Faruk Abubakar, the Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN), on Tuesday, stated that no fewer than 42,000 nurses have left the country in the last three years.

Faruk’s disclosure followed the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) protest against the new certification verification guidelines by the Council.

NMCN had issued a circular stating candidates seeking verification of certificates to foreign nursing boards and councils must have two years of qualification experience and pay a non-refundable application fee.

Commenting on the decision of the Council, he said the development follows international best practices, adding that a lot of nurses have left the country in the past few years.

“Let me make it clear today, in the last three years, over 42,000 nurses left this country, and the country needs them,” he said on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.

“Now, if we allow every Nigerian to leave as they graduate, who is going to handle our healthcare services? Who is going to provide these services? We are Nigerians, and it is our responsibility to these services.

“So, we are not against anybody traveling, but Nigerians must be served and must be provided with this quality healthcare since we are producing the quality and best nurses that are working anywhere in the world.”

Abubakar said the Council has gotten many complaints about relocating nurses from the country. He, however, said the nurses planning relocations should be done rightly.

He said, “Just last year, a number of nurses were found with fake documents in America, and when we did a background search, about eight of them were not in our database; they hadn’t collected their verification letter or letter of good standing, and they faked the documents.

“We don’t want to recall the individual because it will dent the image of the country. So we decided to strengthen the verification process before they leave, and that’s what we did.”