Posted on: Wed 05-02-2025

With the palatial setting of the Presidential Villa as a backdrop, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, yesterday, praised the Federal Government’s achievements in the health sector, concluding: “People are now beginning to come from the sub-region, and even from faraway places like the United Kingdom and the United States, to receive quality healthcare in Nigeria.”   

However, far away from the Aso Rock gleam, key stakeholders sang a sombre tune that indicated all is not well, and the sector risked falling apart. The founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, attributed the mass exodus of Nigerian doctors and nurses to the significantly lower salaries paid to them compared to cleaners in hospitals abroad.

Babalola made the remark during the induction ceremony of newly qualified medical doctors by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) at the University campus yesterday.  He called on the government to urgently raise the salaries of healthcare workers and ensure timely payments to stem the growing migration of medical professionals.

“The reason why many Nigerian doctors and nurses leave this country immediately after completing their training is because the emoluments paid in naira are far less than what cleaners in hospitals abroad earn. Worse still, doctors in many states and government hospitals have not been paid for several months,” Babalola stated, emphasising the need for an increase in pay for healthcare workers.   

The legal icon also appealed to wealthy Nigerians to emulate the practices of private universities in the U.S. and Europe, as well as ABUAD, in establishing world-class universities in Nigeria.

“Education is expensive, and most of the leading universities in the world are private institutions, such as Yale, Harvard, and Stanford. These world-class universities were founded and funded by individuals who believe in quality education. We have many affluent Nigerians who can establish universities in the mould of ABUAD,” Babalola said.

Babalola’s observations came as the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) called on the Federal Government to pay the outstanding Medical Residency Training Funds (MRTF) for 2023 and 2024, as well as settle unpaid salary arrears. 

NARD President Osundara Tope-Zenith appealed at a news conference in Abuja, marking the conclusion of the association’s 2025 National Executive Council (NEC) meeting and Scientific Conference.

Tope-Zenith expressed disappointment over the non-payment of arrears related to the upwardly revised Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).

However, he commended the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare for convening a stakeholders’ meeting to address issues related to the MRTF. Recently, Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) of teaching hospitals expressed concerns that tertiary health institutions in the country were at risk of becoming empty, as doctors, nurses, and other skilled workers leave in large numbers due to poor remuneration, despite the Federal Government’s investment in health infrastructure.   

The Chief Medical Director of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Professor Wasiu Adeyemo, and his counterpart at University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Professor Jesse Abiodun, along with others, raised the alarm during the 2025 budget defence before the House of Representatives Committee on Health Institutions.  

Speaking at the session, Adeyemo informed the committee that the rate at which medical workers were leaving the country was alarming, stressing the need to act swiftly to address the situation. He said, “People resign, retire—well, not even retirement, resignation—almost every day. Yes, in the next one or two years, we are going to have all our hospitals empty. We need to do something about the remuneration of all healthcare workers.  

“Otherwise, the government is putting a lot of money into infrastructure, but we are going to have empty hospitals. The major reason people leave is economic. Consultants are earning less than $1,000.”  

Also, last week, the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) raised concerns over the Federal Government’s delay in implementing the approved 50 per cent reduction in electricity bills for federal health and educational institutions. The association also criticised the slow progress in fulfilling agreements made with the government.    

Despite a pledge in August 2024 to subsidise electricity for universities and health institutions under Band A feeders, MDCAN stated that the commitment had not yet been realised.

The Association of Nigeria also revealed that only 6,000 consultants remain in the country, with many leaving for better opportunities abroad. MDCAN President, Prof Muhammad Mohammad, speaking at the association’s NEC meeting in Ilorin, disclosed that about 1,300 consultants left Nigeria in the past five years. He warned that the number would further decline due to retirements, as 1,700 consultants are over 55 years old and nearing the retirement age of 60. 

Mohammad also noted that the low production of new consultants, at just one or two per year, cannot compensate for the losses caused by emigration and retirement.

MEANWHILE, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Ali Pate, who spoke after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting yesterday, announced Nigeria’s growing recognition as a hub for quality healthcare, drawing patients from the West African subregion and countries like the United States and the United Kingdom.  

Pate revealed that the FEC approved N12 billion for the procurement and installation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) equipment in six tertiary health institutions. The move, he said, is part of a broader effort to upgrade the country’s healthcare infrastructure.   

“People are now beginning to come from the subregion, and even from faraway places like the UK and the U.S., to receive quality healthcare in Nigeria,” Pate said. “Despite the challenges we face, significant progress is being made, and the transformation promised by President Tinubu is already taking shape.” 

He listed the beneficiary institutions as the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (Akwa Ibom), Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta (Ogun State), Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (Osun State), Federal Medical Centre, Keffi (Nasarawa State), Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital (Adamawa State), and Federal Teaching Hospital, Kebbi (Kebbi State).   

Pate further highlighted the council’s decision to ratify the African Medicines Agency (AMA) Treaty, which aims to harmonise medical regulatory standards across Africa.   

Adopted by the African Union in 2019, the treaty seeks to improve access to safe, high-quality, and effective medical products through a Pan-African regulatory framework. Nigeria joins 26 other African Union member states that have ratified the agreement   

“This treaty will allow locally manufactured medical products to meet continental standards, enabling what is ‘Made in Nigeria’ to also be recognised as ‘Made in Africa,’” Pate explained.

He credited President Tinubu’s leadership for advancing these reforms, noting that investments in infrastructure, human resources, and regulatory frameworks are positioning Nigeria’s health sector as globally competitive.

“We are creating a healthcare system that Nigerians can rely on and that attracts patients from across the globe,” he added.

SOURCE: GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER

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