The authorities of Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, owned by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, have lamented that the country loses N100 billion for medical tourism annually.

The school said the private university has risen above the eceokic challenges to give the nation the options for quality education, transformational leadership training and access to great medicare.

It said with over 959 open heart surgeries at the Cardiac Centre in the Babcock University Teaching Hospital, as well as several total knee and replacement and spinal surgeries, the university has continued to stem the trend of medical tourism and creating tangible options for Nigeria and the sub-Saharan African region.

Speaking during the 2022 President/Vice Chancellor’s Media Dinner, which took place at the university, the President, Prof Ademola Tayo, however, said the university in its journey has been guided by principles and purpose-driven mission with belief in a new dawn for Nigeria and indeed for the African continent.

“Not because we have totally eradicated disease prevalence, poverty and parochial thinking, but because in spite of these and immense revenue loss owed to the medical & educational tourism, Babcock dares to turn institutional dream to reality,” he stated.

The President recalled that this year, Babcock University recorded its first successful bilateral total knee replacement surgery on a 65-year-old female patient, a woman that had severe knee osteoarthritis on both legs. On the university’s academic programmes, the President, who also reiterated that the courses offer more than just head knowledge, but dynamic and diverse, added that a programme in Medicine, for instance, opens unusual doors for self-expression in other ways beyond Health centres.

He further explained: “Our students get a holistic, robust education preparing them for the real world of problem-solving and mission. In addition, the Medical and Dental Council of Ni- geria has upwardly reviewed our student enrolment in Medicine from 100 to 120.

“Similarly, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria have also approved an upgrade for our Nursing student enrolment to 150. Currently, we have 44 accredited undergraduate programmes ranging from Accounting to Nursing and Medicine & Surgery. Of this figure, six are from the two new Schools, School of Environmental & Earth Sciences as well as the School of Engineering.”

In the area of collaboration and partnership, the President stated that the university has existing collaboration with several institutions, including the Savannah State University, Georgia, Atlanta, U.S.A, which offers opportunity for 300-Level students to take their 2nd semester in the US; Advertising Council of Nigeria (APCON); Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, (NIPR); United Bank for Africa on the provision of Internet on campus with eTECK; the Federal Road Safety Corps, South-West zone for safety of lives on roads.

Phones and Tablets

Others are the University Of Hertfordshire on faculty and student exchange programmes in training and research; Department of Social Works understanding with GRO community, Chicago that provides Social Work graduate remote jobs in the USA as seven students are currently on the programme; and Kobi University, USA, which offers training and research for faculty and students, among others.

Despite these achievements, the President assured stakeholders the university would keep building on its corporate competence, commitment to excellence and crystalizing its vision of a progressive, responsive and metropolitan community of scholars.

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