Tinubu approves FULafia takeover of Nasarawa’s Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the takeover of Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH) in Lafia by the Federal University of Lafia (FULafia).

Ajuri Ngelale, the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, said the hospital is being converted to the Federal University of Lafia Teaching Hospital.

The conversion, he said, followed a request by the Nasarawa state government.

Tinubu said the conversion of the health facility to a federal teaching hospital will boost healthcare delivery in the state.

He said will also enhance the training of students in medical and allied sciences.

The idea of constructing a specialist hospital that would later be named DASH was conceived in 1996 after the creation of Nasarawa state.

The hospital was commissioned in April 1999.

The Federal University of Lafia, which is relatively new, was established in 2010 under the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

The university commenced academic activities in September 2012 with Ekanem Ikpi Braide as its first vice-chancellor.

The university now has over 26 departments.

The National Universities Commission (NUC), in 2020, approved medicine and surgery as one of the programmes at FULafia.

Until now, the institution had no official teaching hospital of its own.