The Kwara Branch, Nigerian Medical Association says it will endow the best graduating medical student of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) with 250,000 Naira.

Dr Issa Baba, Chairman of the chapter, said at a press conference on Monday in Ilorin that the endowment fund would be shared over the next 10 years.

“We, on our part, have reciprocated by endowing a token of N250, 000 (shared over ten years) as an annual prize to the best graduating medical student.

“This is the first time in the history of NMA in Kwara State,” he said.

Baba said that the gesture was to appreciate the leadership of the university led by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem, for appointing the association’s members as directors and chairmen of different committees in UNILORIN

According to Baba, we are grateful to the management of the university for the appointment but we still want more for our members.

“We are grateful to the University of Ilorin for finding our members appointable into positions of responsibility.

“We have never, as doctors, have as many directors and chairmen of committees as during the tenure of Abdulkareem”, he said.

Speaking on welfare of members, Baba appealed to the Federal Government to give more to health workers to reduce the exodus of health workers for greener pastures.

He said that many doctors had left University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital for greener pastures during and after their residency.

“The doctors have not been optimally replaced because of the bottlenecks created by government’s Integrated Payroll and Personnel System (IPPIS), which has restrained federal hospitals from recruitment,” he said.

NAN