Academic and sporting activities at the University of Jos were disrupted on Wednesday as students of the Faculty of Dentistry staged a massive protest over the institution’s alleged failure to secure accreditation for their programme — a setback that has kept some of them in school for more than a decade without graduation.
The aggrieved students barricaded all entrances and exits to the campus, halting movement and affecting preparations for the ongoing Nigerian University Games (NUGA), which the university is hosting. They carried placards demanding immediate action and expressing anger over years of unfulfilled promises from management.
President of the Jos University Dental Students Association (JUDSA), Johnson Titus Bisani, told journalists that the prolonged delay had left many students frustrated and uncertain about their future.
“We have students who have spent 10 years in this school without graduation. The first set has been here for a decade now without accreditation,” Bisani said. “We’ve engaged management countless times, but all we get are repeated promises that accreditation is coming. The Vice Chancellor told us he would meet with the Medical and Dental Council and get back to us, but that never happened.”
He accused the university of giving conflicting information about the true status of the accreditation, saying “different stories come from the management and the council.”
Bisani said the students would continue their protest until the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ishaya Tanko, personally addresses them and provides definite timelines for accreditation and induction.
“We want a definite date for accreditation and also for the induction of the first, second, and third sets. We need a proper curriculum and clarity from the management. We will continue this protest until the university addresses us directly,” he insisted.
When asked about the potential impact on the ongoing NUGA Games, Bisani maintained that students’ welfare should take precedence.
“We have been here for 10 years. Our emotional and academic wellbeing should be a greater priority than any sporting event,” he said.
Another protesting student, Wike Pius, who was admitted in 2015 as part of the pioneer set, expressed deep disappointment with the institution’s handling of the programme.
“When we were admitted, we were assured that we wouldn’t spend a day longer than our MBBS colleagues. Today, our colleagues have graduated and moved on, while we remain here without any certainty,” he lamented.
Pius said despite multiple meetings with management, no concrete progress has been achieved.
“We’ve met the Provost, the Dean, and even the Vice Chancellor several times. They talk, make promises, but take no action. The biggest problem is that no one is telling us the truth. One day it’s about lack of dental chairs, the next day it’s about lecturers. We are tired of excuses,” he added.
The students also criticized the university for continuing to admit new candidates into the unaccredited programme.
“It’s wrong to blame the students,” Bisani said. “We were never told the course lacked accreditation. The university kept listing Dentistry as an option on its admission portal. If we had known, many of us would never have applied.”
As of press time, the university management had not released an official statement. Security personnel were seen at the campus gates trying to restore order, while NUGA delegations arriving for the games were temporarily stranded.
The protesting students vowed to sustain their demonstration until their demands are met, insisting they will not relent until the long-awaited accreditation becomes a reality.
