UNICAL: No Student Should Suffer Due To Leadership Failure – Peter Obi

Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, has urged the Nigerian Government to swiftly address the ongoing crisis at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) regarding the graduation and induction quota for dental students.

The University of Calabar (UNICAL) is currently facing a significant credibility crisis after it was revealed that the institution admitted far more dental students than permitted by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN). Reports indicate that UNICAL enrolled up to 90 dental students annually, despite holding only provisional accreditation that allowed for 10 students per year. The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, the body tasked with regulating medical and dental education and practice, has declined to approve graduation lists that greatly exceeded this quota.

In a statement posted on his X handle on July 19, Obi voiced alarm over the situation, labeling it a leadership failure and emphasizing that no student should bear the consequences of administrative shortcomings. He noted that while the details surrounding the students’ situation are still emerging, it is critical that all issues are resolved promptly to ensure the students can graduate on schedule.

“No Student Should Suffer for Leadership Failures

Following my visit yesterday to the Faculty of Dental Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), I was inundated with reports concerning developments at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), where issues around the Dental students’ graduation and induction quota have sparked serious concern. While the specifics of the matter are still unfolding, I understand that the Vice Chancellor has recently assured the public that steps will be taken to resolve the crisis. I appreciate her for this promise, and I look forward to a favourable resolution.

Whatever the root cause, one thing is clear: no student should suffer due to what I consider a failure of leadership. We must give our youth the necessary education, particularly in critical fields like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Education in these areas is far too important to be jeopardised by bureaucratic or institutional lapses. Whatever the issue, the students must remain in school and graduate appropriately without compromising standards.

I feel their concern, as I faced a similar situation as the former Governor of Anambra State, when the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria shut down our medical school at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, citing the absence of a teaching hospital—a basic requirement for accreditation. Students who had already spent 3 to 4 years studying medicine were told they could only graduate as biologists or in other science courses. I had just assumed office, barely one year in, when I met the crisis, but I refused to let those innocent students become victims.

I pleaded with the Council and told them that the children did not cause the issue and should not be made to suffer for it. I promised to take full responsibility and committed to building a functional teaching hospital within two years. They told me it was impossible to build such a facility in two years. But I insisted, because leaders must be solution-driven, especially when the lives and futures of our young people are at stake.

In less than 18 months, I fulfilled that promise. I built and commissioned what is now known as Odumegwu-Ojukwu Teaching Hospital in Awka, saving not just the accreditation of the medical faculty but the futures of young aspiring doctors to this day.

I call on the Federal Government to give this situation the urgent and decisive attention it deserves by providing both financial and institutional support to the university leadership. The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar and her team must be empowered to resolve this issue immediately, to ensure that no student is made to suffer for circumstances that are in no way their fault.

At this critical time in our nation, we cannot afford to continue the downward trend of neglecting education and healthcare, or of failing to lift people out of poverty, while wasting resources on areas that bring no tangible value.

Our children must not continue to lose their future in Nigeria.

A New Nigeria is POssible. -PO”

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli