Students of Federal Unity Colleges across Nigeria will not resume for the first term until further notice following a directive by the Joint Congress of Unions of the Federal Ministry of Education.
The unions said the directive was issued in protest against the planned concession of King’s College, Lagos, and applies to all Federal Unity Colleges nationwide, including Federal Government Colleges, Federal Government Boys’ Colleges, Federal Government Girls’ Colleges and Federal Technical Colleges.
The dispute follows the Federal Government’s reported plan to concession King’s College, Lagos, to the school’s old boys’ association under a 35-year arrangement.
The proposal has drawn opposition from workers and other stakeholders who are concerned about the transfer of management of a federal institution to an alumni-backed entity.
In a communiqué, the unions said they rejected the planned concession and would not allow students to resume until the matter was satisfactorily resolved.
“No resumption shall take place in any Federal Unity College across the Federation until this matter is satisfactorily resolved and the planned sale/concession of King’s College, Lagos, is reversed,” the communiqué stated.
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The unions also said they opposed the sale, concession or privatization of King’s College or any other Federal Unity College in the country.
“We firmly oppose the sale, concession, or privatization of King’s College, Lagos, or any other Federal Unity College in Nigeria,” they said.
The workers accused the Minister of Education of refusing to meet with them to discuss their concerns, saying repeated requests for a meeting over the past month had been ignored.
They said the failure to engage with them left them with no option but to take action, including directing the suspension of resumption across the colleges.
The unions appealed to parents, guardians, School-Based Management Committees, Parent-Teacher Associations and community leaders to support their opposition to the proposed concession.
They also called on the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress and the Nigerian Union of Journalists to join the campaign against the concession of Federal Unity Colleges.
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