Again, Protest Rocks Education Ministry As Workers Vow No Resumption In Unity Schools

The crisis over the proposed concession of King’s College, Lagos, escalated yesterday as the Joint Workers Union of the Federal Ministry of Education rejected the suspension of industrial action announced by the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

They vowed to sustain their protest and prevent the resumption of activities at Federal Unity Colleges nationwide unless the Federal Government reverses the controversial arrangement.

The workers warned that the ministry’s headquarters would remain shut and staff would prevent the resumption of activities in the Federal Unity Colleges if the government fails to revoke the concessioning plan.

LEADERSHIP also gathered that, contrary to the Ministry’s assurance that the issue would be addressed, Federal Unity Schools in the FCT remained shut yesterday.

During the protest, the chairman of the Joint Council, Mr Abraham Onuche, stated that the unions had demanded the immediate reversal of the concession plan and proper consultation with workers and other stakeholders before any decision is implemented.

The dispute has also deepened over the alleged failure of the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, to meet with the unions to address critical issues affecting workers and the administration of Federal Unity Colleges.

Onuche said the TUC lacked the mandate to suspend the industrial action because it was not among the unions leading the protest.

“TUC never came here for one day to listen to us, our demands. How could TUC now go for a meeting and now call off a strike that they were not part of?” he asked.

He also said the unions had written to Alausa on 6 July, requesting an audience to discuss their concerns, but the meeting had not yet taken place.

Onuche further raised concerns over the implications of the government’s approval to employ more than 3,000 Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) staff, particularly for teachers who could be displaced by the King’s College concession.

“I want to thank President Bola Tinubu for giving the Federal Ministry of Education a waiver to employ more than 3,000 PTA staff.

“In one of the circulars that we read, it was stated that those teachers in King’s College who can no longer stay because of this concessioning issue can now go back to other schools within Lagos.

“Now that they have given that waiver for this employment, and this is coming, where do you now want these people to go and work?” he asked.

According to him, the unions’ immediate demand was for the minister to revoke the decision on the concession of King’s College and prevent similar arrangements involving other Federal Unity Colleges.

“Our demand now is one, that the minister should revoke that decision concerning King’s College and other schools,” Onuche said.

He warned that allowing the concession to proceed could establish a precedent for old students’ associations of other Federal Unity Colleges to pursue similar arrangements in the future.

“If that King’s College goes, as we follow in law, that’s what they call precedent. That means old boys have set a precedent,” he said.

The chairman also questioned how teachers affected by the proposed concession would be accommodated, particularly in view of the Federal Government’s approval for the recruitment of more than 3,000 PTA staff.

He said the unions had other grievances, including concerns about stagnation among education officers and other issues affecting the ministry’s staff, but noted that the immediate focus remained on the King’s College concession.

Onuche said the unions would continue their protest until the Federal Government reversed the decision.

He warned that failure to address the issue would result in the continued closure of the ministry’s headquarters and prevent the resumption of activities at the affected Federal Unity Colleges.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Federal Ministry of Education chapter, Mr Chigozie Ngadi, said the protest was aimed at protecting access to quality education for children from less privileged backgrounds.

Ngadi described King’s College as a national asset and expressed concern that concessioning the institution could make it increasingly inaccessible to children from poorer families.

He also alleged that police personnel had been deployed to the school, describing the development as an attempt to intimidate workers.

“We are speaking for Nigerians. We are speaking for downtrodden Nigerians to have access to good education,” he said. “We’re only demanding that poor children should have access to King’s College and quality education.

“The old boys’ association should give back to that society that made them what they are and not take from it,” Ngadi stressed that the unions were not opposed to partnerships aimed at improving infrastructure and facilities in public schools.

He said any such arrangement must preserve public ownership and ensure that children from less privileged backgrounds continued to have access to quality education.

The unions maintained that the King’s College dispute must be resolved before they consider their other grievances, insisting that the government should engage them in meaningful dialogue and reverse the concessioning decision.