Nigeria Content Online

South Africa-based
Nigerian, Kole Omotoso, of the Africa Diaspora Research Group yesterday
said one of the greatest hurdles against the nation’s development is
the inconclusive revenue allocation system.

Mr Omotoso who
spoke at the Ondo State Cultural Centre in Akure, said there must be
deliberate efforts to fund institutions and make them work.

The lecture titled,
“Liberation from Perdition: What option for a Nigerian politician,
Service at National Level or Service at State Level,” was part of the
activities marking the second anniversary of the administration of the
state governor, Olusegun Mimiko.

The need to evolve
a resource control system, according to him, was in tandem with the
constitutional provisions that the federal government has no control
over how states utilise their resources.

He said, “While all
nations invest in their national government the wealth of the nation,
it is how that wealth is shared that is of the greatest importance.” Mr
Omotosho, a Professor of English Studies, said the reason why
politicians prefer service at national level was the desire to halt
legislative hindrances to state development.

“The sole and most
valid reason for a politician serving at the national level instead of
the state level is the burning desire to rectify, to help to correct
legislative mistakes and idiosyncrasies that make development
impossible at the state and local levels. The failure to convert the
national government from the government of men to the government of law
is located in the Sisyphean struggle of the Nigerian politicians to
roll up the heavy stone up the steep slope of Nigerian political and
economic existence.

“If it is
impossible to do anything at the state level because of the ideas and
concepts at work at the national level, it might be time for the
Nigerian politician to serve at the national level. But there must be
clarity as to the reason for going there. It is to be able to do
something there,” he declared.

Explaining his
argument, Mr Omotoso lamented the constitutional obstacle to the
control of security apparatuses by the governors in their states which
sometimes lead to the use of militias. “Within the constitution of the
country, state governments have no control over the police in their
states. This is an impossible position to be for the governors.

What alternatives
do they have other than conniving with these various groups to have a
semblance of a coercive force to give a semblance of authority without
bowing and scraping to the federal government?” he said.

In his remarks, Mr
Mimiko said the future of the country depends on the quality of
education at all levels which is why the Labour Party administration in
Ondo State has come up with the idea of building mega primary schools
as a foundation of education.

According to him,
government must get primary education right to ensure that graduates in
the country are able to compete favourably with their peers across the
globe.

The governor also agreed that state governments must not wait for
the Federal Government before developing at their own pace, noting that
development in the south west under the late Obafemi Awolowo was often
ahead of the Federal Government.