A number of healthcare professionals have attempted to leave Nigeria in the last six months, but they have been unable to obtain their travel passports because to unofficial limitations on license verification that the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) has placed in place, which have limited them to the country.
Among these limitations is the need that candidates seeking to relocate hold valid professional licenses for a minimum of six months prior to their expiration.
The National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) president, Micheal Nnachi, told BusinessDay that attempts are being made to address policies that limit the migration of his organization’s members.
“Any restriction that will impede nurses’ ability to relocate, particularly in pursuit of better opportunities, is unacceptable. Nnachi remarked, “We can’t do that.”
Family doctor Olufunmilayo Ogunsanya stated that efforts to keep nurses and other health professionals at home will fail unless the government provides better care for them.
Nigerian nurses have excessive workloads, inadequate compensation, abuse, lack of recognition, and dissatisfaction with their jobs. They wish to leave Nigeria for this reason, according to Ogunsanya.
“Holding health workers captive in a system and a nation they no longer desire is not the solution to underpaid, overworked, and dissatisfied healthcare professionals. He continued, “We have to solve the problems, give them higher compensation, make work more rewarding, and create a nation where professionals are delighted to live.
A new policy that offers various incentives to people in the country and the diaspora is one of the many efforts the Federal Government has been implementing to entice healthcare personnel to the system.
In order to create a favorable working environment for health workers, new policy documents state that specific credit facilities, mortgage financing schemes, and tax holidays will be established. The pay, benefits, pensions, and allowances of healthcare professionals will be reviewed on a regular basis.
The policy acknowledges the right of healthcare workers to seek employment opportunities abroad, but it also mandates that such mobility be guided by the values of social justice, human rights, equity, transparency, and fairness.
The standards for defining what is “fair,” “just,” and “equitable,” however, are still up for debate because doing so could prevent some healthcare professionals from advancing in their careers.
Nurses and midwives must have at least two years of work experience after obtaining their permanent practicing license before working overseas, according to new standards implemented by the council in March 2024 for the verification of credentials for practice abroad.
Additionally, it mandates that candidates wishing to move must still hold valid licenses for at least six months prior to their expiration.
The verification process is extended to a minimum of six months by requiring them to furnish letters of good standing from direct superiors at their place of employment or training facilities.
In an effort to get the policy repealed or to have their interests taken into account, nurses and midwives have started to take up arms.
In a previous televised interview, Abubakar stated that the Federal Government will not budge from its controversial verification policy and that it must prioritize the welfare of all Nigerians over the interests of individual citizens.
He claimed that because training schools are unable to produce an average of 6,700 nurses annually, over 42,000 nurses have left Nigeria in the last three years.
About 15,000 nurses left Nigeria in 2023, suggesting that even with the country’s annual expenditures on 285 nursing and midwifery schools to train trained workers, Nigeria lost nearly all of its nursing workforce to other countries.
“Who would manage our healthcare services if we permit all Nigerians to depart as soon as they have their degrees? In an interview with Channels TV, Abubakar stated, “We are not against anyone traveling, but since Nigerians produce some of the best work in the world, we must be served and provided with quality healthcare.”
He also revealed that the salary range for nurses in Nigeria is N135,000 to N200,000.
However, statistics from the UK website on healthcare pay scales shows that the annual earnings of nurses and midwives in England vary from £20,330 to £93,735 based on level, experience, and credentials.
The Federal Government hopes to create 47,000 nurses by 2024, according to the registrar.
