Toyin Victor, ABUJA
Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, has called on the Federal Government to cancel the concession of King’s College, Lagos, to the King’s College Old Boys’ Association, KCOBA, insisting that public schools should remain under accountable public management.
CAPPA’s Media and Communications Officer, Robert Egbe, said the Federal Government should use the two-week suspension of the arrangement to cancel the Memorandum of Understanding rather than amend it and proceed with implementation.
The Federal Government approved the concession in July, while KCOBA announced a 100-billion-naira endowment fund for infrastructure renewal, teacher development, digital technology, scholarships and students’ welfare.
The implementation was later suspended following protests by workers and parents, with a seven-member committee constituted to review the agreement.
CAPPA said the suspension does not resolve its concerns over transferring the management and governance of a publicly owned national institution to a private association.
The organisation argued that retaining legal ownership of King’s College does not remove concerns over the transfer of operational control, institutional governance and decision-making powers.
CAPPA’s Assistant Executive Director, Zikora Ibeh, said deteriorating infrastructure in public schools should prompt increased government investment rather than provide grounds for transferring their management to private bodies.
The group noted that the Federal Government’s 2026 executive budget proposal allocated about 3.52 trillion naira to education, representing roughly 6.1 per cent of the proposed national budget, but said more funding is needed to tackle dilapidated facilities, overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages.
CAPPA said KCOBA can support King’s College through renovation, scholarships, equipment and teacher support, but such contributions should complement government funding without conferring management or governance powers on the association.
The organisation has therefore demanded cancellation of the signed MoU, an independent assessment of King’s College and a costed rehabilitation plan funded through the federal budget, alongside stronger public oversight and a national renewal programme for all Unity Schools.