Favour Ishember, Abuja
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, on Tuesday dismissed claims that the Federal Government plans to privatise or sell Unity Colleges, insisting that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is only introducing a concession arrangement aimed at restoring the institutions to their former glory without increasing school fees or retrenching workers.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, Alausa declared that the Federal Government has no intention of selling any Unity School, describing reports to the contrary as deliberate misinformation.
According to him, the proposed arrangement is a “willing needer, willing helper” partnership between government and credible alumni bodies willing to invest in reviving their old schools while ownership remains with the Federal Government.
“There is no plan to sell any Unity College. We are not selling them, and we will not sell them. The schools remain the property of the Federal Government. What we are introducing is a concession arrangement that allows capable alumni associations to help restore these institutions within clearly defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs),” he said.
The minister stressed that no member of staff would lose his or her job as a result of the concession, noting that affected workers would retain their current grade levels, salaries and benefits, while those requiring redeployment would choose their preferred locations in line with the Public Service Rules.
“There will be no sack, no demotion and no victimisation. Every worker will retain his or her appointment. We will accommodate everyone and continue discussions with the unions to address every legitimate concern,” Alausa assured.
He explained that the concession became necessary after the government discovered decades of infrastructural neglect in several Unity Colleges, particularly King’s College, Lagos, which he described as a shadow of the prestigious institution established to produce future national leaders.
The minister said his inspection of the college revealed collapsing buildings, filthy hostels, dysfunctional laboratories, broken toilets, classrooms littered with refuse, nine months without electricity, overcrowded dormitories and deteriorating learning facilities.
“You will cry if you visit King’s College today. The level of decay is heartbreaking. We inherited schools that had suffered decades of neglect. The infrastructure had virtually collapsed before this administration came into office,” he said.
Alausa maintained that despite severe fiscal constraints, the Tinubu administration has committed more resources to educational infrastructure than previous governments and is working aggressively to reverse years of decay across Unity Schools.
He disclosed that the government had already secured presidential approval to recruit 3,000 teachers to absorb existing PTA teachers into the federal system and plans to engage another 5,000 teachers next year to strengthen staffing across schools.
The minister lamented that many schools had relied heavily on Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) teachers for decades due to inadequate government recruitment.
He cited King’s College where only 57 of 121 teachers were government employees, while the remaining teachers were hired and paid by the PTA, with some earning as little as N60,000 monthly despite serving for over two decades.
He further disclosed that alumni of King’s College had already invested about N2 billion in infrastructural support but were requesting greater responsibility to manage the institution and mobilise additional private resources for comprehensive rehabilitation.
According to him, the proposed concession does not transfer ownership but simply allows competent alumni groups to manage schools under strict government supervision and measurable performance benchmarks.
“They are not buying the schools. Government retains ownership. They only want the opportunity to restore the institutions by investing billions of naira because government alone cannot bridge decades of infrastructure deficit immediately,” he stated.
The minister argued that similar management models adopted by missionary schools and other institutions have delivered remarkable improvements, adding that government must embrace innovative solutions rather than continue approaches that have failed for decades.
Responding to concerns over possible increases in school charges, Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad, assured parents that there would be no increment in school fees under the concession arrangement.
She said the agreement reached with stakeholders specifically protects students and parents from additional financial burdens while ensuring significant improvements in infrastructure and learning conditions.
“There will be no increase in school fees. That is part of the agreement. Our objective is to improve infrastructure, strengthen teaching quality and guarantee quality education without placing extra financial pressure on parents,” she said.
The Minister of State reiterated that teachers affected by the arrangement would not lose their jobs and would instead be redeployed to locations of their choice where necessary in accordance with the Public Service Rules.
She added that government remained open to further engagement with labour unions and other stakeholders to refine the Memorandum of Understanding where necessary.
According to her, the Tinubu administration’s priority is to restore the culture of excellence for which Unity Colleges were once known while ensuring inclusive access to quality education for all Nigerian children.
Both ministers appealed to labour unions to disregard false narratives surrounding the concession programme, insisting that the reforms are designed to rescue deteriorating schools, protect students, preserve jobs and return Nigeria’s Unity Colleges to their historic position as centres of academic excellence.
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