Doctors threaten strike over exclusion from UNIZIK VC race

The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria has issued a 21-day ultimatum to stakeholders, including the Federal Government, to address the discriminatory treatment meted out to members in university appointments.

This was disclosed in a communique issued on Sunday at the end of its extraordinary virtual National Executive Council meeting held last Wednesday.

The communique noted that the agenda of the meeting was to appraise the discrimination of its academic and professional qualifications (the Medical and Dental Fellowships), mostly by Nigerian university administrators.

MDCAN is the umbrella body for custodians of specialist care and medical education in Nigeria.

The meeting followed the controversies surrounding the election of vice-chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, as medical professors of the institution engaged in a heated argument during a Senate meeting of the institution.

The professors protested against what they referred to as “contentious criteria” set for the vice-chancellor position.

It was gathered that the meeting was held on Saturday to elect Senate representatives for the VC search team, but it ended in a stalemate.

The medical professors said as stakeholders, they awaited President Bola Tinubu’s response for the right thing to be done as regards the VC selection process.

Speaking to journalists shortly after the meeting, Prof Berthran Obi-Nwosu from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology voiced strong objections over the exclusion of clinical professors from the vice-chancellor candidacy.

Obi-Nwosu stressed that criteria must accurately reflect the qualifications of clinical academics.

He said, “We strive for a cancellation of the current advertisement with a new one that acknowledges clinical professors’ qualifications. Segregating during the election process is unacceptable, as it disregards the established standards of our institution.

“We have protested, the acting VC is the first person who received our protest letter. The first VC of UNIZIK, Prof Nwakor Festus, now dead, was a fellow.

“The immediate past VC of UNN was a fellow. So what I am saying is that all these things are standards. In the University of Ibadan, which is one of the highest universities in the country, they do not go into what degree you have before you become a professor.”

Another professor from the Department of Nursing, Prof Chika Ugoh, said, “We denounced this approach of selecting the VC because it is a ‘cash-and-carry’ approach that undermines the institution’s academic integrity.

In a united front, the senate resolved to withhold cooperation from the current governing council and has requested an extension of the incumbent acting Vice Chancellor, Prof Carol Arinze-Umobi’s tenure until a new governing council can be appointed.

In a communique signed by MDCAN President, Prof Muhammad Muhammad and its Secretary General, Prof Daiyabu Ibrahim, the council noted that “the NEC observed with dismay the intentional attempt and absurdity to benchmark the requirement of the Vice Chancellor position to the attainment of a PhD, without regard to the Medical and Dental Fellowships.”

The University of Nnamdi Azikiwe Medical Alumni Association had faulted the requirements listed by the university in appointing a vice-chancellor for the institution.

Some of the requirements listed for the position are that the candidate must hold a good first degree, master’s degree, and a PhD in relevant fields offered by the university; be a distinguished professor with at least nine years experience at that rank at a reputable university; obtain a PhD at least 15 years before the advertisement, and have supervised postgraduate students to completion.

The candidate must also demonstrate a proven track record of securing substantial research funding, including attracting not less than N400m, and a history of obtaining research grants and other resources to enhance the university’s research capabilities, recorded before the advert.

The NEC, however, said the requirements were unfair, unlawful and discriminatory to holders of the Medical and Dental Fellowship qualification, which are both an academic and a professional qualification.

The council said the Fellowship was the required qualification for the employment of lecturers in the faculties of Basic Clinical Sciences, Clinical Sciences and Dentistry.

It also observed the failure of the government to harmonise the retirement age of medical consultants to 70 years, especially in the face of increasing needs for both academic and

professional duties of these medical and dental specialists; and the failure of the government to complete the process of harmonising the payment of the emoluments of clinical medical lecturers with Consolidated Medical Salary Structure to correct the significant shortfalls in their emolument, entry-level, and pension.

It, however, commended the steps taken thus far by its members to address the discriminatory advertisements for the position of a VC.

“The NEC resolved that it is unacceptable for any university in Nigeria to benchmark the requirements for the office of a Vice-Chancellor to the attainment of a PhD, without recognising the Medical and Dental Fellowships peculiar to the medical profession as an academic and professional qualification, which more than suffice wherever PhD is required.

“NEC demands the immediate withdrawal of the discriminatory advertisements and inclusion of Medical and Dental Fellowship qualifications in all adverts for the vacant position of the office of Vice Chancellor wherever Medicine and Dentistry are offered in that university.

“Furthermore, the NEC resolves that any unlawful and discriminatory posture to holders of the Medical and Dental Fellowship qualifications will no longer be tolerated, and all members where such discriminatory adverts are released have been directed to take all necessary, lawful means to restore their rights as provided for in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The NEC restates again and emphasises that the government should take all necessary measures to complete the process of harmonising the retirement age of Medical and Dental Consultants to 70 years to mitigate the effects of doctors’ migration,” it stated.