‘You don’t deserve sympathy’, NEF spokesman, Baba-Ahmed, reacts to reported exploitation of Nigerian doctors in UK, others

Amid reports of exploitation and slave labour experienced by Nigerian doctors and other professionals working in the United Kingdom and other foreign countries, spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, on Tuesday, said the affected medical professionals and others did not deserve an iota of sympathy from Nigerians.

Some days ago, an investigation by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) revealed that Nigerian doctors recruited by a British healthcare company are expected to work in private hospitals under conditions not allowed in the National Health Service (NHS).

It was also reported that Nigerian medical professionals in foreign countries were subjected to unwarranted exploitation.

The rate of migration of medical doctors had recently become an issue of great concern as the Nigerian Medical Association had lamented the high rate of medical brain drain, saying Nigeria might import doctors in the future should the trend continue.

Read also:‘ASUU forced to resume’, NEF spokesman, Baba-Ahmed, says in aftermath of union suspension of strike

Baba-Ahmed, who reacted to the purported exploitation via his verified Twitter handle, argued that those affected got what they deserved.

The elder statesman slammed Nigerian doctors and other professionals leaving for other countries, for being unconcerned about their own country that they had benefited them.

He noted that every Nigerian must be genuinely interested in fixing the country and making it work for all.

He wrote: “Our Doctors and other professionals are flooding out of the country. We are not angry with you, but we will not sympathise. You leave behind a nation on its knees, and us, more desperate by your absence. Foreigners will benefit from you. We’ll fix Nigeria, in sha Allah. For you, too.

“They are part of the nation, beneficiaries of its sacrifices to make them what they became, and its weaknesses. We have to fix a country that does not appreciate ANYONE. They go to countries that only hire them. Who will fix the country for them to come back to? Those they leave behind.”

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