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Tag: University of Calabar

  • Calabar gears up for NUGA as UNICAL seals hosting mandate

    Calabar gears up for NUGA as UNICAL seals hosting mandate

    The University of Calabar has begun laying the foundation for what it hopes will be a landmark edition of the Nigeria University Games Association competition in 2026.

    After formally receiving the NUGA hosting flag and signing the Memorandum of Agreement, the institution reaffirmed its commitment to delivering well-organised and memorable Games.

    Vice Chancellor Prof. Offiong Efanga Offiong highlighted Calabar’s reputation for peace and hospitality as key assets for the event.

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    With preparations already underway for the August 2026 Games, UNICAL aims to combine sporting excellence with cultural celebration, ensuring athletes and officials enjoy a rewarding experience.

    The university’s leadership described the hosting rights as both an honour and a responsibility to set new standards for university sports in Nigeria.

  • University of Calabar gets new Vice Chancellor

    University of Calabar gets new Vice Chancellor

    •Exco approves one of the nominees as VC Designate

    One of University of Calabar (UNICAL’s) professors, Offiong Effanga Offiong has emerged as the substantive Vice Chancellor designate of the University.

    Interviews for the position of the next Vice Chancellor have been ongoing the last 24 hours.

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    However, The Nation can confirm that, the institutions’ 14th Governing Council just confirmed the appointment of Prof. Offiong as the 12th VC of UNICAL.

  • Over 300 Dentistry students risk expulsion from UNICAL over admission crisis

    Over 300 Dentistry students risk expulsion from UNICAL over admission crisis

    •Management keeps mum as tension rises

    About three hundred undergraduates at the Faculty of Dentistry and Dental Surgery, University of Calabar, are on the verge of being sent away from the institution.

    The Nation learnt that some of the students are in their final year.

    Some affected students who shared their predicament on X, formerly Twitter and others who spoke with our reporter under anonymity, explained that the controversy stems from claims that the university admitted more students than the number officially accredited by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN). 

     The affected students, some of whom are in their fourth and fifth years of study, said they were recently issued letters summoning them for a meeting regarding what school authorities described as “non-regular” admissions.

    The memo, seen by The Nation, invited the students to a scheduled meeting with faculty authorities scheduled for July 7. Although the letter stops short of explicitly stating expulsion, students interpret it as a precursor to being dropped from the programme.

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    One of the affected who goes by the name Shegzz @SteveOsh2 on X relived his ordeal thus: “I’m a 5th year dental student. I’ve written 3MB exams, passed all. Now in pre-clinical dentistry, hoping to graduate in less than 2 years, only to now hear we have lost accreditation because we don’t have the facilities. They kept on promising and feeding us lies that facilities would be available before we graduate. Here we are in Year 5, 7 years inside this struggle, and we are now told to take transfers to other schools, which wouldn’t solve this issue.”

    Another who goes by the name Jack Collinsgaj @xavage1919 said: “I am a student of 5B class… I have given my all to make sure I pass my exams(+2 professional exams) only to be told that my future has been shattered by my very university, which is supposed to protect my interests… This is heartbreaking and depressing…”

    Another netizen, Jumbo Blessing @Jumblessing hinted that the ugly development isn’t new in the institution.  “Same thing they did to engineering and pharmacy students 4years ago and mass communication 3 years ago. Unical is always doing this every year, admitting too many students, then the lecturers will fail them and send them to departments they never chose or just drop them.”

    Speaking under conditions of anonymity, one of the affected students said, “This is our fourth year in this programme. We’ve paid fees, done clinicals,  passed courses, and now they’re telling us we shouldn’t have been admitted?

    “We are not the ones who approved the admission quota. Why should we suffer for the institution’s mistake?”

    While the university has yet to issue a formal public statement, some students allege that staff members have warned them against speaking to the media.

    “We were told not to talk about this, even among ourselves,” claimed another affected student. “But we are tired of being quiet. We have families who’ve invested in us. We want answers.”

    Efforts to reach the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, and the school public relations officer (PRO), were unsuccessful, as calls, text messages went unanswered at the time of filing this report.

  • UNICAL clinical lecturers down tools over new VC selection

    UNICAL clinical lecturers down tools over new VC selection

    •As MDCAN gives two-weeks ultimatum

    Clinical lecturers at the University of Calabar have commenced an indefinite withdrawal of their services over what they described as their deliberate exclusion from the ongoing selection process for the institution’s next Vice Chancellor.

    The decision that was conveyed in a letter dated 13th June 2025 and addressed to the Vice Chancellor was issued under the auspices of the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), University of Calabar Teaching Hospital chapter.

