Nigerian doctors' 'exodus' causes concern

A government-licensed recruiting agency based in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, is conducting interviews for doctors to leave Nigeria and work in Saudi Arabia.

Meed Consultants’ recruitment drive comes at a time resident doctors in Nigeria are on strike over the delayed payment of salaries and allowances.

Flyers announcing the interviews have been circulating widely on social media, especially on WhatsApp platforms.

Consultant Dr Kura Phillip told the BBC’s Ishaq Khalid that he was applying as he wanted the opportunity to broaden his experience abroad - the poor treatment of doctors in Nigeria was an added incentive.

Nigeria’s Daily Trust newspaper says the strike is behind a mass exodus of doctors - though many have often left over the years seeking better pay and conditions.

But Dr Peter Inunduh, chief medical officer at Benue State’s Federal Medical Centre, told the paper that things hadn’t been this bad since the late 1980s and 1990s - and it was putting lives in jeopardy.

"For example, you have one anaesthetist in the hospital and it is the anaesthetist that manages the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in an hospital, if he leaves, what do you think will happen to the ICU?” he said.

“Just this morning, my only anaesthetist, who is the most senior in Benue State, walked into my office to inform me he is leaving for Saudi.”

He warned that unless something was done urgently many critical areas would have to shut down.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: Shuttershock