•Unical Pharmacy students protest
Students of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) staged a peaceful march on campus yesterday, alleging that the institution’s management was hindering the accreditation of their programme.
They accused the university of neglect, underfunding and poor infrastructure, which they claimed contributed in delaying approval by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), reports The Guardian.
A student identified as Ndifreke Okowo said the Pharmacy programme, which began in 2016 under former Vice Chancellor, Prof Zana Akpagu, faced continuous setbacks due to the university’s failure to meet basic accreditation requirements.
“We reached 400 level when we were suddenly informed that we had been running an illegal programme. Now, we are in 600 level with no laboratories, no seats, and no assurance that we can graduate as licensed pharmacists,” Okowo said.
He explained that the incumbent Vice Chancellor, Prof Florence Obi, completed the faculty building, adding: “Our labs are empty, and some of us sit on the floor during lectures. The authorities keep promising that PCN will visit soon, but nothing has happened.”
Another student, Iris Johnson, described the situation as “disheartening,” noting that repeated assurances from the university’s authorities had not yielded results.
“We have been promised several times that the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) would come for accreditation between October and November, but that has not happened. The Vice Chancellor is leaving office soon, and we fear what happened to Dentistry may repeat itself,” she said.
The students also decried the shortage of lecturers, alleging that some departments had only two or three academic staff members handling hundreds of students.
They called on the federal and state governments, as well as the PCN, to urgently intervene to prevent the collapse of the programme and secure their academic future.
When contacted, the university’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Dr Effiong Eyo, said he was not aware of the development, and would make inquiries.
Calls to the Vice Chancellor’s office were not returned as of press time.
