Over 16,000 doctors left Nigeria in search of greener pastures – Health Minister
Ali Pate, the coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, revealed that over 16,000 Nigerian doctors have left the country in the last five to seven years in search of greener pastures abroad.
The minister spoke in Abuja on Tuesday at the seventh annual capacity-building workshop of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa (AMCA).
“Integrated healthcare regulation and leadership in building resilient health systems” was the theme of the event.
Pate said the exodus of doctors has created a doctor-to-patient population ratio of 3.9 per 10,000, which is far below the global minimum standard.
The minister explained that training one doctor costs more than $21,000, representing a major financial loss for Nigeria.
He pointed to better economic opportunities, improved working conditions, and more advanced research environments abroad as reasons why doctors are leaving.
“In Nigeria alone, over 16,000 doctors are estimated to have left the country in the last five to seven years, with thousands more leaving in just the past few years. Nurses and midwives have also thinned in numbers,” he said.
The minister stressed that this trend hurts the healthcare system and leaves many rural communities without adequate medical care.
However, Pate sees an opportunity under President Bola Tinubu’s administration to create new policies to better manage Nigeria’s healthcare workforce.
“In Nigeria, guided by the vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom African heads of state appointed as the AU’s Continental Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery, we are pursuing a new direction,” he said.
“His vision is for Nigeria to become a prosperous, people-oriented country that contributes to a peaceful and thriving continent. Not a standalone Nigeria, but a Nigeria that is interlinked with all our neighbours and sister countries.
“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda, and within the framework of the Nigeria health sector renewal investment initiative, we have embraced a new path—combining strategic realism with visionary ambition.
“The national policy on health workforce migration is a cornerstone of this path. It is designed to address health workforce migration with dignity—dignity for health workers, for the country, and for the profession. It is data-driven, evidence-guided, and signals a clear direction.
“This is not a restrictive policy, nor is it one born out of resignation. We understand that the global health workforce shortage is at 18 million, and countries in the global north face human resource crises due to demographics and other factors.
“But our response is based on stewardship—balancing the rights of health professionals to seek opportunities abroad with our duty to protect the integrity and viability of our national health system,” the minister stressed.
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