The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has granted final full accreditation to Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Osogbo, enabling the institution to graduate medical students from its College of Medicine.
The approval was disclosed during a visit by the MDCN accreditation team to the Osun State Government House in Osogbo, where the council’s Registrar, Fatimah Kyari, was represented by the Deputy Registrar, Nnaemeka Nwakanma.
Reacting to the development, the Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, welcomed the accreditation and described it as a major milestone for the state-owned university.
He assured the institution of continued government support to enable it attain higher standards of academic excellence.
A statement issued by the governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, said Adeleke commended the accreditation team and reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to strengthening tertiary education in the state.
During the visit, Nwakanma commended the governor for providing the equipment and infrastructure required for the successful accreditation of the university’s College of Medicine within seven years of its establishment.
He also noted that Adeleke’s administration had significantly improved the institution within three years, leading to the final accreditation of its medical programme.
Nwakanma further explained that the council had formally approved full accreditation for the medical school after a rigorous assessment process.
He stated that the MDCN had maintained strict standards in regulating the training of medical professionals since its establishment in 1963 and had never compromised its requirements.
According to him, the council also determines admission quotas for medical schools based on factors such as manpower, available human resources, laboratory capacity and the quality of facilities in teaching hospitals.
Nwakanma disclosed that until three months earlier, Obafemi Awolowo University had an admission quota of 100 medical students, which was the same number initially approved for UNIOSUN in 2023.
He added that the University of Lagos, established in the 1960s, currently operates with a quota of 150 medical students despite decades of operation, while the University of Ibadan, Nigeria’s oldest university, has a quota capacity of 180, although the institution presently limits its admission to 120.
The MDCN representative said the council decided to increase UNIOSUN’s capacity to 150 medical students, placing the institution on the same training level as the University of Lagos and other leading universities in the country.
He explained that the decision was partly aimed at encouraging the Osun State government following its investments in tertiary education, particularly in the medical college.
In his response, Adeleke expressed satisfaction with the accreditation and pledged that the state government would continue to strengthen the university.
He also revealed that the admission capacity for medicine and related programmes at UNIOSUN would be doubled before the next accreditation exercise.
The governor also raised concerns over the growing migration of Nigerian professionals abroad, popularly known as the “Japa syndrome,” noting that many Nigerian doctors excel in hospitals across the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe due to better working conditions.
Adeleke stressed the need for stakeholders to work together to improve the local environment and reduce the trend.
UNIOSUN has continued to expand its medical training infrastructure in recent years, including the establishment of the Modupe and Folorunso Alakija Medical Research and Training Hospital in Osogbo.
The hospital was donated to the university by businesswoman and philanthropist Folorunso Alakija and later handed over to the institution’s management.
