Doctors in Nigeria have faulted a proposal by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, that medical practitioners trained in Nigeria should work in the country for at least nine years before being allowed to migrate.
Ngige had during the 2022 budget defence of his ministry at the House of Representatives earlier in the week lamented the effect of brain drain on the health sector in relation to the low cost of medical education in the country.
He suggested that medical workers trained by the government should be made to sign a bond that would make them serve the country for at least nine years before they can consider relocating to another country.
But the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria and the Guild of Medical Directors on Saturday rejected Ngige’s plan.
The immediate past president of MDCAN and a member of the National Executive Council of the Association, Prof. Ken Ekilo voiced his opposition to the minister’s proposal during separate interviews with PUNCH.
According to Ekilo, lots of factors contribute to the brain drain being reported in the country and creating bonds won’t solve them.
He stated, “The minister’s suggestion shows a poor appreciation of the forces at play concerning brain drain in Nigeria. The Nigerian work environment is hostile to the medical doctors and the Nigerian security situation is hostile to Nigerian citizens. Infrastructure is poor, equipment is obsolete, drugs and supplies are out of stock, and the personnel are few, overworked and underpaid.
“The idea of bonding doctors alone is faulty on several fronts. First, it is not only doctors that are trained at public expense, so the bond will have to be required of anyone who has passed through the public education system in Nigeria.”
Also, the National President of the Guild of Medical Directors, Prof. Olufemi Babalola, said the minister should not propose the idea of a bond seeing as he had said during an interview a while ago that there was no brain drain.
Babalola added, “This is not the way to curb brain drain in the country. I seem to recall that it was this same minister who said there was no brain drain some time ago. The fact that he is proposing this solution would suggest an acknowledgment on the part of the government that we do have a serious crisis on our hands.”
