The House of Representatives on Thursday passed for second reading a bill seeking to establish a specialised medical college for members of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
The bill, sponsored by Babajimi Benson, Chairman of the House Committee on Defence (APC, Lagos), proposes the establishment of a military-run medical institution responsible for training medical doctors, specialist physicians, and allied health professionals for the Nigerian Armed Forces and other uniformed services.
The proposal draws on international models, national workforce data, and the operational needs of a modern military.
Benson argued that the key drivers for the legislation include the ongoing exodus of Nigerian physicians, frequent industrial actions disrupting civilian medical education, the need for military-specific medical training such as tropical medicine, trauma care, CBRN response, and austere-environment medicine, and the operational advantage of a disciplined, reliable medical corps insulated from civilian strikes.
Leading debate on the bill, Benson said a nation’s healthcare capacity is a major determinant of its security posture.
He noted that for the Nigerian Army, dependable medical support is essential for force health protection, casualty management, preventive medicine, and the welfare of troops and their dependants.
He lamented that despite progress by the Nigerian Army Medical Corps (NAMC), the wider national health sector continues to face persistent shortages of doctors, unequal distribution of specialists and a sustained outflow of medical professionals to higher-income countries.
According to him, establishing a military medical college would create a sustainable, mission-focused pipeline of physicians trained specifically for the demands of military service.
Benson stressed that Nigeria has experienced a significant outflow of medical professionals over the past decade.
He cited a 2022 study which reported that between 2016 and 2018, over 9,000 medical doctors left Nigeria seeking opportunities abroad, with many more expressing intent to emigrate.
He added that national reporting and government statements indicate that thousands more have migrated in subsequent years.
According to him, one widely cited review estimated that about 16,000 doctors emigrated over five years, leaving around 55,000 doctors in the country.
“Other analysis suggest that as many as half of all licensed medical doctors trained in Nigeria have emigrated at some point in their careers, contributing to Nigeria’s low physician density compared to global benchmarks”, the lawmaker said.
He noted that the situation in the Nigerian Army and sister services is even more dire, saying that between 2019 and 2025, only 21 doctors were commissioned into the Nigerian Army due to low civilian interest.
According to him, the Army currently has only 189 doctors, of whom nearly 40 percent (71) are undergoing specialist training in civilian institutions outside the military.
“The Army’s requirement for doctors is at least 15 times the current number. The Navy and Air Force face similar shortages. Generally, retention rates are far below recruitment, leading to a net loss of skilled manpower with attendant consequences”, he added.
Benson warned that these shortages have direct operational implications, as low physician-to-population ratios hinder routine health services, surgical capacity, and the ability to adequately staff military medical facilities.
He also cited WHO indicators showing Nigeria’s physician density remains well below recommended thresholds. He noted that recurring strike actions by university staff unions have led to prolonged academic disruptions that reduce student motivation, extend training time and negatively affect knowledge retention.
Research, he said, shows that students exposed to frequent strike-related disruptions face a higher risk of repeated examinations and delayed completion.
He argued that military-run medical institutions internationally are typically insulated from such disruptions because they operate under military command, with students receiving service contracts and being part of a broader defence education system. This, he said, preserves institutional continuity and maintains operational readiness.
Benson highlighted examples of established military medical schools such as the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) in Pune, India, which trains physicians for the Indian Armed Forces, and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) in the United States, which integrates leadership, military medicine, and biomedical research into its curriculum.
“These institutions produce doctors who are clinically competent and fully familiar with military structures, ethics and operational needs,” he said. “Their graduates provide dependable staffing for military hospitals, defence-related research and leadership in field medical operations.”
The proposed Nigerian Military Medical College (NMMC), he explained, would operate as a fully accredited medical school under the Ministry of Defence, in collaboration with the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).
While acknowledging that initial costs would be substantial, Benson said long-term savings would accrue from reduced reliance on emergency medical recruitment, lower medical evacuation costs, improved troop health and reduced sick days.
He said the governance structure would include a Board of Governors chaired by the Chief of Defence Staff, an academic council with representatives from the NUC and MDCN, and a Medical Education Unit responsible for curriculum and quality assurance. Periodic external reviews and international partnerships would ensure compliance with global standards in medical education.
