Approximately 400 graduates of the Dental Nursing Department at the Federal University of Allied Health Sciences, Enugu, have threatened to disrupt academic activities at the institution on Wednesday over their inability to participate in the National Youth Service Corps programme.
The affected graduates, who received Higher National Diploma certificates from the university, accused the institution's management of deliberate negligence in addressing their mobilisation concerns, leaving them stranded without employment opportunities.
A graduate who completed the programme in 2022 explained that the lack of an NYSC discharge certificate has made it impossible to secure employment, with many employers rejecting applications from affected graduates.
"We have been extorted unjustly, and that is why we shall carry out the protest so that the ministry of education and NUC will hear our plight. My parents see me as a scam. I graduated since 2022, and have remained with my parents because no employer finds me eligible because I do not have an NYSC discharge certificate. Our protest tomorrow is to remind the university that we are still wasting in our villages," the graduate explained.
Another affected individual who graduated in 2020 revealed that students contributed money for what the university described as regularisation processes that would lead to NYSC mobilisation, but the funds have yielded no results.
"We are victims of fraud. We underwent all the processes to be qualified as dental nurses. We paid all the fees; we did all the courses stipulated in the curriculum; we did our housemanship as well, but after the graduation, we are confined to our respective houses because we are not mobilised for NYSC. The university used us to make money. We have had meetings with the vice chancellor and he kept promising us. We started protesting about five years ago, yet the university kept admitting students to the same course," the graduate noted.
The graduates alleged that the institution, formerly known as Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy before its elevation to university status, continued admitting students into the Dental Nursing Department despite the programme lacking accreditation from the National Universities Commission.
Information gathered indicates that the university discontinued admissions into both HND and degree programmes in the Dental Nursing Department last year following sustained protests by graduates demanding resolution of their mobilisation challenges.
Professor John Emalmo, Vice Chancellor of the university, has not issued any public statement addressing the graduates' allegations or provided clarification on the accreditation status of the affected programme and the mobilisation difficulties facing the graduates.
