Japa syndrome: FG, Lagos to build 1,500 capacity medical university — Sanwo-Olu

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said that the Federal Government and Lagos State is set to build the first-ever medical university by the end of 2024.

The governor said the institution will also address the challenge of mass brain drain in the sector, popularly called “Japa” syndrome.

Sanwo-Olu disclosed this on Tuesday at the official flag-off of an 80-bed general hospital, as part of the multiple legacy projects across Surulere Local Government Area. It was facilitated by Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.

The governor expressed optimism that with the secondary health facility, maternal mortality would be reduced.

Sanwo-Olu said the hospital would serve the over 66 community development associations, CDAs, in Surulere.

The governor, addressing the mammoth crowd, said: “What a way to start an eventful and impactful year for all of us.

“There is no better time, there is no better space, there is no better moment to start the new year, but to hit the ground running.

“Today, people of Lagos, we are at the fourth commissioning. We were at Lagos State University, LASU, where we commissioned and handed over an international conference centre for the university.

“This was right in our education pillar. Next, we went to the infrastructure pillar making Lagos a 21st century. We handed over a strategic road called the Babs Animashaun Road.

“From a single two-lane to a dual carriage road with two bridges constructed to connect the Surulere people to Orile Igamu.

“A journey that hitherto take 30 minutes has been reduced to less than five to seven minutes. That is another promise.

“Another pillar is youth engagement and gender equality. There is the Youth Development Centre that has a multidimensional use. It has an auditorium, a basketball tennis court, a lawn tennis court, to all sorts of a gym. These resonate well with our youth, people in entertainment, and people in sports, which fit also on another pillar of economic affairs.

“And here is another pillar of the economic agenda; the health. This is meaningful development working at the highest level.

Medical university
“This is also an opportunity for me to announce another bold initiative of the Lagos State Government that we will be pursuing before the end of this year.

“This is a strategic moment for us. By the end of this year, the Lagos State government in collaboration with the Federal government will be setting up a medical university in the state.

“Why are we setting up a health or a medical university? It is to solve two problems.

“We found out, working with the federal minister of health, that we need to scale up very aggressively all of our training and all of the youth that requires to be trained in everything within our health space.

“We cannot sit back and fold our arms as a government that cannot intervene. And so we will as a state, hope that other states will take the initiative and set up this university to be able to scale up and have 1,000, to 1,500 doctors being churned out and being graduated every year.

“And we will also set, in our view, the risk of our medical personnel leaving our country.

“We are not going to stop at ensuring that we provide the best facility to be able to retain our best talents here.

“And so we will ensure we put required resources, required intervention that will make that sector living for us. There is no alternative to health.

“So, as a responsive government, we need to ensure that we give that sector the requirement that is deserving. We give that sector the funding that will improve and increase the infrastructure and the training that is required in that sector very soon too.

“I’m sure that there are people with training today that will be future doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and pharmacists, trainers.

“That is it for me. That is what governance is all about. We can increase and raise the level of where we met governance. We can take it to another level and we are hoping that people that will come behind us will take it further.

“And we continue to say that when the executive and the legislator work together, it is the people that will benefit more. Because the purpose of government is to serve, make life meaningful for our people.

“And you can see that when we collaborate well, we have seen development in development in infrastructure on the road. We’ve seen development in youth empowerment, social integration, and in sporting facilities.

Gbaja
While speaking on the initiative, Gbajabiamila said the project was constructed based on complaints from Surulere constituents that there was no public hospital from Costain to Empire.

Gbajabiamila stressed that the essence of governance is selfless service to the people which he said was the motivating factor for him.

The Chief of Staff to the President noted that the hospital has been adequately equipped for the diagnosis and treatment of terminal diseases among others and urged the Lagos state government to support in ensuring professionals are deployed to the hospital.

The rehabilitated Babs Animashaun Road and a Community Development Centre with a mini stadium was also inaugurated in Surulere.

Dignitaries on the occasion include the Minister of State for Health, Dr.Tunji Alausa; federal and state lawmakers as well as traditional and political leaders.