At least 15,049 nurses trained in Nigeria have obtained licenses to practice in the United Kingdom between March 2017 to March 2021.
The country has the third highest number of foreign nurses in England, behind the Philippines and India, according to a report by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of the UK obtained by The Punch.
The report noted, “March 2019 saw a record of 2,771 while the number of nurses who registered between March 2019 and March 2020 increased to 3,205.”
The Nigerian health sector is infamous for its general decline that has frustrated many trained professionals to seek greener pastures abroad.
The sector is already in dire need of more trained professionals, but that is not stopping many of the current ones from fleeing abroad, with the UK a hotspot.
4,528 medical doctors trained in the country have migrated to the UK to practice in the past six years, according to a report made public in August.
At peak flight, 1,347 doctors passed the tests to practice in 2019, a 478% hike compared to the 233 doctors that passed in 2015.
The government has made repeated commitments to make staying in the country attractive for professionals, but struggled to match with actions.
