NewStats: 3,264,172 , 8,182,863 topics. Date: Tuesday, 10 June 2025 at 02:10 AM 6d5g5a

President Bola Tinubu has approved the National Policy on Health Workforce Migration to address the challenges facing Nigeria’s health human resources.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, disclosed this on his X handle on Monday.

Pate said the policy is more than just a response to the ongoing exodus of healthcare professionals but a comprehensive strategy to manage, harness, and reverse health worker migration.

Pate said, “This afternoon, HE President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR @officialABAT, in-Council, approved a landmark policy set to transform healthcare human resource management in Nigeria.


“The National Policy on Health Workforce Migration addresses the critical challenges facing Nigeria’s health human resources. As the AU Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery Partnership, Mr President’s commitment to a resilient and robust healthcare system is powerfully reflected in this forward-looking policy.

“This policy is more than just a response to the ongoing exodus of healthcare professionals; it’s a comprehensive strategy to manage, harness, and reverse health worker migration. It envisions a thriving workforce that is well-ed, adequately rewarded, and optimally utilised to meet the healthcare needs of all Nigerians.”

Many Nigerian healthcare workers leave the country for greener pastures, leaving their colleagues to contend with additional workload and extended call hours.

The push factors, according to them, are inadequate equipment, worsening insecurity, poor working conditions, and poor salary structure

The minister noted that central to this vision is the Nigeria Human Health Resource Programme, which sets a framework for regular reviews of working conditions, ensuring that health workers, especially in rural and underserved areas, receive the recognition and rewards they deserve.

“By fostering an environment conducive to professional growth and stability, the policy aims to retain top talent within Nigeria.

“In an increasingly digital world, integrating advanced health technologies is essential. The policy’s focus on digital health infrastructure—including Electronic Medical Records, telehealth, and a comprehensive Health Workforce Registry—marks a significant step towards a more efficient, data-driven health system. These innovations will streamline healthcare delivery and enhance the equitable distribution of health workers, ensuring access to quality care for all Nigerians.

“Capacity building is at the heart of this policy. It recognises the importance of continuous professional development, with strategic partnerships and opportunities for international training to equip our healthcare professionals with cutting-edge skills. This investment in human capital underscores our commitment to retaining and empowering our healthcare workforce,” he stated.

He added that the policy addresses the return and reintegration of Nigerian health professionals from the Diaspora.

He said by establishing streamlined registration processes and providing attractive incentives, the policy not only encourages the return of talented professionals but actively reintegrates them into the health system.


“This approach leverages the expertise of our diaspora to bridge gaps within the health sector. Also, the policy champions reciprocal agreements with other nations to ensure that the exchange of health workers benefits Nigeria. These bilateral and multilateral agreements are designed to protect national interests while respecting the rights and aspirations of our healthcare professionals.

We call on recipient countries to implement a 1:1 match—training one worker to replace every publicly trained Nigerian worker they receive.

“Recognising the importance of work-life balance, the policy includes provisions for routine health checks, mental well-being , and reasonable working hours, especially for younger doctors. These measures aim to create a ive work environment, reducing burnout and enhancing job satisfaction.

“The governance of this policy will be overseen by the National Human Resources for Health Programme within @Fmohnigeria, in collaboration with state governments. This ensures responsible implementation and alignment with broader sector-wide health objectives.

“With this decisive action, the National Policy on Health Workforce Migration is set to secure the future of Nigeria’s healthcare system.

Under Mr President’s leadership, this policy will further catalyse the transformation of our health sector, ensuring access to quality healthcare for all Nigerians. As we embark on this journey, all stakeholders are invited to contribute to building a healthcare system that reflects our nation’s potential and promise,” Pate noted.

https://punchng.com/japa-tinubu-approves-policy-to-retain-medical-experts-within-nigeria/

We call on recipient countries to implement a 1:1 match—training one worker to replace every publicly trained Nigerian worker they receive.

