Health
Nigeria’s Doctors earn N2m, UK Counterparts take home N50m: The crisis driving JAPA
• Doctors-in-Training in the UK: Over N50m annually
• Residents in the US: Nearly N90m annually
•Postgraduate Year-One Doctors in Canada: Roughly N80m annually
•Interns in Australia: N85m to N120m annually
The death of Dr. Oluwafemi Rotifa, a Resident Doctor at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital
(RSUTH) in Port Harcourt, early September 2025, is still fresh in the minds of Nigerians.
He had died of overwork after a 72-hour continuous shift. He went to the call room to rest, but never got up again — colleagues found him collapsed, beyond resuscitation.
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His death highlighted the severe reality of overworked medical personnel in Nigeria, stretched thin by staff shortages and poor working conditions.
For him, as for many others, “patients cannot wait.”
For countless Nigerian doctors, this is the silent, grinding reality: brilliance dimmed by neglect, passion constantly at war with poverty, and resilience tested daily by a broken health system.
They carry the weight of a nation’s health on their shoulders, yet their own well-being is the first casualty. His death sent shockwaves across the medical community — a grim reminder that those who save lives are often left with no one to save them.
Inside the Wards
It has been a common occurrence, Resident Doctors collapsing midway through ward rounds.
For patients too, the system is unforgiving.
In a government owned hospital waiting hall, an elderly man with advanced diabetes waits for a doctor who may never arrive.
The recent National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) strike had shut down the clinic, and he had already spent two nights on a bench, clutching his folder of lab results. His son whispers: “If we had money, we’d go private. But here is all we have.”
By 7:30 a.m. most government hospitals are already buzzing. For many Resident Doctors, the day begins long before sunrise — reviewing patients’ notes under flickering fluorescent lights, checking vital signs, and bracing for the consultant-led ward round.
By 8:00 a.m., the team moves bed to bed, scribbling furiously in ward registers while fielding questions, making split-second decisions, and carrying the emotional burden of lives hanging in the balance.
For Dr. Sola (real name withheld), a Junior Resident, a particular morning remains evergreen in his mind.
“We had three emergency cases arrive almost at once — a road traffic accident, a child in septic shock, and a pregnant woman with eclampsia. We had only one functioning monitor in the unit. We had to decide who got it. That kind of choice breaks you,” he told Sunday Vanguard.
After rounds, there is little pause.
Patients who have travelled hours wait at outpatient clinics, clutching files and hope.
A hypertensive grandmother, a young diabetic man with foot ulcers, and a child coughing blood-streaked sputum — each encounters a reminder that illness here often meets limited resources.
Lunch, if it comes, is a hurried snack.
Afternoons mean more ward reviews, fresh admissions, and minor procedures.
For those on call, the day blurs into night, 24 to 48 hours of non-stop emergencies: accident victims, stroke patients, cardiac arrests.
Sometimes, the call extends into 72 hours, leaving young doctors hollow-eyed, running on adrenaline alone.
“It’s not uncommon for us to catch naps even on a bench in the corridor,” said Dr. Ifeanyi, a Senior Registrar in Internal Medicine.
“You can be called back at any second, so you never really rest. It’s survival on broken sleep”, he said
It is not just the long hours.
It is the frustration of explaining to families that tests are unaffordable, the silent prayers during power cuts in the operating theatre, and the helplessness of losing patients — not from lack of skill, but from lack of oxygen, syringes, or blood.
Still, they return each day, driven by duty and the fragile hope that their sacrifice keeps the health system afloat.
“We save lives every day, but no one saves us,” said a weary resident at one of the government-owned hospitals, adjusting his scrubs before another 24-hour call.
Major problem
Despite their central role, Nigeria’s doctors remain poorly rewarded.
Under the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, a House Officer earns between ¦ 2,040,000 and ¦ 2,640,000 annually — about ¦ 170,000 to ¦ 220,000 monthly.
A Junior Resident earns ¦ 230,000 to ¦ 300,000, while Senior Residents take home between ¦ 450,000 and ¦ 650,000.
Even Consultants, the peak of medical training, rarely cross ¦ 800,000.
