Southeast, South-South Doctors Announce Five-Day Solidarity Strike Over UniZik VC Appointment

The Southeast caucus of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has declared a five-day warning strike in solidarity with staff at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UniZik), Awka. This action affects universities across the Southeast and South-South regions and is a response to the exclusion of clinical lecturers from eligibility for the Vice-Chancellor position.

MDCAN has raised concerns about the recent advertisement for the Vice-Chancellor role, which stipulates that candidates must possess a PhD, secure at least 400 million Naira in research grants, and have supervised PhD students. The association argues that these criteria unfairly disqualify clinical lecturers, who primarily oversee medical residents and fellows.

In a letter dated October 16, 2024, and signed by MDCAN South-East caucus leaders, Iroro Yarhere (Chairman) and Stanley Ogbonna (Secretary), the group condemned the requirements as unacceptable. They highlighted that the demands for PhD supervision and substantial research grants overlook the realities of many academic disciplines within the university, particularly in fields like language and arts that may not attract such funding but significantly contribute to education and service delivery.

The Senate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University reportedly unanimously rejected the Vice-Chancellor advertisement, calling for a more inclusive approach to the selection process. The caucus stressed the potential negative consequences of allowing such exclusionary policies to persist, warning that it could undermine the professional standing of clinical lecturers and their contributions to academia.

In their resolution, the MDCAN caucus urged the Committees of Vice Chancellors and Pro-Chancellors to promptly review the advertisement to accommodate clinical lecturers and uphold fairness in leadership selection within academic institutions. They emphasized the vital role of clinical lecturers in universities and declared that failure to address these issues would compel them to escalate their industrial action beyond the initial five-day warning strike.