“To reduce the deficit, the government must train more physicians”- Hamzat

Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, the deputy governor of Lagos State, has suggested that increasing the ability to train more medical professionals is the best way to fill the gap left by the growing problem of doctors immigrating to other countries.

Speaking to reporters in Lagos on Sunday, Hamzat emphasized the necessity of expanding the nation’s capability for educating new medical professionals to cover the vacancies left by many emigrating medical professionals.

The deputy governor also said that more doctors need to be trained for the good of the country because human migration is unavoidable.

Hamza stated, “Human migration is normal. People would leave, and people would come. But as a country, we can train more doctors.

“I am not against the brain drain of medical doctors, but what we need is to create a pipeline to train more doctors instead of complaining that medical personnel are leaving the country.

“If we train 5,000 doctors yearly, let us increase the numbers to 15,000; by doing so, the country benefits.”

The story of the 197 Americans who gave up their passports to become Singaporeans in 2022 was another example Hamzat used to support his claim that although people will continue to leave, the Nigerian government must constantly look for new opportunities to profit from the nations these Nigerian doctors are moving to.

“The Nigerian government should rather look for a way to benefit from the countries our doctors are moving to.

“For example, if 1,000 doctors go to the United Kingdom, the UK Government must pay us something back in return.

“Therefore, our medical colleges need to increase their capacity by training more people,” he insisted.