Health
Psychologists urge FG to curb nurse migration with better working conditions, AI
Janet Ogundepo
The Nigerian Association of Industrial and Organisational Psychologists has urged the Federal Government to address the country’s worsening nurse migration by improving nurse-patient ratios, reducing excessive workload, and deploying artificial intelligence to support healthcare workers.
The psychologists also called on the government to invest in digital infrastructure and AI-enabling regulatory frameworks across critical sectors, including healthcare, education, security, and finance, warning that technology alone cannot solve Nigeria’s workforce challenges.
The recommendations formed part of a communiqué issued at the end of the association’s 2026 National Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting, held at the Dame Edith Okowa Auditorium, Alumni Guest House, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, under the theme, “Psychology in an AI-Enabled Society.”
A copy of the communiqué sent to PUNCH Healthwise noted that while AI presents significant opportunities for national development, its integration into workplaces must be guided by ethical principles, psychological safety, and values-based leadership to maximise human potential.
The communiqué signed by the Local Organising Committee Chairman, Prof Nyitor Shenge, LOC Secretary, Mrs Lydia Adeladan, and Host and immediate past NAIOP Co-ordinator, Prof B.O. Ehigie, noted that the conference examined issues such as AI and employee wellbeing, hybrid work models, psychological adaptation to AI in academia, and AI displacement anxiety.
Findings from the conference showed that “AI decision-support reliance was found to correlate with reduced cognitive engagement and decision-making competency among banking professionals,” raising concerns about what happens to human thinking capacity when workers increasingly defer to machines for routine and analytical judgements.
They also found that organisations operating hybrid work models require intentional investment in virtual leadership and culture-building strategies, stressing that organisations could not simply introduce AI tools into remote and hybrid work environments and expect productivity and morale to sustain themselves without deliberate human-centred management.
Participants at the NAIOP conference further asserted that Nigeria’s productivity challenge extends beyond technology.
“The productivity challenge in Nigeria is reported to be not only technological but also fundamentally behavioural, whereas AI-enabled technologies alone are insufficient to address systemic workforce attrition in healthcare,” the communiqué stated.
To address the challenges, the association urged the Federal Government to invest in digital infrastructure and AI-enabling regulatory frameworks while promoting a productive workforce through AI reskilling and values-based education.
It recommended that the government should “address systemic nurse migration by improving nurse-patient ratios, reducing excessive workload, and using AI to enhance nurses’ work.”
The psychologists also urged universities and research institutions to integrate AI literacy, digital ethics, AI usage training, and human-AI collaboration into Industrial and Organisational Psychology curricula.
They further recommended that institutions establish AI integration policies and provide continuous training for academic staff to improve productivity and psychological readiness in the AI era.
The NAIOP also called on professional associations to establish dedicated research funds to support empirical studies on AI and work, publish evidence-based AI research, and help organisations understand the human dimensions of artificial intelligence.
For employers and organisations, the association recommended deploying AI for analytics and routine functions while developing governance frameworks that ensure transparency, fairness, and employee psychological safety.
It also encouraged organisations to embrace AI as a tool for improving humanity rather than fearing its impact.
The association further recommended long-term studies on the psychological effects of AI, development of Nigeria-specific frameworks for human-AI collaboration, and increased research involving police officers, nurses, teachers and public sector employees.
In its call to action, NAIOP maintained that Industrial and Organisational Psychology should lead the ethical and evidence-based integration of AI into Nigeria’s workplaces.
“We, the delegates of the NAIOP 2026 National Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting, assert with one voice that Industrial-Organisational Psychology must lead the ethical and evidence-based integration of Artificial Intelligence into the Nigerian world of work.
“Nigeria will not be shaped by AI alone, but by the people who manage it. AI offers Nigeria a rare opportunity to leapfrog stages of development, presenting both challenges and immense possibilities for growth, innovation, and national prosperity.
“We call upon government, organisations, academia, professional associations, and individual practitioners to collaborate purposefully in building Nigerian workplaces and institutions that are technologically advanced, psychologically safe, values-driven, and deeply committed to human flourishing.
“Technology must serve as a muse, not a mask, for human potential. We must learn, adapt, create, and build, and above all, be guided by values,” the communiqué stated.
Delegates at the conference included industrial-organisational psychologists, academics, human resource professionals, students, researchers, and policymakers who participated in keynote lectures, scientific paper presentations, symposia and plenary sessions.
Lead papers were delivered by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof Kayode Adebowale; Dr Peter Ogudoro; Major General Peter Dauke (retd.); and representatives of United Capital, Mrs Oreoluwa Ojelabi and Mr Oladoeu.
The Director General of the National Orientation Agency, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, delivered the Keynote Address.
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