Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that medical personnel, including doctors and nurses trained in Nigeria, must be motivated with the right work conditions to remain in the country and not migrate overseas.

Obasanjo stated this when he commissioned the renovated and rehabilitated Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital in Zamfara State on Tuesday.

The former president, who Governor Dauda Lawal hosted, lamented the migration phenomenon known as ‘Japa’, which has been popularised by Nigerian youths leaving the country in their droves for economic prosperity and job security in faraway Europe, the Americas, Asia and other parts of the world.

The octogenarian said it was not enough for the governments at federal, sub-national and local levels to build health centres; they must provide the necessary equipment and remuneration to incentivise health workers.

Obasanjo commended Lawal for the renovation of the hospital, “especially when many Nigerians who have been trained as medical personnel are japaing – which is going out of the country to look for better conditions. But how do you hold them here without giving them a bit of incentive? You have to.

“We need all the personnel that we can have because our hospitals have to deliver. You need the right environment and that is the refurbishing and the renovation but you need the right equipment and then you need the personnel.

“I am happy that you have brought them all together and let us make good use of them.”