Tension erupted at King’s College, Lagos, on Monday after protesting members of the school’s staff unions prevented the Old Boys’ Association from gaining access to the college premises.

The development reportedly led to a fracas at the school’s main gate as security personnel attempted to open the gates for members of the Old Boys’ Association, who had scheduled a press conference within the school.

Unable to enter the premises, the President of the King’s College Old Boys’ Association, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, and other old students addressed journalists outside the main gate.

Ibrahim-Imam explained that the Federal Government had approved the transfer of the management of King’s College to the Old Boys’ Association under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

He, however, stressed that the arrangement did not amount to the sale or privatisation of the over 100-year-old institution.According to him, the Old Boys’ Association was primarily interested in rehabilitating the college’s deteriorating infrastructure and improving facilities across its two campuses.

He said, “PPP does not in any way signify a sale of the school to the Old Boys. The Federal Government is not selling King’s College to anybody.“Also, the Old Boys are not interested in buying King’s College.

The role of the Old Boys Association, over the years, has been to invest in developing the infrastructure across the two campuses.”

The association’s president also dismissed concerns that the PPP arrangement would lead to an increase in school fees.He said the primary objective was to restore the school’s facilities, many of which had become dilapidated due to the age of the institution.

“There has also been a lot of what I consider to be disinformation, especially concerning the payment of school fees. At no time did the Old Boys imply that we are going to increase school fees.

Our objective is to develop the college,” he said.Ibrahim-Imam added that his personal ambition was simply to restore King’s College to the standard he experienced as a student.“I keep saying this, as President of the Old Boys, my own personal aspiration is very modest.

To take back, not even to take the school forward, take back the school to where I met it as a student. Now, all the facilities are dilapidated,” he said.He described the association’s intervention as a “rescue mission”, noting that the deteriorating state of the facilities was understandable given that King’s College had existed for more than a century.

The confrontation between the staff unions and the Old Boys’ Association has heightened concerns over the proposed management arrangement and its implications for the future administration of the federal college.