Tinubu urges medical professionals in diaspora to return home

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday urged Nigerian medical doctors and other healthcare professionals in the diaspora to return home and lend their expertise to the ongoing transformation of the nation’s healthcare sector under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

President Tinubu stated this when he received a delegation of Nigerian Diaspora Medical Associations Worldwide led by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

The visit by the medical professionals was a part of the 2026 National Diaspora Day Celebration at the State House in Abuja.

The event had in attendance the Minister of Information and National Orientation Alhaji Mohammed Idris; Minister of State for Health Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako; Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Chief Sunday Dare; Special Adviser to the President on Health, Dr. Salma Ibrahim Anas; and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Women’s Health, Dr. Adanna Steinacker. 

The President acknowledged that Nigeria needs the knowledge, innovation, experience, and patriotism of its highly skilled professionals abroad to build a resilient and world-class healthcare system for all citizens.

He said: “It is a very great joy to see that you are coming back to facilitate your single motivation to help your country meet the needs of our people, the medical outreaches; seeing indivisible commitment to humanity is part of your singular oath and commitment in life. 

“I thank all of you.

“I have been through that journey.

“I’m home now and I can tell you there’s nowhere like home. 

“Some people built the society where you are; they have their hands on their plough, their focus was to develop their nation and their continent.”

The President recounted how he came to Nigeria after his experiences with Deloitte and Touche and working with Mobil (company) and eventually came to Nigeria to contribute his quota to nation building. 

He reaffirmed that the Renewed Hope Agenda places healthcare at the centre of national development, stressing that the Federal Government is implementing far-reaching reforms to strengthen primary healthcare, expand access to quality medical services and encourage greater collaboration with Nigerian professionals in the diaspora. 

He said this would be achieved through sustained investments in medical education, research, digital health infrastructure, improved welfare, and policies to reverse the trend of brain drain.

Tinubu said: “So many of you have seen the hazard of the other side of the world. 

“You have experienced the challenges and you have come back home to feel it and seal it. 

“Poverty and lack of development is a challenge to Africa.

“But what do you see as a Nigerian? 

“This is the heart of Africa.  

“And I have interacted with many of you, my friends who are still out there, to try to attract them home.

“The best way to demonstrate to you is for me to commit myself to my agenda, the Renewed Hope, so that the hope of Nigerians of having a better environment, better education, better development and prosperity can be realised.

“And that your hope that this part of the continent will change for good, for better, for an improved hospitable environment, so that one day your children will see the foundation of this country as belonging to them and the future belonging to them is what we are working hard for.”

President Tinubu commended the doctors for their unwavering commitment to humanity through their recent medical outreach programmes conducted across different parts of the country, including the North East, North West, South East, South West, and other regions.

He noted that their voluntary services, which brought specialist medical care, surgeries, consultations, health education, and life-saving interventions to thousands of Nigerians, reflect the compassion, patriotism, and excellence for which Nigerians are renowned globally.

He urged the visiting doctors to serve as ambassadors of the country’s renewed optimism by encouraging more Nigerian medical professionals abroad to reconnect with home through partnerships, investments, knowledge exchange, and permanent return where possible.

Earlier, Dabiri-Erewa expressed the commitment of the visiting healthcare professionals to deploy their expertise and contribute their quota to the renewed hope national healthcare delivery masterplan as demonstrated in different parts of the country during their recent medical outreaches.

𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖/𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