Calibre of political leaders awful mistake for Nigeria – Pat Utomi

A political business analyst and ex-presidential candidate, Prof. Patrick Utomi, has portrayed the calibre of individuals who became politicians in Nigeria as an awful mistake for the nation.

Utomi showed concern while talking on ‘Though Tribe and Tongue May Differ: Interrogating Nigeria’s Nationhood’ at the 26th Annual Pre-Ramadan Lecture coordinated by the University of Lagos Muslim Alumni.

In accordance with the previous presidential candidate, Nigeria is in a condition of “competitive communalism”, where every leader is concerned about the growth of their regions.

Utomi cautioned that Nigeria could stay in a condition of “permanent crisis” without right administration.

He said, “In Nigeria, we don’t have a rational conversation that can help us.

“Nigeria is travelling in the wrong direction. This is really the problem. The gap between us and them is pushed in this emotional pulse.

“We seem to stumble from crisis to crisis. In Nigeria, everything you say that seems to be structured, people dismiss it. They say ‘Na grammar we go chop?’ They forgot that every action starts from a theory.

“But this anti-intellectual disposition, not thinking makes us create mountains in a small manhole and put our country in a state of permanent crisis.

“We seem unable to have a rational conversation. Nigeria politics irritates, annoys me because it is not dealing with issues people are dealing with.

“The calibre of people who became politicians in Nigeria is a terrible mistake for our country. People have travelled from citizenship to idiocy.”