Three sets of graduates of the Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, are at a crossroads and unable to forge ahead over the school’s failure to accredit their course.

In order to become practicing medical laboratory scientists, they have to first be inducted into the profession by the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), but even this is an unattainable feat without accreditation.

Friday Iweka, the head of the department, told FIJ that the course was once accredited but the accreditation expired in 2022. As a result of this, the students who graduated after the expiration of accreditation are yet to be inducted into the MLSCN.

FIJ learned that the department has produced three sets that are yet to be inducted into the MLSCN. Some of them wrote their final exams as far back as 2022.

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These graduates are not the only ones caught in this dilemma. The students of the department are likely to face the same fate as their seniors should the accreditation issue that has lingered for years persist.

Osaszuwa Osaghe (not real name), an alumnus of the department, who wrote his final exam in 2022, told FIJ that he had not been able to think straight since he heard about the accreditation issue and that it had hindered him from commencing his internship.

“I gained admission in 2016 at age 15 and hoped to graduate and get inducted at 20, but it has been eight years since then, and I’m living in anguish. Sometimes, I regret choosing AAU as my university of choice,” he said.

“I am the last of my secondary school classmates still in the university. We have met all the requirements to graduate, but we are still here. There are three sets of graduates who are still waiting to be inducted. What hope is there for our juniors who are still in the university?”

This accreditation issue has cost the young graduate his dreams, and he has watched several opportunities pass him by.

“I am almost 24, and there is no hope in sight regarding this. I worked very hard and was lucky to graduate with a high CGPA. I am yet to commence my internship, and I have watched several opportunities pass me by as a result of these problems I did not create myself,” he told FIJ.

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Osaghae is not alone.

Another alumnus who asked to be anonymous told FIJ that many of those he graduated with had fallen into depression. He also told FIJ that the school management had assured them time and time again that they were working tirelessly to regain accreditation, but nothing had been done in two years.

“The school management has promised us a date for induction many times, but they break their promises each time, thereby plunging the graduates who spent eight years in the university instead of five into a state of uncertainty. We are eager to start our careers, but this is hindering us from forging ahead,” the alumnus told FIJ.

When FIJ contacted Friday Iweka, the head of the department, he repeated the same thing he had told the students.

“There is no problem. We did not lose accreditation. Our accreditation elapsed in 2022. We are in the process of re-accreditation,” Iweka told FIJ.

FIJ also asked what led to the expiration of accreditation, but he said he was driving and did not know this reporter well enough to respond.

“I am driving. I don’t really know who is speaking. I only answered your call because I didn’t want to decline,” he said.

Later that night, he sent a message asking this reporter to direct the questions asked to the university’s head of corporate communications, but he did not send the staff’s phone number or email address.