By contrast, doctors, who have travelled out of the country in search of greener pasture in what is now popularly called JAPA, earn many times more.
In the United Kingdom, Doctors in Training earn between £52,000 and £74,000 annually — over ¦ 50 million at current rates.
In the United States, Residents pay average between US$60,000 and US$75,000 per year — nearly ¦ 90 million.
Canada pays Postgraduate Year-One Doctors about CA$69,000, which is roughly ¦ 80 million.
In Australia, Interns earn between AUD$65,000 and AUD$95,000, amounting to ¦ 85 million to ¦ 120 million.
The disparity is staggering.
A Nigerian Resident earns in a year what their counterparts abroad may earn in a month. Even more painful, many are owed months of arrears.
“Our grievances revolve around welfare, workload, and the demands of this profession,” said Dr. Tope Osundara, President of NARD.
“We’re owed accoutrement allowances, seven months of salary arrears; only two months have been paid so far. That’s from 2023. We’re now in 2025.”
He added that promotions are delayed even after doctors pass required examinations.
“It’s demoralising.”, Osundara said. “After you pass, you’re supposed to move up. Now, you wait almost a year before being upgraded. It has no justification.”
Burnout and Breakdown
The toll is not only financial but deeply human.
Nigeria has only about 24,000 licensed doctors serving more than 220 million people — a ratio of one doctor to about 9,000 Nigerians.
The World Health Organisation recommends one doctor per 600 people.
“We are working six to ten times harder than global standards,” said Dr. Benjamin Olowojebutu, First Vice-President of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA.
“The system exploits our sense of duty. We sacrifice everything — sleep, family, mental health — and yet we are owed salaries. Some go months without pay.”
At one government-owned tertiary hospital, the consequences are visible.
“We’ve had colleagues faint during ward rounds. People laugh it off, but it’s not funny. It’s because they’ve been on their feet for 36 hours, sometimes with no food. Doctors are dying silently.”
Brain Drain
Faced with this bleak reality, many doctors are leaving. The United Kingdom remains the most popular destination.
According to the General Medical Council (GMC), between May and December 2023 alone, 1,197 Nigerian-trained doctors were licensed to practise in Britain, bringing the total number of Nigerian doctors in the UK to 12,198.
In 2022, another 1,616 joined the register, making Nigeria one of the largest exporters of healthcare workers to the UK.
According to a media report, over 15,000 Nigerian doctors have migrated to the UK in the past eight years, with hundreds more heading to Canada, the United States and Australia.
“It is devastating,” Olowojebutu told Sunday Vanguard. “Nigeria spends millions to train a doctor over a decade. But we are exporting them for free. Every doctor that leaves adds more weight on those left behind.”
Health System on the Brink
The impact of brain drain is already visible.
Entire departments are shrinking.
In some teaching hospitals, there are fewer than five Residents left in specialities that require at least 15 to run effectively.
Rosters are overstretched, and patient care suffers.
“It is not just about doctors leaving,” explained Osundara. “It is about the collapse of an entire pipeline. Who trains the next generation when the trainers themselves are leaving?”
Already, Nigeria’s maternal and child health indices are among the worst in the world.
The country accounts for over 20 per cent of global maternal deaths, according to WHO.
Infant mortality remains high, with one in every eight Nigerian children dying before their fifth birthday.
A weakened health workforce only worsens these grim statistics.
Strikes and Stalemates
Resident doctors, under NARD, have repeatedly resorted to strikes to demand better wages, hazard allowances, and improved hospital conditions.
But strikes come at a heavy cost — patients stranded, surgeries postponed, lives lost.
In August 2023, NARD staged a nationwide strike demanding a 200 per cent salary increase, immediate payment of arrears, and an end to the casualisation of doctors.
The government responded with threats and half-measures.
“Every time we strike, they promise. When we resume, they forget,” Osundara told Sunday Vanguard.
Frustration often boils over into strikes. During the nationwide strike over poor pay and working conditions, patients were stranded, surgeries postponed, clinics shut down.
Each strike deepens public anger — yet for doctors, it is a last resort.
“Strikes are never our first choice. But when government refuses to dialogue, and our members are collapsing from exhaustion, what options do we have?”Osundara explained.
