The host community of Federal Government College (FGC), Port Harcourt, alongside local stakeholders, parents, and labor representatives, has strongly rejected any move by the Federal Government to privatise or concession the school.
​The opposition was voiced during a press briefing and stakeholder hall meeting held on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at the Rumuokwuta Community Civic Centre in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State.
​The meeting was convened following rising anxiety triggered by the Federal Government’s controversial Public-Private Partnership (PPP) concession agreement involving King’s College, Lagos, which has sparked nationwide labor strikes and delayed school resumptions.
Speaking on behalf of the host community leadership, Chief Chijioke Amadi, Chief Spokesperson for the Rumuokwuta Council of Chiefs and Elders, warned that the host community would resist any attempt to transfer public management or hand over school assets to private concessionaires or alumni groups.
Comrade Ominini Bibi, Chairman of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) for Federal Unity Colleges in the zone, emphasized that Unity Schools were established as national heritage institutions aimed at promoting unity and offering affordable education to all Nigerians, rather than serving as commercial ventures.
Representatives from the Joint Congress of Unions of the Federal Ministry of Education reiterated that unity schools across Rivers State, including FGC Port Harcourt, FGGC Abuloma, and FSTC Ahoada, remain under lock and key following the nationwide directive halting resumption until concession plans are completely shelved.
​The protest in Port Harcourt comes on the heels of clarifications from the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who maintained that the King’s College arrangement with the King’s College Old Boys’ Association (KCOBA) is a governance framework and not an outright sale.
However, labor unions and host communities across the nation argue that such concession arrangements threaten staff job security, risk sharp increases in school fees, and alienate host communities whose ancestral lands were originally acquired strictly for public educational purposes.
