UNICAL VC Requests Calm and Agrees to Address Concern With Dental Students

Professor Florence Obi, the University of Calabar's vice chancellor, has urged composure in the face of the graduating dental students' lack of induction.

The continuing problem surrounding the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria's (MDCN) inability to induct the 2016 Dentistry students within the next several months is the reason for her request.

The impacted kids and their parents were assured by the vice chancellor that the problem would be fixed within the upcoming months.

"I have read elsewhere that pupils are becoming unhappy and some of them are threatening suicide, therefore I really want to appeal to the students and parents," she said. I sincerely hope that my pupils will remain composed and that, on my honor, we will work with MDCN to find a solution.

“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.”

Prof. Obi said that the issue is essentially as a result of overadmission of students, with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) saying that these students cannot be accommodated.

Instead of the approved 10 students, the institution admitted 60, which violated the MDCN’s directive.

She said the university is working hard to resolve the issue, adding that they have been networking with other programmes within the university and other universities to see where the affected students could be fixed.

“We may not be able to say conclusively that we have the solution, but I am sure that before the end of this week and getting to next week where I may travel and perhaps plead with our honourable minister to give us audience and attention and also help us in some areas largely with a solution to this.

The VC indicted some of the university’s officials, including the dean, the admission officer and the provost on the issue of overadmission, promising that all those involved would face consequences.

“We are going to invoke the university’s internal mechanism to handle that, we have to query some people. Definitely, there will be consequences.”

Asked if she as the head of the institution takes responsibility for the crisis, Prof. Obi said, “Of course I am the head, I take responsibility, even the ones I inherited, I take responsibility, I am the head.”

She claimed that because she has put a lot of effort into solving the dental issue, she feels personally hurt by the entire circumstance.

The impacted pupils have been demonstrating and calling for a resolution to the ongoing issue.