The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate has disclosed that no fewer than 16,000 medical doctors left Nigeria for foreign practice over the past five years.
Pate stated this while delivering his keynote address at the 7th annual capacity-building workshop of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa (AMCOA) held in Abuja on Tuesday.
He also warned that many more doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers were planning to leave the country soon to seek better opportunities abroad.
The event, themed “Integrated Healthcare Regulation and Leadership in Building Resilient Health Systems”, was hosted by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) as representatives from across Africa were in attendance.
According to the Minister, “we are confronted with the challenge of an increasing number of talented healthcare professionals leaving to work in other countries.
“Obviously, this was driven by factors such as economic opportunities, better working conditions, advanced training, and superior research environments abroad.
“I, too, migrated in the early 1990s. In 1993, I started at the MRC Lab in The Gambia and the ECFMG pathway that many here know well. So, I understand the drivers because they haven’t changed.”
He said, migration was not new but had sped up recently. Pate however revealed that the Federal Government was taking steps to address the problem:
“We have doubled the quotas for training in medical schools, pharmacy, nursing, and other health professions. Why? Because our experience shows that when you train more, more might stay, and those who left often return”, he said.
The Minister further said the government was correcting maldistribution of the medical workforce as over 40 per cent of Nigerian doctors were concentrated in Lagos and Abuja, while many parts of Nigeria remained without adequate medical coverage.
He added that while doctors can’t be forced to move, “You can incentivise them with financial and non-financial rewards.”
Earlier, the Minister of State for Health, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, said countries hiring Nigerian professionals should help train replacements.
“It was estimated that the cost of training one doctor exceeds $21,000,” he noted. This loss of public investment leaves rural areas underserved.”
AMCOA President Prof. Joel Okullo called the workshop a key moment for African healthcare. “More than a mere meeting, this workshop offers a rare opportunity for stakeholders within the healthcare realm to converge, share insights, and cultivate robust networks,” he said. He stressed data collection and expanding AMCOA’s reach across Africa.
MDCN Chairman Prof. Afolabi Lesi called on regulators to uphold top training standards. “The reality is that while we have committed and clear directions at the level of governance, implementation of actions is bedevilled by fractured and fractious relationships among health workers who ought to be working as a team,” he said. The patient’s wellbeing should come first, he said.
