The federal government has unveiled plans to establish the
Armed Forces College of Medicine and Health Sciences (AFCOM&HS) to address
Nigeria’s estimated shortfall of 340,000 doctors.
A statement on Friday by Boriowo Folasade, director of press
and public relations at the ministry of education, said the development follows
a high-level meeting attended by Tunji Alausa, minister of education; Suiwaba
Ahmed, minister of state for education; Christopher Musa, minister of defence
and other key stakeholders in the education, defence and health sectors.
Alausa noted that Nigeria’s population has surpassed 240
million, while only 189 medical professionals currently serve in the armed
forces.
He highlighted Nigeria’s broader deficit of approximately
340,000 doctors, noting the urgent need for scalable and innovative training
models.
Alausa described the proposed military medical college as a
“strategic national intervention to strengthen military healthcare services,
address critical manpower shortages within the Armed Forces, and expand
Nigeria’s overall medical training capacity”.
He added that the college would position Nigeria as a
regional hub for military medical training in West Africa.
As part of broader reforms, Alausa said the government has
doubled annual medical school admissions from about 5,000 to nearly 10,000,
with plans to further increase intake to approximately 19,000 in the coming
years.
According to him, the new college will be a critical
component of this expansion, aimed at developing a sustainable pipeline of
combat casualty-trained doctors, surgeons, trauma specialists, emergency
response medics, military public health and disaster response professionals,
and other allied health personnel.
He said the initiative aligns with the President Bola
Tinubu’s administration education reform agenda, emphasising the strengthening
of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medical sciences.
The minister noted that the college will operate within the
existing university framework of the Nigerian Defence Academy, in compliance
with the federal government’s seven-year moratorium on new tertiary
institutions and following directives from Tinubu.
Clinical training, he said, will take place in accredited
federal and military hospitals.
The minister added that medical cadets will gain admission
through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), and upon
completion of their training, they will be commissioned as captains in the
armed forces.
According to him, a technical working group comprising
representatives from the federal ministry of education, ministry of defence,
Nigerian Defence Academy, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, the
National Universities Commission, JAMB, and other regulatory bodies has been
constituted to ensure compliance and quality assurance.
The government confirmed that the necessary processes are
being put in place for admissions to commence by October or November 2026.
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