Federal Govt Puts King’s College Concession On Hold For 2 Weeks

BY HENRY TYOHEMBA, SAMUEL ABULUDE, ANDREW OJIEZEL

The Federal Ministry of Education and labour unions in the ministry have reached a five-point agreement to bring an end to the proposed concession of King’s College, Lagos.

The agreement was reached at a meeting between the Ministers of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa and Prof Suwaiba Ahmad, and representatives of the Joint Workers Union and the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) in the ministry on Wednesday night.

The labour unions are expected to immediately suspend the ongoing industrial action arising from concerns over the proposed arrangement involving King’s College.

The parties also agreed that no staff member would be victimised or subjected to any form of punitive action for participating in the industrial action.

The ministry further agreed to a two-week pause in the commencement of the implementation of the proposed takeover of King’s College by the institution’s old students.

Another resolution reached at the meeting was the redeployment of policemen from King’s College premises to help create an atmosphere conducive to further discussions.

The meeting also agreed to establish a seven-member committee to negotiate and examine the Federal Government’s agreement with the King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA).

The committee is expected to review the agreement, examine concerns raised by the labour unions and address issues arising from the proposed arrangement involving the school.

Meanwhile, LEADERSHIP gathered that the Federal Unity Schools remained shut as of Wednesday.

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Education, Prof Suwaiba Said Ahmad, said the Federal Government was willing to meet with the unions over the ongoing dispute but insisted that normalcy must first return to the ministry.

According to her, the unions’ major concern appeared to be resistance to change and reluctance to leave their comfort zones.

She disclosed that the concession would last for 25 years, saying the period was necessary to allow the concessionaire to establish a sustainable structure and system and for the government to properly assess its effectiveness.

King’s College: Parents Adamant On School Boycott As Police Surround Premises

‎Parents of students at King’s College have maintained their stance against releasing their wards and will continue the boycott of school resumption in solidarity with the strike called by the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) and the Joint Congress of Unions of the Federal Ministry of Education.

‎This is even as policemen from different formations in Lagos State have taken over the premises of King’s College, Onikan, Lagos, to maintain law and order as parents protest at the school’s entrance.

‎A parent who spoke to our correspondent noted that nothing has changed as students are not resuming, adding that her child will not resume until the demands of the Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) and parties concerned are met.

‎”The school is not resuming yet. We are in support of the boycott as the takeover will affect us in the long run,” says Mrs Ebun Sessou.

The parents had on Tuesday had a serious altercation with policemen and members of the old boys’ association. Roads leading to the college’s main gate were cordoned off by police vehicles and officers.

‎Vehicles coming from the Tafawa Balewa end, wanting to connect to the CMS bus stop, were diverted to other routes.

Some members of the Old Boys Association of the college, including the National President, Ibrahim Kassim Imam, and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr Olumide Akpata, had arrived at the college for a meeting of the association to deliberate on the way forward regarding the concession of the college to the association by the Federal Government.

Police officers have remained at the gate to forestall crises from different parties.

Meanwhile, the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has condemned the deployment of armed policemen to King’s College, Lagos, accusing the police and the King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA) of undermining ongoing negotiations over the proposed concession of the institution.

The union, in a statement signed by its National President, Shehu Mohammed, and General-Secretary, Joshua Apebo, said the incident occurred less than 24 hours after a high-level meeting involving the Minister of Education, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and ASCSN had reached an understanding on the contentious concession issue.

ASCSN said armed policemen, allegedly led by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, stormed the school premises at about 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, in what it described as a “commando-style operation.”

According to the union, the security personnel used a generating set to gain access through the padlocked gates and fired shots into the air, while workers and parents were allegedly assaulted and pushed to the ground.

It further alleged that a child of a protesting parent was arrested, adding that several of its members sustained injuries and were receiving medical attention.

The union said the operation was aimed at granting KCOBA access to the school for a press engagement, describing the development as an attack on workers’ rights and an unacceptable use of force in an industrial dispute.

ASCSN said the timing of the incident was particularly disturbing, given that dialogue between the Federal Ministry of Education, TUC, and the union was ongoing.

“At the very moment when dialogue and lawful processes were underway, state security forces were deployed to sabotage trust, undermine negotiations, and intimidate workers,” the union said.

The association demanded the immediate withdrawal of all police personnel from King’s College, arguing that the Nigeria Police Force should not be used to advance private interests or circumvent due process.

It also accused KCOBA and the police of eroding confidence in the ongoing engagement with labour, saying the incident had “effectively undermined and stalled” understandings reached between the Federal Ministry of Education, TUC and ASCSN.

The union maintained that education officers were exercising their right to resist what it described as the “backdoor commercialisation” of a historic national institution.

It commended workers and parents who, according to it, stood their ground in defence of public education, stressing that it would not be intimidated into abandoning its position.

ASCSN warned that continued provocation and the use of force in place of dialogue would attract what it called “decisive and lawful resistance” from the union.