Why nursing services are undervalued and underpaid
The value of nurses. Source: Stears Business

I came across a tweet about a nurse who had moved to the UK and was earning £24,600 annually (approximately ₦16 million), compared to the ₦960,000 annual salary she was making in Nigeria. 

That tweet immediately took me back to 2013, when I was an undergraduate intern at a consulting firm in Lagos. My monthly stipend was ₦30,000, while my friend, a fellow intern at the same firm in the UK, was earning over £1,000 (₦250,000) monthly. 

The difference was stark but reflective of the average salary in the market for each country. In Nigeria, the standard and cost of living is much lower than it was in the UK. For example, if you wanted to get your hair braided or relaxed, you would spend as much as £100 (~₦65,000), while in Nigeria, that can go for as low as ₦1,500. 

Most times, the market prices reflect the living wage

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Gbemisola Alonge

Gbemisola Alonge

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