The controversy surrounding the Federal Government’s concession of King’s College, Lagos, to the King’s College Old Boys’ Association, KCOBA, has deepened, with parents and other stakeholders mobilising for a mass protest against the arrangement.
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Chairman of the King’s College Parent-Teacher Association, PTA, Mr Peter Oluwaseye, said the proposed protest had become necessary because, according to him, parents, senior civil servants and members of the host community were opposed to the concession.
Oluwaseye maintained that King’s College remained a public institution and should not be treated as the property of its former students simply because they once attended the school.
“Parents are not in support of the move. Senior civil servants are also saying no to it. The community is also not in support. Old boys should not see the college as their property. They attended the school just like the current students are doing. King’s College is a public property,” he said.
The PTA chairman argued that former students who wished to support their alma mater should do so voluntarily without seeking to assume control of the institution.
“The old students should give to the college willingly, not wanting to take it over. They won’t succeed. There is no private entity that can assemble the type of teachers we have in the college. We say no to concession, whatever guise it is being planned,” Oluwaseye added.
The fresh opposition follows the announcement by KCOBA President, Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, that the Federal Government had approved the concession of the 116-year-old institution to the association.
As part of plans to reposition the college, KCOBA also launched a ₦100 billion endowment fund expected to support infrastructure renewal, teacher development, digital technology, scholarships, innovation, research and students’ welfare.
Among the early donors to the fund were Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who donated ₦10 million, while Ibrahim-Imam pledged ₦1 billion.
Former Chairman of the association’s Board of Trustees, Chief Philip Asiodu, and the new Board Chairman, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, also donated ₦100 million each.
Defending the concession, Ibrahim-Imam described the development as a defining moment in the history of King’s College and potentially a blueprint for the renewal of public education in Nigeria.
According to him, the arrangement would allow KCOBA to partner with the Federal Government to upgrade infrastructure, strengthen governance and improve learning outcomes without transferring ownership of the institution to the association.
He dismissed suggestions that the Federal Government had sold or privatised King’s College, insisting that the arrangement merely established a new governance framework between the government and the old boys’ association.
“Rather, it is the establishment of a new governance framework through which KCOBA will partner with government to restore, strengthen, modernise, and sustain one of Nigeria’s greatest educational institutions,” he said.
Ibrahim-Imam described the Federal Government’s approval as one of the most consequential developments in the school’s history since its establishment in 1909.
“Today, we gather at a truly defining moment—not merely in the history of King’s College Lagos, but in the continuing evolution of public education in Nigeria. There are occasions that simply mark the passage of time, and there are occasions that redefine history. Today belongs firmly to the latter,” he said.
He added that King’s College had, for more than 116 years, remained one of Africa’s respected symbols of educational excellence, producing generations of Nigerians who distinguished themselves across public service, diplomacy, business, academia, medicine, engineering, the military, judiciary and technology.
According to the KCOBA president, graduates of the school had played significant roles in shaping governments, building industries, strengthening communities, defending democracy and serving humanity.
He, however, lamented what he described as the gradual deterioration of facilities, systems and structures that once made King’s College a leading standard for secondary education in Nigeria.
Ibrahim-Imam explained that securing the concession was the culmination of years of advocacy and engagement by generations of former students who were concerned about the condition of the institution.
“This historic milestone did not happen overnight. It is the culmination of years of careful planning, sustained advocacy, constructive engagement, and unwavering commitment by generations of Kingsmen who refused to accept that decline should define the future of their alma mater,” he stated.
Despite KCOBA’s assurances that the arrangement would not alter government ownership of the school, the PTA’s opposition indicates that the controversy is far from resolved, with parents now preparing to publicly demonstrate against the concession.
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