King’s College: Unity Colleges workers reject FG resumption order

Workers in Federal Unity Colleges across the country have rejected the Federal Government’s directive to resume academic activities, insisting that their indefinite strike over the planned concession of King’s College, Lagos, remains in force.

The development came despite a September 18 directive from the Federal Ministry of Education ordering principals of the colleges to reopen for academic activities.

Visits to some Unity Colleges in Lagos and Ibadan on Monday showed that union members remained at their duty posts around school gates, while many parents kept their children at home.

The workers, under the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, had earlier rejected a September 13 resumption date over the dispute, maintaining that there would be “no reversal, no resumption.”

The Federal Government had reached an agreement with education-sector unions on September 16 to suspend the proposed management takeover of King’s College by the school’s Old Boys’ Association for two weeks.

The agreement followed protests and industrial action by workers opposed to the concession of the 117-year-old institution.

Under the agreement, unions were expected to suspend the strike immediately, while the government assured workers that no employee would be victimised for participating in the protests.

The parties also agreed to establish a seven-member committee to review and negotiate the government’s agreement with the King’s College Old Boys’ Association.

The implementation of the takeover arrangement was to be suspended for two weeks, while policemen deployed to the premises of the college were also to be withdrawn.

However, a faction of the ASCSN led by Shehu Mohammed rejected the agreement, arguing that the representatives who reached it did not have the mandate to speak for the union.

The faction subsequently directed members to continue the industrial action, accusing the Ministry of Education of undermining an earlier agreement reached with ASCSN and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria.

In a September 18 directive to union officials across the Federal Unity Colleges, the faction ordered members to stop academic and administrative activities and set up monitoring teams to ensure compliance.

At King’s College, Lagos, the ASCSN chapter chairman, Sam Enang, said workers had not resumed and would remain on strike until the issues surrounding the concession were resolved.

“We have not resumed. The pupils are at home. We have not called off the strike,” Enang said.

He alleged that the Ministry of Education had breached its agreement with the unions by deploying police officers to the college during the dispute and by negotiating with a different group.

“So, we have been asked to remain on indefinite strike until they reverse the situation at the college. So, nothing is working out here,” he said.

Enang said the directive covered all 115 Federal Unity Colleges across the country.

“All Unity Colleges, they are on indefinite strike as I’m talking to you, because of King’s College. And this notice has gone across all six geopolitical zones, and the 115 Unity Colleges we have across the country. No school has resumed,” he said.

He added that the union had communicated with parents, urging them not to take their children to school.

The ASCSN chairman also said the police personnel previously deployed to King’s College had since left the premises following the confrontation involving workers and members of the Old Boys’ Association.

At Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Lagos, the ASCSN chairman, Ayo Hundeyin, also confirmed that workers had rejected the resumption directive.

“We have not resumed. The pupils are at home. We have not called off the strike,” he said.

Hundeyin also raised concerns about alleged plans to hand over other Unity Colleges to private interests, citing institutions in Kano, Port Harcourt and Ilorin.

“We are aware that there are similar plans to hand over Unity Colleges in Kano, Port Harcourt, and Ilorin. The education of our children is our priority, and we won’t support any privatisation of our schools,” he said.

The dispute centres on the Federal Government’s decision to concession the management of King’s College to its Old Boys’ Association under a public-private partnership arrangement.

The government has maintained that the college has not been sold or privatised and that ownership remains with the Federal Government.

Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has also said the arrangement involving King’s College would not be extended to other Federal Unity Colleges.

“No. We’re not extending it. The government still has its responsibility,” Alausa said.

The minister said the government would continue to fund the rehabilitation of other Unity Colleges while exploring alternative financing options to address infrastructure challenges in the schools.