Kayode ShopekanIn the last 100 days, over 300 highly qualified Nigerian doctors have applied and been approved to work in the United Kingdom, as the rift between doctors and the Nigerian government deepens.
The General Medical Council, a body that licenses and maintains the official register of medical practitioners in the UK, has disclosed that it has licensed at least 353 Nigerian-trained doctors between June 10, 2021, and September 20, 2021.
Overall, 8,737 doctors who obtained their degrees in Nigeria currently practise in the UK.
Olujimi Shodipo who spoke on the issue stated that it was no longer news that doctors are migrating to other countries since the economy is not improving, facilities are not available in hospitals to practice, and remuneration is terribly poor.
According to him, in the past older doctors migrated and the majority of them did so for economic reasons but today, even medical students already have plans to migrate after their NYSC.
Vice-President of the National Association of Resident Doctors, Julian Ojebo, said the rate of migration might double in the coming weeks since doctors were not given the right remuneration.
Ojebo argued that the doctors migrating to Saudi Arabia might even be more than those moving to the UK and it was unfortunate that the government had failed to address the plight of doctors and meet their conditions for calling off the strike which began on August 1, 2021.
In his words, “If 353 Nigerian doctors have been licensed in the last 100 days, I am sure the figure will double within the next one month. The strike has opened the eyes of the doctors that Nigeria does not care about them. I am sure the statistics for those migrating to Saudi Arabia would be higher. I have always said that remuneration is usually the trigger for migration. It is now worse today due to insecurity and the lack of political will by government appointees to address the issues affecting the health sector.
“I can tell you categorically that some of the issues we are fighting for are matters that should have been addressed since 2014 and we are still protesting in 2021. Like we have always said, whatever you earn in Nigeria, you stand the opportunity of earning three times that amount with better working conditions else where.” He added
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