Kwara state government, on Tuesday, cried out over inadequate number of medical doctors in the state’s health facilities because of brain drain, popularly, called, ‘Japa’ syndrome, that is mostly affecting the country’s heath sector.
Speaking during the 2025 first quarter inter ministerial press briefing organized by the state ministry of Communication in Ilorin among cabinet members, the Executive Secretary, Kwara state Hospital Management Board, Dr. Abdulraheem Abdulmalik, said that the board could not find doctors to recruit to work under the the state government, despite approval given by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to recruit new doctors.
Blaming the situation on the ‘japa syndrome’, the executive secretary said, “We have approval of His Excellency to recruit doctors but we can’t just find the doctors to recruit. Doctors are hot cakes now. If a doctor resigns in the morning, he will get another job in the afternoon”.
Dr. Abdulmalik, who said that the state government presently has only 99 as against the required 180 to 200 medical personnel for the state, added that only 96 medical doctors were on the government’s payroll before.
The three medical doctors that left the service returned after the recent increase in doctors’ salary by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
“We actually had 96, but after His Excellency increased the salary, three of them that ‘japa’ came back. So, we have 99 right now. We’re expecting more at the moment. We need about 180 to 200 medical doctors”.
