As Nigeria prepares to mark the 2026 World Teachers’ Day on October 5, the Chief Executive Officer of Africa Brands Review (ABR), Joseph Ayodele, has called on the Federal Government to suspend or withdraw the proposed 35-year concession of King’s College, Lagos.
Ayodele said resolving the controversy surrounding the concession would help reduce tensions within the education sector and support the smooth resumption of Federal Unity Colleges and Federal Technical Colleges for the 2026/2027 academic session.
The call comes amid an ongoing dispute between the Federal Government and education-sector workers over the proposed concession. Labour unions have opposed the arrangement, while the government has maintained that the proposal is a concession rather than privatisation. The disagreement has also affected the resumption of Federal Unity Colleges.
In a statement titled “October 5, 2026 World Teachers’ Day: Towards a Crisis-Free Celebration in Nigeria,” Ayodele identified the King’s College concession, unresolved policy issues affecting federal schools and challenges surrounding the implementation of the five-year service extension for teachers and education officers in the Federal Capital Territory as potential sources of tension ahead of the annual celebration.
He urged the Federal Ministry of Education to pursue constructive engagement with stakeholders over the King’s College proposal, arguing that policy innovation should take into account institutional and market readiness.
Ayodele, who referenced his experience working with Procter & Gamble in the early 1990s, said organisations operating in different environments often have to adapt their models to local economic and institutional realities.
He said the delays and controversy surrounding the proposed 35-year King’s College Concession Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) reflected some of the complexities associated with implementing the arrangement.
“To restore immediate stability ahead of October 5, the ministry should suspend or scrap the controversial King’s College concession MoU in its current form,” he said.
The proposed concession has faced opposition from education workers as well as parents and students of King’s College. Workers have linked their concerns to fears about the implications of the arrangement for jobs and the management of federal schools, while parents and students have also publicly opposed the proposal.
Concerns Over Teachers’ Service Extension
Ayodele also raised concerns about the implementation of the five-year service extension for teachers and education officers in the FCT.
He noted that the FCT Administration had adopted the extension of the retirement age for teachers to 65 years or 40 years of service, but said its implementation had contributed to a temporary promotion bottleneck among some mid-level education officers.
He further expressed concern over proposals to redeploy senior education officers aged 60 and above into classroom teaching positions under junior administrative officers.
According to him, such arrangements could affect workplace hierarchy and productivity.
Rather than returning the affected officers to classroom positions, Ayodele recommended that they be deployed to senior education inspectorate, mentorship and curriculum advisory roles.
He said this would allow the education system to benefit from their institutional knowledge and experience while creating opportunities for younger officers to progress within the administrative structure.
Calls for Recognition of Education Reforms
Beyond the areas of disagreement, Ayodele said Nigeria’s education sector had recorded reforms and development initiatives at both federal and sub-national levels.
He cited modernisation initiatives by the Federal Ministry of Education, infrastructure expansion and administrative reforms in the FCT, interventions by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and initiatives by state education authorities.
He particularly highlighted interventions by the Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education under Commissioner Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun.
Ayodele said ABR’s maiden Nigeria Education Wheel of Progress Report, published in June 2026, documented some of the reforms taking place across the country’s education sector.
He urged stakeholders to acknowledge areas of progress while addressing existing disputes through dialogue and timely policy adjustments.
Teacher Welfare and Post-Retirement Security
On teacher welfare, Ayodele identified post-retirement financial security as one of the issues contributing to tensions within the education sector.
He disclosed that the African Principals Conference Initiative (APCI) was preparing a school safeguarding and educator welfare project focused on recognition, capacity development and post-service transition support for educators.
He called on government, education administrators, unions and other stakeholders to work towards ensuring that the 2026 World Teachers’ Day celebration centres on teachers’ contributions and strengthening the education system.
According to him, addressing outstanding policy and labour issues before October 5 would help prevent the annual celebration from being overshadowed by industrial disputes and disagreements over education-sector policies.
