Former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has urged the Federal Government to improve the salaries, working conditions and career prospects of healthcare professionals, warning that the continued migration of Nigerian doctors could deepen the country’s healthcare crisis.
Fayemi made the call on Thursday while delivering a convocation lecture titled “Rethinking 21st Century Specialised Medical University in the Nigerian Context: Are the Challenges Surmountable?” at the Federal University of Health Sciences, Ila Orangun, Osun State.
In his address, made available to journalists, the former governor and Minister of Solid Minerals said Nigeria was losing the benefits of its investment in medical education as trained professionals continued to leave for countries offering better opportunities.
He advocated structured agreements requiring countries recruiting Nigerian health workers to contribute towards the cost of training replacements.
“The country should not continue to bear the cost of educating medical professionals only for wealthier nations to benefit from their services,” Fayemi said.
He disclosed that more than half of the 50 pioneer medical graduates of Ekiti State University whom his administration employed in 2019 had left the country in search of better opportunities.
“I have seen this in real life. More than half of the 50 pioneer medical graduates of EKSU whom we offered employment in 2019 have left the country in search of greener pastures,” he said.
Fayemi attributed the departures to better remuneration, improved working conditions, clearer career prospects and greater stability abroad, arguing that it was difficult to fault professionals for seeking fulfilment when opportunities at home remained limited.
He said the migration of healthcare workers was particularly concerning because it was affecting not only the number of available doctors but also Nigeria’s capacity to train future specialists.
According to him, the government cannot address the situation through appeals to patriotism alone or by compelling medical graduates to remain in the country, noting that freedom of movement is constitutionally guaranteed.
Fayemi instead called for improved working conditions, ethical international recruitment arrangements and structured partnerships between countries that train healthcare professionals and those that employ them.
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He argued that recipient countries should contribute towards replacing the health workers they recruit from Nigeria, describing the current arrangement as unfair to a country that subsidises medical education only to lose its trained professionals to wealthier nations.
“But it is also unfair to the Nigerian state, having trained health workers at a subsidised rate or tuition-free in many public universities and then lose them to societies where their products did not enjoy such free tertiary education,” he said.
“We cannot continue like this! Yet moralising about the choices our young people make gets us nowhere. People respond to opportunities, working conditions and security.”
The former governor referenced the Africa Health Workforce Investment Forum held in Accra in May 2026, where he said Nigeria argued that destination countries should invest in training health workers in the countries supplying them.
He urged the Federal Government to pursue the proposal in bilateral negotiations and ensure that any agreements were backed by clear figures and commitments.
Fayemi also outlined measures he believes could encourage more health professionals to remain in Nigeria, including competitive salaries, functional medical facilities, reliable electricity, adequate equipment and clearer pathways for professional advancement.
He called for an increase in residency and fellowship training opportunities, warning that doctors who could not see a clear route to career progression were more likely to seek opportunities abroad.
He further advocated tangible incentives, including housing and car allowances and priority access to postgraduate training for professionals serving in underserved communities.
Fayemi warned that the consequences of migration extended beyond the immediate loss of doctors, as the departure of experienced professionals and potential specialists could weaken the system responsible for training future generations of healthcare workers.
“When the exodus reaches the pipeline that produces our specialists, we are no longer merely losing doctors. We are losing the capacity to replace them,” he said.
“And all of us must stop treating the departure of a health worker as a private matter. It is a brewing national crisis, and we must not wait till it blows up in our faces.”