JOS — The Jos University Dental Students’ Association (JUDENSA) has condemned what it described as a decade-long delay in completing their academic programme, lamenting that students have endured severe emotional and psychological distress as a result of the prolonged schooling period.
Addressing journalists at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat, Plateau State Council, JUDENSA President, Johnson Titus Bisani, said the students had reached their breaking point, emotionally drained and vulnerable after years of stagnation without graduation or professional progress.
Bisani revealed that the entire North Central region has only 311 dentists serving a population of about 20 million people, with the University of Jos (UJ) being the sole institution offering dental education in the zone.
He described the experience of the students as one marked by “a decade of frustration, delays, and dashed hopes.”
“This programme was launched in 2015 with our pioneer class full of enthusiasm. Unfortunately, year after year, students paid fees, attended lectures, and completed postings with little advancement toward writing our dental examinations,” Bisani said.
He noted that despite repeated appeals to university authorities, meaningful action was only initiated after students staged a peaceful protest on April 25, 2024, which drew national attention and prompted intervention from concerned Nigerians, including Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State.
Following the protest, Bisani said, the university management and the college authorities met with students and presented timelines for accreditation, promising that the pioneer set would write their clinical examinations and be inducted as dentists by 2025.
However, he expressed disappointment that over a year later, the promises remain unfulfilled, with no visible progress made toward accreditation or examinations.
JUDENSA called on relevant stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Education, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), and university authorities, to urgently intervene and end what the students described as “a decade of academic stagnation.”
