By Chioma Obinna
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has called on the Federal Government to suspend moves to concession the management of King’s College, Lagos, to the school’s Old Boys’ Association under a proposed Public-Private Partnership, PPP.
HURIWA also demanded the immediate publication of the legal and contractual framework backing the proposed arrangement, insisting that Nigerians should know who would control the school, for how long and under what legal authority.
The rights group, in a press statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, said an alumni association could not automatically assume the role of proprietor or de facto manager of a federal school simply because it had contributed to the institution’s development.
The group said King’s College was a national institution within Nigeria’s public education system and should not be transferred or subjected to a management arrangement without strict adherence to due process, applicable laws and public accountability.
HURIWA’s position comes amid reported controversy over the proposed PPP arrangement involving the school and its Old Boys’ Association.
The association’s president, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, has reportedly maintained that the arrangement does not amount to a sale or privatisation of the school.
But HURIWA said the description of the arrangement as a PPP did not, by itself, answer fundamental questions about the proposed management structure.
The group asked: “Who will control the school? For how long? Under what law? Who will determine policy? Who will control finances? Who will employ or transfer teachers? Who will determine fees? What happens to the school’s public assets? And what happens when the PPP expires?”
It said the questions must be answered publicly before any concession arrangement was allowed to proceed.
HURIWA urged the Federal Government, if it intended to proceed with the concession, to ensure that the process was transparent, competitive and compliant with applicable procurement and public-sector rules.
The organisation also rejected what it described as any attempt to give an individual alumni association preferential access to a national public institution without a transparent process.
According to HURIWA, financial contributions by old students towards the development of their alma mater should not automatically translate into ownership or management rights over a federal institution.
The group said such contributions could instead be structured through a properly governed development fund or endowment, with clear rules on how the money would be managed and deployed.
“Money donated to a public institution does not become a title deed to that institution,” HURIWA said.
The rights group also cautioned against using PPP arrangements as a means of transferring the Federal Government’s responsibility for public education to alumni organisations.
It urged the government to provide adequate funding, infrastructure and personnel for public schools while ensuring that any partnership with private organisations was structured around improving facilities and educational standards without compromising public ownership and accountability.
HURIWA also expressed concern over reports of tension between workers and the Old Boys’ Association concerning the future of King’s College.
The group said disagreements surrounding the management of a federal school should be resolved through dialogue and due process and not through intimidation or the deployment of security personnel to enforce a disputed arrangement.
It therefore called for an immediate dialogue involving workers, parents, students, the Old Boys’ Association, education authorities and other relevant stakeholders.
HURIWA further demanded that no irreversible decision concerning the ownership, control or management of the institution be taken until the legal and public-interest issues surrounding the proposed PPP had been addressed.
The group said: “King’s College is not an inheritance to be shared among former students. It is a national institution.
“It belongs within Nigeria’s public education system and must remain accessible, accountable and subject to lawful public oversight.”
HURIWA urged the Minister of Education to disclose the proposed concession agreement, approval documents, legal basis, duration, financial obligations, management structure and safeguards for students and workers.
It also called on the Federal Government to ensure that any future partnership aimed at rehabilitating King’s College was designed to improve the institution without compromising public ownership and accountability.
HURIWA said it would oppose any arrangement which, in its view, used the language of PPP to achieve what would effectively amount to transferring control of a national educational asset to a private association.
The group said: “King’s College is not for sale. King’s College is not an alumni estate. King’s College is a national institution, and its future must be determined openly, lawfully and in the public interest.”
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