The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Ila Orangun, Osun State, Prof Akeem Lasisi, has said Nigeria may continue to have more female medical practitioners due to the gradual rejection of cultural barriers militating against girl-child education.
Lasisi made this known while responding to questions about the higher number of female students in the university compared to males, at a press briefing ahead of the maiden convocation of the institution in Ila Orangun on Monday.
According to statistics presented earlier, Lasisi put the student population of the university at 3,332, comprising 2,245 females, representing 67.38 per cent, and 1,087 males, representing 32.62 per cent, across four faculties.
The VC also said the rejection of cultural bias against females and the natural inclination towards caring possessed by women would make them more likely to choose medical professions.
“Our society is evolving. We are evolving towards giving males and female equal chance. It is not about our school alone. We should remember that this is a specialised university. If you go to most medical schools in the country today, there are probably more females, or you have an equal number of males and females, and that stems from the fact that the act of caring, treating, and investigating. I think the females are more likely to pick it instead of going into engineering.
“We also have Nursing in this university, which is a specialty that many people will consider a profession for females. All of these are just cultural interpretations of issues. Once we break the cultural barriers, females will compete. I have opened a brain before; there is no difference in weight between male and female cerebrum. What we have seen before are cultural barriers that have been introduced into the upbringing of males and females. We are equal opportunity university.
“We will look at the performance of students seeking admission. If I open JAMB portal, I am not looking at gender. I am looking at performance. Even within the Genz, you will agree with me that the females are less distracted than the males. Are these female medical practitioners that are graduating going to perform well? My answer is, they are going to perform,” Lasisi said.
On how the university was maintaining discipline on campus, Lasisi said the institution had a code of conduct for its students which must be respected.
“All you need to cause chaos in a place is to have one bad person. But once you discover that bad person, all you need is to take that person out; otherwise, the rest may follow suit. So, we have a code of conduct. The Medical and Dental Council and the Nursing Councils have rules. So medical practitioners have no other option than to follow the rules.”
Highlighting some of the activities lined up for the convocation ceremonies, the VC said former Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, would deliver the convocation lecture titled, “Rethinking 21st century specialised medical university in the Nigerian context: Are the challenges surmountable?”
He said 138 students who pursued four-year courses would graduate during the institution’s first convocation.
“Four Departments, namely Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Pharmacology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, are presenting graduands for graduation this year. Of the 138 graduands, 15 (10.87%) are in First Class Division, 79 (57.24%) are in Second Class Upper Division, 43 (31.16%) are in Second Class Lower Division, while 1 graduand (0.72%) is in Third Class. Master ADEDIRAN Precious Opeyemi of the Department of Microbiology emerged as the overall best graduating student with a CGPA of 4.93,” Lasisi said.
PUNCH Online earlier reported that the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, inaugurated 11 projects at the Federal University of Health Sciences, Ila-Orangun, Osun State.
The event was attended by former Osun State Governor, Adebisi Akande, the state Commissioner for Education, Dipo Eluwole, the Orangun of Ila, Oba Wahab Oyedokun, and the Orangun of Oke Ila, Oba Adedokun Abolarin.
At the ceremony, Alausa emphasised the Federal Government’s priority of expanding medical training institutions and improving clinical learning environments.
Speaking before the inauguration of the new Senate Building, university library, lecture theatres, faculty auditorium, university gate, multidisciplinary research library, health centre, teaching hospital and three other projects, Alausa said the facilities, if properly utilised, would elevate the quality of training, research and healthcare delivery in Nigeria.