Buni approves automatic employment of 416 nurses, midwives

Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni has approved the automatic recruitment of 416 graduates of the Shehu Sule College of Nursing Sciences, Damaturu, continuing a policy that has seen all 1,485 graduates of the institution employed since 2019.

Buni announced the approval at the college’s graduation ceremony on Tuesday in Damaturu, where he was represented by his deputy, Idi Barde Gubana. The latest graduates comprise 158 Community Nurses, 196 Basic Nurses and Midwives, and 62 Higher National Diploma holders in Nursing.

The governor said his administration had, over seven years, invested deliberately in the health sector to ensure accessible and professional healthcare services across the state. He noted that more than 3,500 healthcare workers had been employed in recent years, with many drawn from the college.

Buni also cited the establishment of a Biomedical Research and Training Centre at the State University as part of the government’s broader health reform agenda, and pledged continued support to make the institution a leading health training centre in Nigeria. He also commended the outgoing Provost, Hajiya Hadiza Sabo, for her two-term tenure and for maintaining high academic standards.

Speaking at the event, Commissioner for Health Dr Mohammed Lawan Gana disclosed that Yobe emerged as Nigeria’s best-performing state in primary healthcare delivery, based on an independent survey by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum under the Federal Government’s National Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative — earning the state a $1.2 million prize.