A member of the Governing Council of Trinity University, Yaba, Lagos, Olufemi Oyinsan, has called for rapid production of more medical personnel to fill gaps created by emigration of medical workers in search of greener pastures.
Oyinsan, however, said that the rapid production should not compromise standards.
This is contained in a statement in Lagos on Sunday by the university’s Head of Corporate Affairs Unit, Michael Bamigbola.
Oyinsan said: ” We are in a state of emergency precipitated by shortage of medical professionals due to the ‘Japa’ syndrome.
“The solution is to embark on a rapid production of more medical personnel without compromising standards.”
He said that the solution to the problem would not be in seizing licences of the medical personnel to prevent them from exporting their skills.
“It is absolutely wrong for anybody to sit on people’s certificates – people you didn’t pay their school fees.
“If you paid their fees, it is a different thing. You could then say that they have to serve the country on a bond for, maybe, five years before they can export their skills,” he said.
Oyinsan said that democracy provided for right of choice, right of movement, freedom of expression and more.
Oyinsan said, “In the 1950’s when the United Kingdom was faced with this kind of situation, they went round the colonies to recruit people that they needed to train as nurses to close the gap.
“They sent you tickets, they were responsible for taking you from your country down to their country, training you at their own expense, employing you and supporting you.
“This is to say that such type of emergency has occurred in UK and other countries before, and we know how they handled it.”
He advised that Nigeria should begin to view its population not just as a human beings but also as human capital.
“When you have a human capital, you fund and develop that human capital,” he added.
