The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors has faulted the recent remarks by the senior pastor the founder of The Covenant Nation, Pastor Poju Oyemade, that Nigerian doctors spend ₦500,000 throughout their education.
In the sermon, which is now trending on social media, Oyemade said while speaking with some Nigerian doctors who work at Johns Hopkins in America, he expressed how ungrateful Nigerians are despite spending less to be trained in the profession.
Comparing them with their US counterparts, Oyemade said, “In Nigeria, a person will graduate as a medical doctor and spend N500,000 throughout to become a doctor. In America, you graduate from Johns Hopkins, you graduate from Harvard as a doctor, and you spend $2,000. Are you okay? Do you know how much money you spend?”
Oyemade added that Nigerians condemn doing multiple jobs at home but go abroad to do the same, arguing that if the effort they put into working abroad is done in Nigeria, they would be successful.
The cleric said, “Nigerians are ungrateful. They will go through everything, education. How much do they spend there? You see a Nigerian, if they tell him in Nigeria to do two jobs, he will curse your life out.
“They will come to America, wake up in the morning, do first job, do second job, do Uber, and do, everything he’s doing. I said, if they put the fraction of this energy they put here in their country, they will have blown.”
The pastor also questioned the validity of Nigeria’s unemployment figures, suggesting that many informal business owners earn large sums without paying taxes and should not be considered unemployed.
He said, “We don’t calculate the unemployment rate, there is no figure. In Nigeria, there’s nothing like that.”
Oyemade stated that Nigerians should understand their terrain while referring to an incident he witnessed at an event where a lady who had no job sold three wigs for N250,000 each and the buyer expressed her interest in buying more wigs when they were available, noting that this may not be possible in America.
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He said, “That business is not registered. 750 grand, that girl carried home. There’s no job she’s doing. So, if somebody is in their house and just starts selling wigs, are they unemployed? No. Were they registered as employed? No. Our statistics here is different. Understand your terrain.
“One of the problems with Nigeria is that people don’t understand their terrain. In America, you’ll sell like that? IRS is coming for you because out of that, 200,000 belongs to the government. If you don’t drop it, you’ll see jail.”
In a statement shared on X.com on Monday, NARD condemned the pastor’s remarks, calling them a misrepresentation of the financial realities faced by Nigerian medical professionals.
The statement partly read, “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).”
In addition, NARD highlighted the financial burden of emigration, noting that a typical Nigerian family spends over $10,000 to support a doctor to qualify and practice in the U.S.
The association also faulted the pastor’s statement that Nigerian professionals lack gratitude saying that while it may be easy for pastors with access to tithes and offerings to seek medical care abroad, many Nigerian citizens cannot afford that.
“This is not about ingratitude—Nigerian doctors are among the most hardworking and resilient globally,” NARD said.
“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.”
NARD also urged Oyemade to use his influence to advocate for health sector reforms, rather than blame the professionals.
“We urge you to speak truth to power and advocate for a better health system; Nigeria currently ranks 142nd out of 195 globally.
“It may be worth considering the Apostles’ model—focusing on prayer, fasting, and the Word—rather than “serving tables.”(Punch)
