.Education unions suspend resumption in federal unity colleges over King’s College concession
Funmi Ogundare
The federal government yesterday clarified that King’s College, Lagos, has not been sold or privatised. It stressed that the school remains publicly owned with legal title retained by the government.
This was as the Joint Congress of Unions of the Federal Ministry of Education has suspended the resumption of students for the first term academic session in all Federal Unity Colleges nationwide, citing the proposed concession of King’s College, Lagos.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, in a statement by the ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Folasade Boriowo, clarified the Public-Private Partnership concession involving the King’s College Old Boys’ Association (KCOBA), following concerns over the ownership and management of the 117-year-old institution.
The minister explained that under the concession agreement, KCOBA would be responsible for financing, rehabilitating, modernising, operating and maintaining the school, while the Federal Government would retain legal title and its statutory, regulatory, monitoring, inspection and enforcement powers.
He explained, “Let me assure Nigerians, particularly the King’s College community, that this concession is not a sale of King’s College. Government has retained legal title to the institution and will continue to exercise its oversight responsibilities.
“The purpose of the arrangement is to mobilise the investment and management capacity required to strengthen this important national institution.”
Alausa said the concession was developed under the established PPP framework and subjected to technical, economic, financial, legal, environmental and social assessments, value-for-money analysis, fiscal-impact assessment, risk allocation and commercial structuring before securing the necessary regulatory and Federal Executive Council approvals.
He said the federal government welcomed legitimate scrutiny and urged stakeholders to judge the arrangement by its implementation, transparency and measurable results, particularly improvements in infrastructure, academic performance, admissions, staff welfare, student safety and wellbeing, proper utilisation of project funds and compliance with agreed KPIs.
“Our responsibility is to protect the integrity and public purpose of King’s College while ensuring that the institution receives the investment, infrastructure and management capacity required to meet the needs of present and future generations. We will continue to monitor implementation and hold all parties to their contractual obligations,” the minister assured.
The minister called on the King’s College community and the Nigerian public to engage with the substance of the concession agreement and assess the arrangement based on its safeguards, investment obligations, implementation and results.
“King’s College is a national heritage institution. The objective is not merely to preserve its past, but to build an institution worthy of its history, strengthened for the present and equipped for the future,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the unions comprising recognised staff unions in the Federal Ministry of Education, announced the decision in a communiqué dated September 10, 2026, directed at parents, guardians, School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs), Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs), community leaders and the general public.
According to the communiqué, resumption for the first term, earlier scheduled for today, Saturday, September 12, has been suspended nationwide until further notice.
The affected institutions include Federal Government Colleges, Federal Government Boys’ Colleges, Federal Government Girls’ Colleges and Federal Technical Colleges.
The unions stated that the action was a direct consequence of the proposed concession of King’s College, Lagos, which they described as a development they vehemently rejected.
They maintained that staff of the Federal Ministry of Education were opposed to the sale, concession or privatisation of King’s College or any other Federal Unity College in the country.
The unions also accused the Minister of Education of refusing to grant them an audience to discuss the matter despite repeated requests over the past month.
“This refusal to engage in dialogue has left the union with no option but to take this stand in defence of public education,” they stated.
Consequently, the Joint Congress resolved that no resumption should take place in any Federal Unity College across the country until the matter was satisfactorily resolved and the planned sale or concession of King’s College, Lagos, reversed.
The unions called on parents, community leaders, SBMC and PTA members across Federal Unity Colleges to join the staff in resisting what they described as the “sale of our heritage institutions.”
“We are not ready for the privatisation of our educational institutions,” the communiqué stated.
They further appealed for the solidarity of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) in opposing the sale or concession of any Federal Unity College.
The unions declared, “Education must not be privatised,” adding that they would continue to keep parents, guardians and the general public informed of further developments.