Politicians Are Driven Largely By Greed And Self-love – Pat Utomi

A renowned economist and political analyst, Professor Pat Utomi has lambasted the attitude of Nigerian politicians saying that this has made the idea of revolution to “break the current trap so much more attractive.”

Pat Utomi in his write up released on Friday night noted that there are some people who he described as ‘criminals’ who seize power through the hijacking of political parties.

Utomi who pointed that views from his teenage years were that one can make change more readily from inside and that muckraking and iconoclastic method keep away the goal of social justice sought, said he has tried to become comfortable with those who dominate power without allowing me to be sucked into their ways.

“If through that I could influence them to act right for the people or be in position to affect policy for advance of the common good then I would have played down on the anger of my youth. These teachings allowed me to play with and sometimes within the establishment.

“But I was quick to observe their discomfort for those that remain their own person. It is as a result of this that I have had the good fortune of being able to say I have managed a one-on-one relationship with everyone who has been head of state or government in Nigeria since I was 19 years old, except of course, General Sani Abacha. In all of that, I have never used access to them to profit myself materially and have even turned down an offer of appointment when I was convinced that position could be utilised effectively to advance the common good if there was not a team of enough committed people to bring change about.”

Utomi, who is also a political analyst noted that many of the people who betrayed sacred trust in making party primaries across the board in Nigeria in 2018 a show of shame that proves Nigeria’s current contrivance cannot be called a democracy.

“Thankfully, no one need to rely on my word for this. On Thursday, November 8, 2018, The Federal House of Representatives had a session in which all kinds of unprintable adjectives were used to describe the primaries. There is no question that it was grand treason against the Nigerian people.

“Should people guilty of high crime not be prosecuted? I am convinced that while my experience is not exceptionally important, it will take someone like me to catalyse a process of bringing such people to book so justice can be done to the people.”

While citing an example of a colleague on the board of an insurance company who felt he should stay away from the crazy politics of Nigeria allegedly dominated by cultists, 419ers and soldiers of fortune, he revealed the experience of the chairman of the Board of his company who was literally robbed of his victory in the Osun primaries of the PDP and the scandalous bribes of up to a billion naira demanded from him in order for him to be given back his unequivocal victory.

“But my reply was measured. There comes a time in the seasons of one’s life journey that the duty to save the voiceless is greater than the duty to save self. This, should come through service, and if need be, the giving of life, one must be assured, such life lost will be gained back in the multiplicity of abundance.

“We are in such a time and my heart is open to that mission, I told him to his chagrin. Greed and Fetish Ways versus Issues and Fixing Problems Nigeria is severely challenged and gasping for breath. It is not that I think so, but I know so!”

Utomi, who noted that politics is supposed to be a path to finding an escape from this decline, said it came home to roost with my participant-observer engagement in 2018.

“To survive and thrive at a time like this is to find thinking people who are sacrificial in the way they give of themselves and compassionate in the way they feel the pains of those people on the crowded streets of our urban areas and the dull backwoods of our rural terrain.

“My observations in the field, in Delta State and elsewhere was that those that have come to be known as politicians are driven largely by greed and self-love, reneging on any agreement at will and bound by the bonds they forge with patrons through fetish beliefs. “

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