Abia State University (ABSU) has lost its NUC accreditation, which means the school will no longer accept new students to study Medicine and Surgery.
The Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, Abia State chapter, has expressed regret over the loss of Medicine accreditation at Abia State University, Uturu.
The Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) revoked the accreditation due to deficiencies discovered by the university regulatory body. The Teaching Hospital is part of the teaching facilities and serves as a training environment for Clinical Medical Students.
According to Dr. Chimezie Okwuonu, Chairman of the NMA in Abia State,
The Medical School at ABSU has lost its Nigerian University Commission accreditation, which is truly devastating.
“This means that the school will no longer accept new students to study Medicine and Surgery in that citadel of learning,” the body stated.
“It could be related to the non-functional state of the Abia State University Teaching Hospital Aba, which is a teaching facility for medical students.”
“The teaching hospital, ABSUTH, has been plagued by interrupted operations for a long time due to worker agitations and industrial actions over irregular salary payment.”
The ABSUTH staff is currently owed 25 months of salary arrears as of the end of April 2022.
“The Resident Medical Doctors have been on strike for a total of 18 months; other health workers are also on strike; and a few of the doctors, primarily the consultants, medical officers, and locum staff, are largely not working, despite the fact that the work environment is not in order.”
He went on to say that labor unions had made several failed attempts to resolve the issue.
“Over the last 18 months, the NMA has met with the state governor a record five times at both the state and national levels.”
“The National President of the NMA, Prof. Ujah, visited the governor of Abia state in November 2021 and alluded to the workers’ cumulative salary arrears and their impact on worker morale and training.”
He stated that several government agencies had been visited and discussed the issue, with promises made but not kept in all of these instances.
“This loss of accreditation could have been avoided if the government and its agencies had listened and collaborated with the NMA and other unions, and the necessary work had been done.”
As a result, he advised that the teaching hospital be fully operational in order to avoid losing accreditation from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, as is customary.
“The National President of the NMA, Prof. Ujah, visited the governor of Abia state in November 2021 and alluded to the workers’ cumulative salary arrears and their impact on worker morale and training.”
“If we lose it, clinical training will stop, and the students will be stuck in the middle,” he said, calling for a lump sum payment of salary out of the 25 months owed, regular monthly salary subvention, and a committed approach to resolving some management and training issues in the teaching hospital, among other things.
