diabolical means due to a land dispute in his hometown.
According to TheNation, In 2023 a dispute arose in Ilobu, the headquarters of Irepodun Local Government Area in Osun State, when representatives of the Nigerian Army planned to establish a hospital in the community.
Pa Tajudeen told TheNation that he initially obtained the NDA form for the late Lieutenant General.
“Everyone who is born must die. We give glory to God. The year that I obtained NDA form for him, if I had known that he would die before me, I would not have done so. I regret obtaining the form for him. But it is destiny.
“The death that killed Taoreed Lagbaja ought to take me. I took him as one of my children. We are greatly bereaved, we are sad. He constructed a borehole in his father’s compound and other places in the community.
“We can never forget him, his death is so shocking to us. I have accepted the fate, all the promises he made to me have hit a brick wall. He always gave us hope in the family, despite the sorrow, I give thanks to God,” the family head said.
News
Tinubu Reappoints Prof Abdullahi Mustapha As DG Of Biotechnology Agency NBRDA
President Bola Tinubu has reappointed Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha as the Director-General of the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA).
Prof. Abdullahi is expected to serve another second term of five years as the head of the research agency.
His appointment was announced in a press statement issued by the Press Secretary to the NBRDA Director-General, Toyin Omozuwa, in Abuja on Saturday.
According to the statement, Mustapha’s reappointment was conveyed in a letter signed by the Secretary to the
Government, George Akume.
“Mustapha’s second term is effective from 31st October 2024 and is in line with the provisions of Sections 10 (1) and (3) of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (Establishment) Act, 2022,” the statement said.
Omozuwa stated that industry experts regard the reappointment as an expression of Tinubu’s confidence in Mustapha’s capability to drive innovation towards achieving food security.
He added that the reappointment would allow the Director-General to complete his work in enhancing pharmaceutical production, as well as positioning Nigeria at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Mustapha is a Professor of Bioinorganic Chemistry and hails from Dambatta Local Government Area of Kano State.
The National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) is an agency established in 2001 under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, that implements policies, explores resources, conducts research, promotes, coordinates and develops biotechnology in Nigeria.
The NABDA also controls and supervises the introduction of genetically modified organisms into Nigeria.
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