By Abdulkarim Ibrahim
The House of Representatives has proposed a bill that would prevent public servants and civil servants from using private schools and healthcare facilities. This bill is aimed at restricting the use of private services for this group of people.
Sponsored by a representative from the Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency in Abia State, the legislation seeks to require politicians and government employees to use public institutions for their education and healthcare needs instead of private ones.
Speaking with journalists after the plenary on Tuesday, Ogah said the bill intends to “prohibit all public and civil servants, including their immediate family members, from patronising private schools and healthcare services”.
The legislator said this would prevent “conflict of interest, maintain public trust, and ensure high, uncompromised standards and integrity” of public schools and healthcare centres.
The lawmaker recalled that the nation’s foremost politicians, including Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, and Tafawa Balewa, attended public schools before Nigeria gained independence.
The Abia lawmaker said the “penchant” for patronising private educational institutions and healthcare services “was alien to our democrats of old, but today, it has become an unwholesome trend for both public and civil servants to seek private educational institutions and medical care for themselves and their family members to the detriment” of the nation’s economy.
“In 2024, Nigeria allocated a total of N1.336 trillion to healthcare in the 2024 budget, which is a far cry from the estimated N1.6 trillion or over $1 billion Nigerians spend annually on medical treatments abroad,” the lawmaker said.
The lawmaker said Nigerians “spent at least $29.29 billion on foreign medical expenses” during the eight years of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
He said Nigerians expended $38.17 million on foreign education expenses between January and March 2024 and $218.87 million in 2023.
“The time for us all to tell ourselves the truth is now. We can no longer continue to inflict serious damage to the psyche of Nigerians,” he said.
Ogah said due to the patronage of private schools and healthcare facilities, their public counterparts have “become a shadow of themselves, with little or no infrastructural development and fallen standards of services”.
“We must, of necessity, restore confidence in our government institutions, like public schools and government hospitals, thereby promoting the image of our country in the comity of nations,” he said.
“We must, of necessity, restore confidence in our government institutions, like public schools and government hospitals, thereby promoting the image of our country in the comity of nations,” he said.
“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.”
The lawmaker added that the bill would end medical and educational tourism among public and civil servants.