Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association Olumide Akpata has defended the controversial management arrangement involving King’s College, Lagos, saying the institution has not been sold and that its old boys have no intention of purchasing it.
Akpata, a member of the King’s College Old Boys Association, spoke amid criticism of the arrangement from the Nigeria Union of Teachers and some federal education-sector workers.
According to source, Akpata described the concession as a formalisation of assistance which old boys had provided to the institution over many years.
Opponents of the arrangement have framed the issue differently. The NUT has called for a reversal, arguing that King’s College is a national heritage institution and warning against what it views as privatisation.
The dispute therefore turns in part on the precise legal and administrative structure of the concession: what responsibilities are being transferred, what powers remain with government, how assets are protected and what oversight mechanisms apply.
Akpata’s comments constitute his explanation of the arrangement rather than a judicial determination of its legal character. The concerns expressed by unions and other stakeholders also remain part of the ongoing public debate.
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