Warns FG on King’s College concession move

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has kicked against what it described as renewed attempts to privatise Federal Government Colleges, warning that such a move would make quality secondary education inaccessible to millions of Nigerian children.

The union said it was alarmed by reports that the Federal Government had approved the concessioning of King’s College Lagos to its Old Boys Association under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, describing it as a dangerous precedent that could open the door for the takeover of the remaining 119 unity schools by political elite and private interests.

In a statement yesterday, ASCSN National President, Shehu Mohammed, and Secretary-General, Joshua Apebo, said the move could undermine the unity schools’ system established to promote national integration and provide quality education for children from diverse ethnic, social and economic backgrounds.

The union, which recalled that the idea of establishing Federal Government Colleges was conceived in 1966 by Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, as model secondary schools designed to foster unity among young Nigerians, said that the first three unity colleges were established in Okposi in the then Eastern Region, Warri in the West and Sokoto in the North, adding that the system had since expanded to 120 schools across the federation.

ASCSN also revisited what it described as earlier attempts to phase out the schools, accusing former President Olusegun Obasanjo of pushing the policy both as military Head of State and later as civilian president.

The union said it had resisted those efforts through prolonged negotiations, industrial action and legal battles, a struggle it noted, ended in 2010 when former President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the restoration of the junior arms of the colleges.

It said that advanced economies, such as the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (UK) and Germany still fund and manage thousands of public secondary schools, questioning why Nigeria should abandon the same model.

It warned that handing over the schools to private interests could lead to the commercialisation of the institutions and the conversion of their vast lands into hotels, shopping malls and other profit-driven ventures.

The union, therefore, urged the Federal Government to halt any concession plan and preserve the unity colleges as a national legacy and symbol of inclusion.