Ngige: I was misquoted on Nigeria has enough doctors’ controversy

Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has
denied saying that Nigeria has enough medical doctors.

He also said he didn’t say doctors were free to export their
trade to other countries and make foreign exchange for the
nation.

The Minister, who claimed to have been misquoted, said what he
actually said was that since there was sufficient space for
residency training for medical doctors in the country, graduate of
medicine who could not find space for such training were free to
seek such training in other countries and become professionals in
their chosen field.

However, he insisted that Nigeria has enough medical personnel
to handle non specialist areas in the rural areas of the
country.

He lamented the refusal of young doctors and other medical
professional to work in the rural areas.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Nwachukwu
Obidiwe, the Minister who has come under heavy criticism since his
controversial statement on Channel Television, lamented his
interview has been subjected to serial distortion and
misinterpretation, arising from skewed news broadcast.

The Minister was quoted as saying that Nigeria has enough
medical doctors and doctors were free to leave to ply their trade
in other countries because the nation will earn lots of foreign
exchange from them.

But Ngige described the incident as well as the selective
reportage which it fueled in the media as unnecessary, calling for
a deeper understanding of the issue in question.

He said: “I speak from the vintage position of being a medical
doctor and member, Nigerian Medical Association since June, 1979
and enriched by my vast knowledge on health administration, having
retired as a Deputy Director, Medical Services and Training from
the Federal Ministry of Health in 1998, member of Vision 2010
Committee on Health as well as senior member, Senate Committee on
Health 2011-2015.

“Therefore, the truth no matter how it hurts, must be told and
reality, boldly faced.

“I invite opinion moulders especially those who have spoken or
written on this issue to watch the full clip of my interview with
the channels.

“And it is for this reason that I admitted having a little cause
to worry about brain drain among medical doctors.

“The fact is that while the federal government has recorded a
remarkably steady improvement in our healthcare system, Nigeria is
yet to get there.

“We do not at present have enough health facilities to
accommodate all the doctors seeking to do tertiary specialist
training (residency) in the Teaching Hospitals, Federal Medical
Centres and few accredited state and private specialist centres in
the country where roughly 20% of the yearly applicants are absorbed
while the remaining 80%, try their luck elsewhere.”

He explained most of these rejected applicants usually throng
the Federal Ministry of Health and Labour and Employment to
complain of being illegally schemed out.

“What the Minister meant therefore is that these professionals
have the right to seek for training abroad to sharpen their skills,
become specialists and later turn this problem to a national
advantage when they repatriate their legitimate earnings and later
return to the country.

“Even where some of these doctors are bonded to their oversea
training institutions, examples abound on the large number of them
who have successfully returned to settle and establish specialist
centres across the country. It is therefore a question of turning
your handicap to an advantage.”

While insisting the problem was not limited to doctors seeking
specialisation, he said young medical officers who graduate from
medical schools spend two to three years looking for a space for
Housemanship.

“Luckly, the Federal Ministry of Health in conjunction with the
Ministry of Labour and Employment is developing a federal assisted
programme for these young doctors and other allied health
professionals such as pharmacists, physiotherapists in a move to
broaden training opportunities.”

While insisting that Nigeria has enough medical personnels to
man non-specialist centres in the rural areas, he said the problem
of health care delivery in the country was the refusal of young
doctors to work in the hinterland.

He said: “Even the National Youth Service Corps doctors, all,
today seek postings to the cities as against what obtained some
decades ago.

“Besides, doctors who did not get the few vacancies in the
tertiary centres especially those owned by the Federal Government
find it difficult to work in the rural hospitals.“

VIDEO: NAF Shells Terrorists at Workshop in Sambisa
Forest

The Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE has destroyed
some vehicles and neutralized some Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) at
a suspected vehicle workshop in Sambisa Forest, Borno State. The
operation was conducted yesterday, 24 April 2019, after a Nigerian
Air Force (NAF) Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)
platform on a routine mission observed significant activities as
well as some serviceable vehicles hidden under some trees at a
previously abandoned BHT vehicle workshop. Accordingly, the ATF
scrambled an Alpha Jet to attack the location. Overhead the target
area, some of the BHT fighters were seen attempting to flee the
location but were taken out by the Alpha Jet’s successful strikes,
which also caused the destruction of 2 vehicles and other equipment
at the workshop.

The NAF, operating in concert with surface forces, will sustain
its operations to completely degrade the terrorists in the
Northeast.

IBIKUNLE DARAMOLA

Air Commodore

Director of Public Relations and Information

Nigerian Air Force