Kola Afolabi, Managing Director, Ago Medical Centre, Okota, Lagos, has raised concern over the worsening exodus of Nigerian health workers, warning that the trend if allowed to continue without putting a check, could cripple the country’s healthcare system within the next 15 years.
Afolabi expressed this concern while speaking with newsmen at the reopening of the hospital, which took place at the weekend and attended by dignitaries, with Chairman of the occasion being the Secretary of Pan- Democracy Group, the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Ayo Opadokun, sadly saying that hospitals in the Country finds it increasingly difficult to recruit doctors and nurses and, therefore, the need for the government to urgently address the situation.
The Ago Medical Centre, first established years ago, was rebuilt after its previous facility was gutted by fire on February 28, 2025.
“Most of us here find it very difficult to get personnel to run our hospital facilities. Doctors are scarce, and nurses are also scarce.
“The way the younger ones are going abroad, I don’t know who will treat those of us remaining in another 10 or 15 years if the government fails to prioritise health services”, he said.
He, however, enjoined the Government to stem the “japa” wave among health workers by improving conditions of service, providing modern facilities and offering competitive salaries.
His comments came weeks after Bala Audu, Professor and President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), disclosed that only about 30,000 doctors are currently practising in the Country, despite its estimated population of 240 million.
This was just as the NMA boss noted that at least 15,000 doctors left Nigeria in the last five years, pushing the doctor-to-patient ratio to 1:8,000.
Afolabi commended community members and well-wishers, who supported him after the fire incident that gutted the previous facility last February 28, saying the new centre was better equipped to handle a wide range of medical services, including surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, preventive care, physiotherapy, infertility treatment, and laboratory services.
Ayo Opadokun, Chairman of the event and Secretary of the National Democratic Coalition, praised Afolabi as a committed activist and humanitarian who often provided free medical services to colleagues unable to pay.
“He is a devoted compatriot. Kola responds to activism demands promptly and pays for the treatment of comrades free of charge. How I wish we could replicate the likes of Kola Afolabi, Nigeria would be better off than it is today,” Opadokun said.
