University of Calabar Orders Over 300 Dentistry Students to Leave Over Quota Crisis

🏛️ University of Calabar Orders Over 300 Dentistry Students to Leave Over Quota Crisis

In a shocking development that has left many students devastated, the University of Calabar (UNICAL) has reportedly ordered over 300 students from its Faculty of Dentistry and Dental Surgery to vacate the institution.

These students, ranging from 200 to 600 level, have been asked to seek relocation to other schools after it was discovered that the university had admitted far more students than the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) approved quota.

🔴 UNICAL’s admission quota for dentistry is reportedly only 10 students per year, yet several times that number were enrolled across multiple years. This over-admission has now resulted in an accreditation crisis, putting students’ academic futures in jeopardy.

A memo dated July 7, 2025, summoned students and their parents to an emergency meeting, after which many were told to go home indefinitely.

> 💔 “I’m a 5th-year dental student. I’ve spent years here, paid fees, written tough exams… and now I’m being told I shouldn’t have been admitted in the first place?” — A frustrated student told the media.

Both the Nigerian Association of Dental Students (NADS) and the Students’ Union Government (SUG) have condemned the decision, describing it as “inhumane” and urging the university to urgently find a more sustainable academic solution.

Students are pleading with authorities like the National Universities Commission (NUC), Federal Ministry of Education, and MDCN to intervene, so they don’t lose the many years and millions of naira already invested.

📣 MY TAKE

This heartbreaking situation is a wake-up call to all institutions: over-admission without planning ruins lives. The students are not to blame, and they deserve justice.

📌 Let us amplify their voices until help comes.

📢 #SaveUnicalDentalStudents #EducationCrisis #JusticeForStudents #UNICAL

✍️ Written by Umeh Ukamaka Augusta Oruche