The medical students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) are caught in the middle of a tussle between medical and clinical lecturers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) and the university’s governing council.

On September 24, medical doctors lecturing at NAUTH embarked on an industrial action over the governing council’s decision to include a requirement that disqualifies them from contesting for the office of the UNIZIK’s vice-chancellor.

An advert published by the university on September 12, which announced the vacancy for the position of the university’s vice-chancellor, listed 11 requirements for eligible candidates for the post.

The advert for the office of the university’s vice-chancellor.

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The third requirement on the list, “Have obtained a PhD at least 15 years prior to this advertisement and have supervised postgraduate students to completion”, has forced protests from medical doctors teaching in the school.

Annabelle Chisom (not real name), a medical student at the school, told FIJ on Thursday that there were rumours that the requirement had a political intention.

“There are rumours about this issue having a political undertone. The advert for the position of a new vice-chancellor was done deliberately to disqualify a candidate who happens to be a medical doctor. The third and fourth requirements were added to disqualify one of the most eligible candidates,” said Annabelle.

“Medical doctors go into residency after graduation. They also go into fellowship programmes. These involve several years of training. The governing council has failed to consider this factor despite several attempts to persuade them.”

FIJ learnt that the governing council opined that a PhD should not be equated to fellowships, but fellowships were stated as substitutes in other documents published by the school where a PhD is mentioned.

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In an old advert for the position of vice-chancellor published by the university, there was no mention of a PhD qualification as a requirement.

An old advert by the university’s governing council.

On September 17, the university’s branch of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) wrote to the governing council, requesting the withdrawal of the advert and threatening an industrial action seven days after the publication of the memo if the advert was not withdrawn.

The memo published by the MDCAN branch of the university.

“Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) is a body of all medical and dental specialists with medical fellowship. It consists of all clinical lecturers and some medical lecturers of the university. All of our members, among other things, participate in the classroom and clinical training of the medical students of the university,” the memo read in part.

“Recall that we wrote a letter to your office dated 2nd of August 2024, in which we alleged a sinister plan to insert some injurious requirements into the proposed advertisement for the position of the vice-chancellor of the university with a deliberate intention to exclude all the qualified lecturers of the faculties of medicine, Basic Clinical Sciences and Basic Medical Sciences.

“We appealed in that letter that this injurious requirement should not be inserted as it is not only strange to Nnamdi Azikiwe University but all the universities in Nigeria.”

‘GET US BACK TO OUR CLASSES’

The university’s medical students who are caught in this conflict have begun to plead with the university governing council to resolve this issue with their lecturers so they can return to classes.

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Chisom told FIJ that the strike is taking a toll on students’ mental health.

Source: X

“Our programme has already been extended by one year. This strike will further extend our stay in this school. The strike is taking a toll on our mental health. Most of our colleagues in other medical schools have graduated and moved on with their lives while we are stuck in this place all because a certain group of people decided to play politics with our lives,” said Chisom.

She added that some of her colleagues have spouses in other countries waiting for them to join them after graduation, but the strike would prolong the waiting period and strain their relationships.

FIJ called Greg Mbadiwe, the pro-chancellor of the university’s governing council, on Friday afternoon, but he said he could not speak as he was at a funeral. He said he was still at the funeral in the evening.

When FIJ called him again on Saturday, he said he was in a meeting and asked for a text message, but FIJ had sent him a message for comments on Friday afternoon, which he did not respond to.

FIJ was expecting Mbadiwe’s response at press time.
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