By Frank Ulom
CALABAR (CONVERSEER) – The students of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Calabar (UNICAL) are currently sitting on cold seats over the lack of accreditation from the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN).
The students, some of whom are in 600-level courses, accused the management of frustrating the accreditation process, which has lingered for about nine years.
The students (from various levels) who approached the management on campus, on Thursday, alleged years of neglect, underfunding, and poor infrastructure, calling on the federal and state governments, as well as the PCN, to as a matter of urgency, save their years of academic work and the programme from collapsing.
One of the students, Ndifreke Okowo, told newsmen that the pharmacy programme, which began in 2016 under former Vice Chancellor, Prof. Zana Akpagu, has suffered continuous setbacks due to the university’s failure to meet basic accreditation standards set by the NUC and the PCN.
Okowo noted, “We have suffered continuous setbacks due to the failure of the institution to meet basic accreditation standards set by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), because the university started the programme without proper resource verification by the NUC.
“We got to the 400 level when we were suddenly told that we had been running an illegal programme. We were asked to go back to the 200 level, and the university had to invite NUC for proper verification, which it failed.”
The aggrieved student explained that the management later re-applied under a new Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) framework, but that the programme has remained largely unaccredited due to a lack of qualified lecturers, poor facilities, and unequipped laboratories.
“Our labs are not equipped; we don’t even have classrooms to sit in. We are in the 600 level, but we have no seats or functional laboratories. The PCN has not been invited for accreditation, and without that, we can’t graduate as licensed pharmacists,” he decried.
Okowo further alleged that funds meant for the construction and furnishing of the faculty building were mismanaged by the previous administration. He, however, acknowledged that the current Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, completed the building but failed to provide the promised furniture and laboratory equipment.
“The University of Calabar is playing with the future of Nigerian youths. They have done it to Dentistry, Medicine, and Nursing and now it’s Pharmacy,” he stated.
He added that the faculty currently suffers a severe manpower shortage, with some departments having only two or three lecturers handling hundreds of students. “We need at least 50 academic staff, but only a handful are employed. Even the lecturers are complaining of workload and are threatening to stop teaching,” he said.
Iris Johnson, another pharmacy student described the situation as “disheartening,” noting that despite repeated dialogues with the university’s leadership, little progress has been made.
According to Johnson, “We have been promised repeatedly that the PCN will come between October and November, but that has not happened. The Vice Chancellor is leaving office soon, and we fear that what happened to Dentistry may repeat itself.”
The Public Relations Officer of the University, Dr Effiong Eyo, when contacted on the phone, told Converseer that the students had some issues they wanted to discuss with the management.
According to him, “It wasn’t a demonstration. They (students) have some issues they wanted to discuss with the management, and we told them today is not a good day because the process of selecting a new Vice-Chancellor is ongoing.
“One of the deputies who heard them out, told them to come back next so they can sit and talk.”
