By the time I was about two years out of medical school, in the mid-1980s, it was that bad. Aladesanmi says that in the early '70s, most government health care programs actually worked fairly well. Initially the country had funds from the oil industry. Eventually people began to embezzle the money, and money meant for health programs never got there. As a result, he says, health care professionals are increasingly demoralized.
Doctors trained in Nigeria have few options, and many have left the country.
Aladesanmi says the U.S. has offered him professional development he never could have obtained in Nigeria. Besides, he doubts he could have earned enough money in his home country to support his family. Obot returned to Nigeria after graduating from the School in 1984 and co-founded the Center for Research and Information on Drug Abuse in Jos, a city in the center of the country. Obot says alcohol presents the most harmful substance abuse problem in Nigeria, which is made worse by the lack of drunken driving laws and no mandated age for legal drinking. Currently, Obot is at Johns Hopkins, studying substance abuse.