Workers of the Federal Ministry of Education have agreed to suspend their industrial action following talks with Education Minister Tunji Alausa and Minister of State for Education Suwaiba Ahmad over the proposed management concession for King’s College, Lagos.
The late-night meeting in Abuja produced a number of measures intended to reduce tension and reopen dialogue between the ministry and workers.
Under the agreement, the protest was to be suspended immediately and no worker would be victimized for participating in the industrial action.
Both sides also agreed to a two-week pause in implementation of the proposed management arrangement involving the King’s College Old Boys Association.
The pause is intended to allow further negotiations.
A seven-member committee will be established to examine the federal government’s agreement with the Old Boys and negotiate outstanding issues.
Police personnel deployed to the King’s College premises are also expected to be withdrawn.
The agreement followed several days of escalating disagreement over the proposed public-private management structure.
Earlier, Alausa accused some officials in the ministry and other stakeholders of spreading misinformation and said the government remained committed to the concession arrangement.
The minister insisted that the decision had followed due process and was intended to improve infrastructure, management and resources at the institution.
He also made serious allegations about admission practices involving the Parent-Teacher Association, including a claim that some admissions had attracted payments of as much as N20 million.
Those allegations were made by the minister and would require independent investigation before being treated as established fact.
Before the late meeting, workers had blocked access to the ministry headquarters and an earlier engagement was cancelled after the minister said employees had failed to reopen the gate and return to work.
The fresh agreement creates a temporary window for negotiations rather than a final resolution of the underlying dispute.
The central issues now include the scope of the Old Boys’ management role, staff protection, the future status of workers, governance of the institution and the safeguards that would apply under any concession model.
