The Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi on Wednesday donated the sum of ten million naira (₦10,000,000) to the School of Nursing and Midwifery, St. Philomena Hospital, Benin City, Edo State.
Mr. Obi disclosed the donation on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Thursday – and reiterated his dedication to the progress of Nigeria through human and material development.
He wrote: “Yesterday 31st July, while still trying not to buckle under the weight of the shocking death of my very dear elder sister, Onyeka Onwenu on July 30th, I honoured a scheduled visit to the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Philomena Hospital, Benin City, Edo State.
“At the institution, I had the pleasure of interacting with the nursing students whose contributions to our health sector, especially at the primary level, cannot be over-emphasized.
“In my commitment to the human and material development of the nation, and in exemplifying my consistent call for more investment in the health and education sectors, I supported the School of Midwifery with a modest donation of ₦10 million.
“In interacting with the nurses, I felt their pains concerning the challenges they face from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, NMCN, concerning their licence verification, which, according to them, has made accessing global opportunities difficult for Nigerian nurses and midwives.”
The former Anambra State Governor appealed to the NMCN to harken to the earnest requests of Nigerian nurses by resuming the verification of nursing licences with less stringent rules, and at a cheaper cost.
“While I understand their concerns about the brain drain of nurses from Nigeria, I have maintained that we cannot restrict our nurses from exploring global opportunities, rather we can invest more in training more nurses, to meet the demands of our health sector in Nigeria,” he stressed.
Obi expressed gratitude to the Proprietor, Management and Staff of the School of Midwifery, St. Philomena Hospital, Benin City, for their dedication and commitment to raising well-trained health professionals.
He equally thanked them for their contributions to the growth of the health sector in Nigeria.
The politician emphasised that building a strong health and education sector remains critical for human and national development, maintaining that he remains committed to it.
He added: “By remaining committed to societal development through these investments in our critical areas of development, we will build the New Nigeria we all look forward to. It is possible.”
