Every year, 7,000 nurses leave Nigeria for greener pastures – Registrar

Over 7,000 professional nurses leave Nigeria for greener pastures, according to Dr Faruk Abubakar, Secretary-General/Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.

This, he claimed, was clear proof that Nigeria has competent, efficient, and hardworking professional nurses who are among the best in the world.

This was stated by Dr Faruk Abubakar as he led members of the council to Dr Mordi Ononye, the Delta State Commissioner for Health, in Asaba, shortly before a five-day workshop for examiners engaged in nursing and professional examinations held in the state recently.

“In that regard, the council felt it was necessary that we maintain that standard, which is why we organize this workshop every two years and make sure that the examiners that we assign and appoint to conduct professional examinations have updated knowledge in line with global practices,” the secretary-general/registrar joked.

It should be remembered that Nigeria has seen an increase in nurse migration to developed countries as a result of push factors such as low remuneration, poor governmental policies, and poor working conditions, as well as pull factors such as good working conditions and better pay that developed countries offer.

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Dr. Ononye, the Delta health commissioner, however, described the high rate of migration of Nigerian nurses to developed countries as alarming and said it must be investigated immediately to prevent a threat to Nigeria’s health system.

“We have a situation where human resource experts, who have been trained and skilled at great cost to the country, are being lost to our health system as a result of migration to more developed countries,” he said.

“This is concerning to health-care stakeholders, and we welcome practical suggestions for resolving the problem.”

Dr. Ononye praised the council for the excellent work it has done in developing rigorous training programs for nursing students and professionals, which he believes is the reason for Nigerian nurses’ international competence.

“I applaud the council for organizing the examiners’ workshop and including participant evaluation as part of its training activities, which has undoubtedly elevated the workshop beyond a paper exercise.

“By doing so, the council has undoubtedly set the standard for other health players in the sector to follow,” he added.