The Federal Government has initiated steps to double university admission quotas in four key medical programmes—Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Nursing Science—as part of efforts to address the country’s critical shortage of healthcare professionals caused by mass emigration, commonly referred to as the ‘Japa Syndrome’.
A Ministerial Committee from the Federal Ministry of Education visited the University of Ilorin on July 31, 2025, to evaluate its preparedness for programme expansion. The Committee, chaired by Prof. B. S. Alabi, is operating under the Federal Ministry of Education’s Special High Impact Intervention scheme through TETFund.
Speaking during the visit, Prof. Alabi said the initiative, driven by Education Minister Dr. Tunji Maruf Alausa, aims to enhance Nigeria’s medical workforce by increasing enrolment in 18 selected medical colleges—three from each of the six geopolitical zones.
Welcoming the delegation, UNILORIN’s Deputy Vice Chancellor (Management Services), Prof. Adegboyega Adisa Fawole, who represented Vice Chancellor Prof. Wahab Egbewole, SAN, assured the committee of the university’s commitment to the responsible use of any allocated resources.
The Acting Provost of the College of Health Sciences, Prof. M. S. Ajao, provided a detailed presentation on the college’s existing structure and its readiness for expansion. He revealed plans to raise the annual admission quota for Medicine from 150 to 300, Nursing from 100 to 200, and Pharmacy from 120 to 240. Dentistry, he said, is scheduled to commence this academic session.
Prof. Ajao outlined the College’s facilities, which include lecture halls seating up to 300 students, a Clinical Skills Simulation Laboratory, and several science laboratories. Plans are in place to expand and upgrade these facilities, including merging laboratories to accommodate larger classes and constructing new demonstration labs and an animal house.
He emphasized the need for additional human and material resources to support the expansion and pledged that all new projects would be maintained effectively.
The university’s Physical Planning Unit also presented 3D architectural designs for proposed new structures, with five new construction projects scheduled—two at the Old College site, one at the New site, and two at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
The visit concluded with a facility inspection and a reaffirmation of UNILORIN’s readiness to support the Federal Government’s healthcare reform agenda.
