The Federal Government has suspended the implementation of the planned concession of King’s College, Lagos, for two weeks following protests by education-sector labour unions over the proposed management arrangement for the 117-year-old institution.
The decision followed a meeting between the Federal Government and representatives of education-sector labour unions in Abuja on Wednesday.
Under the five-point agreement reached at the meeting, the unions agreed to suspend their industrial action, while the government assured workers that no staff member would be victimised for participating in the protest.
The government also agreed to pause the implementation of the management arrangement involving the King’s College Old Boys’ Association for two weeks.
A seven-member committee is expected to be constituted to review and negotiate the agreement between the Federal Government and the King’s College Old Boys’ Association, KCOBA.
The government further ordered the redeployment of police personnel from the premises of King’s College, following the heavy police presence at the school on Wednesday.
The development comes after tensions escalated on Tuesday when protesting staff members resisted attempts to allow members of the Old Boys’ Association into the school premises. The confrontation led to police intervention and further protests by workers.
The staff unions have opposed the concession, arguing that it could amount to privatisation of a Federal Government-owned unity school. The Federal Government, however, has maintained that King’s College has neither been sold nor privatised and that legal ownership remains with the government.
The President of KCOBA, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, also said on Wednesday that the Old Boys’ Association was not taking ownership of the institution.
He said the association’s role under the arrangement was to manage and improve the school while the Federal Government retained ownership.
Ibrahim-Imam said KCOBA planned to rehabilitate dilapidated facilities and improve the welfare and training of teachers. He also said the association had no plan to increase school fees.
The Federal Government has separately clarified that the King’s College arrangement is an isolated case and will not be extended to other Federal Unity Colleges.
Education Minister, Tunji Alausa, said the government would continue to fund the rehabilitation of other Unity Colleges, adding that alternative funding mechanisms were being explored to address infrastructure deficits.
The minister said approval had also been secured to repurpose about $20m from a World Bank-supported programme for school rehabilitation, with about 20 Unity Colleges selected for the intervention.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Education, Prof Suwaiba Ahmad, assured that no teacher would lose their job as a result of the King’s College arrangement.
The two-week pause now provides an opportunity for the government, labour unions and the Old Boys’ Association to review the contentious issues surrounding the proposed management arrangement.
The Federal Government’s latest decision is the most significant development in the King’s College concession controversy since the dispute escalated into protests and a police deployment at the school.
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