The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has clashed again with the doctors’ union, Nigerian Medical Association, NMA saying they should not only be for the purpose of personal aggrandisement and asking members to go on strike.
The Union however claimed that the Federal Government rejected its proposal for the establishment of a health bank as part of efforts to solve the problems bedevilling the nation’s health sector.
Ngige said his statement on Channels Television on brain drain in the health sector was subjected to serial distortions and misinterpretations by the NMA.
The NMA and the NARD had berated the minister for saying during the television interview that Nigeria had more than enough medical doctors and that there was nothing wrong in them seeking greener pasture abroad.
A statement issued by the Special Assistant on Media to the minister, Nwachukwu Obidiwe, described the reportage of the ‘incident’ as unnecessary and selective, while calling for a deeper understanding of the issue in question.
Quoting the minister, the statement said, “Apart from Nigeria’s non-compliance with the World Health Organisation’s ratio of one doctor to 600 patients of which I was misquoted, every other thing I said in that interview is an existential reality, useful and constructive facts which every Nigerian that watched the full interview will hardly dispute.
“I invite opinion moulders especially those who have spoken or written on this issue to watch the full clip of my interview with Channels.
“The NMA and NARD have a duty to campaign and persuade state governments to devote more funds to health care. The doctors’ union is not only for the purpose of personal aggrandisement, asking for more emoluments and perennially egging members to go on strike.”
The minister said while the Federal Government had recorded remarkably steady improvement in the health-care system, Nigeria had yet to get there.
He added, “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 per cent of the yearly applicants are absorbed while the remaining 80 per cent, try their luck elsewhere.”
The statement added that the minister had meant that these professionals had 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 back to the country.
The statement said that the Ministry of Labour and Employment had a migration policy, developed with the European Union to assist skilled Nigerians to work and earn a decent living abroad.
Ngige said while Nigeria had enough medical personnel to man non-specialist centres in the rural areas, the major problem was the refusal of young doctors to work in the hinterland.
