Former Governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, said, Nigeria is at the risk of being emptied of conventional medical doctors on account of the high emigration of practitioners.
Mimiko, a medical doctor himself, echoed this sentiment also held by the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA).
The latter six months ago lamented the country’s dwindling doctor-patient ratio which it put at about 24, 000 actively licensed physicians caring for its over 200 million population as result of brain drain.
Speaking at the induction ceremony of medical students of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo State, the former governor charged government to stem the tide of doctors’ emigration for greener pastures.
He said, if the tide is not turned in matter of five to ten years, Nigerians would be left without conventional medical doctors and would be forced to turn to native doctors.
His word, “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 from 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.
“We are a great country; we have an incredible young population that is ready. This country has the capacity to train two million to three million students, but those countries that stand at that end 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 leave 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.”
