The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, said it costs over $21,000 to train a single doctor in Nigeria.
The Minister disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at the seventh annual capacity-building workshop of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa, themed “Integrated healthcare regulation and leadership in building resilient health systems.”
He also said more than 16,000 Nigerian doctors have left the country in the last five to seven years, with nurses and midwives also emigrating in significant numbers.
Pate described the mass migration of Africa’s healthcare workforce as alarming, warned that this trend has led to a dangerously low doctor-to-population ratio of 3.9 per 10,000 people far below the global minimum.
The fiscal and moral cost of brain drain
He observed that while the mobility of health workers is not a new phenomenon, the current scale of emigration poses a significant threat to both national and continental health systems.
“We are confronted with a paradox. It represents a fiscal loss, a systemic weakening, and a moral imperative.
“The cost of training a single doctor exceeds $21,000.
“The country loses millions of dollars in human capital investment when professionals migrate without structured reintegration or ethical recruitment frameworks,” the Minister added.
To address the issue, Pate unveiled Nigeria’s National Policy on Health Workforce Migration—one of the flagship initiatives under the Renewed Hope Agenda and the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII).
He emphasized that the policy is not about restriction, but about dignity for the health worker, the country, and the profession.
- He outlined the key objectives of the policy, which include retaining and motivating existing health workers despite challenging conditions, promoting ethical recruitment practices through bilateral agreements, and expanding training capacity to meet both domestic and international demands.
- He noted that over 60,000 frontline health workers have been retrained in the past year, with a target of 120,000. Additionally, medical and allied health training quotas have been doubled.
- The policy also seeks to address geographical disparities in workforce distribution. “More than 40% of our doctors are concentrated in Lagos and Abuja.
“We cannot force relocation, but we can incentivize it with housing, digital connectivity, and workplace dignity, “he said.
Harnessing the power of the diaspora
Pate emphasized the importance of engaging the diaspora, highlighting the return of Nigerian doctors, oncologists, and surgeons who are now establishing advanced medical facilities in cities like Lagos and Maiduguri.
- He pointed to the ongoing conference of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA) in Lagos as a clear example of renewed diaspora commitment to the country’s health sector.
- According to him, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) is leading efforts to monitor recruitment practices, support returnees, and harmonize regulations across Africa.
“We are not trying to stop migration. We are building a system where our professionals no longer feel the need to leave or settle for less elsewhere,” he said.
He called on African nations to develop a continental compact on workforce mobility, anchored on shared standards, ethical recruitment, investment in training, and strategic negotiation with destination countries.
“This is our moment, not for nostalgia, but for bold reform. From brain drain to brain gain, from loss to system strengthening, Africa must lead,” he said.
The Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Hon. Dr. Tanko Sununu, called for self-reliance and sustainability, stressing that businesses or services cannot be expected to operate for free.
Sununu encouraged building the capacity to function independently while still collaborating effectively with others. He emphasized that the focus was on developing a sustainable model that would not depend heavily on external support.
