Displaced UNICAL Dental Students Secure Admission at OAU After Months of Uncertainty

By Benjamin GBOR

‎Relief has finally come for hundreds of displaced dental students of the University of Calabar following months of uncertainty and emotional distress after they were withdrawn from the institution over admission quota issues.

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‎The university community was thrown into shock earlier this year when more than 300 dental students, including some in their final years, were reportedly asked to leave the programme after the institution failed to comply with the admission quota approved by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

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‎The crisis stemmed from the council’s approved quota of 10 students per academic session for the Dentistry programme, a limit the university was said to have exceeded over the years.

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‎The development triggered reactions from students, parents, and concerned stakeholders, especially as the affected students were made to bear the consequences of an administrative failure they had no involvement in.

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‎Many of the students had already spent several years studying before the decision, with reports at the time indicating that some were advised to abandon the programme and “learn a trade,” a statement that further intensified public reactions.

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‎However, in what has been described as a major breakthrough, the affected students have now been successfully transferred and officially admitted into Obafemi Awolowo University to continue their academic programme.

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‎The intervention was reportedly made possible after sustained efforts and engagements led by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Professor Offiong E. Offiong.

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