A bill to establish a Federal College of Nursing and Midwifery in Ifako/Ijaiye Local Government Area, Lagos State, has passed its second reading in the House of Representatives, according to a report published on Wednesday, 28 October.
The bill is sponsored by Benjamin Olabinjo, who represents Ifako/Ijaiye Federal Constituency. It must still go through committee consideration and a third reading in the House, then pass the Senate and receive presidential assent, before the college can be established in law.
“Losing them faster than we are training them”
Leading the debate, Olabinjo pointed to the shortage of nurses and midwives in Nigerian hospitals and the migration of trained professionals to the UK, Canada, the United States and other countries. “Yet we are losing them faster than we are training them,” he said. “We cannot fix our healthcare system without the people who run it day and night. This bill invests in them.”
He said a local college would give young people in the constituency and across Lagos a route into nursing without the cost of studying far from home.
The training bottleneck
Nigeria’s nursing schools turn away far more qualified applicants than they admit, limited by classroom space, clinical placements and, above all, the number of nurse tutors, many of whom have themselves emigrated. The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) accredits nursing programmes and sets admission quotas based on facilities and staffing. In recent years, the federal government has approved increases in quotas and new institutions to expand training.
Lagos’s own health commissioner has estimated that the state needs tens of thousands more nurses, and at a Lagos maternity hospital this week, staff cited shortages after pregnant women were turned away from antenatal registration.
Training alone won’t close the gap
Experts and nursing organisations stress that new colleges must be matched by:
- Enough qualified nurse educators, with pay and conditions that keep them.
- Accredited clinical placement sites with supervising nurses.
- Funded jobs for graduates, so they are not left unemployed.
- Retention measures: pay, allowances, safe staffing, housing and career progression.
This week, the Federal Government and the West African Health Organisation also met in Abuja to review a regional plan to retain health workers across ECOWAS.
For prospective nursing students
Until the bill becomes law and the college is accredited and running, it cannot admit students. Always check that any nursing school is accredited by the NMCN before applying, as graduates of unaccredited programmes cannot sit the licensing examinations. Be wary of adverts for admission into institutions that are still only bills.
Related: FG and WAHO draft regional plan to retain health workers · NMCN licensure guide · Undergraduate nursing scholarships
Source: Naija News (28 October 2026), reporting House of Representatives plenary proceedings.