The policy champions reciprocal agreements with other nations to ensure that the exchange of health workers benefits Nigeria. These bilateral and multilateral agreements are designed to protect national interests while respecting the rights and aspirations of our healthcare professionals.
Many Nigerian healthcare workers leave the country for greener pastures, leaving their colleagues to contend with additional workload and extended call hours.

This policy is a great effort on the part of the executive arm of the Federal Government. The real drain is the uncontrolled migration of healthcare professionals educated with tax payers' hard-earned money. It's daylight robbery of the taxpayers, states and Federal Government by these public-educated Healthcare professionals who flee abroad after their education with public funds! Cuba stopped it and today secured its health system with professionals trained with public taxes,Nigeria can do so too. This injustice meted to the Nigerian state by the fleeing healthcare professionals educated with public funds has to stop immediately. It's an ungodly and criminal injustice done to the Nigerian public education and Healthcare system.

I am glad that the states will execute the policy as well. This is the kind of policy many Nigerian Patriots have been calling for in order to protect the rights of the average Nigerian taxpayer whose tax was used to educate a healthcare professional who immediately flees abroad after receiving training with taxes paid by Nigerians. It's a completely unfair system and something should have long been done about it although it's good that something is eventually being done to arrest the fraud.

May God bless Nigeria for ever! Check my signature for free stuffs!

Still won't work on those who actually want to go.

False imprisonment

Remman:
Still won't work on those who actually want to go.

It's not for them. It's just the Govt doing what it has to do to retain its best brains

We finally can finally feel it
We now have a president that touches all sector


The lady time we had anything like it was in 2009(Under Yaradua)

When we encourage local investors like Innoson and Dangote, pay the students monthly, deploy rangers to farm and increase health worker pay...

We are now the green pasture

Hehehe! you are always going abroad to seek healthcare. You better ban yourself, Governors, Ministers, NASS from foreign medical tourism.

Child's play. Very unimplementable and dead on arrival.

Until our politicians stop travelling abroad for common headache then nobody will take them serious.

Clown....pay them well and they will stay

Nigeria is being exploited by UK,USA and Canada by poaching their best healthcare workers.(UK Medicine issions fell by 12% this year)

They let Nigeria train them(for relatively free) only for them to hire them for peanuts into their own system.

How does the USA,UK and Canada prevent this happening to them ?

They saddle all graduates with huge loans.......give or take 350 thousand dollars.

So that when you graduate, you will be forced to work in the USA, if you desire to pay back that loan.

If you decide to go work somewhere else, you will never be able to pay back that loan.(They devalue the currency of the home country)

If Nigerian government wants to stop this, they need to saddle all those courses that are high brain-drain prone with huge loans.

Give every doctor a 10 million Naira loan, payable only to his tuition and then give them a job where 1 million Naira is forgiven every year or 500k every year. Only award them certificates as doctors after the loans are paid in full or on completion of a mandatory 10 years of working in a government hospital. Salaries have to be competitive and realistic. No doctor should earn less than a senator.

This will deter a lot of health workers from going abroad the next day after graduating.

Atleast Tinubu seem to be better than the dollard that put Nigerian Economy on a free fall for 8 solid years.

DevilsEqual:
It's not for them. It's just the Govt doing what it has to do to retain its best brains

Retain its best brains by giving sinators and representaThieves N160 million SUVs in addition to their humongous monthly package while doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians etc are paid peanuts?

Are you kidding yourself, or are you just joking about this crisis

Okay

This is a classical example of enemy of progress, not like they will still use them or equip the hospitals with latest technologies at least let their practices be at par with those abroad, No! You'll see, they will still rush to to fix their leaking scruutuum and trap these young medical practioners to rot in the Nigeria shithole hospitals that them and their families aren't using.

These idiots don't know allowing these young men japa even helps the country, but you know anything APC touches and it doesn't degrade or get destroyed is forged with hytrolite.

