Renowned economist and former presidential aspirant, Professor Pat Utomi is one resplendent figure that stands out in the midst of erudite personalities. In this with Saturday Sun, Professor Utomi, who is a staunch campaigner for the enthronement of good governance and value in Nigeria, didn’t mince
words while stating his disenchantment with the way the country is being run. The scholar, who is the leader and founder of the Centre for Value and Leadership (CVL), revealed that many in leadership positions in Nigeria deserve a place in jail as he vowed to kickstart a campaign for such bad leaders to be tried in The Hague. “Most of the people who lead in Nigeria should be jailed. And I’m carrying an international campaign to make sure many of them end up in jail in The Hague”, he stated.
Reacting to the falling price of oil and its implication on Nigeria’s economy, the astute economist chided the government of President Jonathan and urged him to curb the much wastage in his administration.
“We must stop waste in government. The wastage is just too much… We just spent N19 billion organising a national conference. What for? If I get N19 billion, I will ensure that every child that goes to school in Nigeria has a free meal, and that would bring more kids to school…”, he argues in this interview with VERA WISDOM-BASSEY and HENRY OKONKWO. He also spoke on the insurgency in the North, and the forthcoming 2015 general elections. Excerpts…
You were born and bred in the Northern part of the country. With your knowledge about the area and in view of the wanton destruction of lives and property going on there, at what point would you say things got this bad?
I was born and brought up, Nigeria wide. I was born in Kaduna, baptised in Jos, lived in Maiduguri as an infant, started school in Kano, I started school the same day with Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim at the St. Thomas’ Primary School in Kano. Most of my primary schooling was done in Gusau in what is now Zamfara State, at our Lady of Fatima. I started secondary school in the East, C.K.C in Onitsha. But most of my secondary school was done in Loyola College in Ibadan and I went to the University of Nigeria Nsukka.
When we were growing up, it was hard to think of seeing one as a Yoruba or Hausa man. The fact that you interacted so much meant that those differences disappeared. When CVL honoured Chief Akintola Williams two months ago, his biggest lamentation is that the youths of Nigeria don’t interact anymore as much as was the case in those days. And that is why we have all these stereotypes and people looking at each other as a monster.
How we got to where we are is the sad part of the greed of a certain elite that was using differences to get their own ‘share’. But through this they have polluted the country and all we see is differences. But the thing that binds us is much more than those things that divide us. Our shared humanity is our biggest strength.
You have always been known as an advocate of good governance, looking at the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, would you say he has done well to deserve re-election for a second term?
I try to focus on issues and not on people, because people deal with emotive things or judgements. And the good books command that we judge not so that we won’t be judged. But from time to time, one gets angry and make comments, because things are not as they should be. But typically I don’t like to reduce it to persons. I like to look at the policies: what are the policies that have not gone right, and how should our country be run. Certainly, our country is not being run as it should be run. Nigeria should be much farther away than where it is.
And the main part of it is that we have a political class that has not bothered to develop itself and understand the meaning of leadership. I keep reminding people that leadership is others centred behaviour. It focuses more on others, not on self. But there is too much obsession of self in public life. Public life is about sacrificial giving of yourself for the good of others. Because there is an obsession with self and power, people are not getting the benefits of the so-called civilian rule. I think the Nigerian government is sub-optimal to the extreme at most levels. But I think the people are not yet determined enough to save themselves. Sometimes when you fight and fight, at a point you wonder whether the people you are fighting for care to save themselves.
How do you explain that for N200 or N1000 people can deliberately vote for somebody every normal thinking person knows would damage their future? But that’s what is going on everyday in Nigeria. This makes one wonder when we would go from electoral machines to political parties. Political parties think of the way the world should be, seek out those they believe can effect change to come and contest, but here contesting for any electoral position is tied to millions of naira. So, any person who has not stolen would not go into the process. Nigeria needs steward leaders, people who account for the mandate they have. But they are not getting it because people who tend to get power believe that they bought it. That is the biggest tragedy.
The 2015 general election is around the corner, what are your expectations and your word to Nigerians?
If we continue to vote for people who don’t have knowledge and care about the people, then Nigeria’s progress would continue to be short changed. If the nation continues to be short-changed, it wont be long before we become Somalia. If we want to move away from Somalia, we must start asking ourselves who are the people offering themselves for public office? How much sacrifice have we seen in the history of their lives for the good of other people? How much knowledge do they have about how a modern state runs?
So, the tragedy of now is that Nigeria still continues like an experiment in the hands of political jobbers, thugs and other people that can bully others to corner power. If we want to stop this path, we can. Young people constitute a majority of the population in this country; today economists talk about the demographic dividend, if Nigeria is going to tap that demographic dividend, those young people must stop complaining on the side of the street, use the technology available to them, network and create a new nation.
But are you satisfied with the candidates that have so far indicated interest in leading the nation now?
Of course, I’m not satisfied with many faces but that’s not what you get.
You once nursed an ambition to become president…?
(Cuts in) I actually despise the use of that word ‘ambition’. I had a desire as a citizen to work with other citizens to create a better society. But if some other citizens don’t like it, then I can take a bow and face other things that I can do. If it is ambition, it becomes do or die. My attitude is that, if we had political parties, you would not be offering yourself, the leaders of the political party would identify credible persons that they want to project for elective positions, bring them into their party to vie for elective positions on their platforms. But here, any armed robber that presents N10million, gets ticket to become a governor. Most of the people who lead in Nigeria should be jailed. And I’m carrying an international campaign to make sure many of them end up in jail in The Hague.
As an economist, what is your take on the fall in oil price and the implication on our economy?
We must stop waste in government. The wastage is just too much. Any thug who calls himself a Special Assistant has a motorcade. In some countries in Africa, a president goes around with just one car and one security car, South Africa is a good example. Here, every minister, deputy governor is wasting public funds. We have to be more rigorous in making decisions. We’ve just spent N19 billion organising a national conference. What for? If I get N19 billion, I will ensure that every child that goes to school in Nigeria has a free meal, and that would bring more kids to school. I will make sure the teachers are better prepared and well motivated; the kids would get excited and stay in school. And once they go through school and learn well, they would be able to choose their own future.
