The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has strongly condemned the criteria for selecting the next Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka, citing the deliberate exclusion of it’s members from contesting the position.
In a communique issued after an emergency general meeting, MDCAN rejected the requirements stated in the university's advert, which mandates applicants to hold a first degree, a Master's degree, and a PhD. The association argued that this criterion disregards the unique career progression path of clinical lecturers, both locally and globally. The communique which was made available to journalists in Awka on Friday was signed by MDCAN-NAUTH Chairman Dr Victor Modekwe and Secretary Dr Sunday Oriji.
According to MDCAN, the typical academic pathway for clinical lecturers involves a first degree (MBBS/BDS), followed by Primary fellowship examination, a Part I fellowship examination, and a Part II/Final fellowship examination, leading to a medical fellowship award. The association criticized the advert for requiring a PhD with 15 years of experience while excluding postgraduate medical fellowships of equal duration.
MDCAN-NAU Chairman, Dr. Victor Modekwe, and Secretary, Dr. Sunday Oriji, signed the communique, which emphasized that this criteria deviates from previous requirements and harms the medical profession in Nigeria. The association had previously written to the Pro-Chancellor/Chairman Governing Council on August 2, alleging a sinister plan to insert injurious requirements into the advert.
“MDCAN had on Aug.2 written a letter to the office of the Pro-Chancellor/Chairman Governing Council in which we alleged of a sinister plan to insert some injurious requirements into the proposed advertisement for the position of the VC-NAU of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University.
“The injurious requirements is 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 the injurious requirement should not be inserted as it is not only strange to Nnamdi Azikiwe University but to all the universities in Nigeria,” it said.
In response, MDCAN called for the withdrawal of the advert within seven days to prevent a total shutdown of medical education sectors in the university. The association threatened an indefinite industrial action, involving the withdrawal of medical/clinical lecturers from all academic functions if their demands are not met.
“That subsequent advert should factor in the academic pathway of Medical/Clinical lecturers by putting a Post-Graduate Medical fellowship anywhere PhD appears and excluding a Master’s degree from the requirement, considering our long-standing pathway.
“If this advert is not withdrawn within seven days from the date of this letter, we will be left with no option but to embark on an indefinite industrial action until this advert is withdrawn.
“Congress therefore urges the university council and all meaning Nigerians to avert this unnecessary scenario and save our University,” it said.
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