UNILAG students protest change of course: threaten to sue management

Some aggrieved students of the University of Lagos, Akoka yesterday threatened the institution with law suit for changing their course of study. They are 200 level students of the faculty of science who have been denied admission into the College of Medicine Idi Araba.

Only 19 out of a total of 49 who scaled the initial cut of mark of 2.0 CGP were shortlisted without any clear criteria.

The affected said they had petitioned the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rahman Bello, the Federal Ministry of Education, the Senate Committee on Education, the National Universities Commission, the Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode, among others, on the development, saying they wanted favourable response before a 7-day ultimatum.

Some of the students and their parents on Thursday protested against the development at PUNCH Place on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, displaying placards, some of which read, “JAMB, NUC, please save our future, save our career, save our destiny, come to our aid,” “This scam must stop, we want our courses at the college of medicine”, “Prof. Rahman Bello, you are a Pharaoh, allow our children to cross to the promised college.”

The petition, which was signed by the principal solicitor for the aggrieved students, Jiti Ogunye, read in part, “We are solicitors to the students of the Faculty of Sciences in the University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos State.

“By their performances in their first year course work and examinations, they met the requirements by having a Cumulative Grade Point Average or cumulative score average of 50 in the groupings of courses for the Medicine and Surgery, Medical Laboratory, Nursing, and Physiotherapy departments; and a 2.00 CGPA for students in Pharmacology, Physiology and Radiography departments to advance to 200 level and first year in the UNILAG College of Medicine.”

The petition stated further that the school had raised the requirements from 50 per cent and 2.0 CGPA to between 2.5 and 4.11 CGPA after the students had met the initial standards.

“We demand that the university rescind its decision by allowing our clients to register for the various medical programmes in the College of Medicine and commence attendance of classes. If the university fails or refuses to accede to our demand within seven days of the delivery of this letter, we shall not hesitate to initiate a legal action against the University of Lagos in the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, for the judicial review of the administrative action.”

The students also dismiss the management report that most students could not proceed to Idi Araba on account of Academic failure. They gave several evidences of scoring far above the initial cut off mark.