For over 100 days, the medical school of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) has been shut, leaving hundreds of students out of class, due to a strike by clinical lecturers demanding the implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).
The strike, declared on 1 August by lecturers under the auspices of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) and the Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) has grounded academic academic activities in the institution, leaving more than 900 students across 100 to 600 levels stranded.
The students had staged a three-day protest earlier last week from 4 – 6 November, and have vowed to return to the streets on Monday, 10 November, if no concrete steps are taken.
The leadership of the MDCAN and the Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) described the failure of the university management and the government to implement the CONMESS as a threat to both staff welfare and quality of medical education in the institution.
According to MDCAN, embarking on the industrial action, after several appeals and failed agreements with the management, was a “painful last resort” for the university’s refusal to honour its obligations to the medical staff.
Our future is at risk – Students
Some students told Devreporting that the prolonged pause in their training has deepened anxiety, especially with their professional examinations approaching.
Expressing displeasure, the vice chairman of the LAUTECH Medical Students Association, Odetoyinbo Ajibola lamented that the situation remained the same despite several dialogues with the management.
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According to him, only the medical school is bearing the brunt while other academic activities are ongoing in the university. “The stand of the school remains the same that there is no money on the ground, as such, no agreement has been reached between the school and the lecturers.
“The strike has already caused a lot of damage and set back. There are over 900 students in the medical school. We do something called posting, and we were in a posting for about two months before the strike started towards the end of the posting.
“This ongoing strike is not just over 100 days, it is 101 days plus the time we have spent on the posting, because when we resume, we will have to start the posting all over again. In reality, the strike is three months, but it translates to five months extra for us to stay in school,” he lamented.
Mr Ajibola further made known that there is a class that had finished their last promotional exam about seven months ago, but they have not been able to resume. He called on all stakeholders to lend their voices and support, so that the concerned authorities can address and meet their demands.
“We have lost time we can never recover. We were actually in the middle of postings and when we resume, we will have to start all over. What looks like three months is actually five months of work lost.”
A 500-level student, who identified herself as Sekinah, told DevReporting that about 125 students in her level are affected by the strike., lamenting that the delay is affecting her personal plans as a mother.
“We were preparing for MB3 to move to final year but this strike has shifted everything. It has disrupted academic timelines and even family responsibilities for some of us.”
Another student, who pleaded anonymity, said that the Oyo state governor had earlier assured students during a September visit that the issue would be resolved in October. “We held on to that promise but nothing has changed. We just want a resumption date.
“I am supposed to write my MB1 next year, around March, but now it is not visible. Am I going to stay in the same class for over two years?
ERC backs students, faults state government
The Education Rights Campaign (ERC), a platform of activists, has urged the university administration and Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, to intervene immediately.
A statement signed by the group’s Deputy National Coordinator, Ogunjimi Isaac, and National Mobilisation Officer, Adaramoye Michael, noted that the students have endured over 100 days out of class.
While the group accused the university’s vice chancellor, Rasaq Kalilu, a professor, of being non-challant and insensitive to the plight of the students; it called on him to immediately meet the legitimate demands of the lecturers so that medical education can resume in the university.
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“We also hold strongly that Oyo State Governor, Mr Makinde cannot feign ignorance of this situation in the only state owned medical school. Therefore, we urge him to immediately intervene in the crisis.
The duo called on trade unions, medical associations, media, civil society organisations, students and youth groups, parents, alumni and people of good conscience to support the struggle of the protesting LAUTECH medical students and prevail on the university management and Oyo state government to meet the demands of the striking clinical lecturers so that students who have spent over 100 days at home can resume classes and medical training.
Implementation of CONMESS
The clinical lecturers under the aegis of MDCAN and NAMDA have embarked on the strike to press home their demand for the implementation of the CONMESS. The university was said to have ignored a 21-day ultimatum and correspondence from the lecturers, which forced them to embark on an indefinite strike.
The rights group recalled that medical lecturers in all public universities running medical and dental programmes in Southwest Nigeria went on strike in February over the salary structure which is reportedly meant to arrest brain drain and setbacks in medical education.
LAUTECH, according to the group, is said to be the only university in the region which has not begun implementing the salary structure.
“We consider this incongruous and unacceptable given that LAUTECH is at present one of the most expensive public universities in Nigeria and indeed to study medicine. So, it is sad that the medical students who are the cash cows of the university have had their academic years unduly elongated.”
Call for broader reforms
The ERC has called for increased funding of LAUTECH, the teaching hospital and other state-owned higher institutions. It also demanded a probe into the management of the finances of LAUTECH including government grants and the internally generated revenues.
“We hold that this should not be a problem for a government which is spending a humongous amount of money on prestige projects such as over N63 billion on the renovation of the State House. At the same time, we call for democratic management of the finances of the university involving elected representatives of academic and non-academic staff and students in order to cut wastage and ensure judicious use of its revenue.”
Also, the group called for the restoration of the students’ union, which must be independent and run democratically.
Efforts to get comments from the university management on the latest protest threat were unsuccessful as calls and messages placed to officials on Sunday were not immediately returned.