FG expands nursing admissions to 50,000 amid health worker shortage

The Federal Government said it has increased annual admissions into nursing schools from about 20,000 to 50,000 students as part of efforts to address Nigeria’s shortage of healthcare professionals and strengthen the country’s health workforce, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has said.

Alausa disclosed this during an interview with journalists on Sunday, saying the expansion of nursing admissions formed part of broader education reforms aimed at producing the skilled workforce required to drive President Bola Tinubu’s vision of building a $1tn economy by 2030.

The minister said the government was deliberately investing in human capital development by expanding access to professional education in critical sectors.

“We want to be the manpower supplier of the world. We need to produce competent, skilled and educated young Nigerians who will drive our economy, contribute to Africa’s growth and compete successfully across the world,” Alausa said.

He explained that the Federal Government had aggressively expanded admissions into health-related programmes to bridge long-standing shortages of healthcare workers.

According to him, annual enrolment into nursing schools has risen from about 20,000 students before the current administration assumed office to approximately 50,000 students, adding that admissions into medicine, pharmacy and dentistry have also been significantly increased.

The minister expressed confidence that the reforms would substantially reduce the shortage of healthcare professionals within the next few years as thousands of newly trained graduates join the workforce.

“As the President advances his vision of building a one trillion-dollar economy, education will remain at the centre of that transformation,” he said.

Alausa attributed the expansion to President Tinubu’s commitment to education and human capital development, describing education as the foundation for sustainable economic growth.

The minister also reiterated that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund was designed to remain financially sustainable beyond the current administration.

“There is no value in introducing policies that cannot stand the test of time. Sustainability is central to this administration’s philosophy, and that principle guided the design of NELFUND,” he said.

He further said the administration had restored industrial harmony in tertiary institutions through dialogue with academic and non-academic staff unions, noting that improved stability was contributing to better outcomes in the higher education sector.

Nigeria has faced a persistent shortage of nurses and other healthcare professionals, driven largely by years of underinvestment in training capacity and the increasing migration of health workers to countries offering better remuneration and working conditions.

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The trend has placed additional pressure on the country’s healthcare system, particularly at the primary and secondary healthcare levels.

To reverse the shortage, the Federal Government has expanded admissions into nursing and other health-related programmes while also investing in Technical and Vocational Education and Training and other human capital development initiatives.

The expansion comes amid growing concerns over the “Japa” phenomenon, which has seen thousands of Nigerian-trained nurses and doctors relocate abroad in recent years, creating significant gaps in the domestic health workforce.

The government says increasing training capacity is critical to meeting local healthcare needs while positioning Nigeria as a supplier of skilled professionals to the global labour market.

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