The Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Prof. Olayinka Omigbodun, has revealed that only one out of 147 inducted young doctors produced by the college intends to stay back in the country.
Omigbodun made this revelation during the induction ceremony into the medical profession for the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery [MBBS] and Bachelor of Dental Surgery [BDS] graduating class of 2024 of the UI College of Medicine, Ibadan.
“I am very sad that most of our doctors want to leave the country. Actually, when I interviewed them, I learnt that only one of them really wants to stay back and work here out of almost 150. It is devastating to this nation,” he said.
Omigbodun lamented the ‘japa’ syndrome, saying there is a danger in letting the best go.
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The provost said: ‘’It is very saddening that most of our doctors want to leave Nigeria. When I interviewed them, only one of them wanted to stay behind. It is devastating to this nation. And I will tell you why they are leaving. These students are the best of the best. They were taken on total merit and the catchment area is the whole nation.
“These are very brilliant students because it is very competitive for Ibadan. We are the best here. About 90 per cent of them were first-class and about 60 per cent were perfect CGPA – 4/4.”
Speaking at the programme, the governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji, urged the young doctors to stay behind in order to build and give back to the country, saying there is hope at the end of the tunnel.
Governor Oyebanji whose child is one of the inductees, Toluwanimi Esther Oyebanji, pleaded to the inductees to stay back to add value to the country.
The governor, therefore, said they must stay behind and join hands with progressive forces to develop the country.
‘’Yes, we are challenged but I believe strongly that the youths have the energy and the skills to develop this country. I am just appealing to them that the country they want to go to was built by some people. So, they should reconsider this ‘japa’ syndrome and join hands with us so that we can build the country of our own dreams because the future belongs to them,” Oyebanji said.
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