President Bola Tinubu has called on Nigerian medical doctors and healthcare professionals in the diaspora to return home and contribute their expertise to the transformation of Nigeria’s healthcare sector. The President pledged sustained government investment in medical education, digital health infrastructure, and improved welfare conditions to make the return worthwhile. Tinubu made the appeal on Friday when he received a delegation of Nigerian Diaspora Medical Associations Worldwide at the State House in Abuja, as part of the 2026 National Diaspora Day Celebration.
The delegation was led by Nigerians in Diaspora Commission CEO Abike Dabiri-Erewa. The President acknowledged that Nigeria needs the knowledge, innovation, experience, and patriotism of its highly skilled professionals abroad to build a resilient and world-class healthcare system, describing the ongoing brain drain as a challenge the Renewed Hope Agenda was specifically designed to reverse. What Tinubu is saying The President drew on his own experience of returning to Nigeria after working abroad to appeal to diaspora professionals on a personal level. “It is a very great joy to see that you are coming back to facilitate your single motivation to help your country meet the needs of our people. I have been through that journey, I’m home now, and I can tell you there’s nowhere like home. Some people built the society where you are; they have their hands on their plough, their focus was to develop their nation and their continent,” he said.
He recounted how he returned to Nigeria after working with Deloitte and Touche and Mobil, saying the decision to come home to contribute to nation building was one he did not regret. On the government’s commitment to creating conditions that would support the return of healthcare professionals, Tinubu said the Renewed Hope Agenda places healthcare at the centre of national development. “The best way to demonstrate to you is for me to commit myself to my agenda, the Renewed Hope, so that the hope of Nigerians of having better environment, better education, better development and prosperity can be realised,” he said. “That your hope that this part of the continent will change for good, for better, for an improved hospitable environment, so that one day your children will see the foundation of this country as belonging to them and the future belonging to them is what we are working hard for,” he added. More insights Tinubu said the Federal Government is implementing far-reaching reforms to strengthen primary healthcare, expand access to quality medical services, and encourage greater collaboration with Nigerian professionals in the diaspora.
These are to be achieved through sustained investments in medical education, research, digital health infrastructure, and improved welfare policies. He commended the delegation for their recent medical outreach programmes conducted across several regions of the country, including the North-East, North-West, South-East, South-West, and other parts of Nigeria, describing the efforts as evidence of an indivisible commitment to humanity. “So many of you have seen the hazard of the other side of the world. You have experienced the challenges and you have come back home to feel it and seal it.
Poverty and lack of development is a challenge to Africa but what do you see as a Nigerian? This is the heart of Africa,” he said. What you should know Nigeria’s healthcare system has been severely affected by brain drain, with thousands of doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals emigrating to the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and other countries in search of better pay, working conditions, and career prospects.
A 2024 report by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) raised concerns over the increasing number of Nigerian students opting to stay in the UK after completing their studies. The data revealed that 76% of Nigerian nationals who entered the UK on study-related visas during the year ending June 2021 transitioned to non-study visas within three years, a significant rise from 24% in 2019. Experts are now warning that this trend could have severe economic consequences for Nigeria.