    The group said its members have been unjustly disenfranchised following the publication of an advertorial in a national newspaper on May 27, 2025, which it claims effectively bars clinical lecturers from applying for the top job.

    According to the letter, signed by MDCAN Chairman Dr. Patience Odusolu and Secretary Dr. Ehiosun Aigbomian, the group had earlier submitted memos to the University’s Governing Council on June 2 and June 9, demanding a retraction of the advertorial and the issuance of an inclusive notice. However, they said the Council failed to respond.

    “The continued silence and inaction by the Governing Council is a breach of our fundamental rights to aspire for the position of Vice Chancellor,” the lecturers stated, adding that three weeks had already passed since the advert was released, effectively reducing the application window and denying them equal opportunity.

    In protest, the clinical lecturers declared that total and indefinite withdrawal of their academic services has commenced, pending the withdrawal of the original advert, publication of a new inclusive one, and extension of the application deadline to accommodate all qualified candidates.

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    They also demanded the immediate suspension of the ongoing selection process.

    The protest letter has been copied to key education authorities including the Minister of Education, the National Assembly’s Education Committees, the Pro-Chancellor, the Registrar of the University, and professional medical bodies such as the Nigerian Medical Association and MDCAN national leadership.

    Similarly, at the University of Uyo, the MDCAN has issued a strongly worded petition to the Governing Council, protesting a similar advert published on May 29, which also mandates a PhD for applicants.

    In their letter, signed by Dr. Ibiok Usendiah (Chairman) and Dr. Solomon Bassey (Secretary), the association condemned the criteria as deliberately exclusionary and impractical.

    The union gave the Governing Council a two-week ultimatum ending July 1, 2025, to act or face the resumption of its suspended industrial action.

    They aggrieved clinical lecturers noted that postgraduate medical fellowships, achieved after an additional six to seven years of specialised training serve as the standard academic qualification for clinical lecturers and are endorsed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and Federal Ministry of Education.

  • ‘Education, a veritable tool for national development’

    Vice Chancellor, University of Calabar Prof Zana Akpagu, has identified education as a veritable tool for national development.

    Akpagu said no country can achieve meaningful development without investing in education.

    Akpagu stated this at the institution’s Senate Chamber during the ninth annual conference of the Faculty of Education. It had: Inclusive education, entrepreneurship and national development, as the theme.

    According to him, no country can attain real national development without emphasis on formal and informal education. Akpagu underscored the need for the citizenry to be educated and trained in entrepreneurial skills to enable them become employers of labour through job creation.

    “The citizenry needs to be educated for skills development through concerted efforts on entrepreneurship to create wealth and instill balanced development amongst young entrepreneurs,” said Akpagu who was represented by Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Prof Uche Amalu.

    He described the theme of the conference as apt.

    Akpagu, who also underscored the place of research in the development of any institution, added that any institution that fails in that direction cannot function effectively.

    In his welcome address, the Dean of the Faculty of Education, Prof Simon Akpama, said the faculty’s determination is to sustain sacred academic tradition in a knowledge-driven economy in tandem with global best practices.

    Akpama urged participants to dissect the theme and also emphasise the synergy between inclusive education and entrepreneurship to midwife national development.

    Also speaking, former vice chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Prof Chigozie Asiabaka, described inclusive education as the fundamental principle that children must learn together.

    Asiabaka, who was also the keynote speaker, spoke on the topic: ‘Inclusive education, entrepreneurship and national development.’

    He explained that inclusive education has also evolved with different nomenclatures such as normalisation, mainstreaming and integration.

    Asiabaka stated that inclusive education focuses on supporting all learners, educators and the system to address the full range of learning needs.

    He enumerated benefits of inclusive education to include: creating opportunities for children with varying abilities when motivated; encouraging involvement of parents in the education of their children; fostering a culture of respect; and providing for all children opportunities to develop friendships with one another.

    Asiabaka stressed that inclusive education focuses on providing education for all, irrespective of inabilities, adding that education can be formal or informal.

    He also said inclusive education provides equal opportunities for learners irrespective of handicapping condition or severity.

    Similarly, Prof. Samuel Killian Bassey from Cross River State University of Technology, said equipping learners in an inclusive education system with self-employable skills can ginger national development.

    The conference also featured presentation by special education students.

  • UNICAL hosts fifth Niyi Osundare global poetry festival

    THE University of Calabar (UNICAL) has hosted the fifth edition of the Niyi Osundare International Poetry Festival.

    It was the first time the event was held outside the Southwest.

