Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on governments at all levels in Nigeria to provide meaningful incentives for doctors and other healthcare workers to discourage them from migrating abroad in search of better opportunities.
Speaking on Tuesday during the inauguration of the Yeriman Bakura Specialist Hospital in Zamfara State, Obasanjo expressed concern over the worsening impact of the mass exodus of medical personnel—popularly known as “japa”—on the nation’s fragile healthcare system.
“For hospitals, especially when many Nigerians who have been trained as medical personnel are ‘japa-ing’, which is going out of the country looking for better conditions, how do you hold them here?” Obasanjo asked. “You have to give them a bit of incentive.”
He stressed that while infrastructure development is important, it must go hand-in-hand with the provision of equipment and retention of skilled personnel if Nigerian hospitals are to be effective.
“We need all the personnel that we can have because our hospitals have to deliver. You need the right environment, and that is the refurbishing, renovation, but you need the right equipment and then you need the personnel,” he added.
Obasanjo’s remarks come amid a growing brain drain in Nigeria’s health sector. In recent years, thousands of doctors and nurses have relocated to countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, citing poor working conditions, low pay, and insecurity.
In 2023, the National Hospital in Abuja revealed that its workforce had dropped from 3,000 to 2,500 due to staff departures. In 2022, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) raised alarms that the exodus of professionals was contributing to the nation’s rising infant and maternal mortality rates.
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