Activities at the University of Jos were brought to a halt on Wednesday as students from the Faculty of Dentistry staged a massive protest over the alleged failure of the university to secure accreditation for their programme — a situation they say has kept some of them in school for over a decade without graduation.
The protesting students, who barricaded all entrances and exits of the university, disrupted movements and preparations for the ongoing Nigerian University Games (NUGA), which the institution is hosting. They carried placards bearing inscriptions demanding immediate action and expressing frustration over years of unfulfilled promises from the university management.
Speaking to journalists, the President of the Jos University Dental Students Association (JUDSA), Johnson Titus Bisani, decried the prolonged stagnation faced by students in the department.
“We have students who have spent 10 years in this school without graduation. The first set has been here for a decade now without accreditation,” Bisani said. “We have engaged management countless times, but all we get are repeated promises that accreditation is coming. The Vice Chancellor told us he would meet with the Medical and Dental Council and get back to us, but that never happened.”
Bisani further alleged that the institution has been inconsistent in its communication with the students regarding the true state of accreditation, saying that “different stories come from the management and the council.”
He added that the students will continue their protest until the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ishaya Tanko, personally addresses them and provides clear timelines for accreditation and student induction.
“We want a definite date for accreditation, and also for the induction of the first, second, and third sets. We need a proper curriculum and clarity from the management. We will continue this protest until the university addresses us directly,” he insisted.
When asked if the protest could disrupt the NUGA Games, Bisani maintained that the students’ welfare should take precedence.
“We have been here for 10 years. Our emotional and academic wellbeing should be a greater priority than any sporting event,” he said.
Another protesting student, Wike Pius, a member of the pioneer set admitted in 2015, expressed deep disappointment with the university’s handling of the situation.
“When we were admitted, we were assured that we wouldn’t spend a day longer than our MBBS colleagues. Today, our colleagues have graduated and moved on, while we remain here without any certainty,” he lamented.
Pius said despite several engagements with the college and university management, no tangible progress has been made.
“We have met the provost, the dean, and even the Vice Chancellor several times. They talk, make promises, but take no action. The biggest problem is that no one is telling us the truth. One day it’s about lack of dental chairs, the next day it’s about lecturers. We are tired of excuses,” he added.
The students also faulted the university for continuing to admit new students into the dentistry programme despite its unaccredited status.
“It’s wrong to blame the students,” Bisani said. “We were never told the course lacked accreditation. The university kept listing Dentistry as an option on its admission portal. If we had known, many of us would never have applied.”
As of the time of filing this report, the university management had yet to issue an official response. Security personnel were, however, seen trying to restore order at the campus gates while NUGA delegations arriving for the games were temporarily stranded.
The protesting students vowed to sustain their action until their demands are addressed, insisting that they will not relent until the long-awaited accreditation becomes a reality.
