The Joint Workers Union today demonstrated at the Federal Ministry of Education headquarters in Abuja over the alleged 35-year concession of King’s College, Lagos to its old boys association, threatening to shut down the ministry and all 115 Federal Unity Colleges if the decision is not overturned.
The union, which consists of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) and four other unions, also accused the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, of outsourcing the ministry’s essential responsibilities to consultants while allegedly dismissing the concerns and requests of workers.
The Guardian writes that the protest came after the ministry declared King’s College was being handed over to its old boys association on a 35-year concession deal.
The demonstrators brandished placards with varied slogans such as “Tinubu must hear this”, “Alausa must go”, “No resumption of Unity Colleges in Nigeria” among others after an emergency meeting on Thursday and obstructed the entrance to the Ministry. Join the Diaspora Networks
A union official who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity said the protest was also occasioned by the claimed failure of the minister to meet with the Joint Workers Union (JWU), the umbrella organization of unions in the ministry, for almost a month.
The person said the workers have purportedly sought meeting with Alausa to table various “burning issues” hurting staff but their requests have been rebuffed.
The person said the workers were particularly opposed to the handover of King’s College to the old boys, saying such a concession may lead to downsizing and put the jobs of ministry workers at jeopardy.
“When you privatise you are downsizing, you sack people and the union will not accept this,” added the official.
The union also argued that the development might set a precedent for the other Federal Unity Colleges, saying that the King’s College arrangement could set the stage for the remaining schools to be similarly exposed to such concessions.
The staff also expressed worries over what they said was the growing use of consultants to do the duties typically done by ministry departments.
Ministry activities have been contracted to consultants. “We have special advisers in almost every department and we have directors and other senior officers who should be taking on these responsibilities,” the official said.
The union also bemoaned the pending reimbursements of staff that engaged in events in 2024 like the data collection exercises and capacity building programs.
Some staff borrowed money to participate in official missions but are yet to be refunded, the official said, even as the activities took place in 2024.
The protesters also demanded to know why a premium Federal Unity College was being given away and insisted that the government explain why it was letting go of the college.
The official claimed the workers had previously raised similar concerns on developments involving other Federal Government schools, claiming that some school lands have been made available for private construction.
The demonstration continued, despite the efforts of the Acting Permanent Secretary and other top officials of the ministry to address the workers.
The demonstrators want to meet the minister directly, who they say has been avoiding engagement with the unions for a long time,” the union official said.
The workers threatened to stay at the ministry protesting from 7am Friday and said the 115 Federal Unity Colleges across the country will be shut indefinitely until the minister listens to their issues.
The official said the closure would affect schools across the country including the Southwest where workers had earlier declared plans to stop activity.
The union also demanded the sacking of Alausa as Minister of Education, saying he had failed to tackle what it characterised as growing problems in the ministry.
The demonstrators said the Federal Government should rather focus on building and expanding public education institutions, rather than concessioning existing schools.
They questioned the policy orientation of the administration, saying that there had been calls for more federal technical and unification schools to foster youth development and self-reliance yet existing institutions were said to be handed over to private interests.
The workers consequently demanded an immediate review of the King’s College concession and that the ministry’s administration and the Union be re-engaged to address the wider issues.
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