It is the first step when japa nurses finally make it to the United Kingdom and join the National Health Service (NHS), which always guarantees better wages and welfare, more than they could get when they were slugging it out back in their home country Nigeria.

For most 10-to-15 months fresh in the UK and exceptionally thirsty for growth, their stay is being threatened by a Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria-run (NMCN) verification portal. It permits users the room to confirm their status as passing through the system and being a registered Nigerian nurse.

The portal is indefinitely closed although federal officials say soon it will be restored. In the meantime, the newly emigrated Nigerian nurses starting fresh in the NHS cannot afford the wait because the time given to confirm their official status as a nurse is limited and some are already being deported based on what Saturday Punch found out recently.

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One nurse didn’t want to be identified on some of the findings made but this report can confirm that it is a he. This male nursing figure was reportedly working in the UK Trust, a great job to have that opens room for an economically vibrant life until the sealed NMCN portal ended his 11-month stay. Now, he is back in Nigeria because the UK Trust, a health sector outfit company, didn’t get his verification tag, which NMCN ought to have issued.

It looks like a deliberate effort to stop the torrential migrant flow that immediately followed COVID-19. Ever since then, Nigerian workers have become aware that Western European governments think their skills are good enough and they are willing to pay them handsomely and gain valuable experience in a more diverse environment. 

Because he is now back in Nigeria and no doubt has flashbacks about life at the UK Trust, the deported nursing staff thinks his career is stagnated and that has to do with the fact that the portal is closed still.

Since his deportation back to Nigeria, he has been to the nursing council on several occasions to tell them that even if they should write a letter of good standing and send it to them, they would be happy to acknowledge it. These moves did not yield the desired reward as the midwifery council could not deliver a reaction that resolved the issues.

All these have become reminders that indeed, many Nigerian nurses hoping for a rebirth abroad, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, have big life problems, like Ovie who is fortunately still in the UK but might be sent back home if the said portal stays locked.  

Telling Punch, she says her initial plan was to complete my verification process while studying so that I could work as a part-time nurse to pay tuition fees and support myself. Since the NMCN suspended the verification for nurses, she like many others has not been able to register for identification.

It is a difficult situation to be in. Ovie finds herself struggling to navigate my studies, future career plans, and overall stay in the UK because of this long stretch of a glitch.

This indefinite lock on Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria registrations is unnecessary in the eyes of civil groups and associations.

Notable among these is a call coming from the President of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Michael Nnachi, expectedly. There have been past efforts to engage with the council and the Federal Ministry of Health housing it. I would advise our affected members to remain patient. We are deeply concerned about the difficulties they are facing, and we are not comfortable with the situation, according to the nurses and midwives union.

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Despite instances of federal officials reneging on their promises, Nnachi says I remain hopeful and expect a positive response from the government.

And there is hope, he adds but this is slim for Nigerian nursing professionals in Saudi Arabia and even Canada with its new migration policy of sending foreign students back after completing their learning programmes. Many want to stay but there are myriads of obstacles drawing them back home after their costly japa leap.  

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.