BY JUMOKE OWOOLA
Professionals from all walks of life converged recently at the BOOC Conference Hall of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife to mark the 16th annual Faculty of Dentistry Conference and to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the College of Health Sciences, OAU, Ile-Ife, respectively.
The conference tagged “Dentistry Without Borders” provided an avenue for scholars, researchers, stakeholders and students to deliberate on issues affecting dentistry and how to look deeper beyond one’s immediate practices.
In her welcome address, the Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, Prof. Morenike Ukpong said that the Faculty of Dentistry of OAU as a trailblazer was the first and only University in Nigeria to organize a faculty conference and this was over two decades ago under the leadership of the immediate past Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede when he was the acting Dean of the Faculty in 2001.
Going further, Prof. Morenike Ukpong says “Prof. Ogunbodede learnt the strength and values such conferences can bring to health systems development during his stay in South Africa. And he replicated that here in OAU, Ile-Ife while his singular efforts have led to the replication of faculty conferences within the University and in other institutions in Nigeria; it is one of the exemplary leadership that can come from the Faculty.”
The keynote speaker for day one focusing on the topic “The Awesome Treasures in Dentistry”, a brand specialist and principal, Alder consulting, Mr. Leke Alder highlighted the importance of entrepreneurship in ones chosen profession.
“Self-esteem is very important in the game of success. Develop self-esteem. Nobody is going to give you self-esteem, you give yourself.
“That you graduated from the school of dentistry doesn’t mean you automatically acquired a certificate in entrepreneurial competences. Business is another thing entirely. If you want to succeed in business, you have to learn how to recognize opportunities. Learn how to take initiatives, learn how to network, to formulate vision, develop strategies, define your mission, iterate your corporate objectives, master your branding and flesh out your values.
“You must know how to hire. Some people are better off in a partnership than on their own. If you are going to go into business, at least draw a plan. A dental practice is a business where there are so many business plan templates available on the internet. I bet you will find one for dental practice. You will need to learn how to build an administrative structure, learn to manage your cash flow, how to market your service. The idea is to reduce the possibility of failure.”
From the cultural aspects of it, Prof. Jacob Olupona who is a Professor of African Religious Tradition and American Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, USA; opined that unemployment rate in Nigeria is worrisome.
“We have a crisis in Nigeria, we have people carrying certificates up all around. They have no job to do. It is not their fault, it is the system that has failed them. So, those of us who are responsible for this learning process must begin to think about how best we can help those students.
“The kind of social revolution we need is not using coups or using guns but cultural revolution, so that we begin to know when people are deceiving us and telling us stories and lies.
Speaking from the same cultural aspect, Prof. of Archaeology, Prof. Adisa Ogunfolakan frowned at the lack of record keeping of teeth that has been removed by dentists in Nigeria so as to proffer solutions to problems associated with teeth.
“No record keeping on teeth that have been removed by dentists in the past generations to see the nutritional changes. Dentists must work with historians; doing this will help to generate data for action plans,” he said.
The chief host who is also the Vice Chancellor of OAU, Prof. Adebayo Simeon Banure applauded the initiatives of the organizers in taking the bull by the horns.
“The conference is to take proper initiatives with sole purpose of achieving positive landmarks. This is a conference that bothers on cutting frontiers and opens to new areas. Cutting frontiers in the area of research and practice from all vices that is not in line with the University regulations,” he stressed.
Speaking on the second day of the Conference, Prof. Onikepe Folarin of the Redeemers University, Osun State allayed the fears of those having cancers and the need not to panic again because there are better ways of handling such cases.
She also urged government to make policies that will help researchers in their works.
“We have enough medical facilities to treat those suffering from it. We have the facilities, we have the capabilities to do the entire test they go abroad for in Nigeria,” she added.
In order to drive home the key points in a relaxed manner, there was a cultural troupe which displayed different aspects of entertainment, ranging from dance, drama, monologue, miming and singing.
The conference started with six pre-conferences organized by the Dean’s Office and the five departments. Collectively, there were nine national and international resource persons and 690 participants from multiple locations in and outside the country that attended the conference.
Basking in the euphoria of organizing an eventful conference, Prof. Morenike Ukpong, who doubles as the host looks forward to more educative outing that will impact positively into the lives of both students and other stakeholders.
“There is no doubt that the conference has given room for interaction that will help the Faculty of Dentistry & Students in building their academic capacity. I need to thank everyone for their brilliant contributions. Our Faculty is noted for excellence and this will linger on for many years to come,” she concluded.
