Nigeria’s Labour Minister says he’s not concerned by doctors moving abroad in search of work because the country has enough medical personnel.

Speaking of the problem of the so-called brain drain, the minister argued that Nigeria had too many doctors, and could afford to export their talents.

Dr Chris Ngige’s comments have caused controversy in Nigeria - and he was one of the top trending topics on social media on Wednesday.

Speaking on Channels TV, the Labour Minister said it was normal for a country with a surplus of any of goods and services, to export them.

He compared the practice to his Indian science teachers in school, who he claimed moved to Nigeria because their country had a surplus of teachers.

But the medical association says this is a gross misrepresentation of the situation on the ground.

A representative for the organisation told the BBC that the country had a severe shortage of doctors in its health system.

A recent report by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation found that on average, an African country spends between $21,000 (£16,000) and $59,000 training a medical doctor.

Nigeria was one of nine countries listed in the report that have lost more than $2bn since 2010 from training doctors who then migrated.

The foundation estimates that Africa loses around $2bn each year through brain drain in the health sector alone.