The Director of Clinical Services and Training, Babcock University Teaching Hospital (BUTH), Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Dr Titus Oyedele, has expressed concern over the issue of brain drain in Nigeria, saying already about 50 of its doctors and 90 of its nurses have resigned to seek greener pastures abroad.
Oyedele, who disclosed this at the weekend, while taking journalists on a tour of the institution’s facilities, blamed the issue of brain drain popularly known now as ‘Japa’, on leadership failure and having people in positions who do not believe in the system.
He said retaining the best hands in the hospital has been challenging as it has to pay so much just to get competent and qualified personnel.
According to him, “At times, we have to source for highly skilled personnel even at a very high cost. For instance, in a system, you can have 10 people and many institutions struggling to get them. It has become the highest bidder, but the university has been trying its best to ensure that no matter what it costs, we have to ensure that the system is running.
“God has been helping us; we have been trying to attract the best hands in the country.”
Asked how the hospital copes with the number of patients in the hospital, he said: “We try to survive. It’s difficult really especially when you have personnel who are just getting used to the system, and the next minute they are leaving.”
The director, however, said the university does not have a problem replacing staff who are out of the system, adding that it replaces them immediately and even attracts personnel from outside the country.
According to him, “As I speak, we need a radiologist, so the university just sent out a letter to somebody that will be coming from outside the country so that we can ensure quality services. It is challenging but we have to survive.”
He emphasised some of the successful surgeries it had carried out, saying the result it had gotten so far is enough to tell anybody travelling out to seek healthcare that they can actually get quality treatment at the hospital.
Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Ademola Tayo, has appealed to journalists to continue to equip themselves with the current knowledge and skills needed to conduct accurate election reporting and be very well aware of their duty in order to reduce hate speech and incitement to violence which often arise during elections.
