For years, students of the faculty of dental sciences at the University of Jos have been living a lie, one fed to them by their lecturers. Their course has not been accredited by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), and they were in the dark for years.

FIJ learned that the faculty has seven sets. Students in the first set ought to graduate with their colleagues in the MBBS programme in less than two months from the time of the publication of this report, but with the accreditation saga, they have no idea when they will bid goodbye to undergraduate studies.

Bature (not real name), a student of the faculty in the third set (fifth year), told FIJ that the course has not been accredited by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) due to a lack of proper structure in terms of staff and dental clinical equipment.

But the students are the ones paying the heavy price.

Ishaya (not real name), another student, who is currently in his fourth year, told FIJ that his set only realised the accreditation status in 2023 when they moved into the University of Jos Teaching Hospital after passing their third-year exams and transitioning into the clinical stage of medicine school.

“When we were on the University of Jos main campus, we had no idea what was going on in the teaching hospital. All we knew was that we were taking the same courses with our colleagues from MBBS. There were some extra courses we needed to take in our second and third years, but we never took them and never knew we had to,” he said.

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“Our first set was supposed to take some courses meant for only students of dental science; at the same time our MBBS colleagues were taking obstetrics and gynaecology, but they were told to go home. After a while, they were asked to resume. When they did, they took some courses. They have been off and on since then. Now, they don’t even know when they will graduate.”

THE PROTESTS, PLEAS TO BE MERGED WITH MBBS

One morning in April, some students of the Department of Dentistry bore placards and embarked on a protest at the University of Jos Teaching Hospital to express their grievances. They also met with the university’s vice chancellor.

The students told the vice chancellor that they wanted their faculty to be merged with MBBS since they took the same courses for years and had only a few courses bordering them, such as obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics and some others.

The students went home dejected after the protests, as they were informed a merger was impossible. They management also assured them they would strive to gain accreditation.

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“We were told that MBBS had also lost its accreditation, but they were striving to regain its accreditation. They also said they would strive to get accreditation for us. But accreditation also comes with another challenge,” Ishaya told FIJ.

“What if we get accredited and we’re given an abysmally low quota? There are nine students in the first set, 17 in the second set, over 40 in the third, and we are 50 in my set. If we get accreditation, it will take divine grace and intervention for us to get even a quota of 15. This means that not everyone will be inducted at the same time. Some will have to wait till the following year or beyond.”

‘WE DONT KNOW WHEN WE WILL GRADUATE’

The students are caught in a thick web as a result of the issues surrounding the accreditation. If the department gets accredited today, the first, second and third sets will have to go back to sit for the exams they didn’t take in their third year and other sessions. This will, no doubt, elongate their stay in the university by a year or even more.

Bature told FIJ that he found it all sad and depressing.

“It has been very sad and depressing. People that I entered university with at the same time have graduated. My younger brother has written his final exams. I know it’s a 6-7 year course, but the fact that I don’t know when I will graduate is heartbreaking,” he said.

Ishaya told FIJ that the department had invited mental health experts to speak to them about depression and suicide prevention.

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“Not all of us are emotionally strong. A lot of us are depressed. Those in our first set do not know when they will graduate. It is a huge setback for us. We are still paying school fees and studying. We can’t even study well because we have no idea when we will graduate,” said Ishaya.

A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

In a press release signed by Agbaseni Michael Amankye and dated June 6, it was stated that the MDCN had scheduled an accreditation exercise for the faculty for July 4.

“We have been informed that the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has scheduled the accreditation exercise for the Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Jos, to commence on July 4, 2024,” the press release read.

The students are crossing their fingers and holding on to hope that the faculty will be accredited by the MDCN after the accreditation exercise.