How physiotherapy profession was transformed —Sanya, former UI DVC

One year after the demise of Emeritus Professor of Physiotherapy, Vincent Nwuga, his ideal of continued educational improvement to increase professional potential, a former deputy vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Arinola Sanya has said is still going viral among Nigerian-trained physiotherapists at home and abroad.

Professor Sanya said this at a lecture she delivered in Ibadan at the second Nwuga Physiotherapy Foundation entitled “Nwugarian Ideals for Physiotherapy in Nigeria: Mentee’s Review One Year After”.

Sanya said the Nwugarian ideal has grown with beneficial effect on more than 80 per cent of physiotherapists trained in Nigeria, adding that it was now very unlikely that a physiotherapist trained in Nigeria will not make any effort to improve his or her professional potentials.

According to her, the Nwugarian ideals for Physiotherapy in Nigeria had ensured that physiotherapists continually update their career potentials, ensure that the upcoming generations do not go through the undue professional hardship of the past and promote availability of postgraduate physiotherapy training in Nigeria.

Also, Sanya said it has encouraged specialised physiotherapy practice and promote acceptable social and professional attitude and behaviour.

According to her, “the Nwugarian ideal has become the vogue such that at present at UCH, Ibadan 22 clinical physiotherapists have specialised Master’s degree in physiotherapy while four clinical physiotherapists have Ph.D degrees in physiotherapy. At the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, six of the clinical physiotherapists have Master’s degrees and three of them are females.”

Sanya while eulogising Emeritus Nwuga’ ideals, said it had prevented mediocrity, inferiority complex and undue aggression in relation to other professionals.

“If Professor Nwuga had not applied this ideal to his own life, there might be no justification to celebrate his life with this lecture. At the best, he could have retired from UCH at age 60 as a chief physiotherapist clinging to his diploma certificate,” she said.

The don declared that Nwuga’s determination to upgrade his qualification to degree status had ensured that upcoming generations do not go through the undue professional hardships of the past.

According to her, “if he had queued behind University of Lagos and gone the way of the diploma programme, physiotherapy training in Nigeria would have been a mixed grill of diploma and degree with attendant professional confusion and inferiority complex.

“He chose the degree programme when he started the programme at Ile Ife because he did not want his students to go through what he went through with his diploma background.”

Sanya, therefore, urged all physiotherapists to copy the late Nwuga by encouraging diligence and forthrightness in all their endeavours, saying this had helped him to  change the face of Physiotherapy in the world given his outstanding achievement.