Provost Ngim’s Parting Shot: ‘Go Learn a Trade’ as 300 UNICAL Dentistry Students Cry Foul Over Accreditation Disaster

In a packed hall at the University of Calabar on July 10, 2025, a mother’s desperation turned to tears as she begged the school to absorb her daughter into Medicine after the university’s Faculty of Dentistry lost its accreditation. The Provost of the College of Medical Sciences, Prof. Ngim I. Ngim, responded with a chilling admission: “We admitted more than our quota, hoping you people fail and it would balance out.”

This heart-wrenching scene captures the desperation of over 300 students, some of whom have spent nearly a decade pursuing their dental dreams, only to be told to “go and learn a trade.” The crisis began after the apex class of 60 final-year dental students completed their Part V professional exams, with only 32 passing and being sent to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) for verification.

However, the MDCN rejected the list, citing the university’s graduation quota for dentistry as just 10—on a provisional basis. The council was alarmed to find that UNICAL had been admitting far more students than approved, sometimes up to 90 a year. MDCN summoned the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Banku Obi, Provost Ngim, and the Dean of Dentistry to explain the excesses.

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Following the withdrawal of provisional accreditation on July 8, 2025, the university advised students to either transfer to other universities or leave entirely. Students were told to “go home” until further notice, with some being asked to write another JAMB exam.

Koti, a 100-level student, said, “We were told to write another JAMB exam. The VC said she thought only 10 students had been admitted into Year One, but when she realized it was 67, she terminated our admission. Now, we’re just at home.”

The backlash from students and parents has been fierce, with Diobi, a graduate awaiting induction, saying, “We finished our final exams in May. We were supposed to be inducted with the Medicine students on July 21, but now, we’re floating.”

Charlotte, a 500-level student of the Faculty of Dentistry and Dental Surgery who has been tracking the situation since the faculty split from Medicine in 2013/2014, said the issue began when the school started admitting more students than they could graduate. “The 500 level class started with 105 students. Some left, some failed, but by our final year we were still about 97. Now only 45 are recognized. The remaining 52? No one knows. And how do you tell year one students, who went through matriculation, that they are now considered illegal?”

She also criticized how the parents were treated during the meeting. “Only four parents were allowed to speak, and they were picked at random. One of them, a single mother, cried while asking for a refund. The VC didn’t outrightly deny the request, but her response wasn’t hopeful either. The other parents asked questions about transferring students, but the school gave no concrete answers. When students asked, ‘Why?’ the Provost just said we should meet him privately after the meeting in a tone that didn’t match the seriousness of the issue.”

Charlotte further revealed that when the Medical and Dental Council came for accreditation, they discovered the faculty had exceeded its student capacity and directed the university to stop admitting students into Dentistry for at least five years. “They obeyed the directive for only two years and then resumed admitting students. That’s why there’s a year one class now.”

She said many of the students have been in school for 8 to 9 years due to academic delays and ASUU strikes, even though Dentistry is supposed to last six years, followed by one year of internship and one year of national youth service (NYSC). She suggested that a practical solution would be to integrate some students into the Medicine program.

In her words: “Let UNICAL just absorb the junior students into Medicine. That’s the only fair compensation. We learn the same things up until our fifth year, when we split into separate courses. These students are willing to continue in Medicine instead of being scattered to other schools, not knowing where they’ll start from or if they’ll even be accepted. Transferring is not easy—it comes with psychological stress and financial burden.”

Frustration runs deep among the Year One students: “We were told to go home and write JAMB again. Some of us have written JAMB four or five times. We passed UTME, paid our fees, joined classes, and now we’re being told our admission is illegal,” one of them queried the cruelty on the part of the school management.

“We weren’t told the faculty had problems. We just wanted to study dentistry and now we’re being asked to leave like we committed a crime”, another student lamented. The students further pointed out that the Dentistry option is still listed on the JAMB portal despite the crisis. “If nothing is done, this will keep happening to new students. The school should have stopped advertising the course.”

The Nigerian Association of Dental Students (NADS) has condemned the university’s action, describing the treatment of students as “inhumane.” They have called for an immediate halt to the forced transfers and urged the government, the MDCN, and the Ministry of Education to intervene and secure the future of affected students.

Social media erupted with frustration and despair as students lashed out at the university, accusing it of corruption and greed-driven practices that have ruined their dreams, with many branding it a ‘scam’ that preys on parents’ hard-earned money.

As the situation unfolds, a medical student from UNICAL’s College of Medical Sciences has warned that a similar fate might soon befall medical students, citing the university’s admission of over 800 students instead of the approved 150.

For now, the future remains uncertain for the affected dental students, with many calling on UNICAL to absorb junior students into Medicine. “Let us continue in Medicine,” one student pleaded. “It’s the only fair thing. Starting afresh in a new school is a financial and emotional burden. Some of us are self-sponsored. We’ve done nothing wrong. All we ask is to be treated with dignity and given a chance to finish what we started.”