Nigeria Demands Compensation as 50,000 Diaspora Doctors Targeted for Health Sector Comeback
With significant numbers of Nigerian-trained health workers in the UK, Abuja wants bilateral deals that include technology transfers and training investment — while simultaneously trying to bring 50,000 diaspora doctors
When Nigeria's Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate told Channels Television in August 2024 that "the NHS will struggle" if Nigerian doctors left the UK, he wasn't exaggerating. By 2026, the calculation had become central to Nigeria's new migration policy: if you're taking our doctors, you're paying for it.
At stake is more than $366 million in training investments that Nigeria estimates it loses annually to health worker migration — and a diaspora of more than 50,000 doctors the Federal Government now wants to leverage, not lament.
The Exodus in Numbers
Between 2002 and 2021, 60,729 Nigerian nurses migrated to the United Kingdom alone. There was a consistent increase from 1,393 nurses in the early years to thousands annually by the 2020s, according to a September 2024 AllAfrica analysis.
Thousands have relocated in recent years to countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Canada, and Saudi Arabia in search of better working conditions and career opportunities, according to Nigeria's Diaspora Commission. The most recent data from September 2026 shows Nigerians rank sixth among foreign nationalities in the UK NHS workforce.
Ranked among the 37 countries with critical health workforce shortages in the 2023 WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards list, Nigeria has been battling the increasing exodus of its trained professionals. As of March 2024, approximately 300,000 health professionals — including doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, and laboratory scientists — were in active service in Nigeria. Just 45 percent of registered doctors renewed their licenses in 2023.
The New Managed Migration Framework
In August 2024, President Bola Tinubu approved a National Policy on Health Workforce Migration — a 56-page document that presents Nigeria's plan to address the dynamics of health workers' migration without compromising the country's healthcare system.
The policy outlines new initiatives including bilateral agreements and memorandums of understanding between the Nigerian government and key foreign destinations of Nigerian health workers. It stipulates the establishment of training programs, opportunities for career development, incentives, and a conducive work environment. The policy also introduces the creation of a digital registry for migrants, cross-border data collection on Nigerian health workers, ethical recruitment standards, research, innovation, and equitable distribution of healthcare providers across the country.
At a March 2026 forum, Health Minister Salako proposed a managed migration framework that would include compensation for source countries, joint training programmes, circular migration pathways, and investment in health training infrastructure. He urged destination countries to adopt ethical recruitment standards under the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel.
Salako called for increased health financing and renewed commitment to the 15 percent health budget target under the Abuja Declaration. "The pact is for us to equally gain from them poaching our health workers in the area of bringing technology for us, infrastructure and exchange programmes to help those we are training in-country," a health official told Business Day in April 2024.
Scaling Up Domestic Capacity
Simultaneously, Nigeria is ramping up production. The government has adopted a multi-pronged approach to strengthen the health workforce, including expanding training capacity in collaboration with the National Universities Commission and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. Medical school admission capacity has increased by about 160 percent between 2023 and 2025, with similar expansions underway in nursing, pharmacy, and laboratory science programmes.
Efforts are also focused on strengthening paramedical training and implementing task-shifting strategies recommended by the WHO to optimise the roles of community health workers.
The Diaspora Dividend Strategy
But Nigeria's boldest move is trying to turn brain drain into brain circulation. The Federal Government unveiled plans in July 2026 to leverage the expertise of more than 50,000 Nigerian doctors and thousands of other healthcare professionals in the diaspora to strengthen the country's health system through the Diaspora Health Impact Initiative 2026.
The initiative took center stage at the 2026 National Diaspora Day celebration held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa on July 25, under the theme "Harnessing Global Diaspora Expertise to Strengthen Local Health Systems for National Development."
Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, described Nigeria's diaspora as one of the country's greatest strategic assets, saying the government was determined to harness its expertise beyond remittances and investment.
The health minister highlighted the importance of engaging Nigerian health professionals in the diaspora, describing them as a critical asset rather than a permanent loss. He disclosed that seven Nigerian healthcare diaspora groups from countries including the United Kingdom have partnered with the government on capacity-building initiatives.
The Medical Association of Nigerians Across Great Britain (MANSAG) has already partnered on the Diaspora Health Impact Initiative, leading efforts to strengthen healthcare systems and build health workforce capacity. Diaspora health groups committed to training 5,000 Nigerian health workers in 2026, according to November 2025 reports.
What the UK Policy Shift Means
For Nigerian doctors eyeing the UK, the landscape shifted in March 2026 when the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act came into force. The law gives priority to UK medical graduates and certain other eligible groups when places are allocated for foundation and specialty medical training. The policy forms part of the government's broader approach to developing a more sustainable domestic medical workforce.
While the measures are intended to strengthen the pipeline of doctors trained in the UK, the government continues to recognise the contribution made by international medical graduates to the NHS and the wider healthcare system. The balance between domestic training and international recruitment is likely to remain an important issue as policymakers seek to address workforce shortages without creating new gaps in frontline healthcare provision.
According to the World Bank, Nigeria consistently ranks among the world's largest recipients of diaspora remittances, receiving about $20 billion annually. Whether the new dual strategy — produce more, leverage the diaspora, and charge destination countries — can stabilize Nigeria's health system remains the central question for 2027 and beyond.
