No Student Should Pay the Price for Leadership Failures – Peter Obi

Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has weighed in on the ongoing crisis at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), where dental students are caught in an accreditation and induction quota dispute.

In a statement following his visit to the Faculty of Dental Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Obi expressed concern over the situation and urged for urgent resolution. He acknowledged the Vice Chancellor’s recent assurance that steps would be taken to address the matter and said he looked forward to “a favourable resolution.”

“Whatever the root cause, one thing is clear: no student should suffer due to what I consider a failure of leadership,” Obi said. He stressed the importance of prioritising education, particularly in critical fields like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and warned against allowing bureaucratic lapses to jeopardise students’ futures.

Drawing from his experience as Governor of Anambra State, Obi recalled a similar challenge when the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria shut down the state’s medical school due to the absence of a teaching hospital.

“I had just assumed office, barely one year in, when I met the crisis, but I refused to let those innocent students become victims,” he said. “I pleaded with the Council and told them that the children did not cause the issue and should not be made to suffer for it. I promised to take full responsibility and committed to building a functional teaching hospital within two years.”

Despite doubts from the Council, Obi said he completed the hospital in less than 18 months — a facility now known as Odumegwu-Ojukwu Teaching Hospital in Awka.

“Leaders must be solution-driven, especially when the lives and futures of our young people are at stake,” he stated.

Obi called on the Federal Government to provide both financial and institutional backing to the University of Calabar to bring the crisis to a swift end. He urged the authorities to ensure that “no student is made to suffer for circumstances that are in no way their fault.”

“At this critical time in our nation, we cannot afford to continue the downward trend of neglecting education and healthcare, or of failing to lift people out of poverty, while wasting resources on areas that bring no tangible value,” he added.

“Our children must not continue to lose their future in Nigeria.”