Nigeria’s loss of not less than 353 doctors in the last 3 months has become the gain of the United Kingdom, as these doctors have been registered to work there.
Checks on the website of the General Medical Council – the body which licenses and maintains the official register of medical practitioners in the UK – showed that the GMC licensed at least 353 Nigerian-trained doctors between June 10, 2021, and September 20, 2021.
The statistics also showed that between July 24, 2020, and September 21, 2021, about 862 Nigeria-trained doctors were licensed in the UK despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, 8, 737 doctors who obtained their degrees in Nigeria currently practice in the UK.
Speaking to a PUNCH correspondent on Tuesday, the Vice-President of the National Association of Resident Doctors, Julian Ojebo, said the rate of migration might double in the coming weeks since doctors were not given the right remuneration.
Ojo argued that the doctors migrating to Saudi Arabia might even be more than those moving to the UK.
“I can tell you categorically that some of the issues we are fighting for are matters that should have been addressed since 2014 and we are still protesting in 2021. Like we have always said, whatever you earn in Nigeria, you stand the opportunity of earning three times that amount with better working conditions,” Ojebo stated.
A poll by NOI in 2018 showed that 88 percent of Nigerian doctors were considering work opportunities abroad, but experts say the figure may be higher due to the rising insecurity and economic crunch.
Meanwhile, NARD has continued its strike amid rising COVID-19 and cholera infections.
