The federal government of Nigeria has stopped all medical doctors from participating in the mandatoryNational Youth Service. The resolution was made public at a press briefing yesterday by the Registrar/Chief Executive of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Dr. Abdulmumini Ibrahim. According to him, the decision was made in order to abolish quackery and sub-standard practices in the country’s health sector. He said they can only commence with the service after they have been qualified as medical doctors and have secured practice licence from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

The registrar also disclosed that the decision was necessitated by several complaints of incompetence exhibited by some of the Youth Corps members posted to rural communities to deliver health services and cases of individuals presenting themselves as health professionals when they are not. “There has been increasing number of personal non-grata people who are not trained impersonating as medical doctors. The NYSC has inundated us with complaints. Those who have completed their one year internship have been given certificates. Most corpers are sent to rural areas.