Medical lecturers have warned the Federal Government that admitting more students into Colleges of Medicine, without first building the halls, laboratories and workforce to carry them, will weaken the quality of doctors Nigeria produces.

The warning came from the University College Hospital, Ibadan chapter of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria. The chapter’s Chairman, Dr Oluseyi Akande, spoke in Ibadan during the association’s biennial press briefing, held as part of its 2026 Annual General Meeting.

Akande said the government’s plan to raise admission quotas — including at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan — was well intended. Nigeria does not have enough doctors, and training more of them is a reasonable answer to that shortage. His concern is the order in which it is being done.

‘You can’t teach 350 students in a hall built for far fewer’

According to him, medical training is not a lecture that can simply be repeated to a larger crowd.

“The implication is that the training is not going to be standard. If you have 350 students and you don’t have a hall that can take 350 students, what do you do?” he asked.

He described medicine as an apprenticeship, one that depends on steady, close contact between students and the consultants training them. When the numbers rise faster than the space, the beds and the teachers, that contact thins out — and so does the learning.

Akande said the Federal Government had stepped in to provide infrastructure for the expanded intake, but that the work has been slow. The College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, has been taking in more students since last year, while some of the promised buildings remain unfinished.

Fewer teachers, more work

The association also called for a fresh round of recruitment of medical lecturers. Consultants, Akande said, are now juggling clinical duties with the teaching of both undergraduate medical students and resident doctors, at a time when many colleagues have left the country for jobs abroad.

That migration has left some departments at UCH without resident doctors at all, pushing consultants into duties they would normally supervise rather than perform.

Equipment funds still unreleased

Beyond staffing, MDCAN asked the government to release money already approved in the 2025 budget for life-saving equipment at UCH.

“I would also like to draw attention to the fact that the Federal Government of Nigeria is yet to release funds to the University College Hospital for the procurement of many life-saving equipment budgeted for in 2025,” Akande said.

He urged that the money be released without further delay, noting that the hospital needs the equipment for clinical work, training and research alike.

The association further asked the government to constitute the Boards of Management of Federal Tertiary Hospitals, saying the hospitals cannot run smoothly or deliver their mandates without them.

Appeal against attacks on health workers

MDCAN used the briefing to appeal to Nigerians to stop attacking doctors, nurses and other health workers, calling such violence a growing problem across the country.

Akande said health workers understand how serious their responsibilities are, but that some things lie outside their control — old or broken equipment, and an unreliable power supply among them. He asked patients and relatives who are unhappy with their treatment to seek redress through proper channels instead of raising their hands.

The wider quota problem

The warning lands in a system already strained by quota disputes. The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria sets carrying capacities based on what each school can realistically handle — teaching hospitals, lecturers, laboratories, beds and supervision.

Where universities have admitted beyond those limits, the cost has fallen on students years later. At the University of Ilorin, for instance, graduates were left waiting for induction after the school presented fewer candidates to the MDCN than had qualified.

MDCAN’s message in Ibadan is essentially a request to avoid repeating that pattern on a national scale: build the capacity first, then fill it.

Activities for the 2026 Annual General Meeting included a scientific conference, sporting events, courtesy visits, a luncheon and a thanksgiving service.

The outgoing Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), Prof Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, has advised the incoming Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ayodeji Badejo, to take her time before making big decisions.

Olatunji-Bello gave the charge on Sunday evening in Lagos at an event held in her honour by the Centre for General Nigerian Studies, LASU. The event, themed “More Prayer, More Commitment and Finishing Strong”, was organised to mark the end of her five-year tenure, which ran from 2021 to 2026.

She said the office of a Vice-Chancellor is not a place for quick or emotional decisions. Every choice, she explained, should be weighed carefully because it will affect the university, the staff and the students.

“She will have what we call, in the Bible, long-suffering. It is called patience,” Olatunji-Bello said.

Patience, courage and commitment

Olatunji-Bello urged her successor to lead with wisdom, patience and commitment, and to be courageous when tough calls have to be made. She noted that a Vice-Chancellor will often face pressure from many sides, and that the best answer is usually the one that serves the institution rather than the loudest voice in the room.

Prof Badejo, a Professor of Guidance and Counselling, is expected to assume duty on September 20. Her appointment was approved by Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and announced by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso.

Badejo will become the third female Vice-Chancellor in LASU’s history, after Prof Jadesola Akande and Olatunji-Bello herself.

A look back at five years

Olatunji-Bello, a Professor of Physiology, resumed as LASU’s ninth substantive Vice-Chancellor in September 2021. Her single, non-renewable five-year term ends on September 19, 2026.

At her final convocation address in August, she said her administration recorded a 96 per cent first-year accreditation success rate, securing full accreditation for 31 out of 37 programmes presented in her first exercise. In 2023, 43 of 44 programmes presented were fully accredited, and in 2026, 17 new programmes received full accreditation from the National Universities Commission.

She also said the university’s internally generated revenue grew from about N3bn to N13bn during her tenure, describing LASU as the most subscribed university in Nigeria and the most digitally advanced among its peers.

At a valedictory Senate session held on August 27, the university’s Registrar, Emmanuel Fanu, said Olatunji-Bello presided over 55 statutory Senate meetings. The administration also promoted 127 academic staff to the rank of professor and positioned LASU as a TETFund Centre of Excellence.

Facilities and welfare

Olatunji-Bello said examination challenges during her time pushed the university to develop alternative arrangements and to conceive its 2,000-seat Computer Test Centre. She added that a 3,000-seat auditorium for LASU has been captured in the Tertiary Education Trust Fund budget.

She called on the university community to maintain the buildings and facilities already put in place. Her administration, she said, built toilets across the campuses to improve student welfare, especially for female students, and provided recreational facilities for staff.

Speaking earlier at the event, a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Prof Adenike Boyo, said Olatunji-Bello’s tenure showed the value of prayer, commitment and perseverance.

Badejo takes over a university that has risen in national ranking and is widely rated among the best state-owned institutions in Nigeria. Expectations are high that she will keep the momentum on academics, infrastructure and campus stability.