KING’S COLLEGE AND THE CONCESSION DRAMA

KCOBA’s initiative is worthy of commendation

Following a meeting with representatives of labour unions last Wednesday, the federal government has suspended the planned concession of King’s College, Lagos, to the institution’s Old Boys’ Association by two weeks. The decision came after some workers and parents had converted the premier school premises into a battleground of sorts. They shut out members of the Old Boys’ Association from entering the school premises, leading to a confrontation and police intervention. The workers and parents were protesting the proposed 50-year concession, arguing that it amounted to privatising the 117-year-old- school which, according to them, would threaten public ownership, and restrict access to only privileged children.

But the President of the King’s College Old Boys’ Association (KCOBA) Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, has defended the concession, insisting that the school remained the property of the federal government, and that the association’s responsibility under the arrangement was simply to manage and restore the quality and excellence hitherto associated with the school. While agreeing with Ibrahim-Imam, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa confirmed that the decision regarding King’s College was driven by severe infrastructure decay and KCOBA’s readiness to invest heavily in the institution, adding that the agreement was designed to mobilise adequate resources for the school without transferring its ownership from the government.

Founded in 1909 during the colonial period, the school was a symbol of academic excellence. It came in the mould of Eton College in the United Kingdom which has played a significant role in developing generations of leaders, including prime ministers and members of the Royal families. Over the years, King’s College has also produced Nigerians who are manifestations of excellence in government, businesses, the professions and in the academia. The attainments at King’s College prompted the establishment of Queens College, and indeed the Unity Colleges across the country. There were no discriminations as it attracted the best from the remotest locations in the nation. But that record is increasingly becoming breached with admissions being localised to catchment areas in some instances.

However, there is no doubt that KCOBA has reasonable grounds to intervene in the running of their Alma Mater. Like most public schools across the country, Kings College has fallen into bad times. Decades of infrastructure decay have reduced the school to a depressing sight. Even the resources poured in by the well-heeled alumni at regular intervals to compliment the federal government funding appears too insignificant to make a difference. The classrooms, libraries, laboratories and all accessories of learning are down and out. The bathrooms and toilets stink. The quality of staff is also suspect. The recent unannounced inspections of the minister to the school exposed a school with severe funding gaps, a school clutching anything to stay alive.

We agree that the workers should be protected, and those wanting transfer should be taken to any area of choice as per the civil service rules. But the government cannot afford to shut its doors to KCOBA’s offer to restore King’s College as a model for the restoration of our high schools by important stakeholders. They are not even trying to reinvent the wheel on the issue. We understand that alumni associations of some high-profile schools in Oyo and Abia States have adopted the same model to rejuvenate their schools.

We urge the parents and teachers at Kings College to dispense with the notion that government alone can provide the resources needed to revamp the sector. For our schools to attract quality academic and non-academic staff, provide necessary teaching aids, and ensure a conducive learning environment for students, we must allow willing alumni associations to have a say in the management of their old schools. What KCOBA is trying to achieve with Kings College is noble, and we endorse the concession idea.