The Federal Government’s plan to reopen Nigeria’s Federal Unity Colleges has run into fresh trouble as workers in 112 of the 115 schools prepare to defy the September 14 resumption directive.
The brewing confrontation is linked to opposition from workers in the Federal Ministry of Education to the planned concession of some Federal Unity Colleges, particularly the proposed transfer of management of King’s College, Lagos, to its Old Boys Association under a 35-year concession.
The dispute has raised the prospect of widespread disruption to the first-term academic activities of the Federal Unity Colleges as thousands of education workers prepare to participate in protests and industrial action.
According to The Guardian, about 17,000 education officers at the Federal Ministry of Education headquarters and affected unity colleges are expected to participate in the planned protest and industrial action.
The Joint Workers Committee of Unions in the ministry has directed workers in the affected colleges not to resume until further notice, putting the unions on a collision course with the Federal Government.
In a notice dated September 11, 2026, the committee reaffirmed its earlier “No Resumption” directive and instructed union leaders at the Federal Unity Colleges to ensure that members comply with the position.
The committee also warned that any directive from Education Minister Tunji Alausa ordering the schools to reopen would not change its position unless the dispute was first addressed through the established labour-management channel.
The directive has reportedly been followed by 112 of the 115 Federal Unity Colleges, leaving only three schools where some students had already arrived after travelling long distances to resume.
The three institutions are Federal Government College, Kwali; Federal Government College, Okposi; and Federal Government College, Otobi, where students were reportedly admitted despite the workers’ directive.
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, which represents teachers and other workers in the affected institutions, has also instructed its members not to report for the weekend checking-in of boarding students.
The union cited the unavailability of textbooks among its concerns, raising additional questions about the preparedness of the schools for the new academic session.
The position of the unions directly contradicts the Federal Ministry of Education’s insistence that all Federal Unity Colleges will reopen as scheduled on September 14.
Minister of Education Tunji Alausa, through the ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Folasade Boriowo, assured parents, guardians and students that adequate arrangements had been made for a safe and orderly resumption.
The ministry also said relevant security agencies had been informed of the resumption arrangements and had been placed on heightened alert around the schools and their immediate environments.
Alausa maintained that the safety and wellbeing of students and staff remained central to the government’s preparations for the new academic session.
The government’s position means parents and students are facing uncertainty as the official reopening date arrives, with the ministry maintaining that schools should resume while the unions insist that workers should stay away.
At the heart of the disagreement is the government’s plan to concession King’s College, Lagos, to its Old Boys Association for 35 years, a proposal that has generated strong resistance from workers who fear the wider implications of concessioning public schools.
The unions’ resistance has also brought broader questions about the management, funding and future of Federal Unity Colleges into the centre of the dispute.
The Federal Unity Colleges are among the country’s prominent public secondary schools, admitting students from different parts of Nigeria and serving as institutions designed to promote national integration.
A disruption across 112 schools could therefore affect thousands of students and families at the beginning of a new academic term, particularly those who have already made travel arrangements and paid expenses associated with resumption.
The disagreement also presents the Federal Government with a difficult labour-management challenge, as forcing an immediate reopening without resolving the unions’ concerns could deepen tensions within the education sector.
For the unions, the demand for dialogue before resumption reflects their insistence that the concession dispute and other concerns must be addressed through established channels rather than through unilateral government directives.
For the government, however, the September 14 reopening date remains in place, with officials insisting that the necessary arrangements have been made to guarantee the safety of students and staff.
The immediate outcome of the standoff will determine whether academic activities can begin normally across the Federal Unity Colleges or whether the dispute will trigger a wider disruption of the new school term.
As students and parents await clarity, the Federal Government and the education unions nñow face mounting pressure to resolve the disagreement quickly and prevent the dispute over school management from turning into a nationwide education crisis.