UNDER BUHARI, 6,068 NIGERIAN PHYSICIANS RELOCATE TO THE UK

No fewer than 6,068 medical doctors moved to the United Kingdom since the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), started in 2015, according to reports.

The General Medical Council of the UK reported that as of August 30, 2022, there were 10,096 doctors who had received their medical training in Nigeria and had immigrated to the UK.

The data does not include Nigerian doctors who earned their medical degrees from institutions outside of the nation.

233 Nigerian doctors were found to have passed the test to work in the UK in 2015, according to the data.

In 2016, the number rose to 279, and in 2017, it reached 475.

The number increased to 852 in 2018 and then to 1,347 in 2019.

Despite the GMC ceasing operations during the COVID-19 epidemic, the number was 833 in 2020.

The estimate for 2021 was 932.

The report showed that 1,107 Nigerian-trained doctors had received licenses to practice so far in 2022.

Following India and Pakistan, Nigeria currently has the third-highest number of foreign doctors working in the UK.

In a Tuesday interview, Alfa Yusuf, the publicity secretary of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, referred to brain drain as a problem plaguing the medical industry.

Yusuf voiced concern that it would reach a point where Nigeria will need to look abroad for medical professionals.

"The government must develop a program to address brain drain, including good pay, hazard allowance given as and when due, and implementation of a tax refund, particularly for health care professionals," he asserted.

"Additionally, they ought to offer incentives to lure our doctors to other nations. They ought to consider plans that will keep our doctors in the nation rather than sending them elsewhere."

In a previous interview , the president of the Nigerian Medical Association, Uche Ojinma, highlighted that the country's health sector would deteriorate due to the brain drain now taking place.

Ehanire Osagie, the minister of health, said that there are enough medical professionals in Nigeria.