₦airaland Forum

The Federal Government has insisted that all 115 Federal Unity Colleges will reopen on Monday, September 14, 2026, despite an escalating dispute over the 35-year concession of King’s College, Lagos, that has already forced the historic school to shut its gates.

The assurance came as workers threatened an indefinite shutdown of Federal Unity Colleges nationwide, while parents and students at King’s College remained caught in the dispute over the school’s transfer to the King’s College Old Boys’ Association.

Education Minister Maruf Tunji Alausa said the government had made arrangements for the safe reopening of the schools and that security agencies had been alerted to maintain heightened vigilance around the institutions.

The development follows the closure of King’s College by workers opposed to the concession, raising uncertainty over whether students would be able to resume as scheduled.

Why King’s College Was Concessioned

The Federal Ministry of Education said the concession to KCOBA had been concluded under a Public-Private Partnership arrangement designed to rehabilitate, modernise, operate and maintain the 116-year-old institution.

Under the agreement, KCOBA would take responsibility for financing and managing the school through its special-purpose vehicle, King’s College Education Trust Ltd/Gte.

But the government insists the arrangement does not amount to a sale.

“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.

The minister said the government would retain regulatory, monitoring, inspection and enforcement powers.

He also said admission would continue under Federal Unity College policies, with merit, fairness, transparency and national representation guiding entry.

On concerns over affordability, Alausa said the concession agreement did not prescribe an automatic increase in fees, although it also did not impose a permanent fee freeze.

“King’s College is an institution with a remarkable history, but preserving that history requires us to invest in its future,” he said.

Workers Reject Handover

The controversy intensified after the ministry directed King’s College management to begin the handover process.

A September 4 letter instructed the principal to work with a transition committee that would complete the transfer within six months. The ministry also asked the school to identify workers willing to remain under the Federal Civil Service Commission. The staff union subsequently shut the school.

King’s College Parent-Teacher Association Chairman Peter Oluwaleye said the closure had put the planned resumption in doubt.

“The staff union has declared an immediate shutdown of the college. No more entrance and exit,” he said.

The PTA has opposed the concession, arguing that students admitted into the institution as a Federal Government school should be allowed to complete their education under the same arrangement.

“Our children got admitted into KC as a unity school. They should have been allowed to graduate under the same terms,” Oluwaleye said.

Parents are also concerned that a change in management could eventually make the school unaffordable.

The National Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria warned that substantial fee increases could exclude families who currently depend on the Federal Unity College system.

King’s College crisis deepens as workers shut school over 35-year concession

The 35-year concession of King’s College, Lagos, to the King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA) has triggered a fresh crisis, with workers shutting down the school and parents rejecting the arrangement for fear it could make the Federal Government institution unaffordable to ordinary families.

The workers, under the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), have declared an indefinite shutdown of the college, while the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) opposed the concession, arguing that students already admitted into the Federal Government school should not be transferred to a privately operated institution midway through their education.

The Nation’s reporter who visited the school on Tuesday observed that the college had been shut indefinitely, with a notice pasted on the gate stating, “Note that the College has shut down for now till further notice. No more registrations till further notice.”

Jidefido:
https://irokomedia.com/kings-college-crisis-fg-unity-colleges-reopen/




https://thenationonlineng.net/kings-college-crisis-deepens-as-workers-shut-school-over-35-year-concession/amp/

Kukutente23:
I said it then that the two main issues are the fees and the admission quota/criteria.

It's obvious the govt is not interested in settling these issues which shows a very bad mindset of elitism

While I support KCOBA having a critical say in HD opera and maintenance of the school, I join the parents and teachers to reject any elitist plan of admission being for the highest bidder and teachers being forced to work under conditions one find in private schools.

The KCOBA should learn to be considerate. They have as much stake in the school as the students. Their interest shouldn't override that of the students

U09ce:
Its unfortunate that public schools are been concessioned. On one hand is the inability of the government systems to give high quality education to average Nigerians. We have manyteachers in government schools who aren't qualified. Add to this is the lack of proper oversight by the inspectorate divisions.

Today it's Kings College, tomorrow it'd be FGGC Sagamu or FGC Azare or FSTC Kafanchan. Another day same excuse will be used to concession other public institutions like primary schools and hospitals.

We really have to be sincere to ourselves in whatever positions we are. Let's do our jobs with patriotism and dedication. If you feel the welfare isn't good, you can look for something else rather than puncturing a moving boat.

