No fewer than 44 medical graduates of the University of Ilorin have remained unable to begin their compulsory housemanship nearly one year after completing their studies following a quota dispute over their induction, raising fears that dozens of current final-year medical students may suffer a similar fate.
PLATFORM TIMES gathered that the affected graduates, who spent eight years studying medicine due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, successfully completed their final MBBS examinations in August 2025.
However, while 150 of their colleagues were inducted by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria in November 2025, the remaining 44 graduates have yet to be inducted because the university exceeded its approved induction quota.
The prolonged delay has left the graduates unable to commence their mandatory housemanship, effectively putting their medical careers on hold.
The affected graduates had earlier expressed frustration over the situation, lamenting that despite fulfilling all academic requirements, they had remained without any official timeline for their induction.
They said promises by the university that they would be inducted within six to eight weeks after the first batch had yet to materialise.
“Our colleagues have already commenced their house jobs while we remain at home despite completing our medical education,” one of the graduates lamented.
Responding to the concerns, the university explained that 194 students sat for the final MBBS examinations in 2025, with 175 passing outright while 19 later passed resit examinations.
The Provost of the College of Health Sciences, Prof. Biodun Alabi, said the MDCN approved induction for only 150 graduates in line with the institution’s existing quota.
According to him, the university ranked the successful candidates, leading to the induction of the first 150 graduates, while the remaining 44 candidates were left behind.
Alabi said the university had continued discussions with the MDCN to facilitate the induction of the affected graduates.
He added that the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Wahab Egbewole, had directed the commencement of processes for the re-accreditation of the medicine programme to secure an increase in the university’s induction quota.
However, there was no indication that the re-accreditation exercise had begun as of the time of filing this report.
The development has also raised concerns over the fate of the current 600-level MBBS students, numbering about 205, who are expected to write their final professional examinations later this year.
With the university’s current induction capacity fixed at 150, education stakeholders fear that even if all the students pass their examinations, about 55 of them may also be left without induction unless the quota is increased.
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