{"id":22978,"date":"2025-10-31T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=22978"},"modified":"2025-10-30T18:57:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T17:57:41","slug":"unicals-broken-promise-pharmacy-students-say-theyre-victims-of-institutional-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/31\/unicals-broken-promise-pharmacy-students-say-theyre-victims-of-institutional-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"UNICAL\u2019s Broken Promise: Pharmacy Students Say They\u2019re Victims of Institutional Failure."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CALABAR, Nigeria (FN)<\/strong> \u2014 Students of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Calabar have renewed calls for immediate accreditation of their program, citing years of neglect, underfunding, and administrative delays that have left hundreds of students stranded academically and professionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, over 500 students marched peacefully within the university campus, engaging the Vice Chancellor in what they described as a \u201cconstructive dialogue,\u201d not a protest. Their demand: full accreditation from the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), which they say is long overdue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are in 600 level, yet we have no functional laboratories,\u201d said Ndifreke Okowo, a student representative. \u201cWithout PCN accreditation, we cannot graduate as licensed pharmacists. The university is toying with our future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pharmacy program, introduced in 2016 under former Vice Chancellor Prof. Zana Akpagu, has struggled to meet the basic standards required by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and PCN. Students say the program was launched without proper resource verification, leading to a major setback for the pioneer class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Calabar Prof. Florence Obi<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vice Chancellor Prof. Florence Obi<\/strong>, in response, acknowledged the students\u2019 concerns and apologized for the prolonged delay. \u201cI want to sincerely appeal to the students and their families,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are working to resolve the accreditation issues. I have directed the Dean and relevant officials to fast-track the process and ensure PCN is invited without further delay\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also blamed internal lapses, including over-admission and poor planning by some faculty officials, for the setbacks. \u201cWe are correcting those mistakes and will not allow this to happen again,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University Senate<\/strong>, in an emergency session held Friday, passed a resolution urging the administration to prioritize the Pharmacy accreditation process. A statement signed by Senate Secretary Dr. Emmanuel Ekanem read: \u201cThe Senate is deeply concerned about the impact of this delay on students and the reputation of the university. We call for immediate action to meet PCN requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cross River State Government has also weighed in. Commissioner for Health Dr. Henry Ayuk described the situation as \u201cunacceptable\u201d and pledged to support the university in meeting accreditation standards. \u201cWe cannot afford to have our future pharmacists stuck in limbo,\u201d he said. \u201cThe state is ready to provide technical and logistical support to ensure this program is fully accredited.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students and lecturers alike expressed frustration over the lack of infrastructure and staffing: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need at least 50 academic staff, but we have barely a dozen,\u201d said Dr. Emmanuel Udo, a senior lecturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur labs are empty. We\u2019re learning pharmacy without touching equipment,\u201d said Blessing Ogar, 600 level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had promises since 2021. Nothing has changed,\u201d said Iris Johnson, 500 level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe sit on the floor during lectures,\u201d said Samuel Effiong, 400 level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not just poor planning \u2014 it\u2019s academic sabotage,\u201d said Joy Eze, 500 level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe fear what happened to Dentistry will happen to us,\u201d said Michael Bassey, 300 level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve invested years. We deserve better,\u201d said Victor Anya, 600 level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome departments have only two lecturers. It\u2019s overwhelming,\u201d said Dr. Grace Nwankwo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re tired of empty promises,\u201d said Deborah Okon, 200 level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a ticking time bomb,\u201d said Dr. Felix Otu, faculty advisor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As pressure mounts, students say they will continue to engage peacefully but insist on urgent action. \u201cWe\u2019re not asking for miracles,\u201d Okowo said. \u201cWe\u2019re asking for the bare minimum to graduate with dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CALABAR, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Students of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Calabar have renewed calls for immediate accreditation of their program, citing years of neglect, underfunding, and administrative delays that have left hundreds of students stranded academically and professionally. On Thursday, over 500 students marched peacefully within the university campus, engaging the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[168,167,165,164,166,162,163],"class_list":["post-22978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-naija-news","tag-commissioner-for-health-dr-henry-ayuk","tag-cross-river-state-government","tag-national-universities-commission-nuc","tag-pharmacists-council-of-nigeria-pcn","tag-senate-secretary-dr-emmanuel-ekanem","tag-university-of-calabar","tag-vice-chancellor"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Unical-Pharmacy-students-during-the-match-to-demand-accreditation-.webp?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22978"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22992,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22978\/revisions\/22992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}