A bill to ban civil or public servants, as well as their immediate families, from using private schools and medical facilities in Nigeria was approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday for first reading.
Hon. Amobi Godwin Ogah, a legislator from Abia State’s Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency, sponsored the bill.
The “Private Institutions and Health Care Service Providers (Prohibition) Bill, 2025” is a “turning point in the history of our nation,” according to Ogah, who spoke at a press briefing following the bill’s first reading on the House floor. Its goals include restoring public institutions’ credibility and removing conflicts of interest in public servants‘ service delivery.
“This Bill intends to prohibit all public servants, including their immediate family members, from patronizing private schools and healthcare services in order to avoid conflict of interest, maintain public trust, and ensure high, uncompromised standards and integrity of these public institutions,” Ogah said.
Drawing on historical parallels, the congressman mentioned Nigeria’s founding fathers, who all attended public or mission schools: Sir Ahmadu Bello, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and Alhaji Tafawa Balewa. He bemoaned how public servants are increasingly depending on foreign and private services as public institutions continue to decline.
“The penchant for patronizing private educational institutions and healthcare services was alien to our democrats of old. Today, it has become an unwholesome trend for public and civil servants to seek private educational institutions and medical care for themselves and their family members—to the detriment of our country,” Ogah added.
“If we have started the removal of petroleum subsidy, we must also enforce this Bill to prohibit the patronizing of private schools and health care services by civil and public servants,” he asserted.
According to Ogah, the continuous neglect of public institutions due to elite preference for private alternatives has led to “a shadow of their former selves, with little or no infrastructural development and fallen standards of services.”
“It does not speak well of our country that our Presidents and notable government functionaries are seen to be going abroad for medical treatment—and even dying in the process,” he said.
The proposed legislation, he argued, is aimed at putting an end to what he termed “medical and educational tourism” among public sector workers, adding that promoting local institutions would enhance national pride and institutional accountability.
“I therefore call on Nigerians and indeed the Fourth Estate of the Realm to join me in supporting this Bill and begin a new consciousness of promoting our health care and educational institutions,” Ogah urged.
“Let the campaign begin with hashtag #PromoteOurSchoolsAndHealthcareServices;PrivateInstitutionsAndHealthcareServicesProvidersProhibitionBill2025.”
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