The Ogun State Government has shut down Havarde College of Science, Business and Management Studies, a polytechnic where law, pharmacy, nursing, among other professional courses are offered to students.
According to the government, the department was shut down for offering a degree programme in nursing sciences for six years without accreditation from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).
The state government wielded its bid stick against the controversial school after a student of the nursing department, simply identified as Ajoke, reportedly killed herself in her hostel.
It would be recalled that an investigation by OsunDailyNG showed how this institution has been illegally offering law, pharmacy, nursing, among other over 20 courses without due accreditation.
Preliminary findings by OsunDailyNG, on both NUC and NBTE websites showed that the school was yet to be accredited as a university.
In a 2021 directory of the NBTE, Harvard College was seen among the list of specialised institutions offering accredited programmes. The college got the permission of the nbte to offer four courses, which include: accountancy, business administration, mass communication and computer science all for National Diploma (ND) only.
According to the NBTE, the accreditation ought to expire in October, 2022. But the management of this institution has continued to shun out students as graduates year in, year out.
After the sketchy death of the female student, an enforcement team comprising Ogun State Ministry of Health and members of the State Nursing and Midwifery Committee (SNMC), stormed the school and shut the nursing department over lack of accreditation.
Speaking during the enforcement exercise, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Kayode Oladehinde, stated that such unauthorised programmes contributed to quackery in the profession which posed a threat to the health of the populace.
He also maintained that the nursing department of the institution would remain closed until fully accredited.
Oladehinde, represented by the Acting Director of Nursing Services, Mrs. Serifat Aminu, described a degree in Nursing obtained from Harvarde College and similar institutions without NMCN accreditation as worthless, explaining that graduates from such schools would be denied licence to practise in Nigeria and other parts of the world.
“We have discovered that many institutions, including Harvarde College, offer nursing degrees to unsuspecting students. Our mission is to clamp down on such institutions because they end up producing quacks in the nursing profession. This is dangerous for society. Unfortunately, most students are unaware that their time is being wasted,” she said.
The Permanent Secretary, however, warned parents and candidates desiring to pursue nursing or related programmes to be wary of institutions making false claims by checking the NMCN website for an updated list of accredited institutions, insisting that the government would continue to checkmate quackery in the nursing profession.
