•We’ll run it with unity college principles in mind — KCOBA
•No going back on concession — Education Minister gos
By Adesina Wahab, Joseph Erunke & Matthew Johnson
LAGOS — AFTER days of protest by parents, a contingent of policemen drawn from various formations in Lagos State, yesterday, sealed the premises of Kings College, Onikan in Lagos.
The parents, who had a serious altercation with policemen and members of the old boys association of the college on Tuesday, were nowhere to be found close to the college gate.
This is because roads leading to main gate of the college were cordoned off by police vehicles and officers.
Vehicles coming from Tafawa Balewa end, wanting to connect CMS Bus Stop, were diverted to other routes.
As of 11 am, some members of the Old Boys Association of the college, including its National President, Mr Ibrahim Imam and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr Olumide Akpata, arrived at the college for a meeting of the association to deliberate on the way forward regarding the concession of the college to the association by the Federal Government.
Briefing newsmen, members of the executive committee of the King’s College Old Boys Association, KCOBA, assured that the college would be run by them, bearing in mind the principles behind the running and operation of unity colleges.
KCOBA’s president, Mr Imam, said: “We are saying it again that we are not going to turn the college into an elitist one. We will run it in line with the principles behind the setting up of Unity Colleges and their operation. In fact, that is contained in the agreement we signed for the concession. To say we are buying it is wrong. There is no willing seller or buyer of King’s College. The Federal Government is not selling, while KCOBA is not buying.
“All our interventions in the past, rehabilitating and renovating facilities and even building new ones, have amounted to naught. Whenever we fixed a facility, in the next few months and you come to assess the situation, the facility has either being vandalized or destroyed completely.
“Our agreement with the Federal Government is open for public scrutiny. We are open for scrutiny by the public and we want the government to also look into how the school has been run so far. We will ensure that each state of the federation is represented to allow for federal character. Also, we are giving our word that the fees won’t be hiked.”
On how to sustain the concession and running of the college, Also speaking, the Secretary of the association, Mr Etigwe Uwa, SAN, said: “I cannot be part of a system that would deny people a platform to fly. King’s College gave me such a platform and I have to extend the same to others, but we must first save the college from its deplorable state.”
On his part, the chairman of the KCOBA Week Planning Committee, Gbolahan Oluyomi, narrated how his efforts to help digitise learning and teaching in the college was frustrated and prevented.
Similarly, former NBA president, Olumide Akpata, said: “It is not correct to say we are not carrying the parents and staff along; they were always part of the meetings called by the ministry and our meetings here.”
No going back on concession — Alausa
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has ruled out any reversal of its decision to concession the management of King’s College, Lagos, to the institution’s Old Boys Association, insisting that the arrangement is aimed at addressing the school’s longstanding infrastructure and management challenges.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, while briefing journalists against the backdrop of the continuing protest by workers of the Federal Ministry of Education and their unions over the proposed concession and the closure of some federal unity schools, accused some directors within the ministry of allegedly instigating workers against the Federal Government. policy.
He said the Federal Government had intelligence identifying officials allegedly involved in mobilising staff against the concession.
He said: “It’s obvious now that some directors in the Ministry of Education are instigating their staff. We have intelligence to show us some directors in the Ministry of Education who are instigating their staff.”
The Minister said the Federal Government had engaged the unions and reached a six-point agreement intended to resolve the dispute and pave the way for workers to return to their offices.
He said: “To maintain peace and harmony, we will not allow people to take laws into their hands. This is a responsible government. We have given them all the room and scope for them to do their protests within the ambit of the law. There is a limit to government patience.”
On the controversy surrounding the Federal Unity Schools, Alausa said: “The Federal Government is not selling any Unity College. The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Education, does not have the intention to sell any Unity College, and we will not sell any Unity College.
“It is only if Mr President gives us, myself and the Minister of State, N2 trillion today; it will not be enough to fix our Unity Colleges.”
Giving an account of his visit to King’s College, Lagos, Alausa said that while some sections of the school were clean, the infrastructure was old and required significant attention.
He also rejected the argument that concessioning the institution amounted to selling government property, stressing that ownership would remain with the Federal Government.
Also speaking, Minister of State for Education, Prof Suwaiba Said Ahmad, said the Federal Government remained open to dialogue with the unions but insisted that normalcy must first return to the ministry.
Ahmad said one of the major issues surrounding the resistance to the concession appeared to be opposition to change and reluctance by some stakeholders to move away from existing arrangements
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