The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has directed the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, to withdraw its current advertisement for the position of Vice-Chancellor in the institution and publish a revised version which is inclusive.

The directive follows a protest by the clinical lecturers under the aegis of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, which had threatened to embark on strike over what it described as discriminatory criteria in the selection process.

The development comes as clinical lecturers at the University of Calabar called off their indefinite strike.

The clinical lecturers raised concerns over the advert’s qualification requirements, which they argued unfairly excluded medical professionals holding fellowships from eligibility.

The MDCAN insisted that the institutions must withdraw the advertorial announcing a vacancy for the vice-chancellors and accommodate its members.

In a memo dated June 13, 2025, and addressed to the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Uyo, the group warned that unless the advert was amended, it would take industrial action.

MDCAN subsequently issued a two-week ultimatum, set to expire on July 1, 2025, demanding that the university revise the criteria to ensure fairness and inclusivity in the appointment process.

Speaking to our correspondent on Monday, the National President of MDCAN, Prof Muhammad Muhammad, confirmed that Dr Alausa had intervened directly.

Prof Muhammad said the minister explicitly instructed UNIUYO to retract the existing advert and reissue a version that accommodates both PhD and Fellowship qualifications.

“We had a conference call yesterday (Sunday) with the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, and the Pro-Chancellor of UNIUYO, and the minister explicitly instructed UNIUYO to retract the existing advert and reissue a version that does not sideline anyone.

“The university management and the MDCAN in the university will be meeting today or tomorrow to conclude on the matter and the way forward,” he noted.

Speaking on the UNICAL situation, Prof Mohammed said the matter had also been resolved.

“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.

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 added.

UNICAL lecturers had embarked on the industrial action on June 13 to also protest what they described as exclusion from the ongoing selection process for the position of vice-chancellor.

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Clinical lecturers under the umbrella of Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) have embarked on an indefinite strike, to protest what they described as deliberate exclusion from the ongoing process to appoint a new Vice Chancellor.

The action followed the University Governing Council’s failure to revise a recent job advert that, according to the doctors, discriminated against clinical lecturers.

A letter to UNICAL Vice Chancellor and Governing Council members, jointly signed by Dr Patience Odusolu, chairman, and Dr Ehiosun Aigbomian, secretary, indicated that the protest stemmed from a vacancy notice published in the Daily Sun newspaper on May 27, 2025, which stipulated that candidate for the position of Vice Chancellor must hold a PhD.

But, the MDCAN leadership contended that the clause effectively disqualified its members, many of whom hold the Medical Fellowship qualification, a globally recognized terminal degree for clinical academic staff.  The Association said they had in an earlier petition to the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, expressed utmost dismay at the advert, stressing that the requirement is a premeditated and intentional disenfranchisement of qualified medical and dental specialists.  

It noted that the exclusion violates guidelines issued by the Federal Ministry of Education, which recommend inclusive criteria for Vice Chancellor recruitment across federal universities.

MDCAN referenced similar incidents, particularly at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, where a similar exclusionary process reportedly led to major unrest and required presidential intervention.

It further highlighted that other prominent federal institutions, including Ahmadu Bello University and the University of Benin, have issued more inclusive VC appointment adverts in line with best practices.

It noted that despite a formal engagement with the Pro-Chancellor on June 3 and follow-up memos dated June 2 and June 9, the university’s Governing Council was yet to respond or amend the publication, hence the decision of the MDCAN at its emergency meeting held on June 13, 2025, to declare indefinite strike and withdrawal of services by all clinical lecturers in the school and the University Teaching Hospital.

The association said the strike is expected to disrupt academic activities within the college of medical sciences and health services at the university’s teaching hospital, where many clinical lecturers serve dual roles as medical educators and consultants.

Meanwhile, similar tension is also mounting at the University of Uyo (UNIUYO) as medical consultants and clinical lecturers under the umbrella of MDCAN, University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) chapter, have expressed outrage over what they described as deliberate exclusion from the ongoing selection process for the office of Vice Chancellor, and could declare a strike soon.

The association in a petition addressed to the University Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, condemned the criteria outlined in a vacancy advert published on May 29, 2025, which, they said, was designed to disenfranchise medical academics and favour a narrow group within the university.

The letter jointly signed by the Chairman of MDCAN University of Uyo, Dr Ibiok Uendiah, and the Secretary, Dr Solomon Bassey, respectively, indicated that the advert’s insistence that applicants must hold a PhD is not only discriminatory, but fails to recognize the long-established and government-approved qualification pathway for clinical lecturers, which is the Medical Fellowship.

The association warned that if the discriminatory advert is not withdrawn and revised, inclusive version published, they may be forced to resume their previously suspended strike.

“We cannot guarantee industrial harmony if these policies are not reversed. Our suspended industrial action was originally paused in good faith to allow management to address long-standing concerns.

“We have given the Governing Council a two-week window ending July 1, 2025, to take corrective action, and failure to address the matter could trigger a full-scale disruption of academic and health services,” they said.

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