The controversy trailing the proposed 35-year concession of King’s College, Lagos, has added to a hail of backlash against some policies introduced under the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa.
On Wednesday, protesting workers from the ministry blockaded the entrance to the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, preventing the minister from reaching his office.
After meeting with Alausa on Monday, the Trade Union Congress had asked its affiliates to suspend the industrial action, but some unions rejected the suspension and pressed on, culminating in Wednesday’s blockade of the ministry.
Chanting ‘Alausa must go,’ the protesters oppose the handover of the 117-year-old school to the King’s College Old Boys’ Association (KCOBA), arguing that the arrangement threatens public ownership, workers’ welfare and the future of other Federal Unity Colleges.