The reopening of the 115 Federal Unity Colleges across the country has been made possible by the suspension of the strike by the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria over the concession of King's College in Lagos.

The decision was made during a meeting between the leadership of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, ASCSN, and zonal coordinators of the Unity Schools in Kano on Tuesday, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.

In order to give a seven-person committee time to examine the King's College concession document, the union leaders decided to halt the industrial action.

This comes around two weeks after the Parent Teacher Association and ASCSN closed all Unity Colleges and demanded that the Federal Government undo King's College's concession to its Old Boys Association.

Workers under the ASCSN ordered members to boycott the colleges' planned September 13 reopening, arguing that King's College's surrender jeopardised the Federal Unity College system's viability.

The agreement between labour and the Federal Ministry of Education as well as the King's College concession document were taken into consideration by the TUC leadership, ASCSN, and the zonal coordinators, according to the communiqué.

As a result, they decided "to suspend the ongoing strike action in the Unity Colleges to enable the seven (7) man Committee to review the Concession document."

The union officials stated that the decision was partly influenced by the fact that ASCSN had two representatives on the committee and that the King's College concession had been postponed until the committee's report.

“Considering the above, the Zonal Coordinators of the Unity Schools agreed with the National Leadership of the ASCSN that the strike be suspended immediately while awaiting the report of the committee,” the communiqué read.

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