Sale of Unity Schools: Labour threatens court action if FG ignores plea
By Eberechi Obinagwam
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has threatened legal action against the Federal Government if efforts to stop the ceding of 120 Unity Schools to private individuals and Old Boys’ Associations fail.
Speaking during a press conference on Wednesday at King’s College, Lagos, ASCSN’s Vice President Comrade Olubumi Adebayo Fajobi said as a law abiding and responsible Trade Union, they will continue to engage the government in constructive dialogue to resolve this matter in the interest of all Nigerians, but “If all efforts fail, the union will be compelled to seek other options including resort to the Courts.”
Fajobi recalled that on July 1, 2026, the union had warned the Federal Government against ceding Unity Schools to private entrepreneurs, including Old Boys’ Associations.
He said ASCSN was compelled to address journalists again after the King’s College Old Boys’ Association (KCOBA) announced days later that the college had been concessioned to it.
He warned that handing over Unity Schools to private entities would make the schools inaccessible to millions of Nigerian students because of the exorbitant fees that will be charged.
He said beside that, millions of employees namely Education Officers teaching in the schools and other workers will be thrown into the oversaturated labour market, the negative social consequence of which we cannot now predict.
”If the Old Boys Association claims that the school has been ceded to them, what is the template they have designed to deal with the students and the employees of the college?,” he queried.
”This is why we maintain our position that the school should not be handed over to private entities or sold to Old Boys Association, but must remain, national assets to continue to be used in the interest of Nigerian youths,” he added.
He emphazed that private enterprises that want to run Secondary School should set up their own instead of angling to convert unity colleges into their private property.
The union called on federal government to create vacancies in the Directorate Level so that deserving Officers can be promoted instead of being stagnated for years leading to low morale in the service.
”Vacancies can be created by disarticulating the Senior Secondary Schools from the junior arms to be manned by different Directors. Some big Departments can be separated to be headed by Directors while strategic units can be upgraded to Departments in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to create vacancies in the Directorate level.”
”As you are also aware, the current economic hardship in the country has necessitated a situation when some palliatives should be approved for workers to reduce the hardship millions of Public Service employees and other under privileged groups are facing in the country,” he said.
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