In a recent development, Senator Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, has expressed his disapproval of a bill currently under consideration in the National Assembly.
The bill aims to regulate the migration of doctors abroad for medical practice but has faced criticism for its potential impact on the medical profession.
The minister, speaking out for the first time on the matter, stated that the bill contradicts existing labor laws, News About Nigeria reports.
The legislation, titled “A Bill for an Act to amend the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act,” was introduced by Ganiyu Johnson, a representative from Lagos State. Its primary objective is to address the increasing exodus of medical professionals from Nigeria.
If passed, the bill would require Nigeria-trained medical or dental practitioners to practice within the country for a minimum of five years before obtaining a full license.
Proponents argue that this measure would ensure the availability of high-quality healthcare services for the Nigerian population.
However, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has vehemently opposed the bill, expressing concerns about potential limitations on doctors’ freedom to practice where they choose.
The association has even threatened to embark on a five-day warning strike if the bill is passed. In addition to rejecting the bill, NARD has made additional demands, including a 200 percent increase in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure and the implementation of the Medical Residency Training Act.
Minister Ngige, who himself is a medical doctor, emphasized that the bill, currently categorized as a private member’s bill, does not possess the authority to prevent doctors from obtaining a full license.
He said, “Nobody can say they (doctors) will not get a practising license till after five years. It will run counter to the laws of the land that have established the progression in the practice of medicine.
“I am a medical doctor. When you graduate from medical school, you go on a one-year apprenticeship called housemanship or internship as the case may be. After your internship, you are now given a full license because prior to that, what you have is a provisional license of registration with the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).
“So, after that intensive training, you were signed off by consultants and you became a fully qualified medical doctor to attend to human beings and to work without any supervision again. Supervision then is voluntary.
“Resident Doctors are those who have that full license and they want to acquire post-graduate specialty and specialty is known like surgeons, gynecologists, obstetricians, pediatricians, internal medicine of family medicine. So, they are doctors in training.
“The bill in National Assembly cannot stop anybody from getting a full license. That bill is a private member’s bill.
“In the National Assembly, they attend to private members’ bills and executive bills. Executive bills emanate from the government into the National Assembly with the stamp of the executive.
“It is either sent by the Attorney General of the Federation or by the President but usually from the Attorney General of the Federation. So, it’s not an executive bill, it’s a private members bill.
“That bill was moved by a lawmaker from Lagos. So, members of his constituency can tell him this is worrying us. Can’t we check these doctors this way by you going to speak rather than put up a document?
“That document, as far as I am concerned, is not workable. Ab initio, I don’t support it and I will never support it. Like I said before, it is like killing a fly with a sledgehammer.
“They should think of other ways if they are trying to check brain drain, there should be other ways.
“If a doctor has read on scholarship, you bond him, if a doctor has read on bursary, you can bond him. If a doctor is trained like we are doing now on little or nothing which is like a scholarship again because N50,000 a session per medical student is nothing when their counterparts overseas pay seventy thousand pounds for a session.
“So, I don’t support that bill but can bond them if you want.”
Regarding the planned warning strike by NARD, Ngige considered it unnecessary, pointing out that the government is already engaged in discussions with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) on salary negotiations. He called on NARD members to collaborate with the NMA and questioned their demand for a 200 percent salary increase when the NMA had already accepted a raise of 25 to 30 percent across the board.
