Jigawa suspends female college provost, director over fisticuffs

Jigawa State Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar is said to have suspended the provost of the College of Nursing and Midwifery, Birnin Kudu, Aisha Mohammed Kazaure and the acting director of School of Midwifery, Halima Mohammed Yunusa, after they were involved in brawl over N6,000. The college was thrown into confusion following the incident about a […]

Jigawa State Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar is said to have suspended the provost of the College of Nursing and Midwifery, Birnin Kudu, Aisha Mohammed Kazaure and the acting director of School of Midwifery, Halima Mohammed Yunusa, after they were involved in brawl over N6,000.

The college was thrown into confusion following the incident about a month ago. 

Daily Trust learnt that trouble between the two began when Yunusa was appointed on acting capacity to oversee the affairs of the School of Midwifery whose appointment did not go down well with Kazaure.

Kazaure, who is a former director of the School of Midwifery, was alleged to have refused to make a formal hand over of the school to her successor.

According to a source close to the college, the crisis took a violent twist on September 18, when the provost of the college went to the director and requested for N6,000 to settle expenses incurred during the visit of some officials to the school.

The director allegedly said she didn’t have the money and that the affairs of school were not handed over to her thus, she had no access to the school fund.

A source alleged that an argument ensued during which the college provost slapped the director and that the latter promptly retaliated. 

The situation was said to have degenerated as the two women engaged in fisticuffs and had to be forcefully separated by some staff and students to bring the situation under control.

Kazaure was made the provost of the college after her retirement early this year as the director of School of Midwifery and was said to be at loggerheads with Yunusa.

When this reporter sought to talk to the two officials – Kazaure and Yunusa – both said they were civil servants and therefore not allowed to make public comments.

When contacted, the Commissioner of Health, Dr. Abba Zakari, confirmed the incident and said a committee had been set up to investigate the cause of the rift. He said the report of the committee hasn’t been released. 

Meanwhile, the staff union of the college is said to have held an emergency meeting shortly after the fight during which it condemned the incident.

In a communique signed by Ibrahim Aji, Aliyu Maigida, Rabi Tijjani, Abdullahi Adamu and Ahmad Alhaji, a copy of which was made available to journalists, the union called for immediate suspension of those involved and an investigative panel be constituted by the state Ministry of Health on the issue.

The statement said if the authority concerned failed to take necessary action on the problem which started long ago, the teaching staff might have no option than to down tools.

It was learnt also that the college’s teachers union had in May this year written to the state governor, Alhaji Mohammad Badaru Abubakar, raising observations over the appointment of the provost.

In the letter to the governor, a copy of which was made available to Daily Trust, the union said, “Jigawa State College of Nursing and Midwifery, Birnin Kudu, has been an exemplary institution of learning since its inception in 1996. 

“The institution records outstanding performance during final qualifying examinations, but this success story is now history since Aisha Mohammed Kazaure was appointed as the head of the school.”

A source working with the government said the governor had directed the suspension of the two officials involved in the fight from work, even before the release of the report of the committee.