Nigeria has best nursing curriculum in the world, says minister 

The Federal Government has declared that Nigeria has the best nursing curriculum in the world as the japa syndrome frustrating the health sector remains unabated.

The government also said there is an international perception out there that Nigerian nurses are the best-trained nurses in the world.

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Tunji Alausa,  disclosed this at the first matriculation ceremony of the National Diploma in Nursing by the College of Nursing Sciences, National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, on Friday.

Alausa said Nigerian nurses practising at home have significant opportunities to enjoy their professional careers and also have fulfilment in serving their country rather than traveling abroad.

In 2023, the National President of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Micheal Nnachi, lamented the loss of members to other countries due to poor wages and an indecent working environment in the country.

He revealed that over 75,000 NANNM members have since migrated abroad in the past five years for some reasons including lack of social protection, insurance, and inadequate compensation including other incentives.

The minister, however,  said President Bola Tinubu is committed to improving the working environment and welfare of healthcare workers in the country.

“We are committed in this administration and it is part of the priorities under the human resources issues. One area we want to address is creating an enabling environment for all our health workers.

“There is an international perception out there that Nigerian nurses are the best-trained nurses in the world.

“The nursing curriculum in Nigeria, the way the Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, has structured the nursing curriculum in Nigeria, is one of the best in the world and I mean it. You don’t get this kind of clear, directional longitudinal career progression in nursing that you get in Nigeria in anywhere in the world.”

The minister urged nurses in the country to be patient with the government, assuring them that they will get better remuneration.

“I have worked in America and I practised in America. America is meant to be the gold standard but what we are seeing in terms of career structured nursing education in Nigeria today, nobody can compare to what we have.

“Be patient you will get a better remuneration.

“You have a significant opportunity to enjoy your professional career here and you have fulfilment in serving your country,” he said.

The minister also disclosed that the Federal Government will increase the enrollment quota in nursing institutions from 68,000 to 100,000 yearly as part of efforts to curb the brain drain threatening the health sector.

Alausa said, “ I am giving you very verifiable data. When we came in as a government, we were enrolling just about 28,000 nursing students across all our nursing training institutions in the country.

“Today, we are enrolling 68,000 nursing students annually in all our nursing training institutions in the country, and before the end of the year; we will be enrolling over 100,000 students.

“ We have expanded our training instructions; we have added more to it; we are bringing new ones on stream as well and the existing ones we have expanded the capacity.”

The minister said the Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria was working with them in their expansion strategy.

He said the Federal Government was leveraging the country’s large population to produce more human resources.
The minister  urged the matriculating nursing students to be committed to delivering quality healthcare to Nigerians and not to be carried away by the japa syndrome