A new chapter in Nigeria’s bid to overhaul the nation’s educational and healthcare systems is developing as the House of Representatives has presented a landmark measure proposing to bar public personnel, along with their families, from patronizing private schools and clinics. If approved into law, this measure could drastically reconfigure access to social infrastructure for thousands of government workers and drive significant reform across important public sectors.
The “Private Institutions and Health Care Service Providers (Prohibition) Bill, 2025,” sponsored by Hon. Amobi Godwin Ogah of Abia State, was read for the first time before a receptive—yet cautious—chamber of lawmakers on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. The audacious plan draws a clear line in the sand regarding the privileged access typically enjoyed by the wealthy at the expense of the nation’s failing public institutions.
Speaking at a press briefing after the bill’s introduction, Hon. Ogah called the law “a turning point in the history of our nation.” The fundamental purpose is to restore faith in public institutions and eliminate conflicts of interest that have contributed to the collapse of the country’s educational and healthcare systems. The proposed law particularly tries to curb:
The ingrained tendency of public officials to opt for private schools and hospitals rather than using and upgrading public options. The perception and reality that government-owned institutions are inferior to their private counterparts.
