Emigration Of Medical Workers A National Emergency, Says Mimiko
Former Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has raised the alarm over the rate at which medical personnel in Nigeria continue to leave the country for better opportunities abroad, describing the development as a national emergency that must be addressed by the government.
The ex-governor, who noted that the situation was worrisome, stated that a situation where doctors and other health workers trained at a subsidised rate in Nigeria abandon the country for developed countries upon graduation calls for huge concern.
Mimiko spokSaturday at the induction ceremony of the first set of medical doctors of the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED) in Ondo town.
According to him, the institution was established during his administration to help address the dearth of medical workers in the country. He, however, lamented that many of those who had been trained in the field were giving nothing back to the country having been poached by other countries.
He said: “We are in an emergency. If we continue at this rate, in another five to 10 years, only the “babalawos” (herbalists) will be available to take care of us. It is an emergency and the government must see it as an emergency. The government must disincentivise the rate at which our medical doctors and medical personnel are emigrating out of this country.
“We cannot continue to hold this nation unaccountable. We can take advantage of the opportunity for our professionals to learn new skills. I don’t think any serious government can fold its arms while other countries decide to empty it of its human resources, especially in the health sector.
“There are WHO protocols for all of this, and I think the government should sit down with these governments that are not investing in training their own people. We must sit down, and they have to pay something for taking our people away.
“If, for example, UNIMED has capacity for 50 doctors and they want to take 30 doctors, they should also provide the facility and mechanism to expand our capacity to train more doctors for them.”
Mimiko, who noted that Nigeria is a great country, added: “We have an incredible young population who are ready. This country has the capacity to train two to three million students, but those countries that stand to benefit from this training must also do something to expand our capacity to train our people.
“The government must take it up at a very high diplomatic level. We cannot fold our arms and allow all our best human resources to live in this country. It is like a war situation. But I know one thing for sure: if the government does the necessary things, it can be a win-win situation for us as a nation.”
While applauding Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for resisting pressure to relocate UNIMED from Ondo town, Mimiko noted that the governor’s efforts at giving the first medical institution in the country the best manifested when he appointed Prof. Adesegun Fatusi, the current Vice Chancellor of the University, based on merit, despite protests from some quarters.
