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PRP governorship candidate, Dr Rasaq Saliu, has identified poor funding, inadequate motivation for healthcare professionals and infrastructural decay as major problems affecting Osun State’s primary healthcare system.
Saliu spoke on Tuesday during the ARISE 2026 Governorship Election Town Hall meeting while outlining his healthcare priorities ahead of the 2026 Osun governorship election.
He said the state’s primary healthcare system is currently not functioning as it should, while many doctors, nurses and pharmacists had left Nigeria in search of better opportunities.
“Currently, our primary healthcare system is not functioning as it should be.
“Currently, a good number of our medical experts, the doctors, the nurses, the pharmacists, have left the shores of Nigeria looking for greener pastures.”
The PRP candidate attributed the situation to three key challenges facing the health sector.
“Now, what we need to do is to now address the issues that have bedevilled the primary healthcare system. Poor funding.
“Lack of adequate motivation for healthcare professionals. Infrastructural decay.”
Saliu said addressing the problems could encourage health professionals who had left the country to return and contribute to the state’s healthcare system.
“When we address these three, we can be sure that a good number of our experts, the doctors who have left the country now, what we call the Japa syndrome, will come back.”
He said a government led by a medical professional would better understand the challenges facing healthcare workers.
“They will say, we have a government who understands the people, who is a medical professional, who is one of us, who understands our challenges, our aspirations and needs. They want to come back and fix the national state.”
Saliu said improving the primary healthcare system would be one of his priorities if elected governor.
“This is what I want to work on when I become the governor of Osun state.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
