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Pioneer UniAbuja Medical Students Graduate After 12 Years

Twelve of the 30 pioneer medical students of the University of Abuja, who enrolled in 2005, failed their final examinations, an official has said.

Mr Waziri Garba, the university’s Deputy Registrar in charge of Information and Publications, on Monday said that results of the students’ final professional examinations, released on Nov. 24, showed that five of the 18 successful medical students passed with distinction in surgery.

Garba said that the 18 successful students would be inducted on December 2.

According to him, the induction is significant since the students were the first set.

The induction ceremony, which will hold at the main campus of the university, will feature a lecture by a renowned member of the medical profession, Prof. Adetokumbo Ademola.

“Ademola is a Professor of Public Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology,’’ he said.

Garba said that the pioneer Provost of the University’s College of Health Sciences, Prof. Jam Otubu, would be honoured at the event.

The pioneer medical students could not graduate all the while due to non-accreditation of the university’s medicine and surgery course by the National Universities Commission.

The course has, however, secured full accreditation.

The then Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, in April 2012, announced the suspension of medicine, agriculture, veterinary medicine and engineering courses in the university after a panel set up to assess needs of universities visited the institution.

The students had staged peaceful protests against their continued stay in school, demanding to be transferred to other universities.

Elvis Boniface

Elvis Boniface is Edugist's publisher and chief strategy officer leading a movement to give education a voice in Africa. 📧 elvis@edugist.org, 📞💬 +234 818 578 7349