The Association of Provosts of Colleges of Health Technology and Nursing Sciences has appealed to the Federal Aa to exempt health institutions from the recently announced seven-year suspension on the establishment of new public and private polytechnics and allied institutions.
The call was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the Association’s 2025 Quadrennial Conference in Abuja and released to journalists in Lokoja on Thursday by its Public Relations Officer, Dr. Nuhu Anyegwu.
The Federal Government had earlier placed a moratorium on licensing new institutions for seven years, a decision the Provosts warned could worsen manpower shortages in the health sector.
“The ban will create an intergenerational gap of at least seven years in terms of shortage of health and medical manpower in various communities across Nigeria,” the communiqué stated.
The conference, which brought together provosts nationwide, stressed that Colleges of Health Technology and Nursing Sciences should not be grouped as allied institutions under the restriction, noting that they are primarily regulated by professional health and medical councils.
While commending the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) for streamlining and digitalising the accreditation process, the Provosts urged the Ministry of Education and NBTE to exempt health colleges from the ban and end multiple accreditation exercises by professional health bodies.
The conference also expressed concern over the continued exclusion of Colleges of Health Technology and Nursing Sciences from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) schedule. The Provosts called on the Ministry of Education and NBTE to back the TETFUND amendment bill, which seeks to include health institutions in the funding scheme.
Other resolutions included the re-election of Dr. Johnson Ojo as chairman and Adamu Ahmadu as secretary general, as well as the establishment of a research journal and a media committee to promote the Association’s work.
The Provosts underscored the urgent need for government support to strengthen health colleges, warning that with Nigeria’s population exceeding 200 million, the demand for skilled healthcare professionals has become critical.
They stressed that exempting health institutions from the ban would help bridge the manpower gap, improve healthcare delivery, and secure the nation’s medical future.
