Some stakeholders in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, have expressed divergent views on how Nigeria has fared since its attainment of independence 60 years ago.
The stakeholders particularly chronicled how Nigeria had evolved politically, educationally and judicially over a period of 60 years.
Chairman, Dean of Deans of Education in Nigeria, Prof. Julius Ademokoya, said that Nigeria had a very great and responsible start in education at independence in 1960.
Ademokoya said that the quality of education had impacted positively on the civil service structure at that time.
“The colonialists handed down an educational sector which impacted positively on Nigerians, as each geographical region was engaging in healthy competition with another to nurture great minds.
“This was very clear in the kind of men and women that were produced as record breakers in various fields, such as public administration, education, literature, science, technology, medicine, history and host of others.
“We also have people who had excelled in various fields, working in different countries across Africa and other parts of the world.
“However, the success recorded in education in Nigeria within the period of 60 years was as a result of both government and individual efforts,” the don said.
He called on stakeholders, including government, to rescue the education sector from suffering more decay by ensuring proper funding.
In his own opinion, Dr Gbade Ojo, a political scientist and former Chief of Staff to late former governor of Oyo State, Sen. Abiola Ajimobi, posited that over-centralisation of governance was largely responsible for Nigeria’s political problem.
He added that the slow pace of political gains and development in Nigeria could also be traced to series of military incursions, the 1970 civil war and the unending corruption in almost every aspect of the economy.
Ojo advised politicians, all arms of government and Nigerians in general to do everything possible to fix the country so that there could be physical manifestations of Nigeria’s political development as soon as possible.
Mr Seun Abimbola, a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Oyo State, argued that the judiciary had performed within the resources available to it in the last 60 years.
“The performance of the personnel in the judiciary is not only visible within the Nigerian society, but also in the different countries where they had the opportunity to work.
“Initially, our judges were busy interpreting laws handed down by our former colonialists, but they now interpret laws formulated by the Nigerian legislators,” Abimbola said.
The legal practitioner advocated for financial autonomy for the country’s judiciary to enable it to perform optimally.
By Olawale Akinremi
