Former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi has enjoined the federal government to set up a national health service scheme to enable newly licenced health workers spend a fixed period ranging from three to five years before leaving the country for greener pastures.
He made the call on Friday in Abuja during the induction ceremony for newly appointed state commissioners of health organized by the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and the Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum (NHCF).
He said, “Whilst you are doing that, their licence is held by the Nigerian dental and medical registration body. After serving the fixed period in the country, they can decide if they want to stay or leave.”
Fayemi who is also a past chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, said countries that want to recruit doctors and other health workers from Nigeria, should pay for the training.
“I would say equivalent of training two doctors if you are taking one doctor out of our system. It is like tree planting. You go into the forest, when you do deforestation, afforestation must follow, and afforestation must be encouraged. In fact, for every tree you cut, you must replace with two trees planted. You must give enough funding for training those two doctors,” he said.
He said people obtain loans to go for medical training in the United States of America and keep paying years after, adding that in Nigeria, doctors who had been trained virtually free by the Nigerian state have not given a dime out of what they are making.
He said, “Yes, you may say that they are repatriating money back to their family and friends. But what about about the infrastructure, our health infrastructure and health institutions? “
