Ola Ajayi,
A university don from the Department of History and Strategic Studies, University of Lagos, Prof. Rufus Akinyele, has said following innumerable requests  of state creation, the National Assembly should impose a moratorium of 10 years.

To him, all the arguments raised by agitators of state creation were too flimsy urging the legislative arm to toe the steps that General Yakubu Gowon(rtd) took in 1970 to put paid to the unnecessary clamour.

He said this while presenting a paper entitled, “Administrative history and the crisis of governance in Nigeria” at the inaugural round-table organized by the Network of Nigerian Historians in the University of Ibadan yesterday.

According to the great historian, part of the problems the country is facing could be attributed to the failure of its leaders to make recourse to history that should have guided them.

He noted that a persistent and thoughtful study of the past could provide potential clues to understanding present challenges and potential solutions to current problems.

Still puncturing the claims of proponents of state creation, the don argued that they failed to back their views with facts and figures.

He said the claim that state creation would promote development was weak adding, “This claim is neither backed by the facts of history nor supported by current development. If anything, the proliferation of state has diverted attention from real growth to mere duplication of government offices and institutions.”

Akinyele maintained that for tangible and meaningful development to be witnessed in the country, historians had to gird their loins and be at par with their counterparts across the world.

“To contribute meaningfully to the growth and development of Nigeria, more historians should move into the area of contemporary history,”he stated.

Corroborating the need for more recognition of History as essential tool for development and progress, Dr. Olutayo Adesina, Department of History, University of Ibadan, is of the view that Nigerian children should learn proper history that the struggle against national decay and retrogression could be won.