Nigeria’s Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, has highlighted the critical role Nigerian medical professionals play in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS).
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, Pate emphasized that the NHS would struggle to function without the contributions of Nigerian healthcare workers.
Pate’s comments come in the wake of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval of the new Policy on Health Workforce Migration, aimed at addressing the significant exodus of Nigerian-trained healthcare professionals to other countries, particularly the UK.
“67 percent of our doctors have migrated to the UK, and 25 percent of the NHS workforce is Nigerian,” Pate said, underscoring the scale of the migration. He explained that while the policy does not seek to prevent Nigerians from migrating, it aims to improve working conditions in Nigeria to encourage healthcare workers to stay.
“Nigerians are very vibrant, very entrepreneurial, and very capable wherever they are. If Nigerians hold back from the UK, for instance, the NHS will struggle to provide the services that many Nigerians are going there to get,” Pate added.
The Minister stressed that migration is a reality that cannot be stopped, but the government is committed to making Nigeria a more conducive environment for healthcare professionals, with the hope of attracting those who have left to return.
This policy shift is part of the government’s broader strategy to retain its medical experts and address the challenges within the Nigerian healthcare system.
