By Sunday Ani
The outgoing Registrar and Chief Executive of the Dental Therapy Registration Board of Nigeria (DThRBN), Mrs. Mercy Omowunmi Ojo, has said that she would be retiring into farming having had an eventful eight-year outing at the board.
She made her next move after exiting office known to journalists in her Ikoyi, Lagos office on Wednesday.
She said she would want to be remembered in the DThRBN as that woman who removed the career progression barrier that was placed on dental therapists for many years.
She stated that before her coming on board as registrar, dental therapists could not rise above level 14 because they had no university degree but Higher National Diploma.
She stressed that she made it one of her visions when she became registrar because she was also a victim of that injustice.
Narrating two she succeeded to break the barrier, she said: “Dental therapists were stagnated at level 14 for so many years. They couldn’t move beyond that level. Even if you have your PhD, they will tell you it has to be from the dental profession. When I came in, there was nothing like a degree for dental therapists but I took it upon myself to ensure that that issue was resolved. It was like my vision because I am an in-house person here and I have experienced the same injustice.
“People that met me here even when I was already on level 10 became directors and I was still on level 14 because I have HND. I could not move, despite the fact that I have acquired additional qualifications. And there were no degree training institutions for dental therapists in Nigeria…
So, if you don’t have a degree in dental therapy, you can’t move beyond level 14. That was in the scheme.
“So, as soon as I assumed office as registrar, I went to work and today, I can proudly say that we have succeeded in removing the barrier of level 14. Dental therapists are now accepted to move up to level 17 but that was after three years when the people that enrolled in Legacy University of Gambia for a degree programme had passed out.
“It was around then that the School of Dentistry in Enugu was upgraded to a degree awarding institution. So, I used the certificates from Legacy University and those from Enugu School of Dentistry to justify why we should be allowed to move beyond level 14 to 17 and it was granted to us.”
She spoke of so many other achievements ranging from removing the carrier progression barrier to digitalisation of the Board, institutionalisation of the administrative framework and capacity building for transparent management of the Board among other sterling achievements.
To underscore her achievements, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) rated the Board 72.90 percent and 81.78 percent respectively in the last two years.