Confusion at University of Calabar as VC Sends Home Hundreds of Students Including Finalists Due to Admission Breach

Confusion has erupted at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) after the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Banku Obi, directed hundreds of students in the Faculty of Dentistry and Dental Surgery to leave school due to over-admission beyond the quota approved by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).

The Vice Chancellor reportedly made the decision during a meeting with the affected students and their parents on Thursday.

A memo from the office of the Provost, College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Ref: UC/CMS/PO/209, dated 7th July 2025, had earlier invited all dental students and their parents to a meeting scheduled for July 10 at the college meeting hall.

Although the agenda was not specified in the notice, the memo, which was copied to principal officers of the College, was signed by the Deputy Registrar/College Secretary, Mrs. Anita B. Eyo.

The letter, titled “Notice of Meeting with the Vice-Chancellor,” partly read:
“I am directed to invite all the Dental Students and their parents to a meeting with the Vice-Chancellor, University of Calabar as scheduled — Thursday, 10th July, 2025, time 2:00 PM.”

Following the meeting, students from 200 to 600 levels were instructed to go home with their parents until the university resolves the over-admission issue affecting the faculty.

One of the affected students expressed frustration over the situation, stating that they had paid substantial amounts in tuition fees, accommodation, and other charges.

“There’s a huge injustice going on in the University of Calabar Faculty of Dentistry and Dental Surgery,” he said.

According to him, the university admitted more students than the quota approved by the Medical Council of Nigeria, leading to the current crisis.

“The school out of greed admitted a lot of students in that faculty as against the quota given to them by the Medical Council of Nigeria,” he alleged.

The students are said to be helpless as the Vice Chancellor has reportedly banned any form of protest against the decision (UNICAL official website).

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Another student questioned how the university could admit over 300 students in a class when the official quota allows for only 10 graduate dentists per year (UNICAL dentistry quota).

She supported her colleague’s claims, adding:
“The school out of greed admitted a lot of students in that faculty as against the quota given to them. Now they have asked the students to go home when they cannot maneuver their fraudulent admission. All these students have been paying school fees, house rent, textbook fees, feeding.

“And just today the Vice Chancellor called all the students in the faculty of Dentistry with their parents in a meeting and the matter that was raised is that the over-admission.”

The development has triggered outrage among students, many of whom are now demanding justice and a reversal of the Vice Chancellor’s decision (UNICAL student protest news).

The situation remains tense, as the students await an official resolution from the university management.