Ogun Gov Laments Nigerian Doctors Running Abroad For Greener Pastures

The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has urged medical practitioners to display patriotism by choosing to serve in Nigeria rather than travelling abroad for the greener pasture.

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He gave the admonition on Tuesday at the 26th induction ceremony of the graduating set of doctors in Obafemi Awolowo College of Health Sciences of the Olabisi Onabanjo University in Sagamu.

Abiodun said medical practice “should not be about income but impact, which will end up attracting income and significance.”

Represented on the occasion by the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, the governor lamented the brain drain in the country, which he described as “killing the society,” even as he pointed out that developed nations should not continue to get the best of Nigeria at the expense of the well-being of the country.

Comparing maternal mortality rate between the United Kingdom and Nigeria, Abiodun said: “The gulf is wide beyond description,” adding that the need for posterity to celebrate those who choose to stay back to serve their fatherland is paramount.

“We have to think of posterity. When we travel abroad, we marry foreigners, we settle down there and our children do not see themselves as Nigerians anymore.

"You are the highest echelon of the society. The grave consequence of practising abroad is not just about the brain drain but the killing of the society.

“Do not let your pursuit be about income. Instead, let it be about impact. When you make impact, income and significance will follow,” he counseled the graduates.

Abiodun further advised the 41 newly inducted doctors to uphold the four principles of the Hippocratic Oath of the medical profession, noting that being a doctor is a privileged position, and that patients’ health must be taken with utmost dignity, respect and trust.

Congratulating the inductees and their parents, he assured them that the present administration would continue to upgrade the health sector to make it attractive to investors, saying the trust reposed in the government would not be taken for granted.

In her lecture, the Guest Speaker, Mrs. Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosumu, charged the newly inducted medics to be responsible to themselves, their parents and the country at large, urging them to take their own health very seriously.

According to her, “Make sure you are as healthy as you want your patients to be. You can even choose a senior colleague to be your mentor in the medical practice.”