One of the sources said that the governing council included a requirement that disqualified them from contesting for the UNIZIK’s Vice-Chancellor position.
Medical students of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Anambra State, particularly those in final year, may not be able to graduate this year following a sustained indefinite strike embarked upon by clinical lecturers of the institution.
Sources from NAUTH told SaharaReporters on Monday that the indefinite strike started on September 25, 2024, following the Vice Chancellorship tussle between medical and clinical lecturers at the institution and the university’s governing council.
One of the sources said that the governing council included a requirement that disqualified them from contesting for the UNIZIK’s Vice-Chancellor position.
According to the source, one of the 11 requirements listed by the governing council in the advert published on September 12, where the announcement for the vacancy for the office of the institution’s Vice Chancellor, is that contestants must “have obtained a PhD at least 15 years prior to this advertisement and have supervised postgraduate students to completion.”
The clinical lecturers who are not comfortable with the requirement which they said was intentionally targeted at disqualifying them from contesting for the Vice-Chancellor position protested against the requirement but said the university management failed to attend to their complaint.
Following the disagreement, the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) in a letter dated September 17, 2025, and addressed to the Pro-chancellor/Chairman of Governing Council of the university, requested for withdrawal of the advert.
The MDCAN in the letter signed by its Chairman, Dr. V. I. Modekwe and the Secretary, Dr. S.O. Oriji, said that it had in a letter dated on August 2, 2024, alleged of a sinister plan to insert some injurious requirements into the proposed advertisement for the position of the Vice Chancellor of the University with a deliberate intention to exclude all the qualified lecturers of the faculties of Medicine, Basic Clinical Sciences and Basic Medical Sciences.
Part of the letter said, “We appealed in that letter that this injurious requirement should not be inserted as it is not only strange to Nnamdi Azikiwe University but to all the universities in Nigeria.
“Despite this pre-information and conviviality established, we were therefore shocked to see an advertisement for the position of Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), published in page 33 of Vanguard of Thursday 12th September 2024 purported to have been authorized by you (and signed by the Registrar/secretary of the council) that selectively and maliciously excluded all of our members from the entire Faculties of Medicine and Basic Clinical Sciences from applying for the vacant position of the Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (see ref 1).
“This is unprecedented and unacceptable. MDCAN therefore held an emergency congress on Saturday the 14th of September 2024 and made the following observations and resolutions.”
The Association said that the advert required that an applicant for the position of Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU) must possess a first degree, Master’s degree and a PhD.
“That the academic pathway of the clinical lecturers, in NAU and globally, does not fit into the above. Our academic pathway, known by all, is as follows: First degree (MBBS, BDS); Primary fellowship examination; Part I fellowship examination, and Part II/final fellowship examination leading to the award of a Medical Fellowship. (see the Nnamdi Azikiwe University “Blue” (staff hand) book for promotion for guidance).
“That the obnoxious advert had a prerequisite that applicant must have a PhD of 15 years, without including postgraduate Medical Fellowship of 15 years.
“That an attraction of a grant of N400,000,000 was required. A very strange phenomenon to mention a figure in such an advert.
“That no premium was placed on administrative experience of would-be candidates.
“That this advert deliberately excludes all of our members in the faculties of Medicine and Basic Clinical sciences.
“That this advert is a complete deviation from a similar advert for the position of Vice Chancellor of NAU in 2019 (see ref 2).
“That our earlier rapprochement was largely ignored and treated with disdain.”
Rejecting the advertisement, MDCAN described it as injurious and obnoxious, and demanded that the advertisement be withdrawn, and that subsequent advert should factor in the academic pathway of Medical/Clinical lecturers by putting Post-Graduate Medical fellowship anywhere PhD appears and excluding Master’s degree from requirement, considering our long standing pathway.
They gave an ultimatum that if the advert was not withdrawn within seven days from the date of the letter, they would be left with no option but to embark on an indefinite industrial action.
They warned that the industrial action would entail the withdrawal of all the medical/clinical lecturers from the faculties of Medicine, Basic Clinical Sciences and Basic Medical Sciences from all academic functions.
However, when the governing council did not heed their ultimatum, the lecturers in a notice of withdrawal of services dated September 25, 2024, and addressed to the Acting Vice Chancellor of the university, announced their resolve to proceed on an indefinite strike.
Speaking with SaharaReporters on Monday, one of the lecturers who confirmed their resolve to sustain the strike despite its negative implications on medical students of the institution said, “We are still on it. No reasonable reaction or call for round table discussion.
“Hospital work is going on. No strike in clinical services but students are not allowed to participate. No lectures, no exam and the final year students have already spent two years extra (covid 2020 lockdown and 2021, 8 months ASUU strike), and with this incident, they will not be able to graduate this year again.”