- Protest Spreads To Lagos As Workers, Parents Clash With KCOBA Members
By Our Reporter, With Agency Reports
THE DISPUTE over the proposed concession of King’s College, Lagos, to the King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA) escalated on Tuesday as unions rejected the suspension of their industrial action by the Trade Union Congress (TUC), while alleging that KCOBA members, accompanied by police officers, forcibly took control of the school premises.
The unions, under the auspices of the Joint Workers Council of the Federal Ministry of Education, staged a protest at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, demanding the immediate reversal of the proposed concession.
At King’s College in Lagos, meanwhile, the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) alleged that KCOBA members and armed police officers entered the school through the back gate and confronted workers and parents protesting at the main entrance.
Chairman of the Joint Council, Mr Abraham Onuche, said the unions would not recognise the suspension of the industrial action announced by the TUC because the congress was not directly involved in the protest or negotiations with the affected workers.
Onuche, who addressed journalists during the Abuja protest, said the unions had been protesting for three days and remained committed to securing the reversal of what they described as a decision detrimental to public education. He said the protesters had barricaded the ministry’s entrance to draw attention to what they considered a serious threat to the future of Federal Unity Colleges.
“TUC never came here for one day to listen to us, our demands,” he said, questioning how the congress could suspend an action it had neither joined nor discussed directly with the unions.
He said the unions had written to the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, on July 6, requesting an opportunity to present their concerns, but had yet to be granted an audience. According to him, the lack of consultation had further deepened the dispute.
The unions are particularly concerned about the effect of the concession on teachers and other workers at King’s College. Onuche questioned the proposed deployment of teachers who might be affected to other schools in Lagos, especially in view of the Federal Government’s approval of a waiver for the employment of more than 3,000 Parent-Teacher Association staff.
“I want to thank President Bola Tinubu for giving Federal Ministry of Education a waiver to employ more than 3,000 PTA staff,” he said, but asked what would happen to teachers displaced by the King’s College arrangement if new PTA workers were being recruited at the same time.
Onuche also warned that allowing the concession to proceed could establish a precedent for similar arrangements involving other Federal Unity Colleges, potentially affecting their ownership and management.
“Our demand now is that the minister should revoke that decision concerning King’s College and other schools,” he said.
He added that the unions had other grievances, including the stagnation of education officers and broader staff welfare and administrative challenges, but had chosen to focus their immediate efforts on the King’s College issue. He warned that the protest would continue until the government reversed the decision and commenced meaningful consultations.
At King’s College, ASCSN Unit Chairman, Samuel Enang, alleged that KCOBA members, accompanied by armed police officers, stormed the school with a generator and gained entry through the back gate before chasing away workers and parents who were peacefully protesting at the main entrance.
Enang, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, alleged that some protesters were attacked during the confrontation, with several sustaining injuries and requiring medical attention. He identified those allegedly attacked as a Deputy Director, Oyedepo; Musa Oyewoga, Vice Chairman of the union; Bolanle Olumegbon, a former Secretary of King’s College; and two Physics teachers, Mr Bashorun and Mr Adesina Emmanuel.
He further alleged that police officers took away a staff member’s child during the confrontation, describing the development as disturbing and unacceptable.
The ASCSN chairman said workers remained opposed to the proposed concession and called on the Federal Government to urgently intervene, investigate the alleged attacks and ensure the safety of workers, students, parents and other stakeholders at the college.
Also speaking in Abuja, Chairman of the ASCSN, Federal Ministry of Education chapter, Mr Chigozie Ngadi, said the protest was aimed at protecting access to quality education, particularly for children from less privileged families.
Ngadi described King’s College as a national asset that should remain accessible to Nigerians regardless of their economic circumstances. He also alleged that police personnel had been deployed to the school in an attempt to intimidate workers protesting the concession.
“We are speaking for Nigerians. We are speaking for down-trodden Nigerians to have access to good education,” he said.
He stressed that the unions were not opposed to partnerships aimed at improving infrastructure and educational facilities in public schools. However, he insisted that any such arrangement must preserve public ownership and ensure continued access to quality education for children from less privileged backgrounds.
Ngadi urged the King’s College old students’ association to support the institution without restricting opportunities available to the wider public.
The Federal Government has maintained that King’s College is neither being sold nor privatised. At a meeting with the TUC and other unions, Alausa said the government would retain legal title to the college, while KCOBA would finance its rehabilitation and modernisation and operate and maintain the institution under the proposed public-private partnership arrangement.
The minister said the concession was designed to improve the college’s infrastructure and learning environment while preserving its status as a public institution.
The explanation has, however, failed to resolve the concerns of the affected unions, who remain opposed to the arrangement and are demanding greater consultation and its reversal. The escalating dispute has now involved protests at the ministry in Abuja and a confrontation at King’s College in Lagos, with the unions warning that the action could continue if their demands are not addressed.
