Students Decry Shortage of Medical Staff and Drugs at Gombe University

Students of Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State (FUK), have decried the substandard healthcare services offered at the institution’s clinic. The undergraduates told Campus Reporter that the school clinic suffers inadequate drugs and a shortage of health workers, making ailing students bear the brunt.

Usoku Monday,  a 200 level student, recalled her experience last semester when she fell sick. According to her, the clinic allegedly only gave her paracetamol to treat her typhoid. She had to go to another hospital to treat herself properly.

Kenneth Olalekan, a third-year student, had a similar experience. One Friday afternoon, he went to the clinic for possible treatment of an ailment and found it empty, as there was no doctor on the seat. To his utmost shock, he said, someone would later tell him that the doctors had closed for the day.

When Sarah Mosumola, a 200-level, fell sick some time ago, her experience at the school clinic was awful, she said. She was down with an ulcer and infection. She was taken to the emergency ward upon arrival, but unfortunately, “drugs and some medical equipment were not available at the time”. 

“I was asked to go to the pharmacy outside the school to get some of the remaining medicine and injections,” she said.

Another student, Samuel Adebayo, has his fair share of the medical woe. He noted that one of the problems facing the school medical centre is the lack of manpower. He observed when he once fell sick that the clinic had only a few doctors and nurses to take care of thousands of students seeking medical attention.

Responding to allegations against the clinic, however,  a senior official in the health centre, Muhammad Aliyu, said they are doing their best to give the students sound health services. He claims some students are careless with their health and should take responsibility for it as well. Although he admitted that they needed more hands, he insisted that the three doctors available in the clinic were trying their best to attend to the students. 

Meanwhile, Suleiman Muhammad, a top official of the university, said: “It is indeed the responsibility of the school management to take care of the clinic as well as provide adequate equipment and medication. 

He added that the school is planning to start a medical college by either expanding the clinic or moving it in another new direction. “The budget allocated for the medical department is exclusive,”  he said, noting that they have “set up a committee that will ensure the fund is not diverted to another project.” 

Suleiman also said they have paid a health insurance provider, Doma Public Healthcare in Gombe, to cater to those whose condition is beyond the clinic. However, he admonished the students to be patient with the school regarding clinical affairs and encouraged them to be health conscious.

This story was funded by the Campus Reporter project of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and written by 9 students of the Federal University of Kashere after Campus Reporter’s 41st campus journalism clinic held in their institution:

1. Wusayamba Markus
2. Inuwa Mohammed Shugaba 
3. Ezekiel Nerat Sarah
4. Fatiha Sirajo El-Yakub 
5. Halima Yusuf Lukman
6. Abubakar Hamra Dahiru
7. Damuan Bridget Naankwat 
8. Miriam Dantala Yakubu
9. Grace Maigari Bunyan