President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerian medical professionals practising outside the country to return home and contribute their quota to national development.
Tinubu made the appeal at the State House on Friday when he received members of the Nigerian Diaspora Medical Associations.
The Director-General of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, led the health workers to the meeting with President Tinubu.
The visit coincides with the National Diaspora Day Celebration 2026, scheduled for July 24–25 at the State House Conference Centre.
Tinubu told the team they should take a cue from his personal experience after deciding to return to Nigeria following his studies and work in the United States.
He said:
“I’ve been through that journey. I’m home, and I can tell you, there’s nowhere like home. I’ve experienced being in America. I’ve taken the best of America in my chosen profession, accountancy and finance.
“I can’t forget the Standard Oil Building in Chicago and my first week there. But since I came back from Mobil to now, it has been a very good challenge to commit and endure the possibility of turning Nigeria around.
“So many of you have seen the hazards of the other side of the world. You’ve experienced the tribulation and challenges, and you’ve come back home to feel it and seal it.”
Tinubu further advised the medical professionals to convince their colleagues to return home, assuring them that his administration would continue to create an enabling environment for them to practise and thrive.
He said:
“My friends who are still there, try to attract them home. But the best way to demonstrate to you is for me to commit myself to my agenda, the Renewed Hope, so that the hope of Nigerians of having a better environment, better education, better development and prosperity can be realised.
“Your children will see the foundation of this country as belonging to them, and the future belonging to them is what we are working hard for. Your coming to help is immeasurable.”
Tinubu restated his determination to fight poverty and improve the living standards of Nigerians.
“Poverty is not acceptable. We won’t accept it. We will fight it. We will bring prosperity. We will bring care to our people.”
President Tinubu, who directed the Director-General of NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, to prepare personalised letters of appreciation for members of the delegation, also commended the Minister of State for Health, Dr Iziaq Salako, for advancing his administration’s healthcare agenda.
“I see Salako and the other members of the team are really working hard to actualise the dream. Please be ready to move on.”
