The Abia State University, Uturu, has graduated 100 students in the 6th induction/swearing in ceremony of graduating nurses for the 2018/2019 academic session.
Speaking during the event, with the theme, “ 200 years of Nursing: Achievements, Challenges and prospects”, the Vice Chancellor, Distinguished Professor E. Uche Ikonne, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, Professor O. M Ogbulu, stated that the occasion marks the end of a 5 years academic program in nursing sciences of the Abia state University, and congratulated the inductees for making it to this point, despite the huddles and challenges associated with learning, especially the nursing profession.
He noted that the theme for the event was very appropriate in the present dispensation, and explained that the University is contributing its quota to ensure that the challenges associated with the development of the Profession is mitigated through the graduating of good quality nurses into the Healthcare system.
While commending the Governor and visitor to the University, Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, PhD, and the Vice Chancellor, Distinguished Professor E. Uche Ikonne for their commitment to the development of the University, Professor Ogbulu thanked the parents /guardians of the inductees as well as the lecturers for their sacrifices and efforts to nurture and produce the brand new nurses from the University, and admonished them to be good ambassadors of the profession and the Abia State University.
In their separate remarks, the provost of the college of medicine and health sciences, Professor S. N Onwere, and the Dean, Faculty of health sciences, Professor O. C Ahuama eulogized the sterling qualities of the Vice Chancellor, especially for always making the yearly induction possible, and charged the inductees to practice within the scope and in line with the ethics of the profession.
Also speaking, the Head of Department, Nursing Sciences, Mrs S. A. K Kanu, commended the Vice Chancellor for what she described as his “unrelenting spiritual moral and financial support, and his uncommon passion for the sustenance and growth of the Department of Nursing Sciences of the University”.
She said that the Institution has an unbeatable standard in the areas of teaching and learning, assuring of their determination to raise global leaders and change agents who would make transformative impacts in the society
In his own address, the registrar, Nursing and Midwifery council of Nigeria (NMCN), Alhaji Faruk Umar Abubakar represented by Mr Alex Eze of the Enugu branch of the council said that “The Bachelor of Nursing Sciences (BNSC) degree program is a professional and academic program aimed at improving the quality of nursing services in the country by empowering nurses to make sound diagnosis, design appropriate nursing care, implement and evaluate nursing care holistically and comprehensively”
He implored the inductees to adhere to the code of ethics of the Profession and be good ambassadors of the University that trained them.
High point of the event was the searing in/oath taking of the 100 graduating nurses by the registrar of NMCN, as represented, and presentation of awards to the best graduating student and others, while a special award was also presented to the Vice Chancellor by the immediate past President of the Nigerian Universities Nursing Students Association (NUNSA) Sochima Nwokeke.
The best graduating student, Chukwu Francisca Uchechi, in her valedictory speech, thanked the Vice Chancellor, for creating an excellent environment for study, the lecturers and parents, for instilling character, learning and excellence in them, and expressed gratitude to God, for seeing them through a successful program in the University.
