Professor Ali Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, has given Nigerian health personnel hope by promising wage adjustments soon. The Minister made the announcement on Channels Television’s May 29, 2024 Special show, which commemorated President Bola Tinubu’s first anniversary. When asked if health workers’ salaries would be significantly increased soon, Pate stated, “I think in the context of compensation for workers in Nigeria, we should expect an adjustment.”

Over the years, health professionals in Nigeria have repeatedly complained about inadequate earnings and nonpayment of their hazard allowance, among other issues. This has frequently resulted in industrial actions that have disrupted the country’s healthcare system. As a result of the instability that some of these concerns have caused in the country’s health sector, many Nigerian health experts have relocated to other nations, resulting in a brain drain.

Speaking on brain drain in the health sector, the Health Minister emphasized that President Tinubu’s administration has taken robust policy actions to address the issue. According to him, several experts who have left Nigeria’s shores for greener pastures are now showing interest in returning to the country, a promising sign for the future of our health sector.

“We have significantly increased the health worker training quota, indicating our commitment to strengthening the healthcare workforce. It will take a few years for the training to increase enough that you can observe the benefit; this is a critical policy step. Now, in terms of recruitment through the primary health system, 2,497 nurses, midwives, and doctors have been deployed in our primary healthcare centers in this one year,” stated Pate, highlighting the government’s proactive measures to address the healthcare workforce shortage.

“Now, we’ve noticed a trend of many of our experts returning to Nigeria to work in the private sector while simultaneously contributing to the public sector. Many are in the State Government, and some are in the private sector. It is ongoing, and we should continue.”

The Minister stated that the issue of human resources is not confined to Nigeria, as countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States are all dealing with the same problem. He stated that Nigeria is now taking decisive action to solve the issue by extending professional training to enable them to provide services at home.

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