UNIJOS Students Protest 10 Years Without Graduation

A group of dental students from the University of Jos (UNIJOS) staged a peaceful protest on Wednesday, on their inability to graduate after spending over ten years in school due to the non-accreditation of their programme.

The students, who gathered at the university’s Permanent Site, blocked the main entrance while chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Our future is on hold,” “Save us from depression,” and “Accredit us now.”

Speaking during the protest, the President of the Jos University Dental Students Association, Johnson Titus, said the demonstration was borne out of frustration and the prolonged silence of the university authorities over their plight.

“What you see here today represents the pain of students who have spent more than a decade pursuing a programme that has yet to be accredited,” Titus said. “We want the management and relevant regulatory bodies to step in, fix the accreditation issues, and give us a date for completion.”

He accused the university of admitting new students into the dentistry programme despite knowing that it lacked accreditation.

“If we had been told that the course wasn’t accredited, many of us wouldn’t have chosen it. The university still advertises the programme, which is unfair,” he added.

Another student, Nwike Pius, expressed disappointment over what he described as the management’s lack of sincerity in resolving the crisis. “Each time we ask for updates, we hear conflicting stories from the school and the Medical and Dental Council,” he said.

Attempts to reach the Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Chris Piwuna, were unsuccessful. However, a source close to the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Tanko Ishaya, disclosed that the institution had begun steps to address the issue, including opening bids for an ₦800 million capital project aimed at purchasing equipment for the dental faculty.

According to the source, senior faculty members recently met with officials of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to secure a date for the long-awaited accreditation.