• Accuses PTA of charging N20m admission fee
• ASCSN demands police withdrawal, warns of resistance

Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, yesterday accused some directors in the ministry of instigating workers against the government’s decision on King’s College concession.

Alausa said the Federal Government remained committed to the process despite opposition from workers and other stakeholders.

He declared that there was no going back on the Federal Government’s proposed concession of King’s College, Lagos, despite mounting opposition from workers, parents and other stakeholders.

Alausa, who spoke at a media briefing in Abuja, stressed that the Federal Government had followed due process in arriving at the decision and remained committed to the concession as part of efforts to improve the school’s infrastructure, resources and overall management.

The minister said that the proposed concession was not an abandonment of the institution by the Federal Government, but a move intended to address infrastructure and management challenges and improve the quality of education at the college.

He, however, accused the Parent-Teacher Association of the College of turning admission into a lucrative enterprise and allegedly demanding as much as N20 million from prospective students.

He said that the concession was aimed at improving the institution’s infrastructure, resources and overall management.

According to him, opposition to the concession was being driven partly by misinformation allegedly circulated by some union members and staff of the ministry.

The minister later met with the ministry workers.

MEANWHILE, the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has condemned the deployment of armed policemen to King’s College, Lagos, accusing the police and the King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA) of undermining ongoing negotiations over the proposed concession of the institution.

The union, in a statement signed by its National President, Shehu Mohammed, and General-Secretary, Joshua Apebo, yesterday, said the incident occurred less than 24 hours after a high-level meeting involving the Minister of Education, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and ASCSN had reached an understanding on the contentious concession issue.

ASCSN said armed policemen, allegedly led by the Commissioner of Police, stormed the school premises at about 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, in what it described as a “commando-style operation.”

According to the union, the security personnel used a generating set to gain access through the padlocked gates and fired shots into the air, while workers and parents were allegedly assaulted and pushed to the ground.

The ASCSN further alleged that a child of a protesting parent was arrested and that several of its members sustained injuries and were receiving medical attention.

The union said the operation was aimed at granting KCOBA access to the school, describing the development as an attack on workers’ rights and an unacceptable use of force in an industrial dispute.

ASCSN said the timing of the incident was particularly disturbing, given that dialogue between the Federal Ministry of Education, TUC and the union was ongoing.

HOWEVER, President of the King’s College Old Boys’ Association, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, has assured parents and stakeholders that acquiring the school to manage on behalf of the Federal Government was not tantamount to disrupting the already established protocols.

He allayed stakeholders’ fears that the proposed takeover would lead to an increase in tuition fees, noting that the Association had received strong financial support from its members, with several former students contributing substantially to the N100 billion endowment fund established to support the school.

Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata, who is an alumnus of the College, appealed to parents, teachers and unions to engage with the Old Boys Association rather than rely on rumours about the arrangement.

On his part, Chairman of the 2026 Kings Week Planning Committee, Gbolahan Olayomi, said the Association is committed to transforming the institution into a world-class learning environment through major investments in infrastructure, technology and teacher development.