Lara Adejoro
The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria has issued a 21-day ultimatum to stakeholders, including the Federal Government, to address its demands, or its members will withdraw their services nationwide.
This was disclosed in a communique issued on Sunday at the end of its extraordinary virtual National Executive Council meeting held last Wednesday.
The communique noted that the agenda of the meeting was to appraise the discrimination of its academic and professional qualifications (the Medical and Dental Fellowships) mostly by Nigerian University administrators.
MDCAN is the umbrella body for custodians of specialist care and medical education in Nigeria.
The communique signed by MDCAN’a President, Prof Muhammad Muhammad, and its Secretary General, Prof Daiyabu Ibrahim, notes that the NEC observed with dismay the intentional attempt and absurdity to benchmark the requirement of the Vice Chancellor position to the attainment of a PhD without regard to the Medical and Dental Fellowships.
Recall that the University of Nnamdi Azikwe Medics Alumni Association had faulted the requirements listed by the university in appointing a Vice-Chancellor for the institution.
Some of the requirements listed for the position are that the candidate must hold a good first degree, master’s degree, and a PhD in relevant fields offered by the university; be a distinguished professor with at least nine years experience at that rank at a reputable university; obtain a PhD at least 15 years before the advertisement, and have supervised postgraduate students to completion; demonstrates a proven track record of securing substantial research funding, including attracting not less than N400m, and a history of obtaining research grants and other resources to enhance the university’s research capabilities, recorded before the advert.
The NEC, however, said the requirements are unfair, unlawful, and discriminatory to holders of the Medical and Dental Fellowship qualification, which are both an academic and a professional qualification, as it is the required qualification for the employment of lecturers into the Faculties of Basic Clinical Sciences, Clinical Sciences, and Dentistry.
The council also observed the failure of the government to harmonize the retirement age of Medical Consultants to 70 years, especially in the face of increasing needs for both academic and
professional duties of these medical and dental specialists; and the failure of the government to complete the process of harmonising the payment of
the emoluments of Clinical Medical Lecturers with Consolidated Medical Salary Structure to correct the significant shortfalls in their emolument, entry-level, and pension.
It, however, commended the steps taken thus far by her members to address the discriminatory advertisements for the position of a VC.
It emphasised that the requirements for the position aim to disenfranchise the medical lecturers, from contributing their quota to the university administration and
management at the highest level.
It said the association’s action regarding the requirements may not be limited to only withdrawal of service but will include legal options, among others.
“The NEC resolved that it is unacceptable for any university in Nigeria to benchmark the requirements for the office of a Vice-Chancellor to the
attainment of a PhD, without recognising the Medical and Dental Fellowships
peculiar to the medical profession as an academic and professional qualification that more than suffices wherever a PhD is required. NEC demands the immediate withdrawal of the discriminatory advertisements and inclusion of Medical and dental Fellowship qualifications in all adverts for the vacant position of the office of Vice Chancellor wherever Medicine and Dentistry are offered in that University”, it stated.
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