President Bola Tinubu’s decision to send some doctors and other health sector professionals to St Lucia under the Federal Government’s Technical Aid Corps, TAC, scheme has drawn the ire of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, and understandably so.

The president has just concluded a week-long state visit to the Caribbean island country. This came as a surprise to many who wondered why a country of about the size of three local government areas in Nigeria should attract such a lengthy stay. The Presidency, however, defended the trip, saying it was an opportunity to explore new diplomatic frontiers and strengthen ties with “the African diaspora”.

The export of doctors and medical specialists to St Lucia under the TAC was at the request of Tinubu’s host country. St Lucia reportedly pays doctors up to N131 million annually. But doctors sent from Nigeria will be paid N40m by the Nigerian government, which is over 40 times what the Federal Government pays doctors under its payroll, according the NMA.

The Association’s Secretary General, Dr Ben Egbo, described this gesture as “deeply troubling” as the Federal Government has been unable to meet its basic obligations to health sector workers back home in Nigeria, and instead chooses to play the Father Christmas to foreign nations.

Among the failures of government at all levels listed by Egbo are: delayed payment of the Medical Residency Training Fund, MRTF, non-implementation of agreed welfare packages, hazardous working conditions without adequate risk allowances, inconsistent application of the CONMESS salary structure and others.

These failures lead to burnouts, stress, chronic illnesses and death among Nigerian doctors and medical professionals. These are the main drivers of medical brain drain from Nigeria to advanced countries with better conditions of service, which further adds to the ugly situation.

The National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, in May this year announced that over 18,000 doctors left Nigeria for greener pastures abroad. With a population of about one doctor to 10,000 patients, the FG’s further depletion of the estimated 55,000 doctors from Nigeria is bound to further impact negatively on our healthcare situation.

We recognise the fact that Nigeria, despite our many failures as a nation, is still looked up to, especially by the smaller Black-populated countries, particularly those whose ancestors were shipped to the Americas through the slave trade centuries ago. There are certain diplomatic and moral obligations we cannot afford to ignore.

However, charity must begin at home. We must rebuild our healthcare and educational systems in order to justifiably donate the surplus to others. The welfare gap between Nigeria and other countries is too wide and must be closed. Consistent failure to do so, and the leaders’ chronic preference for treatment abroad, underline leadership irresponsibility.

We must stop playing to the gallery on important matters.