The Nigerian Society for Microbiology (NSM) has called on relevant stakeholders to as a matter of urgency pass the bill aimed at regulating microbiology practice in Nigeria so as to checkmate the intrusion into the profession by non-qualified persons.
The bill is seeking for the establishment of the Microbiological Council of Nigeria (MCN).
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The NSM Publicity secretary, Dr. Bamidele Odumosu, who stated this during a webinar held to commemorate the 2020 International Microorganism Day said it would help professionalize the field, encourage, students and graduates as well as ensure quality training for microbiologist.
“We would have the Microbiology Council of Nigeria and when they graduate from the university, they go into training in real aspects of microbiology they have chosen. This training is going to be licensed at the end”.
He added that this would avail opportunities to “a lot of young microbiologists with ideas into how they can fashion microbes into economical value in food microbiology, pharmaceutical microbiology that can be used to generate income.”
Odumoso lamented that the society has been relegated due to the none passage of the bill.
“We have a major challenge about the ability to practice. Our society is having this huge challenge, our graduates are not having a say in practice.
“We have been pushing a bill so that microbiology as a profession in Nigeria would be professionalized. We don’t want to take the back seat.
“Take, for instance, COVID-19, it is a viral infection and nobody knows viruses better than microbiologist but you find out that most people who are first responders to this pandemic are not even microbiologists,” Odumoso explained.
