By BANNERNEWS Reporter, Calabar
The Cross River State Government has insisted that the Catholic Church does not own the College of Nursing Sciences, Ogoja, reaffirming that the institution is wholly owned and controlled by the state.
The government’s position comes amid an emerging dispute over the ownership and administration of the college, with the Catholic Diocese reportedly expressing an intention to take control of the institution.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Henry Egbe Ayuk, restated the government’s position on Tuesday when he received members of the college’s Governing Council at the Ministry of Health headquarters in Calabar.
Ayuk said the college remained a state-owned institution and could only operate under the formal recognition and approval of the government.
“That school is owned totally by the government,” the commissioner said.
He added that while the government was open to private-sector participation in its investments, such participation could not override the state’s ownership, regulatory and administrative authority.
The renewed declaration is coming against the backdrop of earlier insistence by traditional leaders in Ogoja that the nursing institution belongs to the Cross River State Government and not the Catholic Church.
The Governing Council Chairman, Dr Teresa A. Osaji, said the council sought clarification from the ministry after receiving correspondence from the Catholic Diocese indicating an intention to assume control of the institution.
“We decided to come and see the Commissioner because of the issue bothering us in the college regarding correspondence from the Catholic Diocese expressing an intent to assume control of the institution,” Osaji said.
She said the council, being responsible for the administration of the institution, considered it necessary to establish its status with the state government and obtain direction on the way forward.
The meeting was attended by the college’s Provost, Dr Fuyiko Oking; Cross River State Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, Mrs Josephine Bassey; and council members, Prof Idang N. Idang, Dr Rex U. Obo and Simon Eje Bisong.
