MDCAN Wants UNIZIK Pro-Chancellor Sacked, Declares 7-Day Warning Strike

The National Executive Council (NEC), Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), has urged the federal government to immediately relieve Ambassador Greg Ozumba Mbadiwe of his position as pro-chancellor and chairman of the Governing Council, Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), for his insubordination and refusal to enforce the Ministry of Education’s directive.

It will be recalled that a letter from the Federal Ministry of Education signed by R. A. Ilyasu for the permanent secretary annulled Prof Bernard Odoh’s recent appointment as VC UNIZIK, Awka in Anambra State.

They also declared a seven-day warning strike effective Monday, November 18th, 2024. The strike will affect all services rendered by their members in all Nigerian universities and public hospitals.

This was contained in a communique issued in Jos at the end of the extraordinary virtual meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) held on Monday, 11th November 2024, to consider the 21-day ultimatum issued to the federal government and noted with utter disbelieve that Prof Bernard Odoh is still parading himself as the vice-chancellor.

The communique, jointly signed by the president Prof Aminu Mohammad and secretary Prof Daiyabu Ibrahim, further called on the federal government to develop an all-inclusive advertisement prototype for the office of vice-chancellor.

They argued that an advertisement for the office of the vice-chancellor, as recently issued by Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, should serve as a guide for future selection of the University’s vice-chancellors in the country.

MDCAN also observed the government’s failure to harmonise the retirement age of medical consultants to 70 years to address the country’s current shortfall of critical manpower for training, research, and healthcare services.

NEC further frowned at the government’s failure to universally implement the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) for clinical lecturers in all Nigerian universities. This structure aims to mitigate the current shortfalls in members’ emoluments, entry-level salaries, and pension contributions.

The medical and dental consultants, therefore, demanded that the payment of emoluments of Medical Lecturers be harmonised with the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) to ensure its universal applicability of CONMESS to all Medical and Dental officers.

According to the communique, NEC will reconvene at the expiration of the 7-day warning strike notice to reassess the situation and progress made to enable them to take the next line of action.