By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi
The President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. (Prof.) Aehide Ernest Omoti, has called on governments at all levels to improve Doctors’ welfare, provide safer working environments and offer competitive remuneration to stem the growing migration of Nigerian medical professionals abroad.
Ernest Omoti made the call in his presidential address to Nigerian Doctors on the occasion of the 2026 Physicians’ Week, with the theme, “Securing the Future of Medicine in Nigeria,” read by the Vice Chairman, Bauchi State Chapter of NMA, Dr Bello Abdullahi Ibrahim, on behalf of the Chairman Dr Abdullahi Mohammed Kabir.
He said that securing the future of the medical profession required deliberate action, strategic investment, courageous advocacy and collective responsibility, noting that doctors continued to face increasing workloads, inadequate infrastructure, insecurity, declining welfare, professional burnout and the migration of colleagues.
According to him, the wellbeing of physicians must be treated as an essential component of patient safety and health system performance rather than a luxury.
He urged the medical profession to break the culture of silence surrounding doctors’ mental and physical wellbeing by promoting regular medical examinations, healthy lifestyles, adequate rest and access to confidential professional and psychological support.
According to him, “A health system that saves everyone except its doctors is not sustainable,” he said, warning that excessive working hours, occupational stress, inadequate staffing, violence against healthcare workers, poor remuneration and delayed entitlements were contributing to preventable deaths among medical professionals.”
The NMA President also condemned threats, intimidation and assaults against healthcare workers, insisting that hospitals must remain places of healing rather than centres of violence.
He said the association would continue to engage governments, hospital administrators, security agencies, employers and professional regulators to establish effective measures to protect doctors and improve their working conditions.
On the migration of Nigerian Doctors, Ernest Omoti said the country must move beyond lamenting brain drain to implementing effective retention strategies that would enable medical professionals to build fulfilling careers at home.
He observed that patriotism alone was insufficient to retain doctors, stressing the need for decent working conditions, professional dignity, security, competitive remuneration and opportunities for career development.
He also called for structured collaboration with Nigerian doctors in the diaspora to enable the country to benefit from their expertise, investments, research capacity and international professional networks.
Addressing the need to modernise medical practice, Omoti said Nigeria must embrace digital health, artificial intelligence, telemedicine, electronic medical records and other emerging technologies to improve healthcare delivery.
He, however, emphasised that technology must support rather than replace the human element of medical practice, calling for appropriate ethical and regulatory frameworks to protect patients’ confidentiality, ensure accountability and prevent discrimination.
He further urged medical schools to update their curricula to prepare future doctors for emerging healthcare realities, including artificial intelligence, data science, clinical informatics, research, innovation, leadership and continuous professional development.
The NMA President also stressed the importance of investing in medical educators, strengthening undergraduate and postgraduate training, improving teaching hospitals and supporting research without compromising professional standards.
The NMA President also appealed to chief executives of hospitals to improve doctors’ safety and working conditions, while urging governments to provide internationally competitive remuneration to reduce the rate of doctors’ emigration.
He said securing the future of medicine was ultimately about ensuring quality healthcare for every Nigerian, regardless of location or social status.
Ernest Omoti concluded by calling for renewed commitment to protecting physicians’ welfare, embracing innovation, strengthening medical education and building a healthcare system in which doctors could thrive and patients could receive quality care.
He wished Nigerian physicians a happy and impactful 2026 Physicians’ Week.
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In his own speech, State Chairman of the NMA, Dr Abdullahi Mohammed Kabir, represented by his Deputy, Dr Bello Ibrahim Abdullahi, commended the Bauchi State Government, under Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, for interventions aimed at improving the state’s health sector.
He specifically acknowledged the implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) for healthcare workers, renovation of secondary health facilities and primary healthcare centres, upgrading of the Specialist Hospital Bauchi, and the commitment to completing the Doctors’ House, which serves as the NMA secretariat.
Despite these interventions, he said more needed to be done to address emerging challenges and prevailing economic realities.
He urged the state government to commence internship and postgraduate medical training at the Specialist Hospital Bauchi as part of efforts to retain skilled health personnel.
He also called for a review of the salary structure to reflect the recently implemented PAT and the ongoing collective bargaining agreement at the national level.
According to him, the proposed salary review would help address the movement of doctors from state-owned health institutions to federal tertiary hospitals within and outside the state.
The NMA State Chairman further called for unity among Doctors reaffirming the Association’s commitment to protecting the dignity, rights and welfare of Nigerian doctors, promoting ethical medical practice, contributing to health policy and advocating access to quality healthcare for Nigerians.
He called on Consultants, Resident Doctors, Medical Officers , Academics, Researchers, Private Practitioners, retired Doctors and professionals in the diaspora to remain united in advancing the interests of the profession.
He urged members to place collective interests above individual differences, stressing that unity would strengthen the association’s voice in engagements with government and other stakeholders.
He then commiserated with the Government and people of the State over the tragic death of the late Executive Secretary of BASCHMA, Ibrahim Ladan Duguri who died in a fatal road crash alongside four of his children.
