The Senate has approved the bill establishing the Federal University of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology in Jos, a development set to improve healthcare access, strengthen diagnostics, and curb medical tourism driven by inadequate local infrastructure.

The bill originated in the House of Representatives, where Speaker Tajudeen Abbas passed it after noting that the medical facility would improve access to quality healthcare and reduce the growing trend of medical tourism among Nigerians.

He expressed concern over the number of citizens seeking treatment abroad due to inadequate healthcare infrastructure within the country. The measure was transmitted to the Senate alongside other proposals, including one advanced for the establishment of a Federal Medical Centre in Arugungu, Kebbi.

During plenary on Tuesday, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele (APC-Ekiti Central) presented the bills and urged lawmakers to support their passage. Sitting as the Committee of the Whole and presided over by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, the Senate unanimously approved three bills for concurrence: the Federal Road Safety Corps (Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Federal University of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology, Jos (Establishment) Bill, 2026, and the Federal Universities of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

It also passed for Second Reading the bill to amend the Federal Medical Centres Act to establish the Federal Medical Centre in Arugungu, Kebbi.

Hailing the concurrence, Prof. Sunday Nkereuwem Etukudoh, Provost and CEO of the Federal College of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology (FCMLST) Jos, linked the nation’s challenges to diagnostic gaps.

“COVID-19 stripped us bare and whispered a truth we must never forget: a nation that cannot diagnose cannot defend itself,” he said.

Tracing the college’s journey from a 1954 unit in Hospital Services to a College in 2006, Prof. Etukudoh described the bill as “not bureaucracy. It is prophecy.” He had decreed to the Senate to concur after the House passage, a call the upper chamber has now answered.

The Provost further charged the Federal Government, declaring: “I decree to the Federal Government: Prioritize. Nigeria’s health security hangs on it. Nigeria’s youth destiny hangs on it. Nigeria’s scientific independence hangs on it.”

He showcased the permanent site’s infrastructure—an ultra-modern auditorium, 2-storey admin and classroom blocks, e-library, diagnostic and research labs—yet lamented that students have lived in exile at DogonKarfe hostels far from campus for 70 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,” Prof. Etukudoh stated.

He charged students to embrace Artificial Intelligence as the institution prepares for its new status as a full university.

Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin commended senators for their cooperation and contributions to the legislative process.