Nigerian nurse based in the UK, Kelvin Ossai, has asserted that there is insufficient evidence to back claims of a shortage of nurses in Nigeria.
He stated this in reaction to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria’s recent circular revising the guidelines for certificate verification. The new guideline is said to indicate that candidates must have two years of post-qualification experience to request certification verification from international nursing boards and councils.
Speaking on Nigeria Info’s Hard Facts with Sam Chinedu, Ossai said the circular goes against the rights of nurses and believes it is stifling. He said that it is solely targeted at Nigerian nurses who wish to ‘Japa’ and take advantage of ‘global opportunities’.
“It’s targeted to prevent nurses from moving abroad and what they said was because the healthcare sector is short-staffed, there’s brain drain,” he said.
Ossai added that nursing schools across the country produce enough nurses, contrary to claims of brain drain and a shortage of nurses to fill up the gap in the healthcare system.
“There is no statistic showing that the nurses are short-staffed, rather we are having higher volume of nurses who are in the streets unemployed,” he said.
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