Mimiko Scared By Brain Drain in Health Sector, Fears Surge In Quakery

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The immediate past Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has raised the alarm over brain drain in the nation’s health sector, particularly medical doctors.

He expressed the fear on Friday while delivering his address at the induction ceremony of the first set of medical doctors of the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo, Ondo State.

Mimiko, who established the varsity while in office as the governor of the state, likened the current situation in the health sector to a war period.

He said the rate at which medical personnel jet out of the country in droves for greener pastures is worrisome.

The two-term ex-governor cautioned that “the situation where doctors and other health workers are trained at a subsidized rate in Nigeria and in turn abandon the country for developed countries calls for huge concern.”

In his address, he disclosed that the medical varsity was established to help address the dearth of medical workers in the country.

He, however, lamented that other countries had been poaching those who were trained in Nigeria while giving nothing back to the country in return.

According to him, “We are in an emergency. If we continue at this rate, in another five to ten years, only the “babalawos” (herbalists) will be available to take care of us. It is an emergency, and the government must see it as an emergency. The government must disincentive the rate at which our medical doctors and medical personnel are emigrating out of this country.

“We cannot continue to hold this nation unaccountable. We can take advantage of the opportunity for our professionals to learn new skills. I don’t think any serious government can fold its arms while other countries decide to empty it of its human resources, especially in the health sector.

“There are WHO protocols for all of this, and I think the government should sit down with these governments that are not investing in training their people. We must sit down, and they have to pay something for taking our people away.

“If, for example, UNIMED has a capacity for 50 doctors and they want to take 30 doctors, they should also provide the facility and mechanism to expand our capacity to train more doctors for them.

“We are a great country; we have an incredible young population who are ready. This country can train two million to three million students, but those countries that stand at that end to benefit from this training must also do something to expand our capacity to train our people.

“The government must take it up at a very high diplomatic level. We cannot fold our arms and allow all our best human resources to leave this country. It is like a war situation. But I know one thing for sure: if the government does the necessary things, it can be a win-win situation for us as a nation.”

Moreover, Dr. Mimiko commended the state Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for ignoring the suggestion that the varsity should be relocated outside Ondo Town.

He also lauded the governor for allowing merit to prevail over favoritism while appointing a new Vice Chancellor, Prof. Adesegun Fatusi, for the institution.

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