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LAFIA, NASARAWA — The Nasarawa State Government has unveiled measures aimed at stemming the growing exodus of doctors and other medical professionals from the state through improved remuneration, expanded training opportunities and better working conditions.
Governor Abdullahi Sule disclosed this at the 51st Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria (OSN) in Abuja, where he was represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr Emmanuel Agbadu.
Agbadu said the state government was considering placing doctors serving in its specialist hospitals on salary structures comparable to those of their federal counterparts in order to make the state more attractive to medical professionals.
He said the move had become necessary because the state continued to lose trained doctors to other parts of Nigeria and foreign countries.
“We don’t pay them well. They run away. We train them, they run away. Let’s encourage them and give them something,” the Deputy Governor said.
He also announced plans to provide financial assistance to medical and health students undergoing clinical training.
According to him, the scheme would cover medical students, nurses and other health trainees, with beneficiaries expected to enter into bonding arrangements that would encourage them to remain and serve in Nasarawa after graduation.
The initiative, he explained, was designed to strengthen the state’s health workforce and mitigate the effects of brain drain on healthcare delivery.
Beyond remuneration and student support, the Deputy Governor said the state was investing heavily in specialist healthcare infrastructure.
He disclosed that the government was developing a specialist hospital and trauma centre in Akwanga following the Federal Government’s takeover of the former specialist hospital for conversion into a teaching hospital.
According to him, billions of naira had already been committed to the project, which is expected to be completed before the end of the year.
Agbadu further revealed that Nasarawa was working towards establishing a medical school, with the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, expected to serve as its teaching facility.
He said expanding medical education and specialist training would enable the state to produce more healthcare professionals while creating stronger incentives for them to remain in the state.
The Deputy Governor also called for collaboration among the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria, the Nasarawa State Government and the National Assembly towards establishing a proposed second National Eye Centre.
He said the facility would expand access to specialised eye-care services while strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to prevent and manage eye diseases.
Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory Administration has highlighted its own investments in specialist eye-care services and training.
Representing the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, the Mandate Secretary for Health Services and Environment, Dr Adedolapo Fashawi, said the territory had increased ophthalmic surgeries from 745 in 2021 to more than 1,200 in 2025.
She disclosed that the FCT was also establishing a comprehensive subspecialty training centre to further expand its capacity for specialist eye-care services.
Fashawi said the FCT ophthalmology residency programme had secured full accreditation from both the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria and the West African College of Surgeons.
She added that the programme had produced high-performing residents, demonstrating the impact of sustained investment in specialist medical training.
Also speaking at the conference, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Health, Amos Magaji, who represented the Speaker, called for stronger regulation of emerging technologies in eye care.
Magaji acknowledged the potential of artificial intelligence, tele-ophthalmology and advanced diagnostic technologies to improve access to healthcare and facilitate early detection of eye diseases.
He, however, stressed that technological advancement must be accompanied by ethical safeguards, patient protection, privacy and professional accountability.
“The future of eye care is not technology alone; it is technology guided by ethics, regulated in the public interest, delivered by health professionals and centred on the dignity of patients,” he said.
The lawmaker also advocated the integration of basic eye screening and early detection services into primary healthcare centres nationwide, arguing that early intervention remained critical to preventing avoidable blindness and improving access to eye care.
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