A group of 47 Nigerian medical students evacuated from war-torn Sudan in 2023 are facing uncertainty over their careers, as they struggle to register for the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) examination due to missing entry and exit visa documentation.
The students, who were in their final year at Sudan International University (SIU) when the conflict erupted, were airlifted home by the Nigerian government during the emergency evacuation. With the approval of the National Universities Commission (NUC), they were allowed to complete their training at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto.
Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, one of the affected students explained that they had successfully graduated in 2024 with SIU-awarded certificates after completing clinical rotations and examinations at UDUTH. However, a key MDCN registration requirement — submission of a first entry and last exit visa — remains unmet, as most of the students fled without their passports.
“We left Sudan without our passports due to the emergency evacuation, so none of us have the visa stamps required by MDCN,” the student said. “We are appealing for permission to sit for the June 2025 examination despite this.”
Najid Hassan, President of the Nigerian Students Association at SIU, confirmed that the students resumed at UDUTH in December 2023 under an academic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Sudanese and Nigerian institutions. The students spent a year completing lectures and clinical rotations in core medical fields and graduated in October 2024.
“Our exams were supervised by UDUTH consultants,” Hassan noted. “Yet despite our training and certificates, the MDCN registration process has become a major challenge because of visa documentation beyond our control.”
MDCN, which regulates medical and dental practice in Nigeria, requires all foreign-trained graduates to submit relevant international passport pages, including entry and exit visas. The rule, grounded in the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act, is meant to verify overseas academic experiences.
In a 2024 circular, MDCN Registrar Fatima Kyari acknowledged the challenges faced by students returning from conflict zones, including Ukraine and Sudan. While expressing sympathy, she reiterated that remediation pathways exist only for those who either return to their original foreign university or properly transfer to an accredited Nigerian university approved by the MDCN.
Kyari clarified that while the MoU between SIU and UDUTH allowed academic continuity, it does not qualify the students as graduates of a Nigerian university for MDCN indexing or exemption.
The Federal Ministry of Education has weighed in, advising the affected students to formally petition the Minister of Education, including their full names and copying the Director of Education Support Services, to help push for a resolution.
NUC Deputy Executive Secretary, Chris Maiyaki, also confirmed the commission’s awareness of the issue and similarly directed the students to liaise with the Ministry of Education.
Efforts by NAN to obtain comments from the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) and officials of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), have so far been unsuccessful. While the university’s Deputy Provost of the Medical School declined to comment, Vice Chancellor Prof. Bashir Garba stated he was in transit and would respond in due course.
As the MDCN exam date approaches, the 47 students are pleading for urgent government intervention, fearing their hard-earned degrees and medical careers could be delayed or derailed.
