Mirian Gom 
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Federal Government and labour unions in the Ministry of Education have reached a five-point agreement aimed at ending the industrial action and addressing the controversy surrounding the proposed management arrangement for King’s College, Lagos.
The agreement was reached on Wednesday night at a meeting between the education ministers and labour unions within the ministry, with both sides agreeing on measures to restore normalcy and address workers’ concerns.
Under the agreement, the unions are to immediately suspend the industrial action, ending the ongoing protest by staff over issues linked to the ministry and the proposed arrangement involving King’s College Old Boys Association (KCOBA).
The parties also agreed that no staff member would be victimised for participating in the industrial action.
As part of the resolution, the implementation of the proposed takeover or management arrangement for King’s College by its old students has been paused for two weeks. The pause is expected to provide room for further consultations and negotiations over the agreement.
The meeting also resolved to redeploy policemen from the premises of King’s College, addressing another issue that had featured prominently in the dispute.
In a major step towards resolving the disagreement, the government and labour unions agreed to establish a seven-member negotiation committee to examine and review the Federal Government’s agreement with the King’s College Old Boys Association.
The committee is expected to “x-ray” the agreement and consider concerns raised by the unions and other stakeholders before further steps are taken.
The five-point resolution comes amid tensions over the proposed management arrangement for King’s College, which the Federal Government has said is intended to mobilise additional resources for the rehabilitation and modernisation of the institution while retaining government ownership.
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Oluwatobi Adu 