Lagos – Former principals of King’s College, Lagos, have rejected the Federal Government’s decision to concession the 117-year-old institution to the King’s College Old Boys’ Association (KCOBA), calling for an immediate suspension of the arrangement and urging the government to retain full ownership, funding and administrative control of the school.
In a statement released on Wednesday by the Forum of Former Principals of King’s College, the ex-school heads described the plan to halt government funding and transfer day-to-day management of the college to a private body as “inconceivable.”
They argued that the Federal Government should instead develop a comprehensive master plan for the institution and allow the old boys’ association, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and other stakeholders to support its development without assuming administrative control.
The statement was signed by seven former principals and acting principals: Dr S. A. B. Atolagbe, Sylvester Onoja, Yetunde Awofuwa, Oladele Olapeju, Elizabeth Ibezim, Dr Isaac Kolawole and Samuel Agun, who is listed as chairman of the forum.
The former principals expressed concern that withdrawing public funding would amount to transferring a core government responsibility to a private organisation. They insisted that King’s College must remain a fully public institution.
“The Federal Government should retain full public ownership, funding and administrative responsibility for King’s College, while enabling KCOBA, the PTA, corporate organisations, philanthropists and other partners to contribute through a transparent development fund and a broad-based advisory council,” the forum stated.
They further criticised the sequencing of the concession process, noting that KCOBA had offered to prepare and implement a development plan only on the condition that it takes over day-to-day administration. The ex-principals argued that this approach reversed the proper order of planning and decision-making.
They called for broader stakeholder consultation involving the PTA, educationists, infrastructure experts, philanthropists, public-service unions and civil society organisations, as well as an independent review, before any long-term management changes are finalised.
The rejection comes amid ongoing controversy over the Federal Ministry of Education’s decision to hand over management of the college to KCOBA. A ministry circular earlier this month directed that a Transition Committee oversee the transfer within six months, after which funding from the Federation Account would cease.
The move has already drawn protests from parents and students, who have threatened legal action and disrupted resumption plans, arguing that the school should remain a public federal unity college.
KCOBA has maintained that the arrangement is not a sale or transfer of ownership and that the college will remain a public national institution. The association has described its role as one of stewardship aimed at improving infrastructure, academic standards and student welfare.
The former principals’ intervention adds further weight to opposition against the concession, intensifying pressure on the Federal Government to reconsider or suspend the handover of one of Nigeria’s oldest and most prestigious secondary schools.
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