Medical tourism: Nigeria spent $2.39bn in 2024 – Onyishi
Founder and Chancellor of Maduka University, Dr. Samuel Maduka Onyishi
Nigeria spent over $2.39 billion on medical tourism in 2024, the Founder and Chancellor of Maduka University, Dr. Samuel Maduka Onyishi, has disclosed.
Speaking as the guest lecturer at the second Academic Lecture of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Onyishi delivered a lecture titled “Entrepreneurship for Human Development and Economic Progression: A Call on Nigerian Universities.”
He noted that the country spent even more on the importation of medical supplies and consumables, stressing that these figures underscore the urgent need to develop the medical entrepreneurship sector.
Dr. Onyishi expressed concern that despite having over 48 universities offering medical education in fields such as medicine, surgery, nursing, and other allied disciplines — along with more than 400 schools and colleges of nursing, and institutions offering specialized training in various aspects of medical technology — Nigeria has yet to harness the enormous potential within the medical entrepreneurship landscape.
He argued that strategic entrepreneurship education is crucial to reducing widespread unemployment and poverty in Nigeria. According to him, Nigerian universities must go beyond theory and adopt a more practical and structured approach to entrepreneurship training.
Describing this as “targeted entrepreneurial education,” Onyishi proposed a comprehensive model that includes: entrepreneurship education, financial literacy, vocational and skill acquisition training, leadership development, time management, legal education, ICT literacy, life skills and healthy living, business intelligence, family planning, cooperative education.
He emphasized the need for universities to encourage students to form cooperative societies, investment clubs, and partnerships, adding that holiday internships are highly beneficial to students’ development.
“There is a need to set up incubation centres to hone business skills. School farms and agricultural business training programmes would go a long way in ensuring food security. We must all produce what we eat. This is the foundation of self-sufficiency, which is a key index of economic progression,” Onyishi stated.
He further stressed the importance of university-industry collaboration, especially in light of emerging technological disruptions.
Artificial intelligence is already displacing workers. Our universities must begin to align with new work patterns to produce graduates who are relevant in a rapidly changing, AI-driven world,” he warned.
Onyishi identified the critical elements needed to unlock the potential in the medical entrepreneurship space which included professionals with integrity, long-term investors, various equity models (including sweat equity and consultancy royalties), and strong corporate governance.
Challenging academics and professionals in the audience, he remarked, “Nigeria has 63 federal, 63 state, and 149 private universities. Our number of professors grows daily, yet our institutions have not catalyzed rapid national development. Perhaps we are still trapped in the tradition of the ivory tower. It’s time to reimagine and reconstruct the university of the future — and the way forward is entrepreneurial. We must begin by integrating local initiatives, especially in the medical and allied sectors.”
