IBADAN — The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan Chapter, has warned that increased admission quotas for medical students without corresponding investment in infrastructure and manpower could undermine the quality of medical education in Nigeria.
The association’s Chairman, Dr Oluseyi Akande, raised the alarm during its 2026 biennial press briefing held as part of the chapter’s Annual General Meeting, urging the Federal Government to urgently address infrastructure deficits at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, where increased student enrolment has reportedly outpaced available facilities.
Akande acknowledged the government’s intervention to expand infrastructure but decried the slow pace of implementation, stressing that the new structures were not yet ready to accommodate the growing student population.
He also called for increased recruitment and improved remuneration for medical lecturers, who simultaneously train medical students and resident doctors while providing clinical services amid the worsening impact of health professionals’ migration.
“Medicine is an apprenticeship,” Akande said, insisting that lecturers undertaking additional responsibilities must be adequately compensated, with the existing earned allowances framework serving as a possible model.
Beyond medical education, MDCAN demanded the immediate reconstitution of governing boards for federal tertiary hospitals, including UCH, whose prolonged absence, it said, had slowed critical decisions and administrative processes.
The association further urged the government to decentralise the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to prevent prolonged salary delays affecting newly employed and transferred consultants.
Akande also appealed for the release of funds approved in the 2025 budget for life-saving equipment at UCH, warning that inadequate medical equipment, unreliable electricity and deteriorating infrastructure continue to threaten effective healthcare delivery.
The association condemned violence against healthcare workers, urging aggrieved patients and relatives to pursue lawful channels of redress rather than attacking medical personnel.
It maintained that strengthening manpower, infrastructure, hospital governance and staff welfare was essential to restoring efficiency and safeguarding the future of Nigeria’s healthcare system.
