Mixed reactions trail Reps’ bill barring Nigerian officials from private education, healthcare

The recent move by the House of Representatives to bar public officials from using private healthcare and education facilities has ignited fresh arguments about the propriety of such development.

Nigerians, particularly the ordinary masses, have been crying over the continued decay and abandonment of health facilities as well as educational institutions in Nigeria by those charged with the responsibility of putting them on the right track.

At various times, some public institutions of higher learning, like universities and polytechnics, have been referred to as glorified secondary schools by some experts because they lack the basic facilities that should qualify them to be universities and polytechnics.

Similar incidents have happened to public hospitals and health centres, as they have also been referred to at various times by experts as mortuaries because instead of saving lives, they hasten the transition of many to the world beyond.

Analysts have argued that the situation has persisted because those who should fix these institutions and bring them to standard don’t use them. They prefer private health and education facilities for themselves, their children, and relatives, both within and outside Nigeria, because they can afford the costs, while millions who can’t access these private institutions are left to their fate.

Hundreds of millions of naira have been budgeted yearly for the health and education sectors in Nigeria, but at the end of the day, the money ends up in the private pockets of individual public officers. They embezzle the funds and allow these sectors to continue bleeding while they either travel abroad for medical help or visit the best private health facilities in Nigeria. They also send their children abroad for education or to the best private educational institutions in Nigeria. Meanwhile, millions of Nigerians who can’t afford these luxuries are left to suffer. Nigerians have been crying over the situation and calling on the lawmakers to pass a law that would ban any public officer from using private health or educational facilities.