A major standoff has erupted between the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, and staff unions of the Federal Ministry of Education over the planned concession of King’s College, Lagos, to its old boys association.
The dispute is threatening to paralyze resumption in all 115 Federal Unity Colleges nationwide, billed for monday September 14th
In a letter dated September 4th, 2026, the Ministry of Education directed the immediate handover of the 117-year-old King’s College to the King’s College Old Boys’ Association, KCOBA following the signing of a long-term Public-Private Partnership, PPP concession agreement.
The letter, signed by Dr. O.P. Olasoju-David on behalf of the minister of Education, ordered the constitution of a Transition Committee to complete handover within six months, after which federal funding from the Federation Account would stop. Principals were asked to list staff willing to remain in federal civil service.
KCOBA President Kashim Ibrahim-Imam hailed it as the start of a “King’s College Renaissance, saying and quote ” the alumni would finance, rehabilitate, modernise, operate and maintain the school.
But the same friday, the Joint Congress of Unions of the Federal Ministry of Education; comprising all recognised staff unions, launched a massive protest at the federal ministry of education disrupting operations and vehemently rejecting the move.
MUST READ:Kings College Dispute: Uncertainty Over Sept 14 Resumption In Unity Schools
In a communiqué issued September 10, 2026, the unions described the concession as a “sale” and “privatisation” of heritage institutions.
They also directed that no student should resume for the first term in any Federal Government College, Federal Government Boys’/Girls’ College, or Federal Technical College until the decision is reversed.
The aggrieved workers accused Minister Alausa of refusing to grant them audience for over one month despite repeated requests, while appealing to ASUU, NLC, TUC, and NUJ for solidarity.
Hundreds of parents and students had earlier protested on Lagos Island on August 28, carrying placards with inscriptions like “King’s College is not for sale” and “FG, we say no to concession.”
The National Chairman of PTA, Peter Oluwaleye, accused old boys association of King’s College of claiming ownership.
Also, the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria has sent warnings that the move by the federal government could lead to unaffordable fees and job losses.
Responding to the imbroglio on Friday, September 11, Education Minister Tunji Alausa insisted King’s College has “not been sold”.
In a statement signed by the ministry’s spokesperson Folasade Boriowo, Alausa said ” the concession is not a sale of King’s college. Government has retained legal title to the institution and will continue to exercise its oversight responsibilities…
Alausa said the PPP went through full due process; technical, legal, financial, environmental assessments, value-for-money analysis, and Federal Executive Council approval, and does not transfer ownership or create proprietary interest for KCOBA.
King’s College, founded in 1909, is Nigeria’s premier unity school and the Unions fear this is a pilot for wholesale privatisation of every other unity college, but the ministry of education continues to argue that decades of underfunding and decay require alumni capital, as intervention.
For now, resumption remains suspended indefinitely, leaving tens of thousands of parents and students in limbo as the new term stalls.
(Follow AIT News on WhatsApp, AfricaIndependentTV on YouTube, ait_online on Facebook and X (Formerly Twitter), and officialait on TikTok, Instagram and Threads)
Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu
