By Adeleye Kunle
Jacob Olupona, a Nigerian American Professor of African Religious Traditions and American Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, has stated that a coup and illegal seizure of power will not solve Nigeria’s current problems.
Olupona, speaking at the 16th annual Faculty of Dentistry conference at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun State, titled ‘Dentistry without borders,’ expressed concern about graduate unemployment in Nigeria.
“We have a crisis in Nigeria,” he said, “we have people carrying certificates all over, they have no job, it is not their fault, the system has failed them.” As a result, those of us in charge of this learning process must begin to consider how we can best assist these students.
“What we need is a cultural revolution, not a coup or a gun, so that we can begin to believe in ourselves and recognize when people are deceiving us and telling us stories and lies.”
During a discussion session, Professor of Archaeology Adisa Ogunfolakan bemoaned the lack of record keeping of teeth extracted by dentists in Nigeria in order to offer solutions to teeth-related problems.
“No record keeping on teeth that have been removed by dentists in previous generations to see nutritional changes,” he said. Dentists must collaborate with historians to generate data for action plans.”
Professor Morenike Ukpong, Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, revealed that the conference began with six pre-conferences and featured nine national and international resource persons, with 690 participants from across the country and abroad.
