WE insist, as opined in our previous editorials, that the rate at which young, talented, experienced as well as newly-qualified personnel in key professions are leaving the shores of Nigeria for foreign countries is not only worrisome but also requires urgent attention.

    AT a recent induction ceremony for newly-qualified doctors at the University of Ibadan, the Provost of the institution’s College of Medicine, Professor Olayinka Omigbodun, expressed sadness that out of about 150 newly-inducted doctors, only one was willing to stay back in Nigeria to practise while the rest have made up their minds to ply their trade abroad.

PROFESSOR Omigbodun’s lamentation is better appreciated in view of the quality of the young graduates and the huge resources expended on training them. According to her, “these doctors, they are the best of the best. They enter the school on merit and they are from across the country. They were brilliant from the first go.

AND  not only that, these students were almost trained for free, and their school fees were so small and now that it is time for them to build this nation, they all want to leave the country. So, it’s like the nation has trained them free of charge and have invested and the time that the nation should enjoy them and recoup the investment is gone. You can call it a curse”.

THE University of Ibadan newly-inducted doctors’ scenario is a microcosm of the alarming loss of professionals to other nations. The nation’s experienced and young professionals migrate in droves yearly. Corroborating this, the Minister of Health, Muhammad Ali Pate recently confirmed that between 15,000 and 16,000 doctors have departed in the past five years, adding that Nigeria currently has just 55,000 doctors for a population of 220 million. Similarly, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors has lamented that six out of 10 doctors in the country plan to emigrate.

THE number of Nigeria-trained doctors in the UK currently stands at 9,976. There are 3,895 Nigerian-trained doctors licensed to practise Medicine in the US as of 2020 while the Association of Nigerian Physicians in America, has over 4,000 members of Nigerian birth.

As we have in the medical profession, the sad tale permeates other critical sectors. Engineers, ICT experts, lecturers, teachers, bankers, and even artisans are leaving the country in droves. Recent data gathered from these sectors shows that 80 percent of the remaining workers in the sectors are preparing to leave.

THIS is because the grass looks greener on the other side. It has never been this bad! It is becoming very glaring that Nigeria lacks the capacity to retain its best brains and the future is bleak for any nation that loses its best hands to other countries. It is no longer news that basic personnel at Nigeria’s hospitals from primary to tertiary levels are grossly inadequate.

DEEPLY touched by the brain drain in the medical profession, a member of the House of Representatives, Ganiyu Johnson proposed a bill in 2023 that would require medical graduates to work for five years in Nigeria before obtaining a full licence to practise.

THE  National Assembly is yet to pass the bill as it was heavily criticized by doctors’ associations. Alarmed by the exodus of nurses from Nigeria which stands at 42, 000 in the last three years, the Nursing Council of Nigeria has introduced a policy that from March this year, entry-level nurses will be required to work for a minimum of two years before applying for verification of their nursing license for overseas work.

To address the ugly trend, the government must rescue the ailing economy and galloping inflation which have made the cost of living unbearable. Urgent and deliberate steps should be taken to improve the working conditions and welfare of key professionals in critical sectors like health and education, particularly by way of commensurate salaries and other incentives. Also, facilities and equipment in these critical sectors must be upgraded to make the working condition more conducive.

GOVERNMENT must work hard to restore the old times when non-nationals were immigrating into Nigeria for exchange programmes in health, education and other sectors. Time it also was when Indians and Ghanaians trooped to Nigeria to work when their economies were down but they went back when things picked up in their countries. We must pick our pieces and retool our nation.

IT is instructive to note that the British government has announced an 80 million pounds grant to Africa to discourage emigration of Africans into the UK. Although this initiative is seemingly helpful, it is a Greek Gift from an intransigent and selfish colonial master trying to protect their own interest.

 IF the UK had before now helped Africa to develop economically, they would not have the exodus of Africans trooping into their country. If anything, we ask for reparation for the enslavement of Africans and their resources, particularly the plundering and theft of African artefacts and agricultural produce through colonialism.

OUR leaders must take responsibility by shedding the vestiges of colonialism and finding the courage to build a sustainably-prosperous nation.