    This year’s theme for the annual festival, which celebrates world acclaimed poet and literary icon, Prof Niyi Osundare, is: Popular Poetry and the Search for Development in a Modern State.

    UNICAL Vice Chancellor Prof Zana Akpagu said International Poetry Festival was an opportunity to celebrate “the immortal and creative oeuvre of a great patriot, pan-Africanist scholar and humanist, whose public interventions have remained a rich source of inspiration and illumination in our beloved country”.

    Akpagu, who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor Administration, Prof Lucy Udida, said: “The festival’s overarching vision of promoting humanistic ideals through popular literature …falls squarely within the vision and philosophy of UNICAL. It is for the reason of visionary ambience of the festival and deep appreciation of our iconic scholar, Niyi Osundare – his person and works – that our university elected to host this year’s edition.”

    The Chairman of the Niyi Osundare International Poetry Festival 2019, Dr James Okpiliya, who said Osundare is a household name the world over, described him as a versatile poet, first-class critic of African Literature, human rights crusader and a man with an unflinching love for the downtrodden.

    Read Also: UNICAL holds maiden art exhibition

    “The idea to host this annual festival in Calabar was conceived last year when Prof John Ushie and I attended the Niyi Osundare Festival hosted by Lead City University, Ibadan,” he said.

    Osundare, who is currently a Professor of English at the Univeristy of Orleans, Lakefront, New Orleans, in the United States (U.S.A), expressed gratitude for the honour.

    “I am stunned. This is beyond description. But at the same time I must say I am not terribly surprised. This is fifth edition of this festival. I give a lot of credit to my two brother, Dele Morakinyo, the founder, and Tunde Laniyan, the Festival Director.

    “The chemistry between the two of them and the professional understanding and mutual respect is responsible for this. Then,  UNICAL. Their delegation came to last year’s festival in Ibadan and said they would try to hold it this year and went to work. I feel really humbled.”

     

     

  • College graduates 310…gets 110 laptops from NCC

    The Federal College of Education, Obudu in Cross River State, in affiliation with the University of Calabar, has matriculated 310 students for degree programmes for the 2018/2019 academic session.

    At the ceremony to mark the occasion, the Provost of the College, Dr. James Bassey Ejue praised the Federal Government for its commitment to education through regular payment of salaries, development of members of staff, provision of infrastructure and subsidised fees for students.

    Ejue, who said that through capital intervention, the college has received classroom and office furniture as well as upgrading of all the science and language laboratories, also revealed that the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) has donated 110 computer laptops to the school to help the institution to improve teaching and learning.

    While advising members of staff and students to justify the huge investments by putting the facilities to good use and producing quality teachers in all areas, he called on all stakeholders to work hard to take the college to enviable heights so that its graduates will be sought after by employers of labour.

    Dr. Ejue, who congratulated the 310 graduating students, however, pleaded that relevant authorities should increase the admission quota, especially for the reason that all their 13 degree programmes have gained full accreditation status by the Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC).

    The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, who was represented by the Dean of Faculty of Education, Prof. Simon Ibor Akpama, informed the students that the ceremony marked their formal initiation into the academic programmes of the university.

    The Vice-Chancellor advised them to be disciplined, diligent and committed to their academic works.

    He also advised them against vices such as vandalism, violence, drug abuse and drug addiction, cultism, robbery, prostitution and joining gang groups, among others, which would be inimical to their academic progress.

    He said the future of the country depended on them, even as he urged them not to disappoint those who saw them through their education.

  • C/River donates to victims of tanker explosion

    The Cross River Government has donated medical equipment to the emergency ward of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) to aid the victims of the fuel tanker explosion.

    The equipment included cartons of intravenous fluids, hand sanitizers, wound dressing equipment among others.

    The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Inyang Asibong, who donated the equipment to the hospital on Saturday in Calabar, described the incident as `tragic and sudden’.

    Some people were confirmed dead on Friday night at Odukpani local government area when an explosion occurred while they were scooping fuel from a fallen tanker laden with petroleum product.

    Asibong said that the visit to the hospital was to access the situation and donate the equipment for the treatment of the survivors.

    She explained that as soon as the victims were brought into the hospital, the ministry had to mobilise its personnel to join their colleagues in the UCTH to respond timely to the victims.

    “We don’t have the exact number of casualty at the moment, but I know that we have lost a dozen of them due to the explosion.

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    “As a state, we are sad over the death of dozens of persons who lost their lives while trying to scoop fuel from a fallen tanker at Odukpani.

    “People must stop the act of scooping fuel whenever a tanker falls in their area. Many persons have died in the past through this.

