The controversy surrounding the Federal Government’s decision to concession King’s College, Lagos, to the King’s College Old Boys’ Association (KCOBA) has intensified, with parents and other stakeholders reportedly preparing for a mass protest against the arrangement.
Chairman of the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), Peter Oluwaseye, said the planned protest was necessary because of widespread opposition to the concession among parents, civil servants and members of the surrounding community.
Oluwaseye said parents were not comfortable with the decision and maintained that the school remained a public institution that should not be taken over by its former students.
“Parents are not in support of the move. Senior civil servants are also against it, and the community is not supporting it either. Old boys should not regard the college as their property. They attended the school just as the current students are doing,” he said.
He argued that KCOBA should support the institution through voluntary contributions rather than seek control of its administration.
According to him, “King’s College is a public property. The old students should give to the college willingly, not wanting to take it over. They won’t succeed. There is no private entity that can assemble the type of teachers we have in the college.”
He insisted that parents would continue to oppose the concession, regardless of the form in which it was being implemented.
The controversy followed an announcement last month by KCOBA President, Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, that the Federal Government had approved the concession of the 116-year-old institution to the old boys’ association.
Following the announcement, KCOBA launched a N100 billion endowment fund aimed at supporting the school’s redevelopment and repositioning.
Among the early contributors were First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, who donated N10 million, while Ibrahim-Imam pledged N1 billion. Former Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Philip Asiodu, and the association’s new Board Chairman, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, also donated N100 million each.
The proposed arrangement is expected to support infrastructure development, teacher training, digital technology, scholarships, research, innovation and students’ welfare.
Ibrahim-Imam described the concession as a major milestone in the history of King’s College and said it could serve as a model for improving public education in Nigeria.
He explained that the arrangement would allow KCOBA to work with the government to upgrade the school’s infrastructure, strengthen its governance structure and improve academic outcomes while retaining government ownership.
He also rejected suggestions that the institution had been sold to the old boys’ association, stressing that the arrangement was not a privatisation deal.
Rather, he said, it was designed as a new governance framework through which KCOBA would partner with the government to restore, modernise and sustain King’s College.
The development, however, continues to generate concern among parents and other stakeholders who fear that the concession could alter the character and ownership structure of the historic public institution.
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