By Deborah Christopher
The wife of the Lagos State Governor, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo – Olu, has sought for the return of migrated Nigerian doctors into the country.
She made this known in Lagos at the Healthcare Transformation Coalition interactive session, Themed: ‘ Imperative of Addressing Brain Drain in the Health sector’.
She decried the increase in brain drain in the health sector noting that the situation should be curbed.
The First Lady also stated that the ugly narrative needed to be changed through unity, adding that halting the negative trend required a working system.
Mrs Babajide Sanwo- Olu, urged medical practitioners who travel abroad seeking further training to ensure that they return to Nigeria to improve the country’s healthcare service.
Also speaking, the state commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, said brain drain was not a new trend, adding that it had been happening since Nigeria’s independence.
He said: “It has been happening since Nigeria got its independence in 1960. Brain drain is not specific to any discipline. Brain drain is dynamic. Nigeria, especially Lagos has a massive youth purge. 70 percent of the youth is under the age of 30.
“So, our pyramid is very wide. When you look at the demographic profile of the united kingdom, UK, Japan and the united states of America, it is inside down.
“They have a very low birth rate so most of the people in UK and the developed world are elderly population and their pyramid is turned upside down and that forces them to look to countries that have a proper pyramid to recruit human capital.
“So, Nigeria and Lagos by virtue of its demographic profile is a natural exporter of human expertise.”