President Bola Tinubu has pledged to intensify efforts to stem the migration of Nigerian medical professionals abroad, saying the Federal Government will work to encourage them to return and serve the country.
Tinubu also reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening disease surveillance and regional collaboration to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, including Ebola, amid the ongoing outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain in parts of Africa.
The President spoke on Monday in Abuja through the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate, at the opening and induction ceremony of the 50th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the West African College of Physicians, marking the college’s golden jubilee.
“We will work hard to stem the trend of Japa so that we have the people coming back to serve in our region,” Tinubu said, referring to the migration of skilled professionals in search of better working conditions and opportunities abroad.
The President said the government had prioritised the recruitment, retention, welfare and training of healthcare workers, adding that more than 30,000 health professionals had been recruited into federal health facilities over the preceding two and a half years.
He said the administration had also supported the training of thousands of frontline health workers, strengthened specialist medical institutions and doubled quotas for medical education as part of efforts to address the country’s health workforce needs.
The pledge comes amid persistent concerns over the migration of Nigerian doctors and other health professionals, which has placed additional pressure on an already stretched healthcare system. Inadequate remuneration, poor working conditions, limited training opportunities and concerns about career progression have featured prominently in discussions about the exodus.
Beyond increasing the number of trained professionals, health experts have repeatedly stressed the need to improve working conditions and provide incentives that would make remaining in Nigeria or returning from abroad more attractive.
Tinubu said the government was pursuing reforms to improve healthcare infrastructure, expand health insurance coverage and strengthen primary healthcare delivery.
“We firmly believe that quality healthcare is not a privilege reserved for a few, but a fundamental right that should be accessible to every resident of Nigeria,” he said.
According to him, the government has invested in constructing, rehabilitating and equipping health facilities, while efforts are ongoing to modernise tertiary hospitals and revitalise primary healthcare centres.
He added that direct financing for primary healthcare facilities through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund was being strengthened to improve service delivery.
The President also said the government was leveraging digital innovation to improve patient records, disease surveillance and data-driven decision-making.
On the Ebola outbreak, Tinubu said recent health emergencies had demonstrated that infectious diseases respected no national borders, requiring countries to strengthen their preparedness and coordinate responses.
“Our collective safety depends on our ability to prepare, prevent, detect and respond rapidly to health threats,” he said.
He said Nigeria remained committed to strengthening surveillance systems, laboratory networks, emergency preparedness structures and cross-border collaboration to detect and contain outbreaks before they escalated.
Tinubu added that the government would continue investing in the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and other health security institutions to protect the population and contribute to regional and global health security.
