NIGERIA HAS LOST one thousand and three hundred top medical consultants over the past five years due to the brain drain crisis which has left the nation with only six thousand experts to cater for the well-being of over 200 million citizens.
has said that the country has lost
Speaking during the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the MEDICAL AND Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) in Ilorin, the association President, Professor Muhammad Mohammad, described the situation as dire.
“The data shows that approximately 1,300 consultants left Nigeria in the last five years. With the retirement age fixed at 60 years, and over 1,700 consultants currently above 55, the numbers will continue to dwindle,” he warned.
The Explainer learned that Nigeria produces only one or two consultants annually, a pace that cannot offset the losses from emigration and retirement. Mohammad said the replacement rate cannot keep up with the losses caused by the ‘Japa syndrome’—a term that reflects the mass migration of professionals seeking better opportunities abroad—and mandatory retirements.”
The figures underscore a systemic failure to retain medical talent, despite the critical need for specialised healthcare services. This trend is part of a broader healthcare workforce crisis in Nigeria, where low remuneration, poor working conditions, and inadequate infrastructure continue to push professionals out of the country.
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During the meeting, themed “Policy Making for Quality Healthcare Services: Engaging Policy Makers for Quality Healthcare Delivery,” Mohammad outlined measures that could stem the tide. Chief among these is raising the retirement age for consultants to 70 years and for other healthcare workers to 65 years.
“Extending the service years would allow experienced consultants to continue contributing their expertise to the health sector while buying time to address the deficit in training new specialists,” he noted.
Additionally, MDCAN urged the government to harmonise salaries for medical lecturers under the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS). According to Mohammad, addressing disparities in remuneration would improve job satisfaction and reduce the allure of foreign opportunities.
Nigeria’s healthcare system faces significant challenges due to a shortage of medical professionals. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a doctor-to-patient ratio of 1:600. However, in Nigeria, this ratio has deteriorated to approximately 1:5,000, as reported by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).
This shortage is exacerbated by the migration of Nigerian-trained doctors to other countries. As of December 2023, the General Medical Council (GMC) of the United Kingdom reported that 12,198 Nigerian-trained doctors were licensed to practise in the UK. This reflects a significant increase, with 1,197 Nigerian doctors moving to the UK between May and December 2023 alone.
The combination of a declining doctor-to-patient ratio and the emigration of medical professionals poses a critical challenge to Nigeria’s healthcare delivery system.
The Kwara State Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina El-Imam, emphasised the importance of evidence-based policymaking to tackle the crisis. “Appropriate policies are critical to assist the government in meeting the healthcare needs of citizens,” she stated during the NEC meeting.
