FG Scales Up Nursing School Enrolment From 28,000 to 115,000 In Landmark Health Reforms
In a bold move to revitalise Nigeria’s health workforce, the Federal Government has quadrupled nursing and midwifery school enrolment from 28,000 to 115,000 within two years, a landmark step described by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, as a “blueprint for transformation.”
Speaking at the launch of the Nigeria Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery (NSDNM) 2025 -2030 in Abuja, Prof. Pate said the initiative represents a major stride in reforming health education, workforce development, leadership, and service delivery nationwide.
“Nurses are at the core of the resilience of Nigeria’s health system,” he stated. “This strategy is a practical guide for reform, innovation, and investment to build a skilled, motivated, and equitably distributed workforce.”
Under President Bola Tinubu’s Health Sector Renewal Initiative, the Ministry has expanded workforce capacity, retraining over 69,000 frontline health workers across the country.
Additionally, recruitment waivers have been approved for 20,000 new health workers, 60 per cent of whom will be nurses and midwives.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Daju Kachollom, inaugurated a Technical Working Group to ensure the NSDNM’s full implementation, while WHO’s Country Representative, through Mary Brentrow, hailed Nigeria’s leadership for prioritising the nursing profession, calling it “a strategic investment in health system resilience, gender equity, and economic development.”
With the launch of the NSDNM 2025 – 2030, Nigeria sets a new benchmark in health workforce reform, anchoring universal health coverage on a stronger, more empowered nursing and midwifery cadre.
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