It was FGC Kaduna yesterday. Today, it is FGC Kano. Tomorrow, it will be another of our cherished Unity Schools if we continue to sleep on our watch. We are witnessing a brazen, backdoor concession of our national heritage, yet the umbrella body meant to protect these schools—the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA)—has remained inexplicably silent.
To understand the depth of this issue, one must remember what USOSA stands for. The association was formally incorporated in April 2007 as a direct response to the Federal Government’s 2006 proposal to hand over these colleges to state governments or private interests. From its humble beginnings through the “Pro Unitate Forum,” this was an organization born out of resistance.
Led by pioneers like the late Albert Okumagba (FGC Warri ’81 set), USOSA was a formidable force. Under the leadership of Kabiru Nuhu Koko (FGC Kano ’77 set), USOSA was at the forefront of the fight against the sale of public schools. It was during his tenure that members galvanized the nation against the “Public-Private Partnership” model proposed by then-Education Minister Oby Ezekwesili, which was widely seen as a plan to privatize our Unity Schools. They fought and they won.
Subsequent leaders like Chidi Odinkalu (FGC Okiigwe ’83 set) and Lawrence Anirejuoritse Wilbert (FGC Ugwolawo ’86 set) carried this torch. Today, under the leadership of Michael Magaji (FGC Jos ’85 set), we hear lofty rhetoric about “defending Nigeria’s unity” and “promoting peaceful coexistence,” yet on the battlefield of policy, the General is absent.
Today, the Federal Government College Kano is under siege. The Federal Ministry of Education has quietly concessioned approximately 30 hectares of land within the school to a private developer, Pluck Global Construction Company, under a Public-Private Partnership arrangement. This is not an upgrade; it is a land grab.
Survey mapping reveals the shocking truth: the school mosque, the dining hall, the entire sporting field, recreational areas, the home economics block, the agricultural science lab, and the school farm are all slated to become a commercial estate. Each plot is reportedly valued at up to 200 million Naira, with over 600 plots marked for sale.
The level of insecurity this will pose to students is terrifying. A commercial estate sharing boundaries with the school exposes students to avoidable risks and erodes the controlled, secure environment required for effective learning. We recall the rumored gunmen attack near the school in 2011; this development is an invitation for disaster.
The alumni of FGC Kano (FGCKOSA), led by Shoyinka Shodunke, have shown what true advocacy looks like. They have petitioned President Tinubu, staged protests, and vowed to pursue legal action. They have launched a N5 billion development fund to prove that education can be funded without selling the land.
I have heard the flippant comment from some USOSANs who say: “FGC Kano has billionaire Abdulsamad Rabiu of BUA Group, so they can solve their problem.” Let me be clear, for the record this is not an FGC Kano problem. This is an existential disintegration and desecration of all 104 Unity Schools if not checked. Abdulsamad Rabiu’s wealth cannot protect FGC Jos tomorrow, or FGC Port Harcourt next month, or your alma mater whenever the ministry sets its sights on it. To reduce this fight to the financial capacity of one chapter’s billionaire is to miss the point entirely. When the government sells the playing field of one Unity School, it sets a precedent for all. When they fence off the dining hall of FGC Kano for commercial estates, no other Unity School’s land is safe.
But where is our USOSA? Not an official statement. Not a press release. Not a word from the President-General, Michael Magaji. Is it that we haven’t paid our dues? Or does USOSA support the fleecing of our children’s future? I must commend the few USOSA members who have shared or commented on the issue, but the leadership has remained morbidly silent.
The network of Unity School alumni is the most powerful constituency in Nigeria. We have the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio (FGC Port Harcourt). We have former governors like Donald Duke (FGC Sokoto), Liyel Imoke (FGC Enugu), Akinwunmi Ambode (FGC Warri), Emmanuel Uduaghan (FGC Warri), and current governors like Inuwa Yahaya (FGC Azare), Mohammed Umaru Bago (FGC Minna) and Suleiman Adamu, former Minister of Water Resources (FGC Kano). From corporate Nigeria, politics, the military to the creative sector with figures like Rita Dominic (FGC Ikot Ekpene), Kate Henshaw (FGGC Calabar), Chidi Mokeme (FGC Minna), Jim Iyke (FGC Abuja), and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (FGC Idoani) who served as her set’s head girl, our reach is limitless.
That is why USOSA must unite to fight this danger before it spreads. If we allow FGC Kano to fall, no Unity School is safe. This is not a fight for one chapter; it is a fight for all 104 schools. We have the numbers, the resources, and the connections. What we lack, for now, is collective will.
Let me be clear again, this article is not an attack. It is a wake-up call for all of us to do better in our individual and collective capacity. It is a plea to every USOSAN, from the President-General to the newest member to remember who we are. We are not just a social network for nostalgic celebration. We are the defenders of a national dream.
USOSA has over one million members worldwide. We have the capacity to shape policy and defend our schools. If the institutions are failing in their ideals of uniting young Nigerians, USOSA as an organization must not fail.
The silence from the leadership is a disservice to the founding ancestors like Albert Okumagba and Kabiru Nuhu Koko. It is time for USOSA to wake up from its slumber, step out of its comfort zone, and fight for the legacy of the Unity Schools before there is nothing left to fight for.
Fidelis Duker is a Filmmaker/Media Practitioner and a proud alumnus of Federal Government College Kano who writes from the creeks of Bakassi.
