During the colonial era, a legislative amendment by Governor Sir John Macpherson, threw open avenues for indigenous rule by 1951.
Ghana, then called Gold Coast, had a leg up in indigenous focused development, a staple of Awokoya's educational policies.
He attacked what he felt was the primary motive of colonial education: to limit the minds of indigenous Africans in achievements in science and technology and to imbibe in them the benefits of agriculture and farming.
He felt, the result was leading to a dependency on imports, with little base for industrial growth and confining traditional Africans to the background in knowledge and production.
Awokoya's policy was to make education a necessary catalyst for local production of goods, the development and acquiesce to modern science and technology and upliftment of the minds and souls of Africans.
A major critical measure of the policy was also to produce indigenous graduates who can administer the various local, regional and central administrative organs and structures.
A lot of the criticism drew on attempts to nationalize the scheme, which ended up costing more than 35% of the federal budget, increased unemployment and underemployment, and loosened educational standards.