Patients bear the brunt. Families shuttle between hospitals, often ending in private clinics they cannot afford. For the poor, it is a sentence to suffering — or death.
Sadly, the cycle repeats: doctors protest, government pledges reforms, little changes. Public sympathy often lies with the doctors, but frustration grows among patients who suffer most. Just like the just suspended NARD strike that lasted two days.
Why This Matters
According to the NMA Vice President, it is not just about doctors.
Nigeria cannot achieve universal health coverage without them.
Resident doctors handle up to 70 per cent of hospital care. They are the hands that deliver babies, the eyes that read X-rays, the voices that console grieving families.
Yet they are trapped in poverty wages, hostile work environments, and a system that seems designed to fail them.
The economic cost is enormous. Nigeria spends billions training doctors who migrate within years of qualification. Families spend fortunes seeking care abroad because the local system has collapsed. Productivity suffers as workers die young or live with untreated illnesses.
Who Will Heal the Healers?
Olowojebutu, the First Vice-President of the NMA, further described it as a silent epidemic.
“Overworked, underpaid, exhausted — many doctors now face depression, burnout, even substance abuse. We are working six to ten times harder than global standards. The system exploits our sense of duty. We sacrifice everything — sleep, family, mental health — and yet we are owed salaries. Some go months without pay.”
Back at a government-owned hospital, a weary Resident adjusts his scrubs before another 24-hour call.
“We save lives every day, but no one saves us,” he says softly, before walking back into the ward.
It is a question that hangs heavy over Nigeria’s future: If those who heal are broken, who will heal the healers?
Olowojebutu said to save Nigeria’s doctors is to save its health system.
Reform must begin with increased healthcare funding to at least 15 per cent of the national budget, as pledged in Abuja.
“Salaries and arrears must be paid promptly and reviewed regularly to reflect inflation and global competition”, he said. “The Medical Residency Training Fund must be expanded and updated to match current costs. Promotions and certifications must no longer be delayed for months.
“Doctors also need incentives — housing schemes, career development and subsidised postgraduate training — to remain in the country.
“Beyond policies, they crave dignity. Public perception must shift. Prestige does not pay bills, and exhaustion is not arrogance.
“A young doctor who seems curt after 36 hours on call is not disrespectful — he is human, stretched to breaking point.
“The story of Nigeria’s doctors is one of brilliance dimmed by neglect, of sacrifice eroded by frustration. To be a doctor here is to live in contradiction: honoured yet impoverished, respected yet neglected, overworked yet underpaid.”
He argued that unless urgent systemic reforms are implemented, the exodus will deepen, the healthcare system will deteriorate, and it will be the ordinary Nigerian who pays the ultimate price.
Saving the Nigerian doctor is not about appeasement. It is about national survival. Because in saving the healer, Nigeria is, ultimately, saving itself. (Extracted from Sunday Vanguard)
Former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has raised concerns over the use of dangerous chemicals in ripening and preserving fruits, recounting how a laboratory test found his wife’s freshly squeezed orange juice “not fit for human consumption”.
Osinbajo spoke at the Open Day for Gardeners’ Seminar themed “Leaving the Earth Better Than We Found It”, held in Lagos on August 28, with a video of the event shared on his YouTube channel on Wednesday.
Osinbajo said his wife, Dolapo, developed frequent headaches after she began drinking freshly squeezed orange juice every day.
“Dolly, my dear wife, likes to have a full glass of freshly squeezed orange juice every day, a very healthy habit, by the way, especially since she stopped consuming any form of carbonated drinks many years ago,” he said.
“But then after a while she started having some strange headaches drinking her fresh juice every day. Then she checked everything she was eating and drinking, and we were wondering what could the cause of this be?”
He said they initially ruled out the orange juice because it was considered a healthy drink.
“We assumed, of course, it couldn’t be the ‘healthy’ orange juice,” he said.
“The results came back. It showed the orange juice, freshly squeezed, was not fit for human consumption.”
Osinbajo attributed the result to the use of harmful chemicals by some farmers and fruit sellers, warning that the problem could expose Nigerians to health risks.
