The purposes of this study are to describe the past and the present systems of secondary education in the Cross River State of Nigeria; to examine the goals, achievements, and failures of each with special consideration for the period from 1970 to 1981; and to make recommendations for improvement of the secondary educational system in the Cross River State of Nigeria.

Nigeria's educational environment has witnessed rapid and wide-spread changes within the last five years to the extent that enormous pressures are being put upon the practitioners. The introduction of universal free primary education in 1976 and the establishment of the national policy on education in 1977 are two of the major reasons for these changes. Educational critics have discussed issues affecting education in Nigeria generally and in Oyo State particularly. The practitioners have continuously come under severe attack for the apparent shortcomings brought by these changes. It was viewed that principals could speak out regarding the seriousness of such educational issues which the critics have repeatedly emphasized. The two purposes of this study were to determine the perceptions of secondary school principals regarding the seriousness of selected educational issues; and to determine whether there were significant differences in the perceptions that could be ascribed to zonal location of schools, age of principals, enrollment, and years of experience as principals.