The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has called on the Federal Government (FG) to intervene in the unfolding crisis at the University of Calabar (UNICAL).
Obi made this call following unresolved issues around the graduation and induction quota of dental students which he said sparked widespread concern.
In a statement issued following his recent visit to the Faculty of Dental Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Obi said he received troubling reports about the situation at UNICAL.
While he acknowledged that the full details were still emerging, he noted that the university’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Florence Banku assured the public that steps were being taken to resolve the issue.
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Obi commended this commitment and expressed hope for a favourable outcome.
“Whatever the root cause, one thing is clear: no student should suffer due to what I consider a failure of leadership,” he stated.
“Education, particularly in critical fields such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), must never be jeopardised by bureaucratic or institutional lapses.”
Drawing from his tenure as governor of Anambra State, Obi recalled a similar crisis involving the medical school at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University.
The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria withdrew accreditation over the absence of a teaching hospital.
Students who had already spent three to four years studying medicine were told they could only graduate in biology or related fields.
He said he took full responsibility and assured the Council that his administration would build a functional teaching hospital within two years—a promise he fulfilled in under 18 months with the completion of the Odumegwu-Ojukwu Teaching Hospital in Awka.
That intervention, he noted, not only saved the school’s accreditation but preserved the careers of dozens of medical students.
Using that experience to underscore his message, Obi urged the FG to provide both financial and institutional support to UNICAL’s leadership to ensure a swift resolution.
“The Vice Chancellor and her team must be empowered to resolve this issue immediately so that no student is made to suffer for circumstances beyond their control,” he said.
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Obi warned that the continued neglect of education and healthcare, while public funds are wasted on less impactful ventures, poses a serious threat to national development.
“Our children must not continue to lose their future in Nigeria,” he noted.
