Ghanaian Naturopathic Scholar Gets Major Academic Appointment with Lincoln University College, Malaysia
Ghanaian naturopathic scholar, and academic leader Raphael Nyarkotey Obu has received a major international academic appointment with Lincoln University College (LUC), Malaysia, in a development expected to strengthen academic cooperation in traditional, complementary and integrative medicine between Africa and Asia.
Nyarkotey Obu has been appointed Visiting Professor and Director of African Programs in Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine at the Malaysian university. The appointment gives him a strategic platform to support African-focused academic programs, institutional partnerships, professional development and international exchanges in the complementary and integrative health sciences.
A New Africa–Asia Academic Bridge
The appointment comes as he intensifies efforts to connect African naturopathic education with established Asian systems of medicine. His recent engagements in India have focused on clinical immersion, naturopathy, Ayurveda, yoga, education, regulation and institutional partnerships.
The Lincoln University College platform is expected to broaden this work by creating opportunities for African practitioners and students to participate in international education, professional fellowships, research collaborations and capacity-building initiatives.
For the naturopathic scholar, the relationship is also important to a larger vision: Africa should not remain merely a consumer of foreign traditional and complementary medicine systems. The continent, he argues, must develop, standardise and internationally position its own knowledge and practice systems.
Advancing the African Naturopathy Movement
Nyarkotey Obu is President of Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine in Ghana and Founding President of the African Naturopathic Federation. He has been promoting the concept of African Naturopathy as an emerging model that combines African indigenous health knowledge with evidence-informed naturopathic principles, nutrition, lifestyle medicine, modern clinical sciences and appropriate elements of global traditional and complementary healthcare.
The Malaysian appointment therefore goes beyond an individual academic achievement. It potentially provides another international academic base from which African naturopathy can engage universities, researchers and health institutions outside the continent.
Scholarship Meets Health Law and Regulation
Nyarkotey Obu’s work spans naturopathy, health law, traditional and alternative medicine regulation, competency-based education and health policy. He holds a PhD in Naturopathic Healthcare Science and has pursued postgraduate education in health law, business administration and theology. He is also undertaking another doctoral research in Development Studies with a specialisation in Health Law, Policy and Development at African Research University, Zambia.
As a lawyer and naturopathic academic, he has increasingly combined legal scholarship with advocacy for clearer regulatory frameworks for naturopathy and complementary medicine in Africa. His publications include books, academic papers and policy commentaries on naturopathic education, professional regulation and the development of traditional and alternative medicine.
Growing International Academic Footprint
The Lincoln University College appointment adds to Nyarkotey Obu’s growing international academic profile. He has previously received a full professorial appointment at Quetzalcóatl University of Veracruz, Mexico, an honorary professorial appointment at Vinnytsia State Pedagogical University in Ukraine, and has served as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Warnborough College, Ireland.
His latest role in Malaysia further expands that international network while positioning Ghana as an emerging contributor to global conversations on naturopathy, traditional medicine and integrative healthcare education.
A Bigger Opportunity for Ghana and Africa
For Ghana, the appointment provides an opportunity to strengthen international academic visibility for the country’s developing naturopathic education sector. For Africa, it could support the creation of stronger pathways for training, research, faculty exchange, curriculum development and international recognition.
The appointment represents another important step in Nyarkotey Obu’s wider campaign to build an African naturopathic movement capable of engaging the world on academic, clinical, regulatory and professional grounds.
With new partnerships emerging across Asia and Africa, the Lincoln University College appointment could become an important bridge in the internationalisation of African Naturopathy and the development of the next generation of African practitioners, scholars and policy leaders in traditional, complementary and integrative medicine.
About Lincoln University College, Malaysia
Lincoln University College (LUC) is a private higher education institution located in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. The institution was established in 2002 as Lincoln College and was upgraded to university college status in 2011. According to the university, it is approved by Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education and its programmes operate within the country’s Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) framework.
The university has developed a broad academic portfolio covering medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and traditional and complementary medicine, nursing and applied sciences, business and management, engineering, computing, education and the social sciences, among other disciplines. Its involvement in traditional and complementary medicine makes Nyarkotey Obu’s appointment particularly relevant to his work in naturopathy and the development of African traditional, complementary and integrative medicine.
Lincoln University College also has a growing international profile. According to its current official information, the institution is ranked 638th in the QS World University Rankings 2026 and 196th in Asia, while it was placed in the 401–600 band of the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2025. The university is also ISO 9001:2015 certified and is a member of international higher education networks including the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the International Association of Universities.
The international standing and health-sciences orientation of Lincoln University College therefore give additional significance to Nyarkotey Obu’s appointment. His role as Visiting Professor and Director of African Programs in Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine provides an institutional platform for developing Malaysia–Africa academic collaborations, professional training, research, faculty exchanges and opportunities for African practitioners and students.
The appointment could also support the wider effort to position African Naturopathy within the international academic community by connecting Africa’s emerging naturopathic education and regulatory movement with established universities and traditional and complementary medicine systems in Asia.