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North-West Commission Mulls Investment in Youth-Led Health Convention to Tackle Brain Drain

The North-West Development Commission (NWDC) is considering a strategic investment in the upcoming North-West Regional Medical Students Convention, framing it as part of a broader effort to curb medical brain drain and secure the region’s future health workforce.

The disclosure came when the Managing Director/CEO of the Commission, Professor Shehu Abdullahi Ma’aji, received the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the convention at the Commission’s headquarters in Kano.

The MD/CEO said sustainable development in the North-West is impossible without deliberately investing in doctors and teachers, describing medical students as central to the region’s healthcare survival.

“The North-West cannot achieve sustainable development without investing in teachers and doctors. Medical students are central to the future of our healthcare system,” Prof. Ma’aji stated.

He assured the delegation that the Commission would review their request with dispatch to ensure a successful convention, despite the late submission.

The convention, which will be hosted by North-West University, Kano, from December 24 to 27, is expected to draw hundreds of medical students from across the North-West and Northern Nigeria. It opens with a public lecture.

Chairman of the LOC, Khalifa Abdullahi Dahiru, said hosting rights were secured by North-West University, Kano, while Vice Chairman of NIMSA Northern Caucus, Bilal Muhammad Bello, said the visit was to seek institutional support for logistics and delegates’ welfare.

“We are confident that the Commission, given its mandate on human capital development, will identify with the aspirations of medical students who constitute a critical part of the region’s future health workforce,” Bello said.

Prof. Ma’aji, who directed the relevant department to immediately review the LOC’s letter, also tasked the students with projecting Kano’s reputation as a centre of learning and hospitality.

“Kano is known for its hospitality. Those who come must leave with a good impression,” he said.

Stakeholders see the proposed support as a shift from infrastructure-focused interventions to human capital retention — a critical move as Nigeria continues to lose hundreds of doctors annually to foreign health systems.