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From Shafa’atu Suleiman, Sokoto
As Nigeria’s health workforce crisis intensifies, university-based doctors are now joining the wave of professionals fleeing the country in search of better pay and working conditions.
The Medical and Dental Specialists Association in Basic Medical Sciences (MeDSABAMS) declared its full support for the 21-day ultimatum issued by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and warned of an imminent collapse in Nigeria’s medical education system.
The president of the association, Professor Abdulgafar O Jimoh, said medical and dental practitioners in hospitals and colleges of medicine are leaving the country in droves as a result of poor working conditions and dismal remuneration compared to global standards.
He said the exclusion of university doctors from critical allowances has led to a mass movement of qualified academics into clinical practice or out of the country altogether, particularly to Gulf nations, the Caribbean, and North America.
The trigger for this growing unrest is a recent circular by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), which allegedly sidelines medical academics from revised allowances intended for medical officers in the federal public service.
MeDSABAMS described the circular, dated Thursday, June 27, 2025, as “provocative”, accusing the NSIWC of breaching long-standing collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and worsening both internal and external brain drain.
The group condemned the federal government’s decision to raise medical school admission quotas without simultaneously addressing the severe shortage of qualified lecturers to train the new students.
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He said: “This is like placing the cart before the horse. How do you increase student intake when the doctors to train them are being driven out?”
At the heart of the matter is the CONMESS (Consolidated Medical Salary Structure), which has historically ensured parity in allowances across medical roles. MeDSABAMS claims the new NSIWC circular deliberately alters the language to exclude medical educators from benefits they have long received, despite their dual role as educators and qualified clinicians.
The group is demanding the immediate reversal of the circular, restoration of all accrued allowances, and recognition of newly proposed entitlements, such as the Medical Demonstration Allowance, Preclinical Laboratory Duty Allowance, and Endangered Field Allowance.
They also called for the universal implementation of CONMESS across all institutions, improved welfare packages, and inclusion of academic doctors in retirement age extensions and comprehensive health insurance schemes.
The Secretary-General of the association, Dr John C Anionye, noted that the sector is experiencing a “silent haemorrhage” as skilled doctors with years of academic investment leave behind empty lecture halls and under-resourced laboratories.
He said: “If nothing is done, there will soon be no one left to train the next generation of Nigerian doctors.”
“We remain open to dialogue,” the group stated, “but we are prepared to go the full distance to defend the rights and dignity of our members.”
