Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu on Wednesday said devolving power to the states would help Nigeria to rest from many problems befalling it in recent times.
Akeredolu, who is also the Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum, spoke while hosting the officials of the National Senior Secondary Education Commission, NSSEC, who were on a One-Day Advocacy and Sensitisation Workshop on the establishment of the commission with Education Stakeholders in the South-West States of Nigeria.
According to him, over-centralisation of structures of governance in the Federal Government had been one of the factors fuelling the unending agitations across the country.
Akeredolu said: “The hue and cry about restructuring which has pervaded the entire country is about devolving power to the states to make them function effectively.
“The fiscal policy and over-centralisation of power in the hands of the Federal Government have turned the country into a unitary nation.
“Over centralisation of structures of governance is a major reason for the unending agitations for restructuring.
“There should be devolution of powers to enable the states to function effectively as federating units within the federation.”
He lamented that putting many items in the Exclusive List, concentrated too many powers in the hands of the federal government, adding that the unity of the country is based on sustainable true federalism.