The 2007 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Chief Convener of the Big Tent Coalition Shadow Government, Pat Utomi, during an interview with The Punch correspondent, spoke on the controversies trailing the formation of his coalition, and other national issues.
When he was asked if his shadow government was willing to work with former Vice-President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, and Mallam Nasir El-Rufai’s coalition, Pat Utomi said, “I’m willing to work with anybody that can make Nigeria better, because of the pain, and the shame I feel that Nigeria is where it is compared to its potential. After many years in graduate school, I was coming from a conference in France, and I ran into one of my classmates. His first statement was, “Pat, what happened to Nigeria?” I don’t know what to say whenever I get to that kind of point.”
While speaking, Pat Utomi expressed deep frustration over the state of the nation, questioning whether he should go as far as describing the situation as one in which a group of criminal politicians had taken control of the country. He lamented Nigeria’s status as the poverty capital of the world, arguing that the nation could have easily achieved a GDP per capita of at least $18,000 by now.
Utomi cited recent remarks by the President of the African Development Bank, who said Nigeria’s current economic position was worse than it was in 1960, noting that the country’s GDP per capita had declined to $824. He criticized the attitude of Nigerian politicians, pointing out that despite the dire economic situation, they still displayed arrogance and flamboyance.
Utomi said he could not understand how the country had lost its sense of shame, adding that when such facts were raised, political leaders often became aggressive and defensive. According to him, many Nigerians were refusing to admit the reality out of pride and nationalism, but in his view, Nigeria was a failed state. He attributed this decline to a few self-serving politicians whose focus was solely on retaining power. Utomi concluded by saying that he was open to working with anyone who could help transform the nation’s current conditions.
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