"We have surplus doctors" - Questioning the medical fitness of a doctor's words

Some time ago, on April 24, 2019 to be exact, Dr. Chris Ngige, Nigeria's Minister of Labor and Productivity stated that 'he is not worried' about the exodus of Nigerian doctors to foreign Canaans in search of better welfare and conducive work environment.

It is no secret in this country that as fast as we churn out doctors, they migrate abroad with similar speed. In order not to overload anyone's head, I will not be going into too many complex numbers. Nigeria, at present, has about 40,000 practising doctors. How many of them are fully qualified and competent, I don't know. You heard when it was discovered that the head of the NMA was not a doctor, right? So, 40,000 practising doctors are meant to treat about 200,000,000 people in Nigeria. Going by WHO recommendation, it should be 1 doctor to about 600 people. But in Nigeria, it's 1 doctor to about 5,000 people. That's Dr. Ngige's definition of surplus. 

Now, why do doctors leave the country? Three reasons I know of are poor welfare, lack of needed facilities and equipments, and absence of conducive working environment. The Minister of Labor and Productivity, with casual confidence, declared his lack of concern for this trend. Now I ask, what is the role of a Minister of Labor and Productivity? Without looking at any book, it's clear that he's supposed to be responsible for the labor in the country and its level of productivity. Any Nigerian who has ever been to a public hospital will agree with me when I say that the doctors there are overworked, overstressed, underpaid and underassisted by the government to do their job of saving lives, and as a result, their productivity is far below par. But unfortunately, the government official concerned is actually unconcerned and does not seem very determined to recommend the employment of more doctors by the government. 

Now, to be sure, let's look at this: Nigeria graduates less than 2,500 doctors every year, but about 2,000 of them leave the country within the same period. Currently, there are as many Nigerian doctors practising abroad as there are in Nigeria, even more! So where is the surplus Dr. Ngige was referring to? In the Ghost Kingdom? I'm sure that even the number of doctors that are retired and dead, if added to the number of those living cannot give Nigeria a surplus. The elections are long gone and his party has won, so this statement of his is certainly not for campaign purposes. Maybe it is for government propaganda? Or is it just a sign of his complete ignorance of the happenings in Nigeria? Or perhaps, early signs of dementia? Whichever it is, Ngige's statement stinks of so much incompetence and incorrectness, something which has never been lacking in the current government who are in charge of our dilapidated affairs. Wei done, sirs!