Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has said over-centralization of power in the hands of the federal government has turned the country into a unitary state. Akeredolu said the hue and cry about restructuring which has extended throughout the entire country are about devolving power to the states to make them function effectively.
The governor who declared that he doesn’t believe in the disintegration of the country lamented that putting many items on the exclusive list has concentrated too much power in the hands of the federal government Akeredolu stated this in Akure, the Ondo State capital while playing host to officials of the National Senior Secondary Education Commission, NSSEC, who are in the state for a one-day advocacy and sensitization Workshop on the establishment of the commission with Education Stakeholders in the Southwest states of Nigeria.
According to the governor, the unity of the country is based on sustainable true federalism. He named the over-centralization of structures of governance as a major reason for the unending agitations for restructuring. Akeredolu, therefore, called for devolution of powers to enable the states to function effectively as federating units within the federation.
The governor advised the NSSEC to limit its operations to curriculum formulation, monitoring, and implementation rather than wholesale take-over of secondary schools administration in the country.
Earlier, the executive secretary of the commission, Dr. Benjamin Abakpa, said the sensitization to the geopolitical zone was to get policymakers acquainted with the reasons why the commission was set up by the federal government.
He said regulation of secondary school education, intervention on areas of needs, and setting minimum standards are critical objectives before the commission to actualize, in a bid to strengthen the post-primary level of education in the country.
Ada Peter
