Hundreds of Nigerian nurses are stranded following the continuous closure of the portal of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, NMCN, for verification of nurses’ certificates.
The nature of things in Nigeria and the poor way agencies handle important documentations are in the heart of the issue.
It was gathered that while many nurses are currently stranded in different countries abroad, others are on the verge of being deported.
Nigerian Nurses May Face Deportation
Nursing boards in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the UK are said to have stopped accepting nursing certificates from Nigerian nurses because they can’t verify their authenticity.
There is a report that the National Assembly had twice urged the NMCN to open its site and commence verification of Nurses and Midwives based on its former guidelines pending the conclusion of an investigation by the House Committee on Health Institutions.
However, the council has yet to heed the resolution of the House.
The latest directive is a letter dated August 13, 2024, entitled: “Negative Portrayal of the House’s Resolution” and signed by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Sani Magaji Tambuwal, to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.
The letter came after Hon. Patrick Umoh had raised a motion of urgent national importance on the need to safeguard institutional integrity and address any misinterpretation of the previous House’s Resolution by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.
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How It Started
In February 2024, the NMCN expressed worry that over 42,000 nurses left the country in the last three years to seek greener pastures in foreign countries.
According to the council, over 15,000 nurses left Nigeria in 2023 alone.
This development is coming on the heels of poor healthcare infrastructure, inadequate funding, poor welfare, and working conditions in the health sector.
Due to the mass immigration, NMCN stated that applicants seeking verification of certificates to foreign nursing boards and councils must have two years of qualification experience and pay a non-refundable application fee.
Nigerian Nurses Kicked Against Policy
However, nurses and other health workers kicked against the policy, insisting the guidelines and requirements were typical of a denial of human rights.
The health workers stressed that there had never been any occasion where regulatory bodies asked for work experience or mandated years of service as a condition for verification.
They are particularly uncomfortable with the provision in the guidelines which stated that a nurse seeking NMCN certification must have a minimum of two years post-qualification experience.
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