NMA Lagos Urges Governor Sanwo-Olu to Extend Retirement Age for Health Workers to 65

The Lagos State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to urgently approve the extension of the retirement age for health workers from 60 to 65 years, citing a worsening healthcare crisis due to the mass migration of medical professionals. In a letter dated June 5, 2025, and jointly signed by the NMA Lagos Chairman, Dr. Saheed Kehinde, and Deputy Secretary, Dr. Olusola Soyinka, the association emphasized that extending the retirement age is critical to retaining seasoned medical personnel and mitigating the growing shortage of healthcare professionals caused by brain drain. The association's appeal comes in the wake of President Bola Tinubu’s approval of a similar retirement age extension for federal health workers—a policy the NMA insists must now be implemented at the state level, particularly in Lagos, which faces a disproportionate healthcare burden. Currently, Lagos State has an estimated 7,000 doctors serving a population ...