Students of Federal Unity Colleges across Nigeria will not resume for the first term until further notice.
This follows a directive by the Joint Congress of Unions of the Federal Ministry of Education.
The unions announced the decision in a communiqué issued on Thursday, saying the action was in protest against the planned concession of King’s College, Lagos.
The directive affects all Federal Unity Colleges nationwide, including Federal Government Colleges, Federal Government Boys’ Colleges, Federal Government Girls’ Colleges and Federal Technical Colleges.
“We reject the planned concession of King’s College, and students should not resume until the issue is resolved,” the unions said.
“No resumption shall take place in any Federal Unity College across the Federation until this matter is satisfactorily resolved and the planned sale/concession of King’s College, Lagos, is reversed,” the communiqué stated.
The workers insisted that they were opposed to the sale, concession or privatisation of King’s College or any other Federal Unity College in the country.
“We firmly oppose the sale, concession, or privatisation of King’s College, Lagos, or any other Federal Unity College in Nigeria,” the unions said.
They also accused the Minister of Education of refusing to meet with them to discuss their concerns.
According to the unions, repeated requests for a meeting over the past month were ignored, leaving them with no choice but to take action.
The communiqué appealed to parents, guardians, School-Based Management Committees, Parent-Teacher Associations and community leaders to support their opposition to the concession.
The unions also called on organisations such as the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and Nigerian Union of Journalists to join the campaign against the concession of Federal Unity Colleges.