OOU Pharmacy Students Bemoan Delayed Induction, as Dean Seeks Patience , ,
Uchechukwu Nnaike
Some final year Pharmacy students of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) are worried that their dream of pursuing their career now hangs in the balance following the perceived delay by the Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, Professor Lateef Kasim, to present their results to the University Senate for approval.
The affected 44 students regretted that the delayed approval of results would hinder them from participating in the induction into the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN), scheduled for May 8 at the university.
They also fear that the negligence of the Faculty of Pharmacy may cost them an extra year, as the next induction may be towards the end of the year or early next year.
THISDAY learnt that the matter started after the 90 students admitted in 2019/2020 completed their final exams on August 1, 2024, and on November 5, the school released the list of students who passed and, consequently, the list of would-be inductees.
Some students whose names were not on the list because of an outstanding course were said to have revolted. They approached some powerful figures who prevailed on the school authorities and the vice-chancellor to recall the senate-approved induction list.
After a series of consultations and almost two months of information blackout, a new induction list was released in late January 2025, which excluded 44 students.
The students cried out that their results were altered on the result portal, and marks were changed at random, but the dean reportedly advised the affected students to stop complaining and rewrite the exams if they wanted to be inducted with the unaffected students.
He allegedly issued them a two-week ultimatum to pay a full tuition fee of N280,000, which they complied with.
After writing the exam on February 3, they waited 10 weeks to get their results, which should be released within four weeks.
After the release on April 14, as part of the protocol, the results would be approved at the university senate meeting, usually held every last Thursday of the month.
But, at the meeting on April 24, the dean reportedly failed to supply the electronic copy of the results. Thus, the results of the 44 affected students missed the senate’s approval.
This stirred a fresh uproar as students, parents, and some alumni besieged the office of the vice-chancellor on April 28 to appeal the decision.
A mixture of exasperation and anger drove the parents and students to write a letter of appeal to the dean. They arrived at the dean’s office with pleas and tears, but he allegedly told them another induction would be arranged for them in June.
But the students expressed disbelief, saying, “When they cancelled our result for no just reason, he encouraged us to rewrite the exam and that he would delay the entire induction so that we all can hold one ceremony together. We did that, but he failed to keep his word. Now he is telling us the same lies.”
Parents are also planning a lawsuit against the Faculty of Pharmacy for causing psychological trauma, stealing their children’s future away from them, and subjecting them to adverse economic hardship.
They noted that in 2020, due to the ASUU strike, the students wasted a whole academic year. Now, they are confronted with another year if this matter is not urgently addressed.
An official at the university said conducting two separate inductions in a year is not usually feasible, suggesting that the dean was being evasive and deceptive.
The official added that the dean could still make amends by liaising with the vice-chancellor to call an emergency senate meeting for approval and subsequently merge all the inductees.
In a telephone chat with THISDAY, Prof. Kasim condemned the students’ conduct and impatience, saying that he was always truthful and hospitable towards them and genuinely concerned about their welfare, but their recent behaviour showed a lack of confidence in him.
When asked to consider the students’ request to organise a joint induction ceremony, the dean insisted that they should exercise patience and wait, which is part of their training.
He refuted the claims that the results were not approved at the last senate meeting because he didn’t provide electronic copies, and assured the students that the results would be presented for senate’s approval this month, while induction will follow shortly, but did not say when.
, Education – THISDAYLIVE, May 7, 2025, 1:03 am
