By Dayo Johnson

Akure—It was a mix of political and economic ideologies at the Ondo State 40th Anniversary Symposium in Akure yesterday, as former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Emeka Anyaoku, threw his weight behind President Muhammadu Buhari on his stand not to devalue the nation’s currency.

Emeka Anyaoku at the ocassion

Anyaoku, however, met an opposition in the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, who argued that the policy of pegging the value of Naira was breeding corruption.

Anyaoku, who was the chairman of the session,  opened the symposium with his opinion on the state of the Naira, a topic he said was tangential to the theme of the event, “Curtailing Nigeria’s Centrifugal Forces”.

He said devaluing the Naira would worsen the economic situation and cause a severe drain on the nation’s foreign reserves.

Anyaoku also urged the president to, as a matter of urgency, convene a meeting of carefully chosen economic experts in the country to discuss the issue, as well as the wider issue of how to deal with the country’s current economic crisis.

However, Odumakin, who was a discussant at the symposium, disagreed with the seasoned diplomat, saying that the pegging of the Naira at N199 to a dollar was encouraging corruption.

He said it was unfitting for the president to be talking about fixing a price for the Naira, saying that such practice was in the past.

“We should allow the Naira to find its level. What we are doing presently is hurting the economy,” he said.

Former Information Minister Labaran Maku said that the centrifugal forces had Continued to undermine the development of the country and that there fundamental issues that needed to be discussed otherwise the nation’s progress will continued to be retarded.

Governor Olusegun Mimiko in his contribution  expressed concern over the menace of Fulani Herdsmen in the country calling on the federal government to find lasting solution to it.