Who We Are

The history of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) would not be completed without mentioning the pivotal position that Lagos and Medical Laboratory Scientists (formerly called Medical Laboratory Technologists) in Lagos, played during her formative year in March 1964.

Before then, the association in Nigeria was named the Association of Medical Laboratory and Veterinary Technologists of Nigeria which was formed due to the need for laboratory professionals to have a voice to represent their interests as a pressure group on the welfare of public/civil servants who were then mainly represented under the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

It would be recalled that Lagos was the capital of Nigeria from 1914-1991 (the capital of Nigeria was moved to Abuja in 1991). It would also be recalled that Lagos State was created on 27 May 1967 through the State Creation and Transitions Decree 14 of 1967 which then restructured Nigeria into 12 states before it became 19 states and now 36 States and the FCT through the respective statutes.

General Hospital Lagos and AMLSN: Before and shortly after Nigeria’s independence, some of those who qualified as Medical Laboratory Technologists after training and passed the professional examinations of the Institute of Biomedical Science London, returned to Nigeria.
Some of them were working at the General Hospital, Broad Street Lagos, some were at the University College Hospital Ibadan, UNTH Enugu, and NVRI Jos. What was then the national body of Medical Laboratory Science MLS profession had members working in Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, and Jos.
They were committed professionals who, despite working under colonial masters then, were able to maintain and sustain the association before its formal formation in March 1964. The activities of those early medical laboratory technologists led to the establishment of the regulatory body for medical laboratory practitioners.
They were then called the Institute of Medical Laboratory Technology of Nigeria through Decree 56 of 1968 (now called Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria) MLSCN. The head office of the regulatory body was in Lagos since 1968, before it was moved to Abuja in 2010.
The present-day Lagos State branch of AMLSN was formed following the creation of Lagos State as stated above. So, it is obvious, that Lagos has been very prominent in both political, economic, and professional significance for medical laboratory science practitioners in Nigeria.
The first State Branch Chairman of AMLSN was Chief E.B.E. Bassey. AMLSN (Lagos State branch) used to have an annual memorial lecture in his honor. The Memorial Lecture was called the Chief E.B.E Bassey Memorial Lecture. This used to be the annual major event of the state branch apart from the Association’s National Conference.