About 5,514 Nigerian medical doctors are presently working in the United Kingdom, where Nigeria is ranked ninth on the list of foreign countries with the most doctors practicing there.
The reasons are myriad.
1) Poor remuneration of doctors, as Nigerian doctors earn five times less that their counterparts in the UK, according to BusinessDay investigation. UK doctors earn about £40,600 yearly, which is about N16million monthly, while medical doctor in Nigeria earns an average salary of N250, 000 per month, which is about N3million yearly, excluding other financial benefits and multiple jobs earnings.
2) Poor infrastructure and equipment (including power) make it difficult if not impossible for Nigerian doctors to give their best and adequately upgrade their skills on the job.
3) Poor funding of the sector, as allocation to the health sector falls below the United Nations standard of 15 percent. Furthermore, poor quality of health services, space for semi or non-professional health care providers and poor implementations of health policies / programs constitute drawbacks.
4) Inadequate educational / further learning opportunities, absence of research culture in the health sector are salient
5) Political interventions in recruitment and promotion procedures are also discouraging.
