Fresh admission controversy has hit the university of lagos

1>>Fresh admission controversy has hit the University of Lagos as some candidates are accusing the authorities of high- hande...

1>>Fresh admission controversy has hit the
University of Lagos
as some candidates are accusing the
authorities of high-
handedness, CHARLES ABAH writes
For no fewer than 57 candidates, who
participated in the
2015/2016 Foundation programmes that
would enable them
to study Medicine and Surgery at the
University of Lagos,
this September seems to be the longest
month that they
have ever witnessed in life.
In fact, since September 9, these candidates
have not known
peace, considering what they called high-
handedness of the
authorities of the university.
According to them, having passed all the
necessary
qualifying examinations that would enable
them to proceed
to the medical school, having spent
hundreds of naira in
terms of tuition and other sundry fees –
undergoing a
foundation programme – the authorities of
the university
are now scheming to abort their dreams.
Already, they have written to the Vice-
Chancellor, Prof.
Rahamon Bello, demanding that the
authorities should
urgently look into their case.
In the letter dated September 20, 2016, the
candidates,
under the auspices of 2015/2016
Foundation MBBS, noted
that denying them admission to study
medicine in the ivory
tower would be akin to a miscarriage of
justice.
They copied the registrar of the university,
director, School
of Foundation Studies, provost, College of
Medicine, as well
as the Joint University Preliminary
Examination Board in the
petition.
Parts of their letter read, “The School of
Foundation Studies
admitted over 800 students into its
programme with a
promise that those who scored AAA (16
points) in all their
courses shall be admitted to 200 level to
study Medicine. We
were asked to pay a huge sum of money –
about half a
million naira.
“The university tested us with a curriculum
and at the end of
the exercise, 87 of us obtained the required
A’s. As if the
management was happy about the less
than 10 per cent
pass, it came out with another fresh
directive, which seems
to call a ball that went over the bar a goal.
The university
said that it could only admit 30 students.
“Are we now being told that the university is
nothing but a
business centre and the JUPEB programme
is nothing but a
fraud? We hereby demand justice. This is
but a rape on the
collective intelligence of Nigerian students
and an attempt to
reduce the citadel of learning to a mere
business venture.
No sane society will let this go
unchallenged. The university
should provide reasons why, despite the
recession in the
country, parents will be made to cough out
such whopping
sums on empty promises.”
Our correspondent gathered that each of
the candidates
paid non-refundable acceptance fees of
N25,000; N350,000
tuition; N7,500 medical insurance; N25,000
for
examinations; N700 for syllabus, and N850
for biometric
identity card. Besides, the candidates made
personal
arrangements for their accommodation for
the one year that
the programme lasted.
Beyond the fees, the narratives by some of
the affected
candidates and their guardians are the type
some people
will describe as touching.
“I have a B.Sc in Nursing from the Obafemi
Awolowo
University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. I graduated in
2009. No fewer
than 800 of us enrolled for this programme
last year and
only 87 of us obtained the required three A’s
to study
medicine. With this, admission to the
college of medicine
would ordinarily be automatic but the
authorities are
changing the rules mid way into the game.
This is not so in
other universities.
“To study medicine in many other
universities, one requires
only 13 points, but here we all obtained 16
points. Yet, the
authorities of UNILAG say they do not have
space for us. I
know how I struggled to make these
grades. I know the
psychological stress that I passed through
to enable me to
achieve this success. This programme
nearly cost me my
marriage as I struggled daily to cater to my
husband and two
teenage children.
“Why would I suffer the consequences of
lack of space when
they admitted so many candidates in the
first place? The
Federal Government needs to intervene in
this matter;
otherwise, we shall spend another year at
home due to no
fault of ours. Today, the authorities are
asking us to go for
such courses as fishery, botany, cell
biology, psychology.
Please, when has it become a crime to pass
an examination?
After having a degree in nursing, they
expect me to start
another course in fishery,” the candidate,
who craved
anonymity for fear of victimisation, said.
For another candidate, Adesewa, the
decision of the
university management will cut short her
dream of
becoming a medical doctor. The young
lady, who said she
obtained her WASSCE in 2013, noted that
she had forfeited
other admission placements just for her to
study medicine.
She said, “I abandoned the admission I got
to study Bio-
Chemistry at the Olabisi Onabanjo
University, Ago-Iwoye,
Ogun State in 2013 just to study medicine.
In 2014, I sat for
another UTME and obtained 68.75
aggregate marks. The cut
off that year at UNILAG was 70 marks. In
2015, I enrolled for
this foundation programme. Now, see the
frustration I am
facing again.”
But the Director, School of Foundation
Studies, Prof.
Oluwole Familoni, said the university did not
promise any
candidate automatic admission for
medicine. According to
him, both the candidates and their parents
knew ab initio
that the university had limited spaces for
medical students.
He added, “There was no assurance of
automatic admission
for any candidate. Of course, we could not
have done that
because the regulators, the Medical and
Dental Council of
Nigeria, would not allow us to admit more
than 100
students.
“Agreed, the 87 candidates did well, they
cannot force the
authorities to admit them all to the College
of Medicine and
that is why we have given them the option
to enrol for other
programmes.”
On why the institution enrolled hundreds of
candidates for
the programme knowing that it had limited
spaces, Familoni
said it was a competition thrown open for all
interested
candidates.
He noted, “We could not have enrolled only
30 candidates
for the foundation courses because we have
only 30 spaces
for them. It is akin to seeking employment in
an
organisation. Every firm has the right to
select from the
millions of applicants, those it considers
suitable.
“We did not force them to purchase the
forms. It’s a pity that
they want to destroy the image of the
university. They can go
to court if they feel so aggrieved. Some
persons tried it
recently and they lost the case in the court.
You cannot force
any university to offer you admission.”
But a retiree, Mr. Joseph Taiwo, who said
that he sold some
of his personal effects, including his car, to
ensure that his
son sail through the foundation programme,
noted that his
family had not been in lively spirits since
the news got to
them.
He added, “When we initially received a
report that he was
among the few that obtained three straight
A’s, we went for
thanksgiving in our church. But that
bubbling situation has
died down in my home. We have all been
wearing a
mournful look since September 9 when
news filtered that
only 30 of them would be offered
admission. Ordinarily, I
would have sent him overseas to pursue
the same course
but I do not have the wherewithal.”
Appraising the development, the
Coordinator, Education
Rights Campaign, Mr. Taiwo Hassan, said
the handling of the
situation by the university was wrong.
“What UNILAG has done is very wrong and
unacceptable. It
amounts to changing the rules in the middle
of the game.
What the university has done is a violation
of the rights of
the students and I urge the affected
foundation students not
to take this lying low. They should stand up
and organise
themselves to challenge this injustice
legally and politically.
No one should accept that nothing could be
done about this.
“As far as the ERC is concerned, we believe
that this routine
violation of students’ rights by UNILAG is
one too many.
Early in the year, about 102
undergraduates, who came into
the university through the UTME for
Medicine and Surgery
were treated in the same way. Now is the
time to say
enough is enough to the impunity of the
authorities,” the
ERC helmsman said.