The governor of Osun state, Ademola Adeleke, has said that devolution of power is the solution to address economic hardship, unemployment, hyperinflation, and other challenges facing Nigeria.

Speaking at Adeleke University during the 10th undergraduate and 6th postgraduate convocation ceremony held at the institution’s stadium on Sunday, July 21, Adeleke expressed concern that graduates are entering the job market during a difficult economic period in Nigeria.

He, however, encouraged them to view this challenging period as an opportunity to utilize their entrepreneurial skills to offer solutions to these challenges.

He said: “At the National Economic Council meetings, both the federal and the state governments regularly brainstorm on finding solutions to the economic hardship, unemployment, and hyperinflation facing the nations.

“Several options are being experimented on. For us as a state, we believe the solution lies in the devolution of powers and financing to the state governments. There is an urgent need to move many items on the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list.

“The states are better positioned to handle many items for which the centre is presently responsible. So the solution is more devolution rather than more centralisation of governance powers and responsibilities.

”He added: “We must as a nation focus on economic federalism. This will deepen subnational prosperity and create an enabling environment for job creation and boost local capacity across the sectors.”

Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Solomon Adebola disclosed that the institution graduated 1,092 students consisting of 976 undergraduate and 116 Postgraduate. 115 bagged First-class Honours.