The Senate has passed the bill establishing the Federal University of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology, Jos, Plateau State, in a landmark move expected to strengthen Nigeria’s diagnostic healthcare system, expand the training of medical laboratory professionals, and reduce the country’s dependence on medical treatment abroad.
The legislation, which originated in the House of Representatives, was approved after the Senate concurred with its passage by the lower chamber during plenary presided over by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin.
The proposed university will become Nigeria’s first specialised institution dedicated exclusively to medical laboratory science education, research, innovation and technological advancement. It is expected to play a strategic role in improving disease diagnosis, strengthening public health surveillance, promoting biomedical research and producing highly skilled professionals to meet the country’s growing healthcare needs.
Moving the motion for concurrence, Senate Leader Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central) urged lawmakers to support the bill, stressing its importance to the country’s healthcare and educational development. The Senate subsequently considered and passed the legislation in the Committee of the Whole.
The bill had earlier received overwhelming support in the House of Representatives, where Speaker Tajudeen Abbas argued that Nigeria’s healthcare system cannot function effectively without a robust diagnostic foundation.
According to Abbas, inadequate diagnostic capacity remains one of the major reasons many Nigerians continue to seek medical care abroad despite improvements in some aspects of the nation’s health sector.
He maintained that establishing a specialised university would bridge the shortage of highly trained medical laboratory scientists while supporting innovation and improving the quality of diagnostic services nationwide.
The Senate also passed the Federal Road Safety Corps (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Federal Universities of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2026 during the same sitting.
In addition, lawmakers gave a second reading to a separate bill seeking to amend the Federal Medical Centres Act to establish a Federal Medical Centre in Argungu, Kebbi State, as part of efforts to expand access to quality healthcare services across the country.
Reacting to the Senate’s approval, the Provost and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal College of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology, Jos, Professor Sunday Etukudoh, described the development as a historic milestone for Nigeria’s healthcare and tertiary education sectors.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the country’s fragile diagnostic infrastructure and underscored the urgent need to invest in medical laboratory education, scientific research and emerging technologies.
According to him, the proposed university will help produce the highly skilled workforce required to strengthen Nigeria’s health security and improve the country’s capacity to respond to future disease outbreaks.
“COVID-19 stripped us bare and whispered a truth we must never forget: A nation that cannot diagnose cannot defend itself,” Etukudoh said.
He traced the institution’s evolution from its establishment in 1954 as a unit under Hospital Services to its elevation into a Federal College in 2006, describing the Senate’s approval as the culmination of decades of advocacy for university status.
Etukudoh disclosed that the institution already possesses much of the infrastructure required for full university operations, including modern lecture halls, administrative buildings, an ultra-modern auditorium, an electronic library and state-of-the-art diagnostic and research laboratories.
However, he identified the absence of student hostels as the institution’s most pressing infrastructure challenge, noting that students have continued to live off-campus at Dogon Karfe for many years.
“We have built the classrooms of a university. We have raised the laboratories of a university. What remains is to build the home of a university. A university without hostels is a body without a heart,” he said.
He appealed to the Federal Government to prioritise hostel construction to complement existing infrastructure and facilitate a seamless transition to university status.
The provost also urged students and aspiring medical laboratory scientists to embrace artificial intelligence, digital diagnostics and other emerging technologies, noting that the future of healthcare would increasingly depend on innovation, precision diagnostics and data-driven medical research.
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin commended senators for supporting the legislation, describing its passage as another significant step toward strengthening Nigeria’s healthcare system and expanding specialised higher education.
Once signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, the Federal University of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology is expected to become a major centre for diagnostic excellence, biomedical research and professional training, while contributing to improved disease surveillance, enhanced healthcare delivery and a gradual reduction in Nigeria’s reliance on medical tourism.