The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has kicked against plans to cede control of Federal Government Colleges to private interests, warning the move could erode the schools’ credibility and undermine the Renewed Hope Agenda’s education goals for Nigerian youth.
The Details
At a media parley in Lagos, ASCSN raised fresh concerns over the planned concession of public schools, with King’s College Lagos named as the pilot scheme. The alarm follows reports that the Federal Government has approved the concession of King’s College to its Old Boys Association under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
The Association argues the move would push quality education out of reach for millions of children and conflicts with the government’s constitutional obligation to provide accessible education, particularly at a time of rising costs.
What’s Being Said
ASCSN’s National Vice President, Comrade Olubunmi Fajobi, said the concession would make the schools inaccessible to children from low-income families and trigger significant job losses across the unity schools system.
“There is nothing wrong if Old Boys Associations of primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions desire to give back to their alma maters by donating resources, renovating infrastructure, or providing modern technologies to enhance learning. This can be done without necessarily insisting on taking over such educational institutions,” Fajobi said.
“Philanthropy should not be practiced in a way that departs from its core virtue of selflessness and becomes transactional or disingenuous,” he added.
By The Numbers
ASCSN cited global comparisons to make its case for sustained state funding of secondary education:
- United States: 20,000–24,800 government-funded secondary schools
- United Kingdom: approximately 4,180–4,200 state secondary schools
- Germany: more than 8,900 state-owned secondary schools
The Association noted that even market-driven economies maintain free secondary education to prepare citizens for knowledge-based societies.
Background
ASCSN referenced the 2009 report of a Federal Ministry of Education committee led by Senator Jonathan Zwingina, set up to assess the 104 Federal Unity Colleges amid earlier calls for their sale. Presenting the report in Abuja on March 12, 2009, Zwingina had cautioned against reducing national integration to a cost-benefit calculation, arguing that the price of disintegration far outweighed the expense of sustaining the unity colleges.
The Association also recalled an earlier petition to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and signed by ASCSN President Comrade Shehu Mohammed and General Secretary Comrade Joshua Apebo insisting that millions of Nigerians want the Federal Government Colleges preserved as affordable, tribe- and class-blind institutions that nurture national unity.
Why It Matters
The unity schools system has long been positioned as a symbol of national integration rather than a purely commercial education asset. ASCSN’s pushback signals organised labour resistance to PPP-style reforms in the education sector and could shape how the Federal Government proceeds with the King’s College pilot and any future concessions across the 104 unity colleges.
Bottom Line
ASCSN wants philanthropic support for unity schools decoupled from ownership transfer, insisting government retain full control of Federal Government Colleges to safeguard affordability, access, and national integration.
