THE Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Professor Florence Obi, has admitted that the institution over-admitted students into its Dentistry programme in violation of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN)’s approved quota.
The ICIR reported that this decision has now left hundreds of students in academic and professional limbo.
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief,’ Obi described the situation as ‘depressing’ and said efforts were underway to resolve it, including an appeal to the Minister of Education for immediate intervention.
She confirmed that the university enrolled 60 students, far above the MDCN’s approved limit of 10 for the level 6 graduating students.
“I became Vice Chancellor on November 1, 2020, and I inherited a lot of challenges in the system. One of them is the over-admission of students into Dentistry along with other programmes – Engineering, Pharmacy, Music, Fine Art were some of the students that had a lot of challenges when I came onboard.
“They were actually protesting and asking that their fate was hanging. But gradually, I was able to solve the problems of these students. And I thought I had actually put in so much in solving the problem of Dentistry.”
Findings by The ICIR had shown that over 300 students faced the risk of expulsion or forced transfer after the university was found to have over-admitted students for Dentistry.
The report noted that some of the affected students were already in their sixth year and sat for exams before they were informed that they were having challenges with MDCN’s approval.
Sources within the university confirmed to The ICIR that Obi agreed with the implications of the action during a closed-door meeting with faculty officials and parents, revealing that first-year students had been wrongly admitted despite an MDCN directive suspending admissions until existing accreditation issues were resolved.
She, however, claimed during her appearance on Channels TV on Wednesday morning, that the university had not admitted new students into the programme in the last three years.
She further noted that resolving the issue with the final year students and the level 4 and 5, depended largely on the intervention of the Federal Ministry of Education to grant the university clearance to hire additional academic staff required by the MDCN.
Obi added that the school was exploring partnerships with other departments and institutions to see how some of the affected students might be accommodated.
“I am going to my minister to appeal to him to intervene because if we have some staff which is the critical issue, if we have staff and we know that the minister has given us the permission to employ, the sooner we employ them and get the Dental clearance that MDCN has asked us to do, we will be able to invite them in the next one or two months and part of these problems will be resolved.”
Addressing growing concerns over the mental health of the affected students, the VC urged them to remain calm.
Internal sanctions underway, VC says
Speaking further on the escalating situation, the vice chancellor stated that internal investigations had commenced into how the over-admission occurred.
She also vowed disciplinary actions against officials, including the dean, the admission officer and the provost, found culpable of the over-admission.
“We are going to invoke the university’s internal mechanism to handle that, and we have to query some people. Definitely, there will be consequences.”
Crisis triggers protests among students, Nigerians
The ICIR reported that the situation has sparked nationwide outrage, with the hashtag #SaveDentalStudentsofUNICAL trending on social media platforms.
Many Nigerians, including alumni of the institution, have condemned the university’s actions as reckless and inhumane.
The Nigerian Association of Dental Students (NADS), in a statement, described the crisis as a result of “administrative failure” and called for an immediate halt to the forced transfer plan.
The group also decried reports that some students were advised by officials to “go and learn a trade” after spending seven to eight years in school.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M