9m Nigerians left in last 5 years
Number higher than previous years
More doctors are likely to leave Nigeria as coronavirus (COVID-19) gets worse in the United States of America. This would be in addition to an estimated 9million Nigerians who left the country between 2014 and 2018.

As the COVID-19 pandemic takes its toll across the globe, health officials in the US had warned that the country’s coronavirus death toll could rise above 100,000 people. As a result of this development, instead of shutting its door against migrants as it did previously, America is luring foreign medical professionals seeking to work in their country.

Following reports in March that US was inviting medical professionals from other parts of the world, including Nigeria, to help in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed thousands of lives in that country, the president of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr Francis Faduyile, said people had the right to work anywhere they chose. He, however, called on the government to strengthen the country’s health system to encourage more medical practitioners to stay behind.

This is even as inquiries at the US Embassy showed that only doctors and nurses who are already processing exchange and visitor programmes in the US are encouraged to seek the visa approval now. But potentially, this could impact negatively on the Nigerian health sector, as in the last five years, many doctors, among millions of other Nigerians, have left the country for greener pastures.

Already, the US health system relies heavily on immigrants, who make up 17 per cent of all health care workers and more than one in four doctors, according to a report .

Dr Joe Uba, a medical doctor with the Abia State Government, said he was looking forward to relocating from the country like many of his colleagues.

He identified Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom (UK) as the preferred destinations for his colleagues.

However, with the growing interest of the US on foreign medical professionals, priorities will begin to change for Nigerian doctors, who are yearning to leave for greener pastures.

“I think every doctor would like to leave if given the opportunity. It is the cost of moving that is the problem. You could spend not less than N2.5 million to process it. But they pay very well, especially in Saudi Arabia,” Dr Uba said.

Also, Joseph Simon (not real name), an Abuja-based lawyer, has just returned from the UK, where he registered for an LL.M programme. He hopes to stay back there after studies.

“My short visit to London was to understand the procedure to relocate. I can only return to Nigeria if things improve. The best way is through the master’s programme,” he said, citing UK’s new policy which allows postgraduates to stay up to two years after graduation in search of jobs.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that 1,361,580 individuals left the country in 2014. In 2015, 2,640,508 also left.

In 2016, the figure of emigrants dropped to 1,181,211, but rose marginally to 1,344,318 in 2017 and increased to 2,322,585 in 2018.

While the number of departures recorded for the country between 2014 and 2018 may not be permanent, the figure is higher than the numbers between 2005 and 2010, which remained between 900,000 and 100,000 migrants.

Data analysis of Nigerians leaving for greener pastures showed that people leaving the country are not restricted to skilled individuals. Even the unskilled are leaving the country in droves from both regular and irregular means.

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