The Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, has urged the Federal Government to introduce measures that will ensure students who benefit from the government’s student loan scheme remain in Nigeria to contribute to national development.
Speaking in Jos on Monday night while hosting the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr, the governor stressed the need to curb the mass exodus of highly skilled professionals, particularly in the healthcare sector. He warned that without strategic policies to retain trained professionals, Nigeria would continue losing its best minds to developed nations.
Mutfwang emphasized that the student loan program should be structured in a way that binds beneficiaries to serve the country for a certain period before seeking opportunities abroad.
“For medical students in particular, the biggest impact of ‘Japa’ is in the health sector, where it has left a huge deficit. We are investing in training students, but we need to bind them over. It doesn’t make sense to train a medical doctor, and the next day he leaves the country. How do we avoid that? Because if he has access to this kind of scholarship, he should be trained to serve Nigeria first,” he stated.
The governor highlighted the dire effects of brain drain on Nigeria’s healthcare system, pointing out that the mass migration of doctors, nurses, and specialists has led to a critical shortage of skilled healthcare workers.
To reverse this trend, Mutfwang advocated for incentives that would encourage professionals to stay in Nigeria. He proposed competitive salaries, improved working conditions, structured career progression, and other benefits that would make local employment more attractive than overseas opportunities.
“I remember that in the past, medical students were placed on salary Level Seven as soon as they entered clinical training. They were actually on the government payroll even before graduating. Once they completed their studies, they automatically joined the state service and were required to work for a certain period before they could leave. If we fail to implement such policies, we will keep producing professionals for developed countries that are struggling with workforce shortages,” he added.
Mutfwang stressed that patriotism must be encouraged among students who receive government funding for their education.
“We have no other country but Nigeria. If we don’t stay back to develop it, nobody will. There must be a deliberate commitment to national growth. You can study abroad, but if you were trained with Nigerian taxpayers’ money, there should be a minimum expectation that you will contribute to national development,” he said.
Nigeria’s Healthcare Crisis Worsens as Doctors Continue to Leave
The issue of brain drain in Nigeria’s healthcare sector has become a national crisis. In March 2024, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, revealed that around 16,000 Nigerian doctors had left the country in the last five years.
With only 55,000 licensed doctors catering to a population exceeding 200 million, the country now faces a dangerous doctor-to-patient ratio of 3,636:1. This far exceeds the recommended benchmark of one doctor per 1,000 people, making quality healthcare increasingly inaccessible for millions of Nigerians.
Despite efforts by the government to curb this trend, better wages, improved working conditions, and job security abroad continue to attract Nigerian professionals. Without urgent intervention, experts warn that the country’s already fragile healthcare system will collapse under the strain of an insufficient workforce.
NELFUND Reaffirms Commitment to Education Access
During the meeting, NELFUND’s Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, reaffirmed President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to ensuring that no student in Nigeria’s public tertiary institutions is denied education due to financial constraints.
Sawyer emphasized that the student loan scheme is designed to provide equal access to funding for students across all states, ensuring that financial barriers do not hinder academic aspirations.
“Our purpose here is to ensure that students, both indigenes and non-indigenes studying in Plateau State, know how to access the funding available for them. We must make sure that every state in Nigeria benefits from this initiative,” he explained.
As Nigeria grapples with the growing impact of brain drain, the debate over binding student loan beneficiaries to national service is expected to intensify. While some experts argue that such policies could restrict opportunities for young professionals, others believe they are necessary to protect Nigeria’s long-term economic and social development.
Stay informed with the latest news from Nigeria and beyond! Join us on WhatsApp or Telegram for real-time updates. Have a report or article? Send it to report@trendingnaijanews.com. Follow us on X (Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook for more updates.