Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on all levels of government to provide better working conditions and incentives for Nigerian doctors and health workers in order to curb the growing trend of brain drain in the medical sector.
Speaking on Tuesday, June 17, while commissioning the renovated Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital in Zamfara State, Obasanjo said the mass migration of medical personnel, popularly referred to as “Japa”, was a serious concern.
He stressed that while new health facilities are being built, they would be ineffective without qualified personnel willing to stay and work under decent conditions.
“Especially when many Nigerians who have been trained as medical personnel are japaing, which is going out of the country to look for better conditions. But how do you hold them here without giving them a bit of incentive? You have to,” Obasanjo said.
He praised Governor Dauda Lawal for investing in hospital infrastructure and described the move as a necessary step in retaining healthcare workers.
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“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 and the renovation but you need the right equipment and then you need the personnel. I am happy that you have brought them all together and let us make good use of them,” he said.
The former president’s remarks echo earlier concerns raised by outgoing African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina, who also decried the brain drain among African youth.
“We have over 465 million young people between the ages of 15 and 35,” Adesina said, warning that the continent must invest in its youth or risk losing them to other regions.
“I do not believe that the future of our young people lies in Europe; it doesn’t lie in America, it doesn’t lie in Canada, Japan or China; it should lie in Africa growing well, growing robustly and able to create quality jobs for our young people,” Adesina added.