The 2024 graduates of the University of Lagos’ Radiography Department are accusing the school management of jeopardizing their future after the Radiographers Registration Board of Nigeria (RRBN) de-accredited their program.

The graduates claim that the program lost accreditation due to the university’s failure to provide necessary medical equipment and adequate lecturers.

After spending seven years in a program designed to last five, the graduates are now facing a crushing setback and uncertainty. They learned about the RRBN’s de-accreditation shortly after completing their final examinations in August 2024, leaving them without the qualifications required to advance their careers.

Chioma, one of the distressed graduates, explained that the lack of accreditation prevents them from taking the professional qualification exam needed to obtain licenses and secure internships. 

“Ideally, our accreditation expired in 2023, and the renewal process has been ongoing. The board stated that the department must have functional X-ray and ultrasound machines in addition to the ones at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Although the department has the equipment, none of it has worked since I joined in 2017.

Our predecessors faced a similar issue and had to wait two years after graduation to be inducted. The department has lost its accreditation. Without this accreditation, we are unable to sit for the professional examination required by the board to induct us into the professional body and issue us a license. This also means we cannot proceed with our internship, let alone participate in the National Youth Service Corps scheme. We find ourselves in a state of limbo.”

Another graduate, Amarachi, shared similar concerns, highlighting that the accreditation crisis has been ongoing since 2016. “I was admitted in December 2017, and the issue has been ongoing ever since. They’ll resolve it, but then we end up losing it again. Our convocation took place on January 15, 2025. Our induction ceremony into the RRBN is currently on hold because the department lacks the necessary facilities. A previous cohort had to wait nearly two years due to a similar issue.”

When contacted on Tuesday, the Head of the institution’s Communication Unit, Adejoke Alaga-Ibraheem, instructed our correspondent to direct any questions to an email address. “If it has anything to do with the query, kindly send them to the email.”

The graduates are now calling on the university management to take immediate action to resolve the accreditation crisis and ensure they can proceed with their careers as certified radiographers.