Posted on: Fri 04-07-2025

In what the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has described as a tragic irony, the Federal Government’s decision to deploy Nigerian doctors and other healthcare professionals to Saint Lucia has stirred outrage across the country’s medical community. At a time when Nigeria grapples with a deepening healthcare crisis, the NMA sees this move as a glaring contradiction—one that undermines the very professionals who continue to toil under harsh and demoralizing conditions at home.

According to a statement signed by the NMA’s National Secretary General, Dr. Benjamin Egbo, the association decried the stark disparity in remuneration between the doctors being sent abroad and those left to serve within Nigeria. The government’s arrangement would see Nigerian doctors deployed to Saint Lucia earning N40.8 million per year—a figure that pales in comparison to the N131.7 million paid annually by the Lucian government to their own medical professionals. Meanwhile, doctors who remain in Nigeria are expected to endure with a meagre N11.9 million per annum. This unjust differential, the NMA argued, not only sends the wrong message but also fuels the already alarming brain drain phenomenon.

The association’s dismay runs deeper than pay disparities. The statement lamented that Nigerian doctors continue to face chronic underpayment, delayed allowances, non-implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) across the board, and hazardous working conditions without adequate risk allowances. Delays in the disbursement of the Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) have further compounded their frustrations. These systemic challenges, the NMA noted, have left doctors demoralized, overstretched, and vulnerable to burnout, stress-related illnesses, and in some tragic cases, death. Such conditions, they warned, have only accelerated the wave of medical migration, popularly referred to as the “Japa syndrome,” as doctors seek better opportunities abroad.

The NMA’s strong condemnation came on the heels of a 21-day ultimatum it issued to the Federal Government, demanding decisive action on long-standing grievances. These include the withdrawal and replacement of the controversial National Salaries, Incomes, and Wages Commission (NSIWC) circular, resolution of salary distortions and outstanding allowances, fulfillment of collective bargaining agreements, and the safeguarding of doctors’ professional dignity and autonomy.

While the NMA acknowledged the importance of regional cooperation and international partnerships, it questioned the morality of a policy that prioritizes external deployments over the welfare of local medical personnel. “It is morally unjustifiable to export healthcare workers to foreign countries and pay them five times more than they earned while serving in Nigeria,” the association declared. Such actions, it stressed, amount to an official endorsement of brain drain, with dire consequences for the nation’s already fragile health sector.

In its impassioned plea, the NMA called on the Federal Government to redirect its focus toward addressing the urgent needs of doctors at home—those who, despite enormous challenges, remain committed to serving the health needs of Nigerians.

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