His words, “Apparently farmers use dangerous pesticides for fruits and vegetables, and fruit and vegetable sellers use very dangerous chemicals sometimes to ripen or preserve fruits and vegetables.”
“Calcium carbide is used very frequently to force fruits such as bananas, mangoes, pawpaws and tomatoes to change colour and look ripe very quickly,” Osinbajo added.
The former vice-president cited studies from different parts of the country which he said had documented the use of chemicals among some fruit sellers.
He referenced a 2024 study in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, where, according to him, half of 20 fruit sellers interviewed admitted using calcium carbide. Similarly, another study in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, where 25 per cent of fruit sellers reportedly admitted to using the chemical to ripen fruits.
Osinbajo further referred to a 2023 survey in Lagos, saying 22 out of 50 fruit retailers admitted using chemicals to preserve their produce.
“These were the ones who agreed they do,” he said.
His call comes amid growing concerns over the proliferation of counterfeit and substandard products in Nigeria, with NAFDAC and SON facing increased pressure as Nigerians use social media to expose food, drugs, cosmetics and other consumer goods suspected to be dangerous.
…Set to launch hospital, targets large share of medical tourism
_…Facility attracts outpouring of interest from diaspora medics
Ahead of the imminent inauguration of the Enugu International Hospital, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has undertaken a tour of the facility, declaring that Enugu State was ready to welcome the world.
Mbah said the hospital was now fully installed with state-of-the-art medical equipment and would help to reverse medical tourism out of the country, ensuring that the state secures a large chunk of the multibillion-dollar market.
Fielding questions from newsmen on Thursday evening after a pre-launch walkthrough of the facility situated at Rangers Avenue, Independence Layout, Enugu, Mbah said the hospital was a product of a deliberate health agenda.
“If you recall our manifesto during our campaign for office, we made it clear that we were committed to making Enugu a medical tourism hub on the continent.
“We knew the size of that market and wanted to have a good share of that market. But we knew also that it was never going to be wished into existence.
“We knew that we needed to do things differently and build a world-class facility and, most importantly, attract top-notch professionals to provide services. We cannot wait to welcome the world to Enugu,” he stated.
Mbah regretted that there was just about one functional location for PET Scan services in the country, but noted that the hospital would now bridge the wide gap in advanced medical services in the country.
“We have quite a lot of Ndi Enugu, and Nigerians who travel to India, Turkey, the United States, and the United Kingdom to seek medical attention. So, what we are asking for is just a fraction of what they would have spent overseas for the same quality services,” he said.
“We felt that if we want to compete globally, then we must also have the ability to provide advanced oncology services. Therefore, we are not only able to give you an advanced diagnosis, but we’re also able to treat. So, both diagnostically and therapeutically, the place to come to is right here in Enugu.
“We have also received an outpouring of interest from our healthcare professionals in the diaspora. Some of them were doing well here at some point and now went overseas to practice. They are now happy to come back home and give back to the society that nurtured them. We are excited about that,” he stated.
He added that the Enugu International Hospital would equally engage in telemedicine as one of its areas of strength.
“Of course, you may be in love with the building and the equipment, but you should also engage professionals from across the globe. You see this in our commitment to telemedicine, digital and electronic medical practices and equipment,” he explained.
He emphasised that the hospital was part of his administration’s agenda for the health sector as a major part of his government’s vision to grow the state’s economy from $4.4bn to $30bn, and ensure high quality and increased life expectancy for the people.
“If you look at our intervention in the healthcare sector, from the primary healthcare to the secondary, tertiary, and now the quaternary, it is intentional.
“We are investing heavily in security and healthcare because we know that these are what investors would ask you: ‘Am I safe? If I fall sick, would I have a place where I can get quality medical attention?’” he said, adding that the hospital would also create jobs.
Speaking, the Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Sam Agwu, listed six specialty areas the hospital would provide services in once commissioned.
“We have earmarked six specialty centres here. In the Cancer Centre, we are going to provide medical, surgical, and nuclear medicine therapeutics and diagnostics.
