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Prof. PAT UTOMI Tells City People
Prof. Pat Utomi is very unhappy right now. He is not happy with the state of things in Nigeria today. He is unhappy with how bad the economy has become and the general insecurity pervading the whole country. He blames all these on what he calls the selfish political class. And he believes that the way the Tinubu regime is tackling the economic woes facing the country can’t work. He feels what is wrong with the Nigerian economy is deeper than what the government says it is.
A few days ago, the news broke that Pat Utomi was anchoring the coming together of key political players in the opposition camp to form a mega party. He has consulted widely. He wants a situation where the presidential candidates of the major parties like PDP, Labour Party, ADC and other parties will come together and chart a new course. He feels Pres. Tinubu needs help, to save the ship of state from sinking.
For those who don’t know, let’s quickly tell you a bit more about this gentleman, Patrick Okedinachi Utomi, who will be 68 next month. He is a distinguished academic who has paid his dues as one of Nigeria’s foremost public intellectuals for the past 4 decades. Utomi who first entered public consciousness as an 18 year old student leader, forced cabinet departures as a 21 year old youth corper journalist. He was to later become the youngest Phd holder ever to be appointed to a Presidential advisory position, at 27.
He has been a consultant to many Nigerian leaders both in the Public & Private sphere. He has also trained so many intellectuals who have today become professors in various universities. He is not only a Professor of Political economy, there are only few political leaders in Nigeria he has not interacted with in various capacities and he places the blame of the rot, squarely in their court. He has also been politically active at the same time, joining political parties to contest elections and he has been a victim of the devastating games which politicians play.
City People went in search of Prof. last Monday to hear him out on why he thinks, the move by opposition politicians coming together will help the country in any way.
We met him in his small office somewhere in Victoria Island, Lagos, reading and engaging in telephone conversations with concerned Nigerians who keep calling him for the way forward. As it is to be expected, his office is swamped with books, artworks, paintings, newspapers and journals. Once his greetings with us was over with our team, we asked Prof. how he sees the situation of things, and how he sees the State of the nation. “The situation is bad,” he says. “We are in terrible times. It’s so sad that we have found ourselves where we are today.
“Surely, the state of the nation is not good. Even strong partisans of those in power, in self-admission, say things are not good. It takes a lot to live in Nigeria today. Even in Abuja people are getting kidnapped. People are running for shelter because of Bandits or Boko Haram. People are leaving the country. Economically, things are not looking too good. People like to point at the exchange rates. But I am not an exchange rate person as such. But it is an indicator of sorts. The problem is that we are not producing. And since we are not a producing economy, the exchange rate will keep flunctuation, going the way it is going.
At first, they borrowed 1.5 billion dollars to shore up the exchange rate. It rose a little for a couple of weeks, then it nose dived again. Then, they borrowed again, and now they are about to borrow again. It is not sustainable. You can’t continue borrowing. Its production that can help. Production will keep the economy going. We must stimulate local production. It is production that stabilises the economy and keeps the exchange rate to go up and helps the reserve to go up. People will now have confidence in your country that you can pay. You must stimulate growth”.
“Nigerians in the Diaspora have a role to play. Examples abound all over the world. The narrow political cabal runs Nigeria for its own personal gain. During EndSars, we saw how they pushed back the young people when they said something is not going right. They did it heavily last year in the name of elections, when the Diaspora rose in form of a movement called Obedient. That was why they used Ethnicity and Violence to frustrate people. The young people and those in the Diaspora came together to change the narrative”.
How does he see the situation in which the present regime has found itself? “It is sad. The regime has found itself in a Legitimacy crisis. It has been affected by Legitimacy crisis. See how they are playing up France to back them up, expecting the World Bank to back us, and we can be more legitimate. Its a gamble for them”.
“See how they handled the removal of fuel subsidy which I have been talking about for years. Yet, I wouldn’t have supported what they did and the way they did it. It is a move that was done not because of the love for building the economy, but for legitimacy and for the World Bank. I think we have to shift our attention to focus on the living standards of the people, rather than focus on the narrow interest of the cabal. We cannot afford not to focus on the People. It is sad that many of these political players are my friends. We can’t forget the People. Many of them are my friends, all of them are my friends. Many of the political players have become so obsessed with themselves that they forgot the People. They have become so disconnected from the people. See how people are in deep economic crisis and our leaders are busy buying brand new SUV and Jeeps. They can’t feel the pain of the people. How much insensitive can you get? The purpose of government for them is not about the people but Awa Lokan. That is the mindset.”
How true is it that the opposition parties are coming together? “It is true. I have been speaking to a few politicians in the opposition to come together and see how we can chart a new course. A few months back, I was in the US and a few of my past mentees spoke to me that I should leave Nigeria and stay permanently in the US to rest. They did not want me to go back to Nigeria. They feel I have done enough for Nigeria and that I desire to rest. They wonder why I continue to suffer in Nigeria. I don’t want to suffer, but I like Nigeria. I don’t like suffering. Going to Nigeria is not because I love suffering. I promised them that I will go back and be quiet. No sooner was I in the country, Wale Okunniyi said to me, they say you must lead a movement ooo, to create a mega party that can stop this mess, your country is dieing. I said, Wale what have I done to you. You keep saddling me with responsibilities. In the last 30 years you have been the one pushing me out there. He is always the 1st to announce things and I will find myself struggling to cope with it”.
“But on further reflections, I think God is sending this Wale to me, to do these things. This time around we are building a new, real, political party. In my own opinion, Nigeria has never had a political party since 1999. All we have been having is our politicians hurriedly coupling together various interests that will be driven by money”.
We have to go though an idealisation process, arriving at a set of ideas about how to serve people and solve problems. There must be a socio-political economic system that best solves the problems of people. We must have an idealisation process that give us a kind of government that is people-centered, a government that is economic-growth oriented, a kind of government that is production based, not sharing Oil booty. Infact, if we agree to this kind of party, the next thing is what kind of values do we need to drive this kind of party? Values shape human progress. Without Character you are gone. We are bringing together Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Mr. Peter Obi, the ADC people Okey Nwosu and others. This is the kind of party we want. History will remember you more kindly. Think Nigeria first. Nigeria first. Nigeria. Then you can have a real political party.”
Has Prof. spoken to them? “Yes, I have spoken to all of them and they have agreed. They believe it is doable. All of them believe it is doable”.
-Seye Kehinde
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