UNILORIN Quota Crisis Stalls Induction of 44 Medical Graduates, Leaves Students Uncertain

No fewer than 44 medical graduates of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Kwara state, have remained uninducted for nearly a year after completing their studies due to the institution’s approved induction quota, raising fresh concerns over the fate of hundreds of students still undergoing medical training.

The affected graduates spent eight years at the university alongside their peers following disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a series of strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

After weathering the storm, they sat for their final MBBS examinations in August 2025, with induction expected to follow.

However, while 150 of their colleagues were inducted in November 2025, the remaining 44 were left behind and have remained at home ever since without a definite timeline for their induction.

HOW THE QUOTA CRISIS STARTED

In a post on their X pages in February, the affected graduates expressed frustration over the prolonged delay in their induction.

“We were promised induction within six to eight weeks after the first batch. That timeline has passed, yet there is still no date, no clear plan, and no official update,” they wrote.

“Our colleagues have started house jobs, while we remain stagnant despite meeting all academic requirements.”

Responding to the concerns in a statement issued in February by Kunle Akogun, the university’s director of corporate affairs, the institution dismissed reports that the 44 medical graduands would be merged with the 2026 graduating set for induction.

Explaining the circumstances surrounding the delayed induction, Biodun Alabi, provost of the College of Health Sciences, said 194 students sat for the final MBBS examinations in August 2025, with 175 passing outright while 19 had resit examinations.

He said although the university invited the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) for the induction, the council insisted it could only induct 150 students in line with the institution’s approved quota.

According to him, the university ranked the successful candidates, leading to the induction of the first 150 students in November 2025, while the remaining 25 successful candidates and the 19 who later passed their resit examinations were left out.

“We were assured that the remaining 25 that passed and the other 19 that had resit exams would be inducted at a later date,” he said.

Alabi added that the university had continued to engage the MDCN to facilitate the induction of the remaining 44 graduands.

He also said Wahab Egbewole, the university’s vice-chancellor, had directed staff members to begin the process of inviting the MDCN to re-accredit its medicine and surgery programme in a bid to increase its approved quota from 150 students.

However, as of the time of filing this report, there was no indication that the reaccreditation process had commenced.

One of the affected graduates told TheCable on Friday that no definite date had been communicated for their induction.

BROADER IMPLICATIONS

TheCable understands that there are currently 205 MBBS students in the university’s 600 level, with their final professional MBBS examinations scheduled for September/October this year.

However, even if all the students pass the examinations, the university cannot induct all of them without first clearing the backlog of the 44 medical graduates from the 2025 set.

There is also no definite timeline for the induction of the affected graduands, raising fears that the current final-year students could face a similar delay.

More worrisome is that even if the remaining 44 graduates are inducted in the coming weeks, only about 150 of the current final-year students would be eligible for induction under the existing quota unless the MDCN approves an increase in the university’s induction capacity.

This would leave about 55 students from the current final-year class facing the same predicament as the 44 graduates still awaiting induction, with the backlog likely to spill into subsequent graduating classes if the quota issue remains unresolved.

A source familiar with the matter alleged that the crisis stemmed from what he described as years of non-compliance with MDCN’s approved induction quota.

“For several years, the College of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin, has been committing infractions against the MDCN’s regulations regarding the induction quota,” the source told TheCable.

“Consequently, the MDCN, exercising its full regulatory oversight and legal authority, has sanctioned the college. This is the root cause of our present situation.

“The inevitable question is: who is to blame? It is the school. Successive administrations had years to rectify this problem but failed to do so, leading to the crisis we are witnessing under the current administration.” 

PROPOSED INDEXING ARRANGEMENT

TheCable gathered that, in a bid to resolve the lingering quota crisis, the university management is negotiating what sources described as an “institutional pardon” from the MDCN.

Sources said the university is also considering an indexing arrangement that would commence with the current 600-level MBBS students.

Under the proposed arrangement, the 500-level professional MB examination results of the current 600-level students would be used to determine indexing, with only the first 150 students to be indexed for induction.

The remaining 56 students would be indexed into the current 500-level class and given priority in the next indexing exercise.

Thereafter, the remaining 94 available slots would be filled using the 400-level professional MB examination results of the current 500-level class, with the same process continuing for subsequent sets.

If implemented, the arrangement could take about nine induction cycles before the backlog created by the quota limitation is completely cleared, sources said.

There were also reports that the university might suspend fresh admissions into its MBBS programme for the next few years.

However, the university management dismissed the claim in a recent statement, insisting that it would admit students into the programme for the 2026/2027 academic session.

‘NO STUDENT WILL BE DISADVANTAGED’

Speaking to TheCable, Akogun, the university’s spokesperson, said the institution was making “every necessary effort” to ensure the induction of the affected graduates in the shortest possible time.

He said the university was actively engaging the MDCN and other relevant authorities to facilitate the process.

“Affected graduates are encouraged to remain patient and can expect further updates,” Akogun said.

On concerns over the fate of students still in the programme, the spokesperson said the university would take “all appropriate steps” to ensure that no student is disadvantaged.

“The academic progress and welfare of our students remain our priority, and we will continue to take proactive steps to sustain their academic strides,” he said.

Akogun added that the university would continue to engage the MDCN constructively to ensure all issues are resolved amicably.

He, however, did not provide a timeline for the induction of the 44 graduates or respond directly to reports of a proposed indexing arrangement for the current final-year students.

Also, efforts to get an official response from the MDCN were unsuccessful.