Return Home, Tinubu Urges Nigerian Doctors Abroad

By Jonathan Nda-Isaiah and Innocent Odoh

President Bola 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, as part of the 2026 National Diaspora Day Celebration at the State House, Abuja.

The event had in attendance the Minister of Information and National Orientation Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi, Minister of State for Health Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, the 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.

In a statement by Presidential spokesman, Sunday Dare, 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.

“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.

“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 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.

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

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Health Dr. Salako, said the commitment of the diaspora medical professionals has further validated the power and the reach of the Renewed Hope Agenda in the health sector.

The delegation included Dr. Jide Menakaya, Dr. Kunle Akanbi, Dr. Uche Menakaya, Dr. Itua Iriogbe, Professor Afekhide Ernest Omoti, Dr. Cliff Ike, Dr. Gertie Anyanwoke.

Others are Professor Rotimi Jaiyesimi, Dr. Hamid Balogun, Dr. Sadiya Gumi, Dr. Benjamin Anyanwu, Dr. Emilia Iwu, Chike Nweke, Wendy Olayinka, Dr Timileyin Oluseye, Dr Charles Adekunle and Tayo Erogbogbo.

Relatedly, President Tinubu has said that Nigerians in the Diaspora have the skill, expertise and the experience to harness the opportunities in the health sector for positive transformation of the country.

President Tinubu said this when he delivered his remarks on the occasion of the 2026 National Diaspora Day Celebration  on Friday in Abuja organized by the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission( NIDCOM) with the theme   “Harnessing Global Diaspora Medical Expertise to Strengthen Local Health Systems for National Development.”

Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, President Tinubu said that bringing home the Nigerians in the Diaspora to invest in the health and other critical sectors of the Nigerian economy captures the essence of the shared vision and mission in the Renewed Hope Agenda of his government.

He acknowledged the challenge the Nigerian healthcare system faces such as inadequate infrastructure in many communities, shortages of skilled medical personnel, gaps in research, innovation and specialized care, and policy inconsistency.

He however, noted that these challenges are not insurmountable, adding that with the collective strength of Nigerians in the Diaspora, these challenges can be transformed into opportunities.

The president said that his government is determined to expand Diaspora Medical Missions to serve communities across Nigeria and encourage sustainability of the same as well as establish knowledge transfer partnerships with university and teaching hospitals.

He added that his government will leverage telemedicine platforms to connect Diaspora specialists with patients and practitioners at home, encourage Diaspora-led investments in hospitals, pharmaceutical industries, and research centers and strengthen and empower NiDCOM more to deliver excellent coordination of the Diaspora engagements.

President Tinubu  commended the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) under the leadership of Hon. (Dr) Abike Dabiri-Erewa, for its tireless work in coordinating Diaspora engagement, stressing that NiDCOM has been the bridge connecting the nation to its sons and daughters abroad, ensuring that your expertise, investments, and goodwill find meaningful pathways into national development.

He also lauded the Diaspora Health Impact Initiative (DHII) 2026 coordinated by NiDCOM and Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is a laudable initiative, bringing together all our Diaspora Medical Practitioners across the globe to participate in the development of the country.

In his keynote speech, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, described the DHII as a flagship intervention designed to harness the expertise, experience, innovation and professional networks of Nigerian healthcare professionals abroad, driving knowledge transfer, specialist medical outreach, capacity building, clinical mentorship, research collaboration and health workforce development.

In her address, Dabiri Erewa  highlighted the DHII’s zonal medical missions across all six geopolitical zones, delivered in partnership with diaspora physician associations including CANPAD, MANSAG, ANPA, NAMDA and the Nigerian Doctors Forum, South Africa, covering areas from maternal and child health to sickle cell screening, emergency surgery and neurosurgery.

She noted that diaspora medical groups have equipped hospitals and primary health centres and donated equipment worth billions of naira, alongside the Diaspora Bridge programme bringing academics home for lectures and sabbaticals, and the new Silicon Valley Tech Bridge partnership with San José State University to train young Nigerians in emerging technologies.

She reported that diaspora remittances have grown from $17 billion in 2019 to over $21 billion in 2025, pointed to upcoming investment summits in Abuja and Toronto in August, and announced a new partnership with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria to give the diaspora access to affordable housing at home, to be launched in the United Kingdom in August.