The Chairman of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Oyo State, Wale Lasisi, has suggested that with the right incentives to work in Nigeria, Nigerian doctors will not have reasons to migrate out of Nigeria for career purposes.
Mr. Lasisi admitted that the health sector in Nigeria is suffering from the so-called ‘japa syndrome’ whereby Nigerian doctors leave for overseas shortly after their qualification as doctors in Nigeria for better paying jobs and working conditions. This was in contrast to past years when people trained abroad and came home to practice.
He called for government intervention during the opening of the 2022 Physicians’ Week, with the theme: “Nigeria’s Healthcare Delivery System and the 2023 Democratic Transition: A Time to Change the Narrative.”
On the same issue of brain drain, Fola Adeniji, of University College Hospital, Ibadan, warned that if not tackled, the brain drain trend could lead to the collapsed health system.
He said, “For every physician trained in Nigeria, government must have spent an average of N3.8 million, which is equivalent to $10,000.
“So, if that individual decides to leave the country, that means the country will be losing investments in that individual,” Mr. Adeniji said.
Should Nigerian doctors expect that the government will intervene with incentives?
Based on precedent, it is unlikely that the present government will intervene with incentives. The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) which is the demography of medical doctors at the highest risk of emigration, embarked on strike up to 4 times during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The more recent of the strikes commenced in August 2022 effectively ended in October 2021. The issues were non-payment of salaries, increase of hazard allowances, and the general working condition of doctors.
It is therefore hard to expect that the government will step in with additional incentives to doctors just to discourage them from leaving the country. Any intervention by the government would more realistically be in the form of travel restrictions.
