Nigeria’s politicians have proposed requiring doctors to stay in the country for five years to get a licence, to help stem the tide of medical talent it loses to higher income countries. But such a solution creates its own problems, say Oluwatosin Adeshokan and Chiebuka Obumselu
In April 2023, Nigeria’s lower legislative house debated a bill to try to stop the country’s newly trained doctors leaving to work in higher income nations such as the UK and the US. If passed, the amendment to the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act would require all medical and dental practitioners trained in Nigeria to practise there for a minimum period before obtaining a full licence.
Politicians and citizens alike often bring up the average cost of university education and medical degree training as one of the reasons Nigeria’s doctors shouldn’t leave the country. Ganiyu Abiodun Johnson, the politician who proposed the amendment, argues that it was fair for medical practitioners who had bene
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Oluwatosin-adeshokan
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Chiebuka-obumselu
University-of-lagos-teaching-hospital
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