2,500 Medical Graduates may not make NYSC call-up – Reps

The House of Representatives said on Tuesday that over 2,500 graduate doctors might miss participating in the 2015 Batch ‘B’ National Youth Service Corps due to delays created by the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council(NMDC).

It noted that the graduates, who had completed their internship, had not been issued Permanent Licence by the Council, a prerequisite for participating in the mandatory one-year NYSC program.

In a resolution members passed in Abuja, the House noted that while the graduates were not responsible for the delay, the same NMDC had instructed the authorities of the NYSC not to admit any of them into camps without a permanent licence.

The session, which was presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, advised the NMDC to waive the rule by allowing the graduates to enrol for their youth service, “pending when permanent licences will be issued to them.”

The House stated that all graduate doctors, who had fulfilled the requirements for the permanent licence, including payment of relevant fees, should be granted access into camps.
It added that the delay in the issuance of the licence could not be blamed on the doctors but on the NMDC.
The House further directed its Committee on Health Services to intervene and find out why the medical council was delaying the graduates after they had satisfied the requirements for the licence.
The resolution of the House received unanimous backing by lawmakers through a voice vote of a “yes.”