The exodus of Nigerian doctors

It is disheartening that over 4,600 Nigerian doctors have left the country in the last three years. This has added to the disturbing brain drain in the health sector, which has exacerbated the waiting hours in Nigerian hospitals. The consequences of having many of our medical practitioners leave the country in droves without adequate replacements has left the health sector under severe pressure.

The federal government has estimated that it costs about $21,000 to train a single doctor. This means that Nigeria has lost at least $98.5million in training investments since 2023. The exodus has brought the total number of medical doctors of Nigerian origin in the United Kingdom to over 15,692. It has also made Nigeria one of the largest sources of foreign-trained doctors in Britain, only second to India. In May, 2025, the number of Nigerian-trained doctors in the UK was only 11,000.

It is worrisome that this exodus is coming at a time Nigeria’s doctor-to-population ratio falls below the recommended World Health Organisation (WHO) minimum threshold required by each nation to remain afloat medically. The WHO benchmark is 10 doctors per 10,000 people to meet basic health needs. While many developed nations have exceeded the benchmark, many developing nations, including Nigeria, fall short. The density of medical doctors varies from over 50 per 10,000 in countries like Cuba and Austria to less than 1–2 per 10,000 in many developing countries. Many sub-Saharan African nations fall below 2.6 doctors per 10,000 people. Only a few, such as Seychelles and Tunisia, exceeded the 10/10,000 benchmark.

It is regrettable that Nigeria’s current doctor-to-patient ratio is abysmal. Recent data indicates approximately 3.9 doctors per 10,000 people (0.039 per 100) or roughly 1:3,474 indicating a severe shortage. This is most severe in rural areas, especially in the north, where some areas have one doctor attending to over 43,000 patients on the average. Officially, over 80,000 doctors are registered in Nigeria, but it is estimated that only 30,000 to 40,000 are practising in the country of over 220 million people.

We lament the exodus of Nigerian doctors to foreign countries at a time Nigeria is grossly behind the WHO doctor-population threshold and call on the federal government to urgently attend to this disturbing emigration trend. Unless something drastic is done, we fear that the brain drain would continue unabated, with far-reaching implications on the precarious health sector. Seeking for greener pastures in any field of human endeavour is part of globalisation, but when the emigration statistics are growing by the day alarmingly, it calls for urgent intervention. Addressing these issues requires the government to find out what has triggered the unprecedented medical brain drain.

Compared to their counterparts in some parts of Africa, Asia and the Western world, Nigerian health workers receive low wages. They also suffer from salary arrears, and face limited opportunities to improve their standard of living. A deliberate attempt to raise their wages would go a long way in addressing the problem. The government should also look into the poor working conditions of doctors in our hospitals. With many hospitals lacking essential equipment, medicines, and basic infrastructure, it is discouraging for Nigerian doctors to give in their best. It is compelling to tackle insecurity ravaging parts of the country, which has raised security concerns for our doctors. More opportunities for professional development and routine specialised training must be mandatory to enable ambitious Nigerian doctors reach their full potential.

While it is difficult to resist better salaries and improved work environments offered by hospitals in developed countries, many doctors would like to work in the country if the working conditions are improved. Let the government be intentional in improving our healthcare system through adequate remuneration of doctors and other health workers. We can’t develop our healthcare system if the current emigration of Nigerian doctors to Europe and America is not drastically curtailed. Our annual health budget has hovered between four and five per cent. Therefore, the government should increase our annual health budget from five per cent to 15 per cent which African leaders agreed in Abuja in 2001.

While some African countries have met the Abuja declaration, Nigeria is still far from meeting it. If Nigeria wants to make progress in human capital development, the health sector should be adequately funded. Education is another sector that must be well funded. Since 1999, Nigeria’s highest budget for health has been six per cent. During the Muhammadu Buhari regime, it oscillated between 3 and 5 per cent. Under the current administration, the story is equally the same. It is feared that over 80 per cent of Nigerian doctors and nurses are desirous of moving abroad. The government must do everything possible to arrest the exodus. The country must be made conducive and rewarding for Nigerian medical doctors and other health workers.