By Ngozi Nwankwo
The Federal Government has ruled out the sale or concession of Federal Unity Colleges, assuring that the proposed management arrangement for King’s College, Lagos, will not lead to fee hike or job losses.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, gave the assurance on Wednesday in Abuja while addressing journalists on the controversy surrounding the proposed arrangement with the King’s College Old Boys Association.
Alausa said the arrangement for King’s College will not be extended to other Unity Colleges, stressing that the Federal Government retains responsibility for the institutions.
“No, we’re not extending it. Government still has its responsibility,” he said.
He dismissed reports of plans to sell Unity Colleges.
“Let me be unequivocal, Federal Government is not selling any Unity College. Through the Federal Ministry of Education, we do not have the intention to sell any Unity College, and we will not sell any Unity College. That is the government position,” he said.
The minister explained that the proposed arrangement with KCOBA is aimed at mobilising resources to rehabilitate and modernise King’s College, while retaining government ownership.
According to him, the decision was informed by extensive infrastructural decay at the college.
Alausa said during an unannounced visit, he observed poor conditions in hostels, bathrooms, classrooms and laboratories. He said the school also had prolonged power outage, which was restored after his intervention with the electricity distribution company.
He also raised security concerns over the use of parts of the school premises as a paid car park, noting that unrestricted public access posed risks to students. He said he ordered the practice stopped.
He said KCOBA, which claims to have invested over N2 billion in the school over the years, is willing to invest substantially through a non-profit foundation, while maintaining merit-based admission and national spread.
Alausa said government faces a huge funding gap in rehabilitating 115 Unity Colleges, with infrastructure deficit accumulated over 40 years.
“President Bola Tinubu is investing in infrastructure, including the sub-sector, but there’s so much, significant infrastructure gap that has happened for 40 years and we don’t have the funds,” he said.
He said even N2 trillion would not be enough to address the needs of all Unity Colleges, adding that rehabilitation of schools in the South-West alone would cost nearly N100 billion.
To complement government funding, he said the Federal Government secured approval to repurpose about $20 million from a World Bank-supported programme for comprehensive rehabilitation of about 20 Unity Colleges.
The minister assured that the King’s College arrangement would not result in increase in school fees, adding that the agreement is subject to stringent Key Performance Indicators to protect government and learners.
He said the ministry has set up an implementation and monitoring team to conduct unannounced inspections to ensure compliance.
