The Federal Government has ruled out the sale of Federal Unity Colleges and said the proposed management arrangement for King’s College, Lagos, will not be extended to other government-owned schools.
Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, stated this in Abuja, on Wednesday September 16, while addressing the controversy surrounding the arrangement involving the King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA). He said the government had reached a six-point agreement with the Trade Union Congress (TUC), after which workers were directed to return to work, while another faction of the unions had continued protests.
Alausa said the King’s College arrangement was intended to address the institution’s severe infrastructure and management challenges, not transfer ownership. He explained that the government lacked sufficient resources to rehabilitate all Unity Colleges simultaneously, noting that rehabilitation of schools in the South-West alone could cost nearly 100 billion naira.
The minister said the government would continue to directly fund rehabilitation of other Unity Colleges while exploring alternative financing, including approval to repurpose about $20 million from a World Bank-supported programme for school rehabilitation, with about 20 colleges initially selected.
Alausa reiterated that the government would continue engaging the unions to improve the schools while maintaining that no Unity College would be sold or subjected to the same management arrangement as King’s College.
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