Amid the alarming trend of Nigerian nurses seeking opportunities abroad—a phenomenon colloquially known as the “Japa Syndrome”—nurses affiliated with the University Graduates of Nursing Science Association (UGONSA) have urged the government to take decisive action. They assert that, with political will, effective solutions are readily available.
In a statement released on Tuesday following their National Profession Conference and Scientific Update (NAPCON) 2024 in Ondo State, signed by National President Nurse Opeyemi Ojo and National Secretary Nurse Philip Eteng, the association lamented the surge in Nigerian healthcare professionals emigrating to developed countries, likening it to the eleventh plague of Egypt.
They emphasized the devastating effect of this mass exodus on Nigeria’s healthcare system, insisting that the government must grasp the severity of the issue through clear data.
According to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, over 42,000 nurses have left the country in the past three years, with around 15,000 making the move in 2023 alone.
With a nurses-to-population ratio of 1.5 per 10,000—far below the World Health Organization’s recommended 3.75—Nigeria faces a staggering shortfall of more than 60%. The crisis is particularly acute in rural areas, where the majority of nurses congregate in urban centers.
Ironically, while the brain drain is a cause for concern, many qualified nurses in Nigeria remain unemployed, under-employed, or underpaid.
A recent survey revealed that 57.1% of nurses remain unemployed within two years of graduation, with 29.9% unemployed for 3 to 5 years, 7% for 6 to 8 years, and 6.1% for over 8 years.
Furthermore, the survey indicated that 95% of unemployed nurses and midwives are willing to work in rural areas, provided they receive comparable resources and pay to their urban counterparts in federal medical centers and teaching hospitals.
While acknowledging the loss of our most talented nurses, the association boldly criticized the government’s failure to tackle the persistent issues of unemployment and underemployment in the nursing profession.
How can we expect nurses who have struggled to find work for over eight years to remain hopeful about the government or the healthcare system when the prevailing message seems to be, “We don’t need you?”
When contrasted with the numerous advertisements from foreign countries actively seeking nurses—individuals who are often undervalued in Nigeria—it becomes evident that those leaving are motivated not by a lack of patriotism, but by mistreatment, devaluation, and systemic neglect.
The association recalled that, in its 2001 Abuja declaration, the Federal Government (FG) committed to dedicating 15% of its annual budget to healthcare reform.
It is unacceptable that, on average, the government has only managed about 4.2% per year since making this promise. Therefore, the association urges the government to honor its own commitment to the 15% target, which would provide essential funding to revitalize the healthcare sector.
“We call on the FG to fulfill its own objective of allocating 15% of government expenditure to healthcare, and to use the resulting funds to modernize facilities, provide life insurance, enhance retirement benefits, subsidize education, guarantee job placements for nurses and midwives, and offer competitive salaries—ideally at least 10% of what nurses earn abroad, such as in the United States.”
“We unequivocally call on the FG to implement its own self-set target of 15% government expenditure for the health sector and use the resultant funds to modernize our healthcare facilities and offer life insurance, improved retirement benefits, subsidized education, automatic employment of nurses and midwives, and a comparative wage that will be at least up to 10% of what nurses working abroad, say in the United States, make.”
The association also advised the FG to float a targeted incentive that will entice those currently living abroad to return home.
“Being in contact with many nurses living abroad, this association can confidently assert that a considerable number of nurses currently living abroad would return home to offer their knowledge, skills, and expertise to develop our own health system if the government could advance an incentive that would see them earn about 20% of what they earn abroad here in Nigeria.
“Because nurses are the tapestry that upholds the development of any health system, we, therefore, call on the government to show the political will to lift our healthcare system out of its current abyss by prioritizing nurses’ welfare and employment as the performance of any healthcare system is a direct reflection of how it treats its nurses”- the statement concluded.
