The Lagos State Government is targeting an increase in annual enrolment for healthcare professional training from fewer than 500 students to about 2,500 within the next four to five years as it moves to address the shortage of medical personnel.
Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, disclosed this on Tuesday during the handover of the renovated former CACOVID Centre at Mainland Hospital, Yaba, which has been converted into an academic facility for the Lagos State University College of Medicine.
Abayomi said the expansion was part of the state’s response to the human resources crisis in the health sector, which had been worsened by the migration of professionals abroad and inadequate local capacity to train replacements.
“While everyone talks about brain drain, Lagos State is focusing on brain gain,” the commissioner said, explaining that the state planned to increase local production of healthcare professionals while creating conditions for Nigerians abroad to return with skills and experience.
He said the state would maximise existing infrastructure rather than depend solely on new construction to achieve the target.
According to him, medical training would be expanded beyond the Lagos State University College of Medicine and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital by using general hospitals and selected primary healthcare facilities.
Abayomi said Lagos had about 30 general hospitals, more than 300 primary healthcare centres and 10 mother and child care centres that could be leveraged for training.
The repurposed facility, which was originally built as a COVID-19 isolation centre, will serve as an annex of LASUCOM, with particular emphasis on supporting the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
The commissioner said the renovated centre had created 315 additional laboratory positions, 520 lecture seats and about 169 seminar seats for the faculty’s six departments.
He said the decision to repurpose the centre was taken to prevent the facility from becoming redundant after the COVID-19 emergency.
Abayomi also disclosed that the state was pursuing a standalone University of Medicine and Health Sciences as part of its broader medical education expansion programme.
He said the bill establishing the institution had been passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly and would be presented to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for assent.
The commissioner noted that the expansion would help increase the number of pharmacists and other health professionals entering the workforce, describing the shortage of pharmacists as a continuing challenge in Lagos and across Nigeria.
Representing the General Manager of the Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency, Adenike Adekanbi, the Head of the Project Team, Engr. Yemisi Aderibigbe, said the facility was constructed in 2019 as a COVID-19 isolation centre but became underutilised after the pandemic.
She said the governor approved its expansion and renovation in December 2024, while construction work commenced in March 2025 and was completed by PCP Construction Nigeria Limited.
The Provost of LASUCOM, Prof. Olufemi Idowu, described the conversion as a welcome development, recalling that the facility had deteriorated significantly after the pandemic.
LASUCOM Deputy Provost, Prof. Sunday Soyemi, said the new facility would address about 30 per cent of the institution’s space challenge.
The Director of the Medical Project Implementation Unit in the state Ministry of Health, Dr Olusoga Oduwole, said the upgraded facility would provide a more conducive environment for healthcare training and service delivery.
Formally handing over the facility for academic use, Abayomi said the project was another step towards positioning Lagos as a major centre for medical training and healthcare development.
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