Kings College Lockdown: Parents, Teachers Block Old Boys, Royal Envoys As PPP Crisis Deepens

Mary Nnah

There was drama at the gates of King’s College Lagos yesterday as angry parents and teachers barricaded the entrance to the 117-year-old school, preventing members of the King’s College Old Boys Association, KCOBA, from holding a scheduled 1pm press conference on the controversial PPP concession. Even white cap chiefs sent by the Oba of Lagos to mediate were turned back at the gate.

The protest left the college in a tense standoff, with police and royal emissaries caught in the middle as both sides dug in over the Federal Government’s plan to hand over management of the school to the old boys.

Addressing journalists at the school gate, KCOBA President, Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Iman, OFR, CON, insisted the move was not a sale.

‘In a very brief summary, we came to address the press on the most topical issue of the All Boys taking over the management of King’s College, Lagos,” he said.

According to him, the Federal Executive Council had resolved that King’s College be handed over to KCOBA on a PPP basis, but “PPP does not in any way signify a sale of the school to the All Boys. The Federal Government is not selling King’s College to anybody. Also, the All Boys are not interested in buying King’s College.”

Ibrahim-Iman blamed years of neglect for the crisis, saying the school’s facilities are “in a grave state of disrepair.” He described KCOBA’s intervention as a “rescue mission.”

“My own personal aspiration is very modest. To take back, not only to take the school forward, but also to take back the school to where I met it as a student,” he said, pointing to St. Gregory’s College and other mission schools as examples of what PPP can achieve.

In a bid to calm fears, the KCOBA President made three key assurances. “Number one, the college is not for sale. There is no willing seller, there is no willing buyer. Number two, I want to assure the parents that we are not thinking about increasing school fees. Number three, I also want to assure the teachers… for those who would elect to remain as teachers in King’s College, we will double their salaries and allowances.”

He added that teachers who opt out will be transferred by the Federal Ministry of Education to other unity schools like Queens College, Yaba.

Ibrahim-Iman also dismissed the protesters as unrepresentative, noting there are “about 2,500 students currently in King’s College Lagos” and questioning how the few at the gate could speak for all parents.
“We, as All Boys, are motivated by the highest principles of altruism. Our desire is to give back and nothing more”, he added.

Bolstering that position, the Chairman of the KCOBA Board of Trustees, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, SAN, CON, released a statement titled King’s College: A Legacy We Must Manage, Renew And Give Back, saying the moment had come for “honesty.”

Okunnu argued that silence could no longer serve the truth, insisting that King’s College was not being sold and there was no transfer of ownership to KCOBA. “The College remains, today and always, a public national institution. What is changing is not who owns King’s College, but the framework through which it is managed, maintained, financed, modernised and developed,” he stated.

The elder statesman said the old boys were returning “to serve it — to help manage, support and rebuild the institution that shaped generations of Nigerians,” describing it as stewardship, not possession.

He then laid out what he called the rot that forced KCOBA to act. Okunnu alleged a long-standing admissions culture where places meant for deserving children were compromised by money and influence. He claimed state-based admission quotas had been diverted to candidates from other states, and that “admission racketeering” by affluent parents had become entrenched. According to him, some of the current agitations are being sponsored by those who benefited from the corrupt process for years.

Okunnu said investigations showed some students occupying slots reserved for certain states actually came from elsewhere because “the racketeers sold those slots.” The fallout, he said, was over-admission. At a point, he noted, King’s College had over 3,800 students despite a carrying capacity of just 1,200. “This has exerted undue pressure on the facilities and taken its toll on proper monitoring and discipline of the students,” he said.

Beyond admissions, Okunnu raised alarm over deteriorating infrastructure and buildings whose “structural integrity raises grave concern for the safety of students, teachers and staff.” He also cited cases of drug abuse and, most painfully, students allegedly begging for money on campus because they were hungry. “A rescue mission begins with the courage to name the problem plainly,” he concluded.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Tijani Fatai, who was on the ground, said his priority was to prevent a breakdown of law and order. “All I need to do here… is to ensure that there is no breakdown of the peace and the rights and properties are secured,” he told reporters.

After hours of deadlock, the CP announced a breakthrough. “At the end of the day, we have had an agreement that tomorrow, they will choose their representatives to meet with all students outside the school and have a dialogue with them.”

Ibrahim-Iman confirmed the new plan: “Tomorrow at 10, the CP has advised that we should come back to dialogue with them… to engage the teachers and the parents in a meaningful dialogue so that they can understand our motives and our objectives well.”

The CP insisted dialogue was the only way forward: “Everything is going down to dialogue. There is no way, at the end of the day, they will not have a dialogue on this issue.”

Also speaking, the National Coordinator of the Federal Workers Forum, Comrade Andrew Emelieze, declared that Nigerian workers will resist any attempt to concede, privatise or sell King’s College, Lagos, and other federal unity schools.

He explained that education remained a responsibility of government and should not be handed over to private interests.
He said the protest was part of a national action by Nigerian workers, adding that labour leaders were in Abuja meeting with the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, over the issue.

According to him, “King’s College is not for concessioning, King’s College is not for sale, King’s College is not for privatisation, and unity schools are not for sale.”

He alleged that some old boys of the college had attempted to forcefully gain access to the school with the assistance of the police, leading to the arrest of some protesters.

He condemned the development, arguing that peaceful protest was a constitutional right and that the police had a responsibility to protect protesters.

He said, “We are saying that this is not the best way to go in a democracy. Protest is legitimate. It is constitutional. It is legal, and we are saying that the Nigerian Police owe us a duty to also protect us when we are protesting.”
The labour leader also alleged that the concessioning agenda was ultimately aimed at acquiring government-owned land and gradually privatising public assets.

He linked the development to what he described as broader economic policies associated with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, warning that such policies could result in public assets being concentrated in the hands of a few individuals.
“What they are trying to do is to gradually privatise Nigeria and put Nigeria in the pockets of a few. And that is why the resistance is coming from the Nigerian people,” he said.

Emelieze urged the federal government to take responsibility for funding education, arguing that public schools should remain adequately financed rather than being transferred to private interests.

He said the government had sufficient resources to fund the unity schools, particularly with increased revenue from taxes and other sources.
“Nigeria is making more money now. They are removing fuel subsidy. They are also borrowing. I think the tax net has been increased. Why wouldn’t they be able to sponsor unity schools?” he asked.

He further challenged old students who wished to contribute to education to establish new schools rather than seeking to take over existing federal institutions.

“If they are interested in building schools, if they want education to move forward, they can gather money and go and buy land and also build their own school. They should leave federal government schools for federal government to sponsor,” he said.

He also questioned why military-owned command secondary schools were not being considered for similar privatisation or concession arrangements if the government believed such a model was necessary.

He described attempts by the Old Boys to take over the institutions they once attended as unacceptable.

“You can imagine somebody that taught you; after you have graduated, you are coming back to buy that person. Is it not ridiculous?” he stated.
The Federal Workers Forum coordinator vowed that the protests would continue, saying workers would return to King’s College the following day until the government reviewed its position.

He said the protesters were not prepared to surrender their opposition to the concessioning of the college, declaring: “No retreat, no surrender.”

With unity schools nationwide shut over the same concession policy, parents say allowing talks inside King’s College would be “betraying others around.”

For now, the gates remain closed, but all eyes are on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at 10 a.m., when KCOBA, parents, teachers and police are expected to meet inside the school to decide the future of King’s College.