Group opposes alleged plan to cede Unity Schools to private investors, threatens lawsuit

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has opposed what it described as plans by the federal government to cede the country’s 120 Federal Government Colleges, also known as Unity Schools, to private investors.

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In a text of a press conference delivered by the National Vice President of the Association, Olubunmi Fajobi, on Wednesday, the group warned the government against such a move and threatened to challenge the move in court if dialogue fails.

The opposition came shortly after the King’s College Old Boys’ Association recently announced that the Nigerian government has conceded the school to them.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, Folasade Boriowo, referred PREMIUM TIMES to Ikharo Attah, the spokesperson to the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa.

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However, Mr Attah has neither picked the phone call nor responded to text messages sent to his line, seeking to confirm if there’s a planned concession of the unity schools and if indeed the government has ceded King’s College to the old boys association.

Opposition

The ASCSN claimed that the alleged planned concession of the unity schools would result in higher tuition fees, making the schools inaccessible to children from low-income families, while also putting the jobs of teachers and other workers at risk.

The union said it had earlier, on 1 July, issued a statement urging the federal government not to hand over the schools to private entrepreneurs or old students’ associations.

According to the ASCSN, privatising the schools could lead to the displacement of education officers and other employees into what it described as an already saturated labour market.

“We will continue to engage the government in constructive dialogue to resolve this matter in the interest of all Nigerians. But if all efforts fail, the union will be compelled to seek other options, including resorting to the courts,” Mr Fajobi said in the text seen by this newspaper.

“If the Old Boys Association claims that the school has been ceded to them, what is the template they have designed to deal with the students and the employees of the college?” he asked.

He maintained that Federal Government Colleges should remain public institutions serving Nigerian children rather than becoming privately controlled establishments.

The union also recalled that it resisted a similar attempt during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005, when the government allegedly sought to concession the schools under a Public-Private Partnership arrangement.

According to the ASCSN, it mobilised labour unions, student groups, parents, civil society organisations, religious leaders and traditional rulers against the proposal and embarked on industrial action and litigation before the plan was abandoned.

The union said stability returned to the unity school system in 2010 after then-President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the restoration of junior secondary school sections that had earlier been separated from some colleges.

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Mr Fajobi argued that the schools were established to promote national integration by bringing together students from different ethnic and social backgrounds, adding that they should be preserved as national assets.

He warned that if transferred to private operators, the schools could eventually be converted into commercial ventures such as hotels and shopping malls.