Privatisation or concession or whatever will never be a solution to govt neglect, lackadisical attitude of some citizens and systemic inefficiencies

SonOfWords:
Concessioning a unity school under a PPP umbrella simply sounds like the government is looking towards a dereliction of its responsibility towards quality and affordable education.

These people benefitted from free education at all levels, only to begin depriving today's generations of same privileges, simply because they have failed to show proper leadership in all spheres of our societal life.

This is but the first step towards a series of reckless initiatives that will eventually see that school falling into the hands of capitalists. 'fore you know it, fees will be increased beyond the affordability of everyday Nigerians.

And this is but the first of many to come. King's college is the litmus test. Accept the arrangement and embolden the government crooks to go on a concession spree of other unity schools in the country😐.

nairalanda1:
Our education budget cannot fund Harvard's annual budget for a year.

Yet, you guys want the government to give you high quality schools in one year or less...

Like how is that ppssible without borrowing, or without more Nigerians paying income tax, or without the government making our economy productive instead of consumptive...or raising fees?

Our federal government schools have been a mess for over 4 decades. It's time we tried something different. Madt behaviour is doing th same thing over and over again despite not working.


Before you abuse me, would you send your child to one of those federal government colleges, with their hostels as they are now? Would ya?

Na Yaradua wey float this idea in 2009, when we even had enough money, NIgerians come say no...lol.

SonOfWords:
Here you are again, holding brief for a government that has demonstrated its crass inability to prioritize necessities.

Nigeria's education budget for 2025 and 2026 totalled to about 6.1 trillion naira, of which less than 400 billion was earmarked for unity schools across both years.

How much is your coastal road again?

nairalanda1:
Do you want me to lie, or you want the truth about our schools? Those unity schools have been a mess for over 4 decades man.

One of my friends died in a unity school, in the mid 1990's. Yes, that is how bad they were.

You got to face truth...do you want quality schools, or do you want to pretend that our scanty education budget can give you quality schools.

Yes, government is bad, I am no tinubu supporter, the man is corrupt, but the fact is, the schools need fixing, and concession is the way, and has been the way since 2009 when Yaradua tried it.

SonOfWords:
You didn't answer my question.

And this is the part about you and your capitalism-centered submissions I consistently find repulsive.

Richtaiwo:
Unity Colleges were never created exclusively for the academically strongest students. Their purpose was to promote national integration by bringing children from different states together, while giving students from academically disadvantaged regions an opportunity to compete and develop within a common system.

If that principle is now being ridiculed because students from less academically competitive states are gaining admission through the quota system, then the logic is simple, scrap the programme altogether and create a separate system exclusively for academically elite students. One cannot demand the benefits of an institution designed for national inclusion while simultaneously despising the very principle of inclusion that gives the institution its meaning.

Unigrad:
One of the effects of this is increase in school fees and charges. The quality might drop. Such concessions in the past have never been in favour of the masses.

Yampotatocarrot:
You said these schools were never created exclusively for the academically brightest students

You said one reason they were created was to give students from academically disadvantaged regions an opportunity to compete in a common ground

Then you concluded by saying that principle is now being ridiculed because students from less academically competitive states are gaining admission through the quota system

I'm at a loss

Richtaiwo:
Personally, I believe Unity Colleges should be scrapped. It is difficult to justify preserving institutions whose greatest beneficiaries spend their entire lives insulting the very government that sustains them. When an institution outlives its purpose and becomes little more than a relic defended by entitlement and hypocrisy, preserving it for nostalgia is simply institutional laziness.

The same argument applies to the NYSC, when the original purpose disappears, the honest question is not how to preserve the monument, but why we are still worshipping its ruins.

Proposed federal allocations to the 118 unity schools this year stand at ₦155 billion, down from the record ₦171.7 billion allocated in 2025, though still well above the ₦93.5 billion budgeted in 2024.

nairalanda1:
Our education budget cannot fund Harvard's annual budget for a year.

Yet, you guys want the government to give you high quality schools in one year or less...

Like how is that ppssible without borrowing, or without more Nigerians paying income tax, or without the government making our economy productive instead of consumptive...or raising fees?

Our federal government schools have been a mess for over 4 decades. It's time we tried something different. Madt behaviour is doing th same thing over and over again despite not working.


