- Young Nigerian healthcare professionals leaving the country
Lack of teamwork among healthcare professionals and governments’ policies on employment are some of the reasons why young Nigerian healthcare professionals are leaving the country.
Prof. Olayinka Omigbodun, the Provost, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, stated this at the opening ceremony of the sixth Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Association of Clinical and Academic Physiotherapists of Nigeria.
Reports have it that the five-day event is holding at the Theophilus Ogunlesi Hall, University College Hospital, Ibadan.
Omigbodun said: “There is a need for all healthcare professionals, such as nurses, physiotherapists, laboratory scientists, occupational therapists, educational therapists, and others, to come together and work together as one bloc so that healthcare delivery can have a great impact on the nation.
“As a Physician, I understand the importance of the healthcare team. I know that I need to work as a team because every member of a team has something excellent to contribute and there must be mutual respect and understanding.
“One of the reasons, among others, why we are having mass exodus is because we are fighting ourselves.
“But, when we are together as healthcare professionals, we are unstoppable, unbreakable, and unbendable, because ultimately, the main objective is to have excellent healthcare delivery.
“Right now, there is a massive migration of the best of the best as everybody wants to leave the country, particularly the young people.”
The provost said that the policy on employment procedure also compounded the problem.
She said that was making it cumbersome for the fresh graduated healthcare professionals to get a job, thereby making them leave the country.
“I was told that when you want to open a job space in the university, you have to go to the office of the Head of Service in Abuja to ask for space.
“Now, if I want to employ and identify a very brilliant person, I should have the opportunity to make an informed decision as a leader; but now, I have to travel to Abuja many times to get permission.
“What is going on now is that our youths, who are just finishing school are looking for jobs.
“It will take two years for the office of the Head of Service to open a job position; so, the youths decided to seek jobs elsewhere.
“So far the employment decision is being made in Abuja, we are going to have a mass exodus of our youths,” Omigbodun said.
She said the academics were facing a lot of constraints in carrying out their research work, which she said was not good enough.
Omigbodun said that the Treasury Single Account policy: “has made foreign grants from research funders go directly to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“So, it can take up to a year to access the money from CBN for research.
“Meanwhile, the research funders, who have given a timeline for execution of the research will eventually withdraw their money.”
The provost, then urged the physiotherapists to make use of the meeting to deliberate and take useful decisions “that will promote the healthcare system”.
According to her, most importantly, I want you to get involved in politics and policy; let us work together as a healthcare team to make sure that we save our nation from the current downpour that we are experiencing.
In his remarks, the National President of ACAPN, Dr. Chris Okafor, said an event that led to the formation of the association in 2016 brought to the fore its mission.
“To promote professionalism and integrity in physiotherapy practice with a view to enhancing accountability, care, excellence, and social responsibility among physiotherapy professionals in Nigeria,” he said.
Okafor said that the association took pleasure in mentoring students in the physiotherapy profession.
