…Say “We Are Vulnerable To Suicidal Tendencies”
Lucky Obukohwo Reporting
Dental students of the University of Jos have decried the inability of the university’s authorities to get accreditation for the dentistry department, saying that, this singular act has the ability to make them to be vulnerable to suicide.
Addressing Journalists in Jos, the students under the platform of the Jos University Dental Students’ Association (JUDENSA), said they’ve spent 10 years without knowing when they would graduate from the school.
President of JUDENSA Johnson Titus Bisani, who spoke on their behalf, said they “have endured 10 years of prolonged emotional trauma, and a painful and disturbing ordeal.”
The students, who were admitted in 2015 as pioneer students, said, “We are not here to point fingers, but to share our story in hopes of finding understanding, compassion, and real solutions.
This is about justice for young Nigerians chasing their dreams in dental healthcare, and we appeal to our leaders and well-meaning Nigerians to hear us out and help us move forward, as we have reached our breaking point. We are emotionally drained, deeply traumatized, and vulnerable to suicidal tendencies.
“After grinding through the JAMB examination, maybe retaking it once or twice or even more, he finally secures admission to study dentistry at the University of Jos in the year 2015.
It is meant to be a 6-year program, difficult but worth it, especially when one considers Nigeria’s abysmal dentist-to-patient ratio of 1:54,000, which is far from the World Health Organization’s recommended 1:5,000 patients.
“The situation is worse in the North Central region, which has just about 311 dentists serving over 20 million people.
“The University of Jos has the only dental school in the North Central geopolitical zone of Nigeria; this faculty is vital for training homegrown dentists within the region. Yet what began as a source of hope has stretched into a decade of frustration, delays, and unfulfilled expectations.
“This program was launched in 2015 with our pioneer class brimming with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, year after year, students paid fees, attended lectures, and completed postings with little advancement toward writing our dental examinations.
They therefore appealed to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and the UNIJOS authorities to come to their rescue.