Very useless set of people, most times I feel most of them were born through abortion and that part of their brain already shifted from where it is supposed to be.

malali:
Nigeria is being exploited by UK,USA and Canada by poaching their best healthcare workers.

They let Nigeria train them(for relatively free) only for them to hire them for peanuts into their own system.

How does the USA,UK and Canada prevent this happening to them ?

Muslims always fixing dodging to take responsibilities fro their failures and pointing fingers on others for their inability to think like normal human beings.

They saddle all graduates with huge loans.......give or take 350 thousand dollars.

So that when you graduate, you will be forced to work in the USA, if you desire to pay back that loan.

If you decide to go work somewhere else, you will never be able to pay back that loan.(They devalue the currency of the home country)

If Nigerian government wants to stop this, they need to saddle all those courses that are high brain-drain prone with huge loans.

Give every doctor a 10 million Naira loan, payable only to his tuition and then give them a job where 1 million Naira is forgiven every year or 500k every year. Only award them certificates as doctors after the loans are paid in full or on completion of a mandatory 10 years of working in a government hospital. Salaries have to be competitive and realistic. No doctor should earn less than a senator.

This will deter a lot of health workers from going abroad the next day after graduating.

So they should stay here and rot in Hospitals your condemn criminals won't use, no be the pampers one dey go fix en leaking bladder?

malali:
Nigeria is being exploited by UK,USA and Canada by poaching their best healthcare workers.

They let Nigeria train them(for relatively free) only for them to hire them for peanuts into their own system.

How does the USA,UK and Canada prevent this happening to them ?

They saddle all graduates with huge loans.......give or take 350 thousand dollars.

So that when you graduate, you will be forced to work in the USA, if you desire to pay back that loan.

If you decide to go work somewhere else, you will never be able to pay back that loan.(They devalue the currency of the home country)

If Nigerian government wants to stop this, they need to saddle all those courses that are high brain-drain prone with huge loans.

Give every doctor a 10 million Naira loan, payable only to his tuition and then give them a job where 1 million Naira is forgiven every year or 500k every year. Only award them certificates as doctors after the loans are paid in full or on completion of a mandatory 10 years of working in a government hospital. Salaries have to be competitive and realistic. No doctor should earn less than a senator.

This will deter a lot of health workers from going abroad the next day after graduating.

Me think study loan is for those that really need it for study. If any student decides not to take the loan and pay out of pocket for his/her study, the government cannot hold on to their certificates after their studies. There are privates universities also that offers courses in health care and they are relatively cheap when compared to foreign universities. Some rich and average parents can afford to send their children to such schools here in naija too.

I read through, looking for action points on how the policy is intended to work, alas, all i saw was grammar, the usual grammar and nothing else. Doctors, please stay where you are. Nigeria has not changed to deserve a head ache

malali:
Nigeria is being exploited by UK,USA and Canada by poaching their best healthcare workers.

They let Nigeria train them(for relatively free) only for them to hire them for peanuts into their own system.

How does the USA,UK and Canada prevent this happening to them ?

They saddle all graduates with huge loans.......give or take 350 thousand dollars.

So that when you graduate, you will be forced to work in the USA, if you desire to pay back that loan.

If you decide to go work somewhere else, you will never be able to pay back that loan.(They devalue the currency of the home country)

If Nigerian government wants to stop this, they need to saddle all those courses that are high brain-drain prone with huge loans.

Give every doctor a 10 million Naira loan, payable only to his tuition and then give them a job where 1 million Naira is forgiven every year or 500k every year. Only award them certificates as doctors after the loans are paid in full or on completion of a mandatory 10 years of working in a government hospital. Salaries have to be competitive and realistic. No doctor should earn less than a senator.

This will deter a lot of health workers from going abroad the next day after graduating.

Yimu...tie down a healthcare worker in Nigeria for 10-20 years, say who die?