    “We would do everything possible as a state to make sure that we don’t lose these ones,’’ she said.

    The commissioner commiserated with the families of those that lost their lives, praying that the survivors that are currently receiving treatment should not lose their lives.

    She advised residents of the state to always call on competent authorities to manage such emergency cases.

    Prof. Thomas Agan, the Chief Medical Director of UCTH, told NAN in an interview that 18 persons were brought into the hospital on Friday night.

    Agan explained that out of the 18 victims, 15 were adults while three were children, adding that one victim died on arrival while another one died later at night.

    “As we speak, we have 16 victims in our facility. 18 victims were brought in for treatment and two of them have died.

    “The 16 victims are fairly stable. We need support from corporate bodies, individuals and groups because we have exhausted our internal consumables,’’ he said.

    NAN

     

  • UNICAL SUG constructs N4m laundry bay for students

    The Students Union Government (SUG) of the University of Calabar (UNICAL), has constructed an ultra-modern laundry bay for students living in the hostel, popularly known as Malabor Republic, estimated at almost N4 million.

     

    President of the SUG, Enyam Kelvin, said the bay, which also has provision for ironing clothes, became necessary as some of the hostel halls in the Republic had nowhere for students to wash their clothes.

     

    Speaking at the commissioning of the project, he said the bay could take up to 500 students washing at the same time.

     

    Kelvin, who assumed office about three months ago, said funding for the project was through partnership with the University management.

     

    He said a structure has also been put in place to ensure the proper management of the bay.

     

    “We had to develop a means where students can wash comfortably and make it up to standard considering the equipment and facility. The project cost almost N4 million, the funding came through partnership with the University management because of the Vice-Chancellor is students oriented and he assured that the project must be completed and we want to thank God for it.

     

    “The bay can simultaneously carry up to 500 students washing at the same time. We have a maintenance structure in place because if we don’t manage it, it will become a problem. We have put up modalities to ensure the facility is maintained to serve all Nigerian students. This is the first capital project in the republic. We would also orient the students on the need to maintain the facility so other students can also enjoy the facility after them.

    Read Also: Final year UNICAL student killed by armed robbers

     

    “The Vice Chancellor has been very encouraging. He made this a reality. He is a student oriented VC. He has always promoted the students agenda and we are grateful to him,” Kelvin said.

     

    Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Zana Akpagu, said students’ welfare was his priority.

     

    Akpagu who promised to do more to make life better for the students, said he would avoid bureaucracies to provide facilities for the students.

     

    He congratulated the leadership of the SUG for the project, saying they have etched their names positively in history.

     

    Former Senator representing the Southern Senatorial District of Cross River State, Prince Bassey Otu, who commissioned the project, lauded the SUG for their effort to improve the lives of the students. 

     

    “This gives the consolation that the future is bright if young people can embark on such endeavours,” he said.

     

    The Senator representing the Central Senatorial District of the state, Mr John Owan-Enoh, promised to support the students to do more.

     

    Senator Owan Enoh, who was represented by Mr Patrick Okon, urged the students to continue to support the SUG.

  • Medical doctors raise alarm over increasing quackery in Cross River

    The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in Cross River State has raised an alarm over the increasing number of quack doctors in the state.

    Chairman of the Association in the state, Dr Effiong Mkpanam, raised the alarm during the 2018 Annual General Meeting/Scientific Conference of the association in Calabar, which had as its theme “Impact of Economic and Security Challenges on Nigeria Health Sector.

    Mkpanam said that medical quackery in Cross River was assuming an embarrassing dimension, hence the need to curb the menace.

    He said that the NMA has invested in anti-quackery measures with a view to help fight the menace.

    The Chairman said that medical doctors now use the ‘Doctors Stamp’ which took effect in 2015 as a way to curb quackery in the health sector.

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    “Quackery in Cross River is assuming another embarrassing dimension. Henceforth, all reports from doctors must carry this customized stamp which carries the doctor’s name, institution attended, the Medical registration and folio number. This stamp has been approved by government and is widely accepted”, he said.

    He urged Governor Ben Ayade to employ more consultants, nurses and medical officers into the state health sector and also upgrade health facilities across the state.

    The Keynote Speaker, Prof. Rowland Ndoma-Egba, who spoke on the conference theme, said that the issue of infrastructure in hospitals was relatively low.

    Ndoma-Egba, a former Chief Medical Director of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, said that it was time for government at all level to invest massively in the health sector.

    The Special Adviser to the Governor on Health Insurance, Mr Godwin Iyala, said that the agency was collaborating with the NMA to deliver quality health service to residents in the state.