Federal Unity Colleges nationwide are set to reopen after the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, suspended its strike over the concession of King’s College, Lagos.
The decision was reached at a meeting between the leadership of the Trade Union Congress, ASCSN and zonal coordinators of the Unity Schools in Kano on Tuesday.
The union resolved to suspend the strike to allow a seven-member committee to review the King’s College concession document.
The action comes about two weeks after ASCSN and the Parent Teacher Association, PTA, shut the Unity Colleges, opposing the concession of King’s College to its Old Boys Association.
The colleges were initially scheduled to resume on September 13, but ASCSN directed its members to boycott the resumption, arguing that the concession threatened the future of the Federal Unity College system.
In a communiqué issued on Wednesday, the union leaders said they considered the agreement reached between organised labour and the Federal Ministry of Education alongside the King’s College concession document.
They resolved to suspend the strike while the seven-member committee reviews the concession document.
The union said the decision was also based on the suspension of the King’s College concession pending the committee’s report, with ASCSN having two representatives on the committee.
“Considering the above, the Zonal Coordinators of the Unity Schools agreed with the National Leadership of the ASCSN that the strike be suspended immediately while awaiting the report of the committee,” the communiqué said.
Following the suspension, the PTA proposed Sunday, September 27, for students to return to their schools, subject to confirmation by the Federal Ministry of Education.
In a statement on Wednesday, the PTA welcomed the suspension, describing it as an opportunity for dialogue between the Federal Government, labour, school authorities and other stakeholders.
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The parents said they were prepared to support the restoration of academic activities but urged the ministry to urgently confirm the proposed resumption date to enable parents to make arrangements.
The PTA also called for the release or restoration of staff affected by the government’s action and urged all parties to allow the seven-member committee to complete its assignment without pressure.
The dispute followed the Federal Ministry of Education’s Sept. 4 directive for the immediate handover of King’s College to the King’s College Old Boys Association, KCOBA, after the conclusion of a concession agreement.
The ministry said the transition committee would complete the handover within six months, after which Federal Government funding of the college would stop.
Education Minister Tunji Alausa, however, said the arrangement was not a sale or privatisation of the 117-year-old institution, stressing that the Federal Government retained legal ownership.
He said KCOBA would be responsible for financing, rehabilitating, modernising, operating and maintaining the school.
The dispute escalated when KCOBA members, accompanied by police officers, entered the school premises despite resistance from protesting staff.
On September 16, the Federal Government and organized labour agreed to suspend implementation of the concession for two weeks and constituted a seven-member committee to review the document and address concerns raised by the unions.
A faction of ASCSN led by its National President, Shehu Mohammed, however, rejected the suspension at the time and maintained that the strike remained in force.
NAN
