Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has expressed solidarity with nurses in Nigeria following a recent directive by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).
The directive stipulates that individuals seeking verification of their nursing certificates for foreign nursing boards and councils must possess a minimum of two years of post-qualification experience.
Obi, speaking on behalf of the Labour Party, called upon the NMCN to reconsider its decision, emphasizing the importance of ensuring that nurses are not deprived of opportunities for international employment.
He said, “I’m urging the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) to reverse the recent conditions of our nursing personnel working overseas. We cannot restrict our young ones the opportunities for global employment that are readily available.
“Today, Nigeria has the third most wanted nurses globally. They should be allowed to see the opportunities that are global for them.
“What we should do as a nation is, since we have these young and productive ones, everything is to invest more in the colleges of nursing sciences all over Nigeria in every local government, produce more, ensure that we give them the fastest support to get jobs globally, and become a brand we should celebrate because they are the ones that are going to invest in Nigeria.
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“Through their remittances and everything else, we would generate the required foreign exchange for our businesses. So we need to invest more in them. That investment is what is critical
“So please reverse these conditions and support them. Our government should go round and support all schools of nursing, and colleges of nursing that are all over Nigeria.”