By Agbor Neji Ebuta, MD
I must confess: I am not an established fan of any football club. I have, however, entertained sympathy for a certain London-based FC—yet I remain sincerely unsure of my true affiliations.
But this discourse is not about my taste in foreign football clubs.
It is, more importantly, a reflection on two industries whose patterns mirror each other in surprising ways, revealing a stark contrast in our national attitudes and responses.
A Brief Look Back
Seven years before Nigeria’s independence, Titus Okere signed for a European football club, becoming one of the earliest Nigerian players to transit abroad. He joined Swindon Town FC in February 1953 after displaying remarkable football wizardry in the infant Nigerian league—from Zik’s Athletic Club Bombers to Lagos Railway, where he distinguished himself as captain.
He would go on to score Nigeria’s first international goal before a 15,000-strong crowd in Freetown, Sierra Leone. As a member of the national pioneer football team, the famed “UK Tourists,” he had already etched his name in Nigeria’s football landscape.
Over the decades, many more legends would emerge, display raw talent, and transition to foreign clubs. And these transitions have always been celebrated. Families fast and pray, friends cheer, communities wait with quiet hope. Failure to “make it abroad” often attracts sympathy and consolatory visits.
Indeed, the success story of a footballer’s Japa, taking off abroad to export his talent abroad for personal and community gains, is never just about camera flashes or cash returns. Whole families—and sometimes entire communities—rise with the player. Even the nation benefits: improved global image, boosted remittances, and increased forex inflow.
The Other Industry We Overlook
Now consider another industry—the medical valley.
A young medical graduate in Nigeria is among the most rigorously prepared in the world. Admission into medical school requires premium academic performance. Surviving the programme demands grit, sleepless nights, and an ability to navigate academic “ambushes” laid by weather-hardened lecturers.
As a Nigerian-trained doctor myself, I never felt inferior to any colleague anywhere in the world. Nigerian medical training either makes you a sturdy warrior—or leaves you crushed.
This is why Nigerian doctors are found across the global health landscape, excelling and holding their own. And while the Japa phenomenon has existed for decades, today’s population growth and other emerging pressures have transformed it into a subject of national concern. Government policies have been attempted, but the journey is far from uhuru.
A Curious National Double Standard
Yet here lies the contradiction: While aspiring footballers are encouraged—even celebrated—for “Japa-ing,” health workers attempting the same are vilified.
Communities support the migration of their footballing talents. But when their medical talents seek similar opportunities, the reception turns hostile. Same ambition, different treatment.
It begs a few what-ifs.
What If We Rethink the Narrative?
What if we allow our medics to “play” for foreign clubs—hospitals, research institutes, training centers—just as footballers do?
What if we design a structured system where they return periodically for national service—short rotations, teaching opportunities, or specialist missions facilitated through public–private partnerships?
What if government-backed institutions guarantee safe remittances, redirecting inflows into key sectors such as housing (to address our massive deficits), the Nigerian Stock Exchange, agro-enterprises, and other strategic areas?
What if we promoted facility-adoption systems, where diaspora medics adopt and support local hospitals through innovative supervisory frameworks?
What if our policies were reengineered to test global best practices—adapted intelligently to our realities—to optimise the health sector, through expansion of the engagement frameworks to allow our best in the diaspora, contribute to this policy?
Indeed, quite a number of what-ifs.
A Call for Balance
One cannot help but notice the imbalance: footballers are encouraged to Japa; doctors are discouraged. The arguments and counterarguments are familiar. But we must not forget that everyone deserves the chance at a better life—especially those who have taken an oath of service and sacrifice.
Our challenge is not to trap our health workers but to create systems that harness their skill, their diaspora influence, and their global exposure for national development.
If footballers can go abroad, shine, and still uplift their communities and country, then surely the same is possible—perhaps even more so—for medics.
● Ebuta, a medical doctor is based in Abuja
