Workers under the Joint Workers Council of the Federal Ministry of Education have rejected the Trade Union Congress (TUC) announcement suspending the industrial action over the proposed concession of King's College, Lagos, and threatened to keep Federal Unity Colleges across the country closed until the government meets their demands. The protest, which entered its fourth day on Tuesday, saw workers block the entrance to the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja.
Workers Question TUC's Authority to Suspend Strike
The Joint Council Chairman, Abraham Onuche, told journalists that the TUC had no standing to call off a strike it never participated in or coordinated with the unions at the centre of the dispute. Onuche raised questions about why the TUC would suspend an action it had no direct part in, as schools across Nigeria remained shut.
Onuche said the unions wrote to Education Minister Dr Tunji Alausa on July 6 requesting a formal meeting to present their concerns but had received no response. He called on the minister to revoke the concession decision entirely, warning that allowing it to stand could open the door for old students' associations of other Federal Unity Colleges to seek similar arrangements.
The Chigozie Ngadi, chairman of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Education chapter, framed the dispute in broader terms, saying the workers were fighting to protect affordable education for children from low-income families. He said the unions were not against partnerships with the private sector but insisted any arrangement must maintain public ownership and access.
Old Boys Deny Ownership Bid Amid Protests
At King's College itself in Lagos, aggrieved parents formed a human barricade at the school's main gate on Tuesday, blocking members of the King's College Old Boys Association from entering the premises, despite a police presence led by Lagos State Commissioner of Police Tijani Fatai.
The Old Boys Association president, Kassim Imam Ibrahim, was forced to address journalists outside the school in a disorderly atmosphere. He denied that the association had any plan to acquire the institution, saying the Federal Executive Council approved only a management transfer, not a change of ownership. He added that school fees would not rise under the arrangement and that staff who chose to remain would have their salaries doubled.
A statement issued on behalf of the association's Board of Trustees Chairman, Alhaji Femi Okunnu SAN, described the initiative as "a matter of stewardship, of responsibility, of service rendered in gratitude, not a bid for possession."
Unity Schools Still Shut Across Nigeria
The strike's impact was visible in several states. In Uyo, the gates of Federal Science Technical College remained locked, with placards reading "No privatisation. Schools are national assets, not a private estate." In Benin City, the PTA caretaker chairman of Federal Government Girls' College, Kelvin Okpefa, said the school had not resumed because no official communication about any resolution had reached them. Federal Government College Maiduguri and Federal Government College Kano, however, were reported open or preparing to receive students.
A meeting between Alausa and the recognised union leadership, originally set for Tuesday, was rescheduled to Wednesday at 4 p.m. The national president of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Bola Audu, said the session would allow workers to formally present their grievances and demand clear assurances from the ministry.
