Lagos Produces First Forensic Dentist In West Africa

The Lagos State Government’s massive investment in human capital development of the workforce is now yielding dividends as the State Public Service has produced the first Forensic Dentist in the whole of West Africa.

The State Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Mrs. Ajibola Ponnle, disclosed this while introducing Dr. Victor Adekunle, who just completed a Masters Degree in Legal Medicine and Forensic Dentistry at the University of Dundee, Scotland, to the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi at his office in Alausa, Ikeja.

Mrs. Ponnle informed the gathering that the State Government, through the Ministry of Establishments Training and Pensions, decided to sponsor Dr. Adekunle for the course in order to bridge an identified gap in the State’s Public Health sector including postmortem dental records.

She reiterated that the present administration is committed to building the 21st Century workforce that would deliver the dividends of democracy to Lagosians across generic and technical areas of competency, expressing the hope that the skills gained by the Dentist would be beneficial to the State Government and help in building a database of dental records.

Ponnle also sought the collaboration of the Ministry of Health in the areas of special training needs for deserving health workers to build and enhance human capacity development in the State.

In his remarks, the Forensic Dentist, Dr. Victor Adekunle, explained that the practice of Forensic Dentistry will assist the State in identifying people during disasters like fire outbreaks, flood, murder investigations, missing person cases as well as help in building a database for identifying criminals.

The State Commissioner for Health, Prof.Akin Abayomi, applauded the laudable initiative of the State Government and the Ministry of Establishments Training and Pensions, which he said is a step in the right direction.

He promised to effectively utilise the rich potential of all the staff of the Ministry to deliver qualitative healthcare to residents of the State, as well as deepen research on different aspects of healthcare, while the State and the Country grapple with insurgency and deaths of innocent victims.

Prof. Abayomi urged Dr. Adekunle to bring his acquired knowledge to bear on improving the Lagos State Health sector.