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), warning that the move undermines public education. The arrangement, approved in July, allows KCOBA to manage the school under a Memorandum of Understanding, with a pledged N100 billion endowment for infrastructure, teacher development, digital technology, scholarships and student welfare. Following protests from parents and staff, the government suspended implementation for two weeks and set up a seven-member committee to review the agreement. CAPPA argues that even with legal ownership remaining with the state, transferring operational control and governance to a private body amounts to privatisation.
The rights group said Unity Schools like King's College, established in 1909, were designed to promote national integration and provide quality education across ethnic, regional and class lines. Despite rising fees and deteriorating facilities, these schools remain more accessible to low-income families compared to private institutions. CAPPA's Assistant Executive Director, Zikora Ibeh, stated that years of underfunding and poor administration have weakened public schools, but this should not justify handing them over to private entities. She stressed that the government's proposed 2026 education budget of N3.52 trillion, about 6.1 per cent of total spending, remains insufficient given the scale of challenges, including overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and millions of out-of-school children. CAPPA insists that public assets must be revitalised through increased budgetary allocation and accountable management, not concession deals.
The government approved handing over a federal unity school to an old boys' association while citing continued public ownership, even as it transfers full operational control. This creates a contradiction: if the state retains responsibility for equitable access and national integration, how can it delegate core governance to a private group with no mandate from the broader public? The concession risks turning a national institution into an exclusive entity, despite its role in bridging social divides.
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