The House of Representatives has passed, for second reading, the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act (Amendment) Bill, 2022. The bill would make it compulsory for graduates in medical and dental fields to render services within Nigeria for five years before being granted a full licence. The motion was sponsored by Ganiyu Johnson (APC/Lagos), who said the measure aims to curb the mass exodus of medical professionals from the country. The legislation is titled “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act, Cap. M379, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 to Mandate Any Nigeria‑Trained Medical or Dental Practitioner to Practice in Nigeria for a Minimum of Five Years Before Granted a Full License by the Council in Order to Make Quality Health Services Available to Nigeria; and for Related Matters.”
Nigeria has recently witnessed a large migration of its professionals to developed countries, a phenomenon now known locally as “Japa Syndrome.” Johnson led the debate on the bill, emphasizing that the amendment would require any Nigerian‑trained medical or dental practitioner to practice in Nigeria for at least five years before receiving a full licence. He argued that this would help ensure quality health services for Nigerians, given the growing population and the high emigration rate of locally trained practitioners.
According to Johnson, Nigeria currently has only 24,000 licensed medical doctors, less than 10 % of the number needed to meet the World Health Organization’s recommendation. The President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Uche Rowland, has stated that the country requires 23 doctors, nurses and midwives per 10,000 people to deliver essential health services. Yet a large number of Nigerian doctors have emigrated, with 5,600 moving to the United Kingdom in the last eight years. In some southern states, one doctor now serves 30,000 patients, and in the north the ratio is one doctor to 45,000 patients.
Johnson highlighted the cost differentials in medical education abroad. Tuition in the United Kingdom ranges from £35,750 to £66,500 per year for a four‑year programme. In the United States, the average cost is between $82,000 and $104,000, not including living expenses, while in Canada tuition ranges from 52,000 CAD to 169,000 CAD. By contrast, public institutions in Nigeria charge between N40,000 and N150,000, indicating that medical and dental education in Nigeria is heavily subsidised.
Despite this subsidy, Nigeria continues to lose trained doctors and dentists to foreign countries—particularly Europe, North America and the Middle East. Reports show that the number of Nigerian‑trained doctors who have moved to the UK is the third highest in the world and the highest in Africa. This mass relocation strains an already understaffed healthcare sector. Johnson warned that the doctor‑to‑patient ratio could worsen, prompting more physicians to seek better working conditions abroad and further depleting the domestic workforce.
He also noted that foreign embassies in Nigeria, especially those of Britain, the United States and Saudi Arabia, receive 20 to 25 verification requests weekly from Nigerian doctors wishing to migrate. This amounts to about 1,196 applications per year, while the Nigerian public continues to subsidise medical education yet suffers from poor health services due to the outflow of doctors and dentists. Johnson described this as a “clear cheat on the Nigerian people.”
In conclusion, Johnson argued that passing the bill would deliver social justice and improve health services. Nigerians would benefit from the expertise of doctors and dentists trained with public resources, at least for the proposed five‑year period before any migration abroad.
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