Before you abuse me, would you send your child to one of those federal government colleges, with their hostels as they are now? Would ya?

Na Yaradua wey float this idea in 2009, when we even had enough money, NIgerians come say no...lol.

nairalanda1:
For people wondering why I am taking the side of those who want the schools concessioned, here is why

Our unity schools have been a mess for years. As I mentioned in a post above, I lost a friend who went to one of those schools who fell sick because the hygeine was awful. One of my other friends suffered for one year in a unity school before she ran back home. The schools are a mess. I also had siblings who went to unity schools as day students, and who heard horror tales from their boarding school mates.

That's why I support concessioning. I have supported the idea ever since it was mooted by the Yaradua admin, and I was sad when it was withdrawn. I am happy it is being brought back again.

Funding for our unity schools is very poor...see as it be for the last several years



SAUCE

At 155 billion naira, that means each unity school gets 1.3 billion on average. KCOBA , the people taking over King's college in the PPA for the school, have gotten 100 billion naira to improve things already. 100 billion naira.

I am not happy it has come to this, but waiting for government to increase funding for education is going to be a fake and long wait. And yes, poor kids are going to lose out...though this is where society can come in with community scholarships and things like that, even all our rich churches. But right now, we are faced with a serious connundrum. Either schools get concessioned, or the poor are going to keep going to poor ass schools, and eventually lose out to the rich kids who go to nice rich schools in the job market


There is no easy answer. Calling me government supporter shows you do not want to think about the problem.

U09ce:
Nobody is asking for Harvard-style education. Those who can afford it can send their kids to wherever. It is also not true that FGCs have been a mess for 4 decades—there are tens of them which are still good. It's the general malaise in public service that is also affecting the schools.

Today, Unity schools are a shadow of what they used to be. Students in Unity schools used to beat their chests and come out on top at national competitions. Parents and other family members used to eagerly await the results of their wards’ national common entrance exams into federal government colleges, now known as Unity schools. These days, many parents don’t seem to be interested in Unity schools. The situation has gotten so bad that public officers, including government functionaries in charge of education at both the federal and state levels across the country, such as public school teachers and principals, now have their wards enrolled in private schools

shegztech:
I didn't even bother to read all your Epistle (as if Chris land, deeper life and other elitist schools have not had their time). Just pure wickedness. No be only scholarship. Scholarship that would be siphoned chai! Human being!

Richtaiwo:
Personally, I believe Unity Colleges should be scrapped. It is difficult to justify preserving institutions whose greatest beneficiaries spend their entire lives insulting the very government that sustains them. When an institution outlives its purpose and becomes little more than a relic defended by entitlement and hypocrisy, preserving it for nostalgia is simply institutional laziness.

The same argument applies to the NYSC, when the original purpose disappears, the honest question is not how to preserve the monument, but why we are still worshipping its ruins.

Richtaiwo:
Personally, I believe Unity Colleges should be scrapped. It is difficult to justify preserving institutions whose greatest beneficiaries spend their entire lives insulting the very government that sustains them. When an institution outlives its purpose and becomes little more than a relic defended by entitlement and hypocrisy, preserving it for nostalgia is simply institutional laziness.

The same argument applies to the NYSC, when the original purpose disappears, the honest question is not how to preserve the monument, but why we are still worshipping its ruins.

Jidefido:
https://irokomedia.com/kings-college-crisis-fg-unity-colleges-reopen/




https://thenationonlineng.net/kings-college-crisis-deepens-as-workers-shut-school-over-35-year-concession/amp/

nairalanda1:
Education is not meant to produce mindless drones, but people who can reason things out well enough. If they don't like the government, at least they are reasoning things out, same as those who like the government.



NYSC exists because teachers, doctors, nurses, and similar cadre won't go to work in the rural areas.

One NYSC corper working in a rural school saw with her own eyes, teachers posted from the capital to her secondary school, spend a few weeks, while they work their reposting to a city school. ..then vamoose back to the city.

(Infact during my own NYSC, secondary schools in the area were crying for physics teachers. Literally crying).

If not for NYSC doctors and nurses now, whole rural areas will never have someone to take care of their medical needs.

EIther your state government starts forcing people to work in the rural areas, or NYSC will continue to be of use.

(For the record, I think that NYSC should be scrapped, but unfortunately the effects of the scrapping would be atrocious. Especially in education and healthcare.).