Some medical students of the Kaduna State University, KASU, Monday morning blocked the main gates of the school, in protest of the non-accreditation of medical courses at the school and the lack of a teaching hospital.
The school’s department of medicine was established shortly after its opening in 2004.
The students, carrying placards in front of the university’s campus along Tafawa Balewa Way, Kaduna lamented that the medical department has been abandoned since its establishment.
They also pointed out that there was no teaching hospital where they could conduct their clinical.
The protesting students blocked the school gates for hours not allowing both staff and students to get into the main campus.
One of the protesting students, who did not want his name to be mentioned, told PREMIUM TIMES that the school authorities and state government had no plans for the students.
“Before this administration, we were told that the Barau Dikko Hospital, a state owned hospital would be transformed into the university teaching hospital,” he said. “But after the demise of the former governor, Ibrahim Yakowa, work has stopped and just recently the government of Ramalan Yero sponsored about twenty of the school medical students on a scholarship to a University in Uganda to complete their studies.”
He said that the governor announced releasing the sum of N800 million for the scholarship scheme.
“The governor could have used that money to finish the project and we will all do our clinical in the state,” the student said.
He also said that they intended to keep protesting at intervals until the government and the school authorities came to their rescue.
When contacted, an official of the Education ministry, who spoke under anonymity as he was not officially cleared to do so, said the students were not being fair to the government at the moment.
He said the present government was doing all it took to make sure Barau Dikko Hospital was renovated to standard and work had never stopped at the hospital.
He also acknowledged “the good gesture” of the governor for providing the scholarship for the medical students to go to Uganda to finish their course before the state owned teaching hospital was ready.
The spokesperson to the governor, Ahmed Maiyaki, debunked the statement of some of the students that government was not working to provide the school with its own teaching hospital.
“Governor Yero has done very well on the situation the student are angry about. The essence of the scholarship is for the students to keep their education going while the government try to finish the hospital for the student clinical,” Mr. Maiyaki said.
Meanwhile by Monday afternoon, normalcy had returned to the school.
