The House of Representatives has urged the relevant ministries, departments, and agencies of the Federal Government to apply a “doctrine of necessity” in reintegrating Nigerian students evacuated from Ukraine after Russia’s invasion of the Eastern European country. In a plenary session on Tuesday, the House specifically called on the Federal Ministry of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to ensure a seamless continuation of these students’ education in Nigeria.
The call is based on a report by the Joint House Committees on Tertiary Education and Services, Health Institutions, and Foreign Affairs, which the lawmakers unanimously considered and adopted. Titled “Report of the Committees on Tertiary Education and Services, Health Institutions, and Foreign Affairs on the Need to Safeguard the Academic Pursuit of Nigerian Youths in Ukrainian Medical Universities,” the report recommends that for final‑year students (Year 6):
1. A doctrine of necessity should be applied, with measures taken in a humane manner that does not harm the students or the system, thereby reducing lost time and resources.
2. The MDCN should, in the spirit of nation‑building, reconsider its position and allow the Ukrainian medical graduates of 2022 in their sixth and final year to sit for the MDCN assessment examination, as Ghana and India have done for their graduates.
3. While the MDCN notes a deficit due to the two months not completed before the war, it should organize remedial courses lasting three to four months—or a shorter period—as was previously practiced for returning foreign‑trained medical graduates before the practice was cancelled in 2017.
For students in levels one to five, the report advises that the Federal Ministry of Education, JAMB, and the NUC ensure the students are placed in appropriate levels, while the students should approach universities of their choice and apply for admission.
The House previously, on 28 June 2022, called on the MDCN to allow the evacuees to complete their studies in Nigerian universities. It specifically urged the Council to permit sixth‑year students who have completed their final exams to register for the MDCN in Nigeria and to enable fifth‑year students in Ukraine to be absorbed into Nigerian medical schools to finish their sixth year. The parliament also asked the Federal Government, through the relevant ministries, departments, and agencies, to negotiate with Ukrainian authorities for the release of transcripts covering completed years, facilitating transfer to medical schools in Nigeria or elsewhere.
Furthermore, the lawmakers mandated the House Committees on Tertiary Education, Health Institutions, and Foreign Affairs to engage with the MDCN leadership, the Concerned Ukrainian Students’ Parents Forum Nigeria, and other relevant MDAs to find lasting solutions to this challenge. These resolutions follow the unanimous adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by House member Tajudeen Yusuf, titled “Need to Safeguard the Academic Pursuit of Nigerian Youths in Ukrainian Medical Universities.”
Comments are closed for this story.