The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, has made a startling revelation about the alarming rate of brain drain in the Nigerian health sector, disclosing that more than 16,000 Nigerian doctors have left the country over the past five to seven years in pursuit of better prospects abroad.
Prof. Pate made this known during his speech at the 7th Annual Capacity Building Workshop organized by the Association of Medical Councils of Africa (AMCOA), which was held in Abuja on Tuesday. The workshop brought together key stakeholders in the African healthcare system to discuss pressing issues facing the medical workforce.
According to the minister, the exodus of Nigerian doctors, along with numerous nurses and midwives, is largely driven by the search for improved economic conditions, professional growth opportunities, better working environments, and access to cutting-edge training and research facilities in foreign countries. This, he stated, has resulted in a significant depletion of Nigeria’s healthcare workforce, particularly in underserved rural communities that are now grappling with severe medical personnel shortages.
“In Nigeria alone, over 16,000 doctors are estimated to have left the country in the last five to seven years,” Prof. Pate said. “Thousands more have departed in the recent years. Nurses and midwives have also dwindled in numbers, and as a result, our doctor-to-population ratio has dropped to approximately 3.9 per 10,000—far below the World Health Organization's recommended minimum.”
He emphasized the financial implications of this trend, noting that the average cost of training a doctor in Nigeria exceeds $21,000. The continued loss of trained health professionals, therefore, represents a massive drain on public investment and national resources.
“It’s not just a loss of manpower—it’s a significant fiscal loss. When one considers the $21,000 cost of training each doctor, multiplied by the thousands who have emigrated, the financial loss becomes staggering,” he added. “This public investment essentially walks out of our countries, leaving behind fragile health systems and unserved communities.”
Despite the sobering statistics, Prof. Pate expressed optimism that the crisis could also serve as a springboard for necessary reforms. He outlined that under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria is charting a new course to address healthcare worker migration and strengthen the health system through a comprehensive policy framework.
“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda and through the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, we’ve launched the National Policy on Health Workforce Migration,” he said. “This policy is data-driven, ethically grounded, and aims to strike a balance between the rights of health professionals to seek greener pastures abroad and the nation’s urgent need to retain talent within our health sector.”
Prof. Pate explained that the policy is not restrictive in nature but rather seeks to uphold dignity for health workers, support professional growth, and encourage ethical recruitment practices. He noted that Nigeria acknowledges the global demand for health workers, with the Global North also facing shortages due to demographic changes. Therefore, Nigeria’s response will focus on stewardship and sustainability.
He detailed several objectives of the policy, including retaining and motivating existing health workers, establishing bilateral agreements for ethical recruitment practices, scaling up local training capacity, and developing reintegration frameworks for Nigerian professionals returning from abroad. Additionally, there are plans to enhance governance, coordination, and the implementation of real-time data systems to better manage the health workforce.
Prof. Pate further urged African countries to work collaboratively to tackle the growing challenge of healthcare workforce migration. He proposed a continent-wide framework for training, accreditation, and data management to ensure mobility is well-regulated and mutually beneficial to both source and destination countries.
During the event, Prof. Joel Okullo, President of AMCOA, echoed the need for strong inter-country cooperation among African nations to improve healthcare delivery and address the multifaceted challenges of managing health professionals across the continent.
Also speaking at the event were Dr. Fatima Kyari, Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), and Prof. Afolabi Lesi, Chairperson of the MDCN Board. Dr. Kyari commended the successful hosting of the first-ever AMCOA workshop in Nigeria, while Prof. Lesi drew attention to a critical internal challenge—discord and disunity among health professionals, which he described as a major barrier to effective healthcare delivery.
“We must acknowledge that despite clear policy direction from leadership, the healthcare sector still struggles with fractured relationships between professionals. These internal divisions ultimately compromise the quality and safety of patient care,” Prof. Lesi stated.