Clinical lecturers at the University of Calabar, under the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria, have suspended their indefinite strike.
On June 13, 2025, the lecturers began their industrial action in protest of what they said was their wilful exclusion from the current vice chancellor selection process.
They claimed that the university’s governing council refused to amend a job advertisement they said discriminated against members of the clinical faculty.
Prof. Muhammad Muhammad, the National President of MDCAN, affirmed on Monday that the issue has been settled as a result of Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, stepping in.
Explaining the distinction in training pathways between clinical and non-clinical academics in medicine, he said, “In clinical medicine, we don’t follow the conventional Master’s/PhD route. Our training is through a residency programme, which is both academic and clinical, lasting six to eight years and culminating in the award of a fellowship.
“It is this fellowship that qualifies one to be appointed as a consultant in hospitals and as a lecturer in universities. From Lecturer I, one progresses through the academic ranks up to professor, based on established criteria.”
He emphasised that several former vice chancellors with fellowship qualifications have served with distinction.
“In Calabar, despite the Federal Ministry of Education’s guidelines on the appointment of Vice Chancellors, Provosts, and Rectors, the university insisted that only those with PhDs could apply. That was the core of our disagreement. We thank the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, for intervening directly with the university to resolve the dispute.
“The matter has been sorted. The university has issued an addendum to the initial advert, now stating that individuals with either a PhD or a medical fellowship are eligible to apply for the Vice Chancellor position.
“Following this resolution, MDCAN members at the University of Calabar resumed their duties last week,” he said.
