Our reporter/ The Nigeria Association of Resident Doctors [NARD] has debunked the claim by Pastor Poju Oyemade that it costs about Five hundred thousand naira [N500,000] to train a medical doctor in Nigeria.
Pastor Oyemade, had in video message said that Nigerian youths are lazy, hate the country while also noting that there is no unemployment in Nigeria.
Essentially, he said Nigerians criticizing the govt, are ungrateful.
Oyemade, the founder of Covenant Nation, further stated that Nigerian youths have been programmed to hate the country and become ungrateful.
According to him, as a doctor you can spend 500k on fees till you graduate. But in US, you can’t study medicine with even $2000. Yet, they are not grateful.
But reacting to Oyemade’s message on Monday, the Nigeria Association of Resident Doctors [NARD] on Monday in a statement on X [Formerly known as Twitter] said such comments reflect a misunderstanding of the realities surrounding medical education and the healthcare system in Nigeria.
According to NARD, contrary to Oyemade’s claim, no medical doctor is trained on N500,000.
NARD further stated that a peer-reviewed study by Osoba et al. (2021), published in the Pan African Medical Journal, estimates the cost of training a doctor in Nigeria to range between $21,000 and $51,000—this includes tuition, living expenses, and other associated costs.
The full text of NARD’s statement is published below…
Dear @pastorpoju,
With due respect, your recent comments reflect a misunderstanding of the realities surrounding medical education and the healthcare system in Nigeria.
Contrary to your claim, no medical doctor is trained on N500,000. A peer-reviewed study by Osoba et al. (2021), published in the Pan African Medical Journal, estimates the cost of training a doctor in Nigeria to range between $21,000 and $51,000—this includes tuition, living expenses, and other associated costs.
Despite this investment, the average Nigerian doctor earns about N250,000 monthly (roughly $170), a stark contrast to their counterparts in the U.S., where training costs around $275,000, and the average monthly salary is about $16,000 (₦24 million).
For a Nigerian doctor to qualify and practice in the U.S., their family often spends over $10,000 to support the process.
This is not about ingratitude—Nigerian doctors are among the most hardworking and resilient globally. While the health system is in a state of crisis, many citizens cannot afford medical tourism. It is easy for Pastors with access to tithes and offerings to seek care abroad, but their average Nigerian church member cannot. We urge you to speak truth to power and advocate for a better health system; Nigeria currently ranks 142nd out of 195 globally.
As a final note, it may be worth considering the Apostles’ model—focusing on prayer, fasting, and the Word—rather than “serving tables.”
Wishing you a reflective and blessed Easter.
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