The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has criticised the practice of naming universities after a single health profession, describing it as discriminatory and contrary to the spirit of inclusivity in healthcare education.
Speaking ahead of the PSN’s 2025 Annual National Conference (DABO 2025) scheduled for next month in Kano, the society’s president, Prof Ayuba Tanko, said singling out medicine in the naming of a university relegates other health professions to a subordinate status.
He warned that such practices could create psychological and professional inferiority among students of other health disciplines and violate Sections 42(A) and (B) of the 1999 Constitution, which prohibit discrimination against citizens. Tanko said medicine, though a vital health science, is only one component of a broader healthcare ecosystem that relies on interdisciplinary collaboration. He cited the University of Health Sciences in Makurdi, Benue State, as a model of inclusivity, contrasting it with universities named solely after medicine.
The PSN president traced the trend to the establishment of the University of Medical Sciences in Ondo State by former governor Dr Olusegun Mimiko, saying such naming conventions distort the collective identity of health professionals in Nigeria.
