Workers, under the aegis of the Joint Workers Committee of Unions (JWC) of the Federal Ministry of Education, yesterday, shut down the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, protesting the planned concession of King’s College, Lagos.
The workers, comprising unions representing staff of the ministry and Federal Government Unity Schools, barricaded the ministry’s entrance, preventing officials and other workers from accessing the premises.
The protest followed the Federal Government’s plan to hand over management of the college to the King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA) under a proposed 35-year concession.
They expressed concern that the proposed concession could undermine the institution’s public character and set a precedent for transferring management of other Federal Government-owned schools to private interests.
The workers vowed to sustain the industrial action until their concerns are addressed, raising fresh uncertainty over the resumption of academic activities in Federal Government Unity Colleges nationwide.
Meanwhile, a disagreement over the venue of a meeting between the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, and workers yesterday stalled efforts to resolve the crisis over the planned concession of the college.
It was gathered that the meeting, scheduled yesterday, was cancelled after the minister reportedly insisted that it should hold at the headquarters of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), while the unions demanded that the minister should meet them at the Federal Ministry of Education headquarters in Abuja.
Further findings showed that the meeting was rescheduled for yesterday.
However, KCOBA has called for public support and understanding as it celebrates the 117th anniversary of the iconic Lagos secondary school, amid the Federal Government’s proposed Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement involving the institution.
President of KCOBA, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, while speaking at a media briefing in Lagos yesterday to herald the 2026 King’s Week, said the Association would hold a separate world media briefing tomorrow to address issues surrounding the PPP arrangement.
He said that the timing of this year’s celebration coincided with the controversy surrounding the proposed management arrangement.
According to him, the PPP issue would be addressed tomorrow by the President of King’s College, Femi Okunnu, who is also Chairman of the association’s Board of Trustees and the King’s College Education Trust.
Ibrahim-Imam said Okunnu could not attend yesterday’s briefing because he had lost his younger brother and had to attend the burial.
He, therefore, appealed to journalists and members of the public to attend tomorrow’s briefing, scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at King’s College, Lagos, where, he said, the Association would provide further clarification on the arrangement.
He said the briefing was necessary to correct what he described as misinformation surrounding the institution and to enable Nigerians to appreciate the sacrifices made by generations of old students.
Guardian