I attended a job fair earlier in the year at Birmingham, where Australian and Kuwaiti healthcare organisations came to recruit healthcare professionals from the UK, dangling incentives. British healthcare professionals who are still owning student loans, can still pay back while working abroad.

Federal and State governments should be creative enough to make good use of the opportunity of training healthcare professionals and export their skills while being involved in their overseas employment through bilateral agreements with destination countries, the FG/States get paid a fixed amount in foreign currencies for each recruitment and for some years, get a fraction of monthly tax from those healthcare professionals for a specific period, while reinvesting into training more professionals with many qualified Nigerians eager to be trained, who would become one of Nigeria's steady source of foreign currency earners through remittance back home....Kenyan government attempted such during Uhuru's Presidency where he signed a bilateral agreement with the then UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson to officially supply the UK Healthcare Services with Kenyan trained nurses as they had many who were underemployed and Kenyan government will get a cut of the nurse's UK salary.

DevilsEqual:
We finally can finally feel it
We now have a president that touches all sector


The lady time we had anything like it was in 2009(Under Yaradua)

When we encourage local investors like Innoson and Dangote, pay the students monthly, deploy rangers to farm and increase health worker pay...

We are now the green pasture

All of you paid to praise the activities of this wicked and insensitive government are oloriburuku

....you know how useless an istration is by the senseless, irrelevant and uncordinated policies they roll out and dance around to claim them as achievements. This is another stupid and poorly thought out policy....similar to the one the Minister of Trade was celebrating(allowing UK lawyers to practice in Nigeria freely while Nigerian lawyers can not do so in UK unless ing through exams) without understanding the content of the agreement she signed...she was more interested in rushing to the media to claim it as an achievement until it was posted out to her that she had just approved the recolonisation of Nigeria again......

This one is another stupid one....that had no meaning. Fix your country, and everything else will fall in place without useless policies.

Hypocrisy! The president should also sign a bill prohibiting politicians and public servants from medical tourism!

vibratingpenis:
This is a classical example of enemy of progress, not like they will still use them or equip the hospitals with latest technologies at least let their practices be at par with those abroad, No! You'll see, they will still rush to to fix their leaking scruutuum and trap these young medical practioners to rot in the Nigeria shithole hospitals that them and their families aren't using.

These idiots don't know allowing these young men japa even helps the country, but you know anything APC touches and it doesn't degrade or get destroyed is forged with hytrolite.

Very useless set of people, most times I feel most of them were born through abortion and that part of their brain already shifted from where it is supposed to be.

God bless you richly for this comment

https://www.tiktok.com/@don.chele?_t=8or5rBX3YY5

FreeStuffsNG:
We call on recipient countries to implement a 1:1 match—training one worker to replace every publicly trained Nigerian worker they receive.

The policy champions reciprocal agreements with other nations to ensure that the exchange of health workers benefits Nigeria. These bilateral and multilateral agreements are designed to protect national interests while respecting the rights and aspirations of our healthcare professionals.
Many Nigerian healthcare workers leave the country for greener pastures, leaving their colleagues to contend with additional workload and extended call hours.

This policy is a great effort on the part of the executive arm of the Federal Government. The real drain is the uncontrolled migration of healthcare professionals educated with tax payers' hard-earned money. It's daylight robbery of the taxpayers, states and Federal Government by these public-educated Healthcare professionals who flee abroad after their education with public funds! Cuba stopped it and today secured its health system with professionals trained with public taxes,Nigeria can do so too. This injustice meted to the Nigerian state by the fleeing healthcare professionals educated with public funds has to stop immediately. It's an ungodly and criminal injustice done to the Nigerian public education and Healthcare system.

I am glad that the states will execute the policy as well. This is the kind of policy many Nigerian Patriots have been calling for in order to protect the rights of the average Nigerian taxpayer whose tax was used to educate a healthcare professional who immediately flees abroad after receiving training with taxes paid by Nigerians. It's a completely unfair system and something should have long been done about it although it's good that something is eventually being done to arrest the fraud.

