16,000 Nigerian doctors flee country as health sector faces collapse – Minister raises alarm
Nigeria’s health sector is facing a full-blown crisis as over 16,000 medical doctors have left the country in the past five to seven years, a development that has left rural and underserved communities dangerously exposed.
The shocking figure was revealed on Tuesday by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, during the seventh annual capacity building workshop of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa in Abuja.
Prof Pate, speaking at the conference themed “Integrated healthcare regulation and leadership in building resilient health systems,” lamented the exodus of healthcare professionals, warning that the trend not only signifies a loss of human capital but also a devastating fiscal blow.
According to him, the doctor-to-population ratio has dropped to an alarming 3.9 per 10,000 people, far below the globally recommended minimum.
He added that nurses and midwives have also been migrating in large numbers, further compounding the country’s healthcare woes.
The minister noted that training a single doctor in Nigeria costs over $21,000, a figure that reflects the staggering amount of public investment now benefiting foreign healthcare systems.
He described the trend as a massive leakage of national resources, with the impact being most deeply felt in communities already struggling with limited access to medical services.
However, Prof Pate insisted that Nigeria is not responding with helplessness.
He said the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has been appointed by African Heads of State as the African Union’s Continental Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery, is determined to reverse the trend.
He said the government is pursuing a strategic and ambitious approach under the Renewed Hope Agenda, anchored by the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative.
Central to this plan is the newly launched National Policy on Health Workforce Migration, which he described as a bold attempt to address the crisis with “dignity for health workers, for the country, and the profession.”
According to Pate, the policy is based on real-time data and evidence, and seeks to balance the right of health professionals to seek greener pastures with Nigeria’s obligation to protect its collapsing healthcare system.
He stated that the policy is not designed to restrict movement but to retain and motivate professionals who continue to serve in the country under extremely difficult conditions.
It also seeks to build ethical frameworks for international recruitment, create training pipelines that serve both domestic and global health needs, and enable structured reintegration for Nigerian professionals abroad.Nigerian cuisine
Pate warned that the global shortage of health workers—currently estimated at 18 million—means that countries in the Global North will continue to poach talent from developing nations like Nigeria.
But he stressed that the Tinubu administration is committed to changing the narrative, not by shutting borders, but by taking charge of its health workforce destiny.
“This is a new direction,” he declared. “We are combining strategic realism with visionary ambition. Nigeria is not going to be a standalone nation, but one that contributes meaningfully to global health solutions.”
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