Dental students of the University of Jos have lamented spending ten years in school without graduating, urging authorities to address prolonged accreditation delays that have stalled their six-year dentistry programme since 2015.
Members of the Jos University Dental Students’ Association (JUDENSA) have expressed frustration over spending a decade as undergraduates without being able to graduate.
Speaking at a press conference in Jos, the association’s president, Johnson Titus Bisani, said the students had endured “ten years of prolonged emotional trauma, painful delays, and unfulfilled expectations.”
“I speak for all dental students at the University of Jos who have endured ten years in school. This has been a painful and disturbing ordeal,” Bisani stated. “We are not here to blame anyone but to share our story in the hope of finding understanding, compassion, and real solutions.”
He emphasized that the issue is one of justice for young Nigerians pursuing careers in dental healthcare, appealing to government authorities and the public to intervene.
“We appeal to our leaders and well-meaning Nigerians to hear us out and help us move forward. We have reached our breaking point,” he said.
According to Bisani, the students gained admission through JAMB in 2015 to study Dentistry at the University of Jos — a programme designed to last six years. However, they remain stuck in the system ten years later.
He explained that the University of Jos hosts the only dental school in Nigeria’s North Central region, making it a crucial institution for training dentists within the area.
“What began as a source of hope has become a decade of frustration,” he added. “We have written letters and held meetings to raise our concerns, but little was done until our first major protest on April 25, 2025.”
Following the protest, the students said university and college managements met with them and outlined a timeline for accreditation.
“We were told that after receiving the first phase of accreditation, the clinical phase would follow within six months, enabling our first set of students to take their clinical exams and be inducted as dentists by 2025,” Bisani said.
The students are now calling on relevant authorities, including the Federal Ministry of Education, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), and National Universities Commission (NUC), to intervene and ensure the timely completion of their studies.
SOURCES: ALLSCHOOL, THE NATION
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