By PETER ANOSIKE

Chuks Nnalugha, a lawyer by training and a parent of one of the Nigerian students who studied medicine in Ukraine but the Medical and Dental Commission refused to induct them, has said that the shortage of medical doctors in Nigeria is the making of the Medical and Dental Council.

Recall that the World Health Organisation (WHO), puts the doctors: patients ratio at 1:600. However, Nigeria’s doctors-to-patients ratio stood at 1:9083 as at February 2024.This no doubt falls far below the global recommended standard and the consequences of this is very obvious- massive death tolls.

Even the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, said recently that more than 16,000 doctors left Nigeria in the last five years thereby leaving only 55,000 licensed doctors to serve a growing population of over 200 million people.

Furthermore, Lagos State is currently deficient by approximately 30,000 medical personnel necessary to meet its healthcare needs. This issue is a major contributor to the strain on the existing medical personnel who are already stretched thin in an attempt to bridge the gap in the doctors-to-patient ratio.

But according to Nnalugha, what Nigerians don’t know is that Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria is somehow behind the mass exodus of medical doctors from Nigeria because they are refusing to induct doctors who have the desire to practice in the country.

In this interview, Nnalugha spoke on the issue above issue and more.

Excerpts:

Who is Chuks Nnalugha?

Chuks Nnalugha is a lawyer by training and a Nigerian by every purpose of life. I am one of the concerned parents of the Nigerian, Ukraine medical students. By stroke of luck and stroke of chance, we were opportune to send our children to study medicine in Ukraine and Russian universities of which the constitution guaranteed freedom of education for every citizen for the good of this country. As God may have it, heaven blessed Nigerian students that most of them who were studying medicine before the Russian invasion of Ukraine almost completed their courses in medicine, which is also a six-year programme there. Unfortunately, the classes we are talking about now are the classes of 2022 and 2023, but particularly the 2023, which were supposed to graduate before the war broke out between Ukraine and Russia. Some of the students had barely two months, while others had six months to graduate having spent six years doing theory and practical in the universities and mind you, most of these universities are world class medical schools. When the war broke, they had no other choice than to run for their lives and by the grace of God, they came back safely. Even when they came back, their schools in Ukraine did not stop. The universities opened online classes for the students who had fled Ukraine. There were some that had two months online courses while others had five to six months online classes. Those that had two months online classes graduated in 2022, while those that had five to six months online classes graduated in 2023 and even before their graduation, their schools still organized physical exams for the African students which was held in Ghana. It was after their final year exams in Ghana that their schools graduated them. They were convocated and certificates issued to them. You can also recall that in 2022, Nigerian universities had about eight months strike. That was when all the universities in the country were shut down. When the strike was called off, some of the universities embarked on online classes in order to meet up, while those that don’t have facilities for online classes simply sold handouts to their students. Medical and Dental students of the various universities in Nigeria were also involved, yet it did not stop the various universities from graduating them and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria inducting them and they all are today practicing as medical doctors.

If that is the case, why is the council adopting different standards for the students?

That is what is confusing us the parents. But while the fact above is important is for us to see the treatment been given to the Nigerians who graduated from Ukraine universities because upon their graduation from their various schools, it is expected that the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria should organize and give them an examination, just to fulfill all righteousness and induct them as medical doctors but the Council has so far refused to do that.

What are you now doing about it?

It was the refusal of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to do what they are supposed to do that made the parents to come together to fight for their children, which I strongly believe is a breach of the students’ fundamental human rights. Through the various committees of the Parents Forum, we have appealed to the Nigerian Senate, House of Representatives, the Minister of Health and even the Council itself to do the needful. In all this, the Senate, House of Reps and the Minister of Health saw merit in the plea the parents are making but the Council has remained adamant. At one time, they invited the Class of 2022 and 2023 to enroll for their professional exam, which would entitle them to be inducted, and the students paid the exam fees in preparation. Apart from that, they also enrolled in medical remedial classes in preparation for the exam which the Council is supposed to set for them in September but surprisingly about four weeks to the exam, the Medical and Dental Council made a somersault by cancelling the exam and said that the exam would only be for the class of 2022 who they organized remedial classes for and to me as a parent, the decision lacked merit. It was biased and segregated on the ground that the Medical Council ought to have organized the remedial classes for all the students that enrolled in their receptive jurisdiction of residence, but they did not do that. So, why should they use their failure to punish the students who have prepared for the exam in accordance with their advertisement. The Council did not seem to appreciate the fact that psychologically these students are down, and these are people who are prepared to contribute their own quota to enhance the medical practice. It is very obvious that we have shortage of medical doctors in Nigeria and Medical Council has not done anything to stop the exodus of our doctors abroad. The question now is why are they now frustrating those who want to stay and work in Nigeria. A lot of countries are already calling these young doctors to come and practice in their countries, but they have chosen to remain in Nigeria? What the council is supposed to do is to encourage them. The council ought to prepare them for their professional exams and when they pass, they would be inducted. Medical council is not superior to the Council of Legal education. So, they should look at the way the Legal education behaves and borrow a leaf from them. The Council of Legal education admits foreign students that read law at the law school and give them two years training at the Nigeria Law School in order to acquaint them to practice law in Nigeria.

Right now what pleas are you making to the concerned bodies?

It is based on this that I am appealing to the Nigerian Senate, the House of Representatives and the Minister of Health, as well as the Attorney General of the Federation to look at the plight of these doctors and prevail on the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to organize exams for them. The argument of the council that the students were in Nigeria before they graduated lacks merit and does not suggest any reason for their decision because everybody is aware that they came back because of the war but they completed their courses online and the fact that a student did online course for two months or six months does not in any way jeopardize the six years training that he or she acquired in the profession. I also call on the president of the federal republic of Nigeria to intervene in the matter because this is administration. It will be to his credit that these doctors are enrolled in our medical profession than allowing them to travel to other countries as a result of the frustration of the medical council.

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