Vice President Kashim Shettima has urged resident doctors in Nigeria to stay back and contribute to salvaging the country’s healthcare system, amidst the ongoing brain drain in the medical sector.
Speaking at a meeting with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Abuja on Tuesday, Shettima acknowledged the challenges facing the healthcare system but emphasized the need for collective action to address them.
“Let us stay back and salvage this nation together,” Shettima said. “This is our country and the greatest black nation on earth, and a promising nation that we need to invest in.”
The Vice President’s plea comes amidst a mass exodus of Nigerian doctors to foreign countries, particularly the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada, in search of better working conditions and remuneration.
According to the NMA, over 2,000 Nigerian doctors have left the country in the past two years alone, with many more expected to follow suit.
Shettima assured the doctors that the government is committed to addressing their concerns, including improving working conditions, providing modern equipment, and enhancing remuneration packages. “In President Bola Tinubu, you have an ally who will stand by you at all times,” he said.
The NMA president, Prof. Bala Audu, appreciated the Vice President’s gesture and emphasized the association’s hope in the government’s need to address the brain drain.
“We are sure that this government will address the infrastructural needs to be able to sustain the quality of this training as well as the remuneration that will improve the wellbeing of Nigerian doctors to remain and serve in this country,” Audu noted.
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
