On Saturday, Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of State for Health, announced that the Federal Government has mandated that health professionals who travel overseas in search of better opportunities leave their positions before to leaving on such trips.
According to Alausa, it is no longer appropriate for health professionals to file for a leave of absence and then leave the country in pursuit of better opportunities.
The minister explained that President Bola Tinubu’s executive order, which forbade health professionals from taking leaves of absence, was one of the many harsh measures taken to address the problem of brain drain, often known as “Japa Syndrome,” which is plaguing the country’s health sector.
This comes at the same time that Alausa disclosed that the FG has started to produce workers for the health sector, increasing the number of nurses enrolled annually from 28,000 to 68,000 by the end of this year.
This was said by the minister on Saturday while he was in Aro, Abeokuta, Ogun State, visiting the Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital.
He stated that the President believed that the people were the nation’s greatest asset and that he had not only promised but also actively worked to guarantee that the health sector was in good condition to protect the citizens’ health.
Alausa addressed the issue of a lack of workers in all FG-owned healthcare facilities, saying, “The President has ordered massive production of labor so that when people go, there will always be replacement. The government is not unmindful of the Japa effect on our manpower in the health sector.”
In light of this, we are putting a lot of effort into getting new nurses enrolled. There will always be a sufficient supply of competent labor to replace those quitting their jobs; the number of employees was 28,000 but is currently 68,000, and we plan to increase it to 120,000 by the end of the year.
"We have increased enrollment in all fields by double, including medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy.
“Again, we did not say that anyone should not move or move to Japan to take appointments in the UK or Australia; after all, it is a free world.”
But you can’t have your cake and eat it, the minister went on. The presidential executive order that has been conveyed to all Chief Medical Directors of Federal Government-owned health facilities is to simply quit your appointments with the Federal Government instead of requesting a leave of absence.
The issue with the leave of absence is that this kind of person is out there working and earning money in the UK or Australia, but his name is still on the government’s payroll. This makes it challenging to replace him since he is still regarded as staff even though he has left the nation.
In order to address this issue, the President has ordered that medical professionals who are scheduled to travel overseas simply cancel their appointments rather than requesting a leave of absence. By doing this, you’ll avoid getting in the way of those who wish to work and, naturally, adding to the workload of your coworkers that you left behind.
Alausa responded to some of the hospital’s requests for more financing, the development of infrastructure, and other social programs by saying that the ministry will stop at nothing to enhance the state of the nation’s health system.
Dr. Paul Agboola, the hospital’s chief medical director and provost, praised the minister earlier for his unselfishness and drive to improve the health industry.
The CMD stated that his administration had initiated projects like the hospital’s Institute of Psychiatric, which had been in the works for around 40 years, among others, as a result of the Minister’s consent.