Medical and Dental Students at the University of Nigeria's Enugu Campus will have their grievances formally reviewed after a protest over fees, hostel allocation, and welfare conditions prompted the institution's leadership to act.
The University of Nigeria has constituted a six member joint committee made up of management representatives and students to work through the complaints raised by undergraduates at the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus. The committee's formation followed a demonstration that took place while Vice Chancellor Prof. Uchenna Ortuanya was out of the country.
Prof. Ortuanya was in Accra, Ghana, attending the launch of the QS World University Rankings at the Association of African Universities headquarters, where UNN was ranked 19th out of 690 Universities in Sub Saharan Africa. The result represented a significant climb from the University's previous 46th position on the Continent and moved it from 12th to 3rd place among Nigerian Universities.
On his return, the Vice Chancellor met with the students and addressed concerns that those who participated in the protest might face consequences. He was unequivocal. "Don't forget I was also here as a student, where I was the Speaker of the Parliament and had also interfaced between the students and management. I had also taught here and had been in management. I only felt you would have exercised a little patience until I returned to hold this parley we are having now," he told them.
The students had raised three specific issues: what they described as the imposition of excessive fees, a lack of structure in hostel allocation, and a deterioration in general welfare conditions on campus.
That the management responded with a formal committee rather than silence or dismissal may itself carry significance. For a student body that took the considerable step of staging a public protest, the assurance of no victimisation and the creation of a structured channel for resolution represent at least a first step toward addressing concerns that had clearly been building for some time.
