The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has hailed President Bola Tinubu for intervening timeously in the leadership crisis rocking the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
President Tinubu had on Wednesday ordered the Minister of Education to dissolve the institution’s governing council and remove its recently installed Vice Chancellor, Prof Benard Odoh, and the registrar.
This is coming three days into a warning strike declared by the national body of the association to protest the exclusion of their members from contesting the position of Vice-Chancellor.
The chairman of the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital branch of the association, Dr Amaechi Nwachukwu PhD, who spoke to journalists, praised Tinubu for harkening to the association’s cry.
He said Tinubu’s action shows that he is a listening leader who is also ready to do the right thing.
He said: “I’m happy that President Bola Tinubu has taken decisive action over the crisis in UNIZIK.
“You remember that just three days ago, MDCAN commenced a warning strike. We the COOUTH chapter of the association also held a press conference where we supported our national body and quickly called for the sack of the VC, dissolution of the council, and readvertise the position of VC of UNIZIK to including medical professionals.
“We are happy that the president has shown that he wants things to be done right. We are also calling on him to look into other requests we tabled before him.
“We are asking too that anywhere doctors are working, be it in universities or parastatals, they should be paid with the consolidated salary structure.
“We also told him that the current review of our salary structure by the federal government, which added 35 percent of our basic to the salary, some are not paying it, while some have not paid the arrears. We are asking for him to look into all these,” Nwachukwu appealed.
