The Association of Provosts of Colleges of Health Technology and Nursing Sciences has called on the Federal Government to exempt its institutions from the recently announced seven-year moratorium on the establishment of new polytechnics and allied institutions.
In a communiqué issued at the end of its 2025 Quadrennial Conference in Lokoja, the Provosts warned that applying the ban to health institutions would worsen the country’s healthcare manpower crisis. The statement, signed by the Association’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Nuhu Anyegwu, was made available to journalists on Thursday.
The conference noted that the restriction would “create an intergenerational gap of at least seven years in terms of shortage of health and medical manpower in various communities across Nigeria.”
The Provosts stressed that Colleges of Health Technology and Nursing Sciences are professional health training institutions with prior accreditation from regulatory councils and should not be categorised as allied institutions subject to the ban.
They also applauded the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) for streamlining the accreditation process through digitalisation, but urged the Ministry of Education and NBTE to stop multiple accreditations by professional councils, which they described as burdensome.
The conference further expressed concern over the exclusion of Health Colleges from TETFUND’s funding schedule, calling for the passage of the TETFUND Act Amendment Bill to include their institutions as beneficiaries.
The Association re-elected its officers during the conference, with Dr. Johnson Adebayo Ojo and Malam Adamu Ahmadu emerging as Chairman and Secretary-General, respectively. It also resolved to establish a research journal and set up a Media Committee to enhance visibility.
With Nigeria’s population exceeding 200 million, the Provosts argued that expanding healthcare education remains critical to reversing brain drain and improving access to quality healthcare.
“The Federal Government must support the growth and development of Colleges of Health Technology and Nursing Sciences if the healthcare needs of Nigerians are to be met,” the communiqué concluded.
