Brain drain: ‘Resist the temptation to flee Nigeria’

The Nigerian government has appealed to doctors in the country to resist the temptation to serve in foreign countries and work with the current administration to improve the situation in the nation.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, in a recent meeting with the National Executive Committee of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), made the call, assuring doctors that the administration led by President Bola Tinubu is committed to their well-being and has empathy for who choose to remain in the middle of the “Japa syndrome”.

According to a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, the leadership of the NMA, led by its president, Bala Audu, paid Mr Shettima a courtesy visit at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday.

Shettima urged Nigerian doctors not to despair and implored them to “remain steadfast”, commending them for the important contributions and sacrifices they make in repositioning the country’s healthcare delivery.

“Let’s stay behind and save this nation together. “This is our country, the largest black nation in the world and a promising nation in which we must invest,” he was quoted as saying.

“The NMA is one of the most prestigious and preeminent associations in this country. We must congratulate him for the sacrifices he is making and for remaining in this nation.

“All hope is not lost because Nigerian doctors are taking giant steps, recording milestones in the profession and most importantly, making enormous sacrifices to serve this nation.”

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Shettima further asked the NMA to encourage young doctors to specialize in key disciplines of medical practice and also monitor the activities of quacks in the profession.

NMA Comments

In his remarks, the NMA president stated that members of the executive committee of the association were at the presidential villa to show solidarity with the Tinubu administration, particularly over its policy in the health sector.

Audu said: “The NMA has come here today as a partner of your government and as a patriotic group of Nigerians dedicated to the success of this government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and to ensure that this government provides quality healthcare to all Nigerians.

“The NMA remains patriotic to this nation and will fully support the health policies of its government to drive improvement in the delivery of quality healthcare and universal access to services for all Nigerians.”

He noted that the executive committee will work closely with the government in the execution and implementation of policies in the health sector.

“The NMA wants to assure you that it will play a key role in ensuring stability in the health sector and by extension, stability for this government to deliver on its promises to Nigerians as it has already begun to do,” he added.

Audu further noted that when fully implemented, Tinubu health policy programs and projects will increase specialist training spaces in the country as well as the quality of postgraduate medical training.

“We are confident that this government will address the infrastructure needs to be able to maintain the quality of this training as well as remuneration that will improve the well-being of Nigerian doctors to remain and serve in this country,” he said.

Brain drain

Furthermore, Nigeria’s Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, recently lamented that the country’s health system remains weak, in part because its trained health professionals emigrated to developed countries that did not invest in their early professional education.

Hundreds of Nigerian health workers migrate annually to more advanced countries, mainly because they seek better working conditions and a better quality of life.

Various statistics show that more than 5,000 Nigerian doctors emigrated to the United Kingdom between 2015 and 2022.

According to the Development Research and Projects Center (dRPC), 233 Nigerian doctors moved to the UK in 2015; the number increased to 279 in 2016; In 2017 the figure was 475; In 2018, the number rose to 852; in 2019 it increased to 1,347; In 2020 the figure was 833 and in 2021 it was 932.