Fewer than 4,000 of Nigeria’s approximately 9,870 registered physiotherapists are currently practising in the country, according to the head of the profession’s regulatory board.
Professor Rufai Ahmed, registrar and chief executive of the Medical Rehabilitation Therapist Board of Nigeria, attributed the gap to migration, retirement and deaths. He said the available workforce was inadequate for the country’s rehabilitation needs.
Ahmed spoke on Friday at Chrisland University’s second induction ceremony for Doctor of Physiotherapy graduates in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where 28 graduates entered the profession, Punch reported.
He distinguished registration and licence renewal from active practice within Nigeria. The approximately 4,300 licences registered by the board in 2025 did not represent the number of physiotherapists working in the country, he said, because some professionals living abroad continued to renew their licences.
Ahmed called for better pay, clearer career progression and more opportunities for specialist training to encourage practitioners to remain in Nigeria.
He also said the Federal Ministry of Education had directed 20 universities to introduce medical rehabilitation programmes, particularly in occupational therapy, physiotherapy and audiology. According to him, the Ministry of Health had completed a national rehabilitation policy and strategic plan covering workforce development and service delivery.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Oyedunni Arulogun urged the newly inducted practitioners to listen carefully to patients and put competence, integrity and patient safety first. She said rehabilitation involved helping people regain independence and take part in everyday activities, not only treating medical conditions.
Source: Punch
Something we should clarify?
Contact the newsroom
