NMA criticises Tinubu’s plan to export doctors to St Lucia where they will be paid higher salaries
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
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“While the NMA supports regional cooperation and international engagement, it is morally unjustifiable to export healthcare workers to foreign countries and pay them five times as much as they earned while serving in Nigeria” – NMA Secretary General Ben Egbo.
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Doctors have criticised the plan by Bola Tinubu to deploy Nigerian doctors and other healthcare professionals to Saint Lucia for higher pay while Nigeria suffers inadequate doctors and poorly remunerates those serving at home.
The scheme will follow the signing of a Technical Manpower Assistance (TMA) agreement between the two countries this week during the President’s visit to the East Caribbean island, which has a population of 180,000.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) on Thursday issued a 21-day ultimatum to the Federal Government, demanding urgent redress of its grievances, among them withdrawal of a contentious circular by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), full implementation of outstanding collective bargaining agreements, rectification of salary distortions, and safeguarding doctors’ professional autonomy.
NMA Secretary General Ben Egbo affirmed its support for international collaboration in healthcare but described the approach to the St Lucian case as ethically unjustifiable.
The NMA warned that exporting underappreciated doctors while offering them significantly higher salaries abroad only accelerates the depletion of Nigeria’s medical workforce and worsens national health outcomes.
It urged the government to reconsider its priorities and invest meaningfully in the healthcare system rather than exporting its professionals under unequal and unjust conditions.
Egbo, who spoke in Lagos, stressed that deployment of skilled workers would further encourage brain drain with its attendant health consequences.
He said the agreement with St Lucia came at a time Nigerian doctors are grappling with systemic neglect, poor salaries, and withheld allowances.
According to him, it also coincides with the release of a controversial salary circular that undermines the welfare and professional dignity of doctors.
“We consider this move a deeply troubling contradiction and an attempt to bolster Nigeria’s international image while failing to meet the basic obligations owed to doctors at home, who are toiling hard to serve Nigeria,” Egbo stressed.
“We remind the Federal Government that Nigerian doctors have been suffering while working and serving Nigerians, with many doctors leaving the country due to poor remuneration; chronic delays in payment of the Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF), non-implementation of previously negotiated welfare packages and agreements, hazardous working conditions without commensurate risk allowances and lack of universal implementation of the CONMESS salary structure for many of the doctors.”
These challenges, he added, have overburdened the doctors left behind, leading to burnout, stress, chronic diseases and even death, which invariably increases morbidity and mortality among Nigerians.
“While the NMA supports regional cooperation and international engagement, it is morally unjustifiable to export healthcare workers to foreign countries and pay them five times as much as they earned while serving in Nigeria.”
Egbo noted that Saint Lucia pays N131.7 million yearly to its premium doctors, while Nigeria pays doctors N11.9 million yearly as salary and plans to pay N40.8 million yearly as additional allowances to those who would serve in the Caribbean country.
“Exporting doctors while undermining their welfare at home is inexcusable.”
Nigeria and Saint Lucia signed the TMA agreement to deploy skilled Nigerian professionals to that the country as part of a bilateral agreement forged during Tinubu’s tour of the Caribbean and South America to deepen South-South cooperation.
A statement issued by his Information and Strategy Adviser, Bayo Onanuga, explained that the agreement, signed on July 2, allows Nigerian experts, including teachers, medical personnel and agriculturists, to serve two-year terms in Saint Lucia and potentially in other Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) member-states.
Onanuga said the programme is a key component of Tinubu’s ‘4D’ foreign policy strategy (Democracy, Development, Diaspora, and Demography) aimed at enhancing Nigeria’s global influence, while fostering professional growth, cultural exchange and solidarity with historically connected nations.
Under the agreement, Nigeria will cover allowances and logistics for the volunteers and host countries will provide accommodation and local support.
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