No Student Should Suffer for Leadership Failures – Peter Obi Urges Federal Government to Address UNICAL’ Quota Crisis
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has called on the Federal Government to swiftly intervene in the ongoing crisis at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) regarding the graduation and induction of its dental students.
UNICAL is currently facing a major credibility challenge after it emerged that the institution had consistently exceeded its approved admission quota for dental students. Despite holding only a provisional accreditation to admit 10 students per academic year, the university allegedly enrolled as many as 90 dental students annually.
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The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), which regulates medical and dental education and practice in the country, has since withheld verification of graduation lists that surpass the approved quota. This decision has left several students stranded, unable to proceed with induction or professional practice.
Peter Obi described the situation as deeply troubling, stressing the need for immediate government action to protect the future of the affected students and uphold the integrity of Nigeria’s medical education system.
In a statement released on his X handle today July 19, Obi expressed concern over the situation, describing it as a leadership failure and stressing that no student should suffer due to the failures of leaders. He mentioned that although the specifics of the matter as it regards the students is still unfolding, it is important that all the issues are resolved and the students graduate as at when they are supposed to.
‘’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”
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