By James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta

The Medical Director of Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Prof. Adewale Musa-Olomu has attributed the mass exodus of medical personnel from Nigeria to developed countries to poor salaries and lack of incentives by both the federal and state governments.

Musa-Olomu said despite the government’s efforts to boost healthcare sector by increasing medical school admissions and building healthcare infrastructure, more needs to be done to retain medical talents.

The outgoing Medical Director, who disclosed this while giving account of his stewardship in at press conference, which took place at the premises of the centre, argued that Nigerian doctors are capable of performing complex surgeries, such as cancer removal, which is often associated with better-equipped hospitals abroad.

Recall that the World Health Organization (WHO) had in a 2025 research, estimated that Nigeria has a doctor-to-patient ratio of approximately 1:9,083, stressing that there is a severe shortage of doctors in the country.

Although the WHO recommended ration of doctor-to-patient is 1:600, Musa-Olomu however commended the federal government investment in the health sector, especially with the setting up of the Federal University of Medical Sciences in Abeokuta.

He noted that for the country to harness the full potential of its home grown trained medical practitioners, the federal government must also ensure adequate salary structure, in tandem with world best practices is put in place

“The problem we had was that they have condemned medical services to nothing. Although, government are really taking the measures.

Musa-Olomu equally stated the disparity in salaries, noting that “these doctors earn around N700,000 to N800,000 per month, which he said is insufficient to take care of their families, especially those with children abroad.

The Medical Director emphasised that Nigerian doctors are not underperforming, but rather, they are not being paid well.

He said, “they are increasing admission into medical schools, building pharmacies, laboratory technology, those things are increasing, not that they are reducing the numbers of doctors, relocating to US, UK and Europe, let them also give us the incentives that we deserve.

“Give us the salaries that we deserve as the colonial masters were doing in those days when they treated us as number two immediately after the Director General then doctors will stay. You can imagine in this hospital, my doctors separated cancer from the nerves, from the bones and the patient lived again.

“What are they doing in the US, what are they doing in the UK? It was here at FMC that cancer was removed. What is the salary of those doctors, around 700,000 and 800,000? What are they going to do with that and you say they shouldn’t go to where they will be paid 10 million per month so that they will be able to take care of their wives and children”, he added.

Musa-Olomu, while reflecting on his eight-year tenure as the Medical Director of FMC, Abeokuta, mentioned several achievements that have transformed the facility.

Under his leadership, he said, the hospital has been upgraded to a world-class standard, with the procurement of modern equipment and recruitment of a large number of qualified medical and non-medical staff.

Notably, Musa-Olomu said, his stewardship has also paved the way for the establishment of a Medical University in Abeokuta, a development, maintaining that the development will further boost the region’s healthcare landscape.

He said he has taken the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta to the promise land during his 8 years in office.