Medical doctors have reacted to the recent deployment of 35 Nigerian medical professionals to Zanzibar, Tanzania, describing it as ill-timed and damaging to an already strained health system grappling with acute shortages and mass emigration.
The Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (TAC) had on Tuesday announced the deployment, stating that the move aligns with Nigeria’s commitment to supporting fellow African nations through professional and educational exchange.
The TAC Act, enacted under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was established to promote international solidarity by deploying Nigeria’s skilled professionals to countries in need, particularly across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP).
The core objective of the Act is to facilitate the voluntary deployment of Nigerian experts such as doctors, teachers and others to assist in addressing developmental gaps in partner-countries.
However, medical professionals at home have said that the decision ignores the country’s worsening healthcare workforce crisis.
The president of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr Osundara Tope Zenith, described the deployment as a “double-edged sword” that could further tilt the country toward a healthcare emergency.
“Yes, there are potential benefits in terms of skills acquisition and diplomatic ties, but it comes at a heavy cost. We are already battling a shortage of doctors; sending more abroad creates a deeper gap. The reality is that we are not even standing up for our medical professionals here,” he said.
He stressed that while working abroad can broaden a doctor’s knowledge, the loss to the country’s health infrastructure is significant. “We must ask: are we strengthening our system or weakening it in the name of international aid?”
Also, the chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), FCT, Dr Emeka Ayogu, said the deployment is untenable, insisting that the government’s priority should be retaining doctors, not exporting them.
“We are losing doctors every day due to poor working conditions, burnout, insecurity and lack of incentives. Hospitals in the North have advertised for doctors for months without getting applicants, they can’t find doctors yet we’re sending them to Tanzania,”Dr Ayogu said.
According to him, many doctors now prefer to work in urban centres like Abuja and Lagos, leaving rural and insecure areas grossly underserved. He blamed the exodus on policy failures and called for urgent reforms in health sector recruitment and retention.
While the TAC mission serves Nigeria’s foreign policy goals and enhances regional solidarity, health professionals insist that the domestic crisis must take precedence. “Patriotism should start with valuing your own people,” he said.
The minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Ali Pate, recently revealed that Nigeria currently has only 55,000 licensed doctors for a population of over 200 million. He noted that around 16,000 doctors have left the country in the last five years, while another 17,000 are no longer in active service.
According to him, Nigeria has about 300,000 health professionals, comprising doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and others. Of the 85,000 to 90,000 registered Nigerian doctors, only 55,000 are currently practicing within the country while many others are based in the diaspora, particularly in the US and UK.