Ondo government, PDP trade words over honorary award on Akeredolu

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has flayed Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, for receiving honorary doctorate degree in Law from Ajayi Crowther University (ACU), Oyo State.

The state’s PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kennedy Peretei, in a statement made available to journalists in Akure yesterday, said: “It is shameless to receive award from ACU when the state’s university is under lock and key.”

HOWEVER, the state’s Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Donald Ojogo, has said that the honorary degree on the governor is deserving, dispelling the allegation from the PDP chieftain.

He said: “To expect the opposition PDP to keep quiet without last kicks and not embrace any straw in its drowning moment is illusionary. Even at that, the APC had before now issued a statement in that regards. So, to add to that means an unnecessary glorification of the PDP.

“The reason is simple. The issue at stake, a doctorate degree in Law, LL.D, Honorary Causa, is far too sophisticated to be comprehended and can indeed be properly discerned by everybody.

“We cannot drag in an innocent mind into this. But if as presumed, it was a loose pellet, why do we need to react to the ranting of a minor?”

Meanwhile, Akeredolu at 12th and 13th convocation of ACU had tasked institutions of higher learning in the country for a paradigm shift, saying that tertiary institutions would only be relevant when they start producing problem-solvers and not just certificate holders.

He maintained that the hollow repetition of outdated and inapplicable theories, which are taught in the institutions of learning, would only produce highly-certificated citizens who lack capacity to solve basic problems.

The governor said that all activities in the institutions of learning must be geared towards self-reliance. Akeredolu said the challenges faced by any society must form the basis for the design of a curriculum of instruction, adding that its content must reflect the aggregate of the collective aspirations towards development.