Political Economy professor Pat Utomi firmly ruled out any future bids for the future of accepting public office or government appointments in Nigeria, claiming that his focus is merely on the well-being of future generations rather than political ambitions or personal interests.
Utomi stressed in an interview on channel TV that he longed to get rid of his desire to corruption that often portrayed public life in the country.
“Let me make it clear that I will not run for office, I will not accept appointments from any government in Nigeria. The only thing I care about is the well-being of the next generation,” he said. “I live a decent life without government money or stealing anything from anyone. I want to take those nonsense people away, like ‘Oh, he’s looking for a contract.'”
Utomi also stressed the importance of shadow government as a tool to promote democratic accountability, describing it as a legitimate and structured way for citizens to demand transparency and responsibility by those in power. “There is nothing more democratic than a group of citizens gathering together to find a structured way to demand government responsibility. What more democratic than that?” he asked.
He further called on Nigerians to consult Afrobarometer Readings, a highly respected public opinion survey that has tracked democratic attitudes throughout Africa since 1999 in order to better understand the political trajectory of the continent. “I usually have conversations with what we do with Africans. Some African readings are annual surveys that have been underway since 1999, namely Nigerians, Africans usually have all kinds of details in every country. I mean all kinds of details.”
“I want all Nigerians, and people who really want to understand what’s going on in our country to study African Sagittarius readings.”
Utomi noted that although Africans continue to value democracy, they are not considered by them due to their failure to achieve tangible results. “It points out that Africans still love democracy and persevere, but they are tired because their democracy doesn’t work,” he said. “Any serious Democrat must read this data, and the vertical data shows that people are tired of what we call democracy.”
