As the Labour Party (LP)presidential candidate during the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi has advised against discouraging anyone who wants to leave the country for other countries from doing so.
The former Anambra state governor advised the College of Nursing Sciences, Teaching Hospital, St. Charles Borromeo Hospital, Nkpor, near Onitsha, when he donated N10 million to the institution yesterday.
Addressing the institution’s management and students, Obi urged the nursing trainees to strive toward becoming highly trained medical professionals.
He told them that nursing services are highly sought after and paid for in advanced countries, including Europe and America.
He described nurses as very important in healthcare delivery, saying that Nurses are more important to patients than medical doctors because they (nurses) are closer to patients and doctors.
He said that he had consistently advised the Nursing l and Midwifery Council of Nigeria not to stop any health professional who wanted to leave the country to go for Overseas countries, arguing that the development would increase the nation’s foreign currency earnings because they would remit their earnings back to the government.
“I support Japa. I don’t believe in brain drain. Let people who want to leave the country leave.
“Nurses are highly looked for and paid in London and America. I have always told the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria not to stop any of their professionals from leaving the country.
“When they go there, they are highly paid, and they will remit part of their earnings back home, and they will be good ambassadors of the country”, the former LP presidential candidate stated.
He said he prioritised investing in education because knowledge drives the world, not oil.
The archdiocese’s Coordinator of Health Sciences, Dr Basil Ekwunife, and the archbishop of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province’s representative, Most Rev Valerian Okeke, praised the former Anambra state governor for his contributions to education.
He stated that Obi’s support as governor saw the establishment of the College of Nursing Sciences and many others across the state.
He prayed that God would continue to provide for him in his efforts to contribute to a better society and reward him.
