Fayemi warns Nigeria against losing trained doctors, demands better welfare

Former Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has warned that Nigeria risks undermining its investment in medical education if urgent measures are not taken to address the persistent migration of doctors and other healthcare professionals to foreign countries.

Fayemi said the continued departure of trained medical personnel, popularly known as the japa syndrome, had become a national crisis requiring coordinated action by federal and state governments, universities, professional bodies and foreign countries benefiting from Nigerian-trained health workers.

The former governor spoke on Thursday, October 15, 2026, while delivering the convocation lecture at the Federal University of Health Sciences, Ila-Orangun, Osun State.

In his lecture, titled “Rethinking 21st Century Specialised Medical University in the Nigerian Context: Are the Challenges Surmountable?”, Fayemi argued that establishing medical universities alone would not solve Nigeria’s healthcare challenges without deliberate efforts to retain their graduates.

He described the situation as a paradox in which Nigeria commits public resources to training doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health professionals but often loses their services to countries with better remuneration, working conditions and career opportunities.

According to him, the country bears the financial burden of developing medical talent while wealthier nations reap much of the economic and professional benefits after the graduates migrate.

Fayemi stressed that the problem extended beyond the loss of individual doctors, warning that the departure of experienced professionals also weakened Nigeria’s capacity to train the next generation of specialists.

He cited a warning by the President of the National Postgraduate Medical College, Professor Akin Osibogun, that migration had left the institution with fewer doctors available for specialist training.

The former governor also drew from his experience in Ekiti State, revealing that more than half of the 50 pioneer medical graduates of Ekiti State University who were offered employment in 2019 had subsequently left the country.

He said the experience demonstrated that offering employment alone was insufficient to retain medical professionals when the broader working environment failed to provide the opportunities and stability they sought.

“We cannot continue like this,” Fayemi declared, insisting that governments must confront the underlying factors driving healthcare workers abroad rather than merely criticising those who leave.

He identified competitive salaries, functional medical facilities, reliable electricity, adequate equipment and clearly defined career progression as essential conditions for retaining health professionals in Nigeria.

Fayemi further called for an expansion of residency and fellowship opportunities, explaining that young doctors were more likely to consider opportunities abroad when they could not see a clear path to professional advancement at home.

He also recommended special incentives for medical personnel serving in underserved communities, including housing support, car allowances and preferential consideration for postgraduate training.

On the possibility of compelling graduates to remain in Nigeria, the former governor cautioned against policies that would restrict their freedom of movement, arguing that coercion could not provide a sustainable solution to the problem.

Instead, he proposed a structured arrangement under which graduates of publicly funded medical institutions could undertake mutually agreed periods of service to compensate for public investment in their training.

He also urged Nigeria to negotiate bilateral agreements with countries recruiting its health workers, including arrangements requiring destination countries to contribute towards training replacement personnel in the countries from which they recruit.

According to Fayemi, Nigeria’s National Policy on Health Workforce Migration, approved in August 2024, already provides a framework for tracking migration, improving retention, particularly in rural areas, and promoting ethical bilateral agreements.

He, however, identified inadequate funding and the failure of some states to adopt the policy as obstacles to its effective implementation.

The former governor also advocated stronger engagement with Nigerian medical professionals in the diaspora, describing them as valuable national assets capable of contributing to medical education and healthcare delivery at home.

He proposed that specialised medical universities establish formal diaspora programmes through which overseas-based Nigerian doctors could teach, supervise research, mentor students and provide services through telemedicine.

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Fayemi cited the African Medical Centre of Excellence in Abuja, established through collaboration involving King’s College London and Afreximbank, as an example of an initiative that could support specialised healthcare delivery and encourage the return of professional expertise to Africa.

He maintained that Nigeria could transform the migration challenge into an opportunity for knowledge exchange if it developed effective mechanisms for engaging professionals abroad while improving conditions for those working at home.

Fayemi concluded that the future of Nigeria’s healthcare system depended not only on producing more qualified professionals but also on creating an environment in which they could build rewarding careers and serve the population.

He urged governments, healthcare institutions and international partners to share responsibility for addressing the crisis, warning that failure to act would continue to deprive the country of the human resources required to improve healthcare delivery.