Nigerian Government Clarifies King’s College Concession, Claims School Not Sold To Old Boys | Sahara Reporters

The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, said the arrangement with the King’s College Old Boys’ Association (KCOBA) is a Public-Private Partnership concession and not a sale of the institution.

The Nigerian government has moved to clarify the controversial concession of King’s College, Lagos, to the school’s Old Boys’ Association, insisting that the 117-year-old institution has not been sold or privatised.

The Federal Ministry of Education, in a statement issued Friday by its Director of Press and Public Relations, said the Nigerian Government retains legal ownership of the prestigious school and will continue to exercise its statutory, regulatory, monitoring, inspection and enforcement powers.

The clarification comes amid growing opposition from parents, students, workers, alumni and other stakeholders who have raised concerns that the concession could amount to the transfer of control of the public institution to a private body.

The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, said the arrangement with the King’s College Old Boys’ Association (KCOBA) is a Public-Private Partnership concession and not a sale of the institution.

“Let me assure Nigerians, particularly the King’s College community, that this 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.

He said the arrangement was designed to mobilise investment and management capacity needed to rehabilitate and modernise the school while preserving its public character and national identity.

Under the concession agreement, KCOBA is expected to finance, rehabilitate, operate and maintain the school.

This includes major rehabilitation and new development covering academic and administrative buildings, hostels, staff quarters, laboratories, libraries, dining facilities, health facilities, utilities, sports and recreational facilities, landscaping, drainage and environmental works.

The programme also provides for new classrooms, laboratories, hostels and specified sports facilities, as well as improved learning resources and digital tools.

The Nigerian government’s latest clarification follows weeks of controversy over its decision to concession King’s College to KCOBA.

KCOBA had announced the concession as a major step towards restoring the historic institution, which was established more than a century ago.

The association has also proposed a N100billion endowment fund to support the redevelopment of the school.

However, the concession immediately triggered opposition from parents, students and workers who questioned the decision to place the management of a public national institution under the old boys’ association.

The King’s College Parent-Teacher Association rejected the arrangement, expressing concerns that the concession could undermine the school’s character as an affordable public institution and eventually make it inaccessible to children from poorer families.

Parents and students also staged protests, carrying placards including “King’s College is not for sale” and demanding that the Nigerian Government reverse the concession.

The PTA subsequently threatened legal action over the arrangement, insisting that King’s College belongs to the Nigerian public.

The controversy intensified following reports that the concession would run for 35 years.

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria also opposed the arrangement, warning that the concession of King’s College could pave the way for the transfer of other Federal Unity Colleges to private interests.

The union argued that such arrangements could make public schools unaffordable and threaten the jobs of workers currently employed in the institutions.

On Thursday, workers under the Joint Workers Union of the Ministry of Education shut down the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja in protest against the concession.

The workers threatened to shut down the ministry and the Federal Unity Colleges if the Nigerian Government failed to reverse the decision.

They also demanded the removal of Alausa, accusing the minister of ignoring workers while outsourcing functions of the ministry to consultants.