“Then we are going to have the Heart and Vascular Centre of Excellence to deal with all heart problems and open-heart surgery, as you may know; cardiology consultation and diagnostics, electrophysiology and arrhythmia care, coronary care and acute cardiac pathways, interventional cardiology and cath-lab procedures, heart-failure and cardiac rehabilitation clinics, and of course vascular assessment and collaborative surgical care.
“We are going to have the Neurosciences Centre where we will deal with stroke, epilepsy, brain and spine tumours, neurosurgical procedures, among others.
“We are going to have a Renal and Transplant Centre of Excellence covering full kidney, chronic kidney disease clinics, early nephrology review, dialysis support and transplant assessment.
“Then, apart from all the centres of excellence, we are going to have wellness and regenerative medicine, while the usual departments that you know of – mother and child, general surgery, ENT, dental, ophthalmology, among others – will all be here.
Former Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Enugu State, Dr. Sunday Nwafor, hailed the milestone, saying the hospital would promote brain gain by reversing the mass exodus of medical doctors from the country.
“Going forward, our doctors have a place of international standard where they can practice with state-of-the-art equipment and also earn well,” he said.
Mbah was accompanied by the Commissioner for Health, Prof. George Ugwu, among others.
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Health
NAFDAC urges Stakeholders to lead vigilance on Antimicrobial Resistance, Adverse Drug Reactions
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has called on stakeholders and Nigerians to lead vigilance against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) to medicines/drugs and Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR).
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made the call on during a one-day Pharmacovigilance Workshop and Stakeholders Town Hall Meeting in Enugu.
Represented by NAFDAC’s Director, South-East Zone, Dr Festus Ukadike, the director-general noted that the gravest consequences of irrational medicine use today is AMR.
She explained that the misuse and overuse of antibiotics had accelerated the emergence of resistant microorganisms that no longer respond to conventional treatment.
“This means that infections previously treatable with common antibiotics are becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to manage.
“If urgent action is not taken, antimicrobial resistance may reverse decades of medical progress and place humanity at serious risk.
“This is why Pharmacovigilance is extremely important. Pharmacovigilance refers to the science and activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding, and prevention of adverse effects or any other medicine-related problems.
“In simple terms, Pharmacovigilance helps us ensure that medicines remain safe and effective even after they have been approved and released into the market,” she said.
Adeyeye noted that no medicine is completely free from side effects.
“However, through effective Pharmacovigilance systems, healthcare professionals and patients can identify harmful reactions early, report them appropriately, and help regulatory authorities take necessary actions to protect the public,” she said.
She said that Pharmacovigilance remained a core mandate of the agency, adding that stakeholders and general public should play active part in monitoring AMR and ADR to ensure effectiveness of medicine and treatment.
Speaking, the Chairman, Enugu State Traditional Rulers’ Council, Igwe Samuel Asadu, commended NAFDAC for the workshop, while urging the agency to put more effort in curbing sales of fake medicines in the hinterlands.
Asadu said that Pharmacovigilance was needed more in the hinterlands of the state to stop people paddling fake medicines and “selling outright chalk as medicine in villages in the state”.
He gave the commitment of royal fathers in the state in providing necessary support to NAFDAC to check paddlers of fake medicines, “as we see our people die due to their activities.”
Corroborating, the State Coordinator of World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Adaeze Ugwu, said that the organisation would continue to support NAFDAC in the agency’s resolve to strengthen food and healthcare in the country.
Also, Dr Oliver Ezemba, Chairman, Nigerian Association of Patent and Proprietory Medicine Dealers (NAPPMED), urged everybody to get concerned on the issues of AMR and ADR to guarantee quality medicines for everyone.
Ezemba called on Nigerians to imbibe the habit of reporting any irregularities observed while using a medicine to NAFDAC for proper investigation, which would serve the benefit of many Nigerians using same medicine.
The participants asked questions on AMR and ADR as well as made pledge on reporting any suspectable AMR or ADR case through the NAFDAC’s Med Safety Mobile App using their cellphone or computer set.
In the workshop, a presentation was made on “Need for Effective Pharmacovigilance by All’, delivered by Mr Chidi Uche and Mrs Ogechi Udeh, who are NAFDAC officials.
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