The Kwara stayte Government, on Tuesday, cried out over the inadequate number of medical doctors in the state’s health facilities due to brain drain otherwise called ‘Japa’ syndrome.
Executive Secretary of the state Hospital Management Board, Dr. Abdulraheem Abdulmalik, raised the alarm during the 2025 first quarter inter ministerial press briefing organised by the Ministry of Communication in Ilorin.
Abdulmalik said despite the directive of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq on the hiring of doctors, the board had been having difficulty finding eligible personnel to recruit.
“We have approval of His Excellency to recruit doctors but we can’t just find the doctors to recruit. Doctors are hot cakes now. If a doctor resigns in the morning, he will get another job in the afternoon”, he said.
Dr. Abdulmalik, who disclosed that only 99 doctors are currently on the state’s payroll, added that the required number is from 180 to 200.
“The three medical doctors that left the service returned after the recent increase in doctors’ salary by the Governor. We actually had 96, but after His Excellency increased the salary, three of them that ‘japa’ came back. So, we have 99 right now. We’re expecting more at the moment because we need about 180 to 200 medical doctors.”
Consequently, the board said it was developing a software application that will give patients, visiting its 45 health facilities, information on the number of doctors available at a particular period of time, to reduce the usual delay in accessing doctors.
He said this will as well avert a situation where sick patients would collapse while waiting to see a doctor at the hospitals.
The executive secretary said rural areas are those places where the challenge was more pronounced, adding that the board was working out remuneration and incentives for doctors to address the situation with resources available.
“The remuneration will be at par with what is obtainable in the western world where most of the doctors were leaving for greener pastures”, he stated.
Dr. Abdulmalik said there is a retention plan by the state government to close the gap on required number of medical doctors in the state, adding that the plan would kick start in four years time.
“On recruitment, we have presented a prerequisite to the Governor on actually harvesting doctors from medical schools. So, the state government sponsors you as a student for maybe a year or two and you pay back by working for the state for those two years in which the state has invested in you.
“That means we will continue to have a cycle of students. So, the state government sponsors you for two or three years and you work for the state government for those number of years before you ‘Japa’. That would mean there is a closing of the gap for medical doctors. This would kick off in about three to four years because we are starting from their Clinical Level, which is 400 Level.
Answering questions on training of nurses and fear that the trained nurses may leave the country for greener pastures, thereafter, Dr. Abdulmalik said, “They will “japa”, regardless, but we are not as desperate for the nurses as we are for doctors because the social circumstances favour nurses staying in the country.
“Most of the nurses are women and their movements depend on where their husbands are stationed. Some do “Japa”, but we are not as desperate for nurses”.