May God bless Nigeria for ever! Check my signature for free stuffs!

You just open your mouth to yarn dust. So a recipient country like the UK, would train a doctor for you? U dey ment

it's laughable. you think other countries go listen
the minister is naive

FreeStuffsNG:
We call on recipient countries to implement a 1:1 match—training one worker to replace every publicly trained Nigerian worker they receive.

The policy champions reciprocal agreements with other nations to ensure that the exchange of health workers benefits Nigeria. These bilateral and multilateral agreements are designed to protect national interests while respecting the rights and aspirations of our healthcare professionals.
Many Nigerian healthcare workers leave the country for greener pastures, leaving their colleagues to contend with additional workload and extended call hours.

This policy is a great effort on the part of the executive arm of the Federal Government. The real drain is the uncontrolled migration of healthcare professionals educated with tax payers' hard-earned money. It's daylight robbery of the taxpayers, states and Federal Government by these public-educated Healthcare professionals who flee abroad after their education with public funds! Cuba stopped it and today secured its health system with professionals trained with public taxes,Nigeria can do so too. This injustice meted to the Nigerian state by the fleeing healthcare professionals educated with public funds has to stop immediately. It's an ungodly and criminal injustice done to the Nigerian public education and Healthcare system.

I am glad that the states will execute the policy as well. This is the kind of policy many Nigerian Patriots have been calling for in order to protect the rights of the average Nigerian taxpayer whose tax was used to educate a healthcare professional who immediately flees abroad after receiving training with taxes paid by Nigerians. It's a completely unfair system and something should have long been done about it although it's good that something is eventually being done to arrest the fraud.

May God bless Nigeria for ever! Check my signature for free stuffs!

Following

naive minister

Remman:
Still won't work on those who actually want to go.

Same single story. They should trace the root cause of the massive exodus of healthcare professionals and address them first.
These are the people we call “A fe a je ma fe a yo” in Yorubaland. Enemies of progress.
Where were these politicians when Adewole and Ingige were saying all sort of things. Ingige literally said that Nigeria has enough doctors to look after them.
Healthcare has always been underfunded because it will take a huge resources to achieve a good healthcare system in Nigeria and these criminals we have in govt won’t do it.
And I wonder what he meant by re-integration. Into which system? Recently, I visited a state hospital where I worked for over 5 years before I left. I felt sorry for the doctors because nothing has changed since 2017.
My sister and her hubby were earning a combined salary of 130k naira as nurses back in 2020. They were essentially living from hand to mouth back in Nigeria. They’re now living their best lives in the UK. She was just laughing after reading these thing.

DevilsEqual:


It's not for them. It's just the Govt doing what it has to do to retain its best brains

Did you read any salient points there? Its just the regular hot air they blow

How does the USA,UK and Canada prevent this happening to them ?

They saddle all graduates with huge loans.......give or take 350 thousand dollars.

So that when you graduate, you will be forced to work in the USA, if you desire to pay back that loan:

that's not the reason

malali:
Nigeria is being exploited by UK,USA and Canada by poaching their best healthcare workers.

They let Nigeria train them(for relatively free) only for them to hire them for peanuts into their own system.

How does the USA,UK and Canada prevent this happening to them ?

They saddle all graduates with huge loans.......give or take 350 thousand dollars.

So that when you graduate, you will be forced to work in the USA, if you desire to pay back that loan.

If you decide to go work somewhere else, you will never be able to pay back that loan.(They devalue the currency of the home country)

If Nigerian government wants to stop this, they need to saddle all those courses that are high brain-drain prone with huge loans.

Give every doctor a 10 million Naira loan, payable only to his tuition and then give them a job where 1 million Naira is forgiven every year or 500k every year. Only award them certificates as doctors after the loans are paid in full or on completion of a mandatory 10 years of working in a government hospital. Salaries have to be competitive and realistic. No doctor should earn less than a senator.

This will deter a lot of health workers from going abroad the next day after graduating.