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The Federal Government has agreed to review the controversial concession arrangement for King’s College, Lagos, following days of protests and disruption that affected Federal Unity Colleges across the country.
The decision followed an emergency meeting between the Federal Ministry of Education and organised labour, chaired by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa. A seven-member joint committee, which will include labour representatives, has now been established to examine the concession agreement and address concerns raised by workers and other stakeholders. The committee has been given two weeks to make recommendations.
Following the agreement, the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria and the Trade Union Congress suspended their industrial action over the dispute. The development offers some prospect of normality returning to Federal Unity Colleges after workers prevented pupils from resuming for the new academic session.
The controversy began after the Federal Government entered into an arrangement transferring the management and operation of the historic King’s College to an entity associated with the King’s College Old Boys Association under a Public-Private Partnership model. The government has repeatedly maintained that the college has neither been sold nor privatised and that legal ownership remains with the Federal Government. Under the proposed arrangement, the old boys would have responsibilities relating to financing, rehabilitation, modernisation, operation and maintenance of the school.
Workers, parents and other stakeholders have opposed the arrangement, expressing concern about its implications for the public character of King’s College and the possibility that a similar model could subsequently be extended to other Federal Unity Colleges. The dispute resulted in the closure of more than 100 Unity Colleges at the beginning of the new academic session and protests at the Federal Ministry of Education headquarters in Abuja.
Tensions also remained high at King’s College on Tuesday when protesting staff and parents prevented representatives of the Old Boys Association from entering the premises for a planned media briefing. Police were deployed to the school as the confrontation developed.
The Old Boys Association has rejected suggestions that its involvement amounts to the privatisation or sale of the institution. Its representatives said the proposed arrangement was intended to improve the management, financing, maintenance and modernisation of the 117-year-old school while preserving its status as a public institution.
The establishment of the review committee represents a significant change in the dispute, but it does not yet amount to a cancellation of the concession. Attention will now turn to the committee’s recommendations and whether they can resolve concerns over the future management of King’s College and prevent further disruption to pupils in Federal Unity Colleges.
For parents and students, the immediate priority will be the restoration of normal academic activities after an unusually turbulent start to the 2026/2027 school year.
Podium News will continue to monitor developments.
