Political economist, Prof Pat Utomi, has said that the leadership crisis rocking the Labour Party is all about the preservation of personal privileges. He said the leaders do not have the interest of the people at heart.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Utomi said national interest has been subverted by personal interest because power has been redefined in Nigeria as an opportunity for state capture and use of public resources for the good of an individual.
Utomi said: “Some poison has been planted in Nigeria and the people are obsessed with money, power and ego. And this is setting our country back so badly. If you look at every political party, you will see the same problem.
“And I feel down in my spirit that these shenanigans will continue to go on. Instead of wanting broad base systems to transform the country, people are acting in ways that can preserve personal privilege and prevent the country from making progress.
“It is a tragedy that this is the lot we have in the country and it is part of the collapse of culture that came with crude oil. Until the Nigerian elite come to a certain understanding that there is a collapse of culture and that the country is dying because values truly shape human progress, there has been a collapse of culture.
“Until we go through a certain revival character, I’m sorry Nigeria is not going anywhere. Hustling has replaced thinking and national interest has been subverted by personal interest because power has been redefined in Nigeria as an opportunity for state capture and use of public resources for the good of the individual.
“Labour Party like in every other political party, characters are playing all kinds of games to prevent Nigerians from seeing the light and you see Nigeria falling apart. But they don’t care because they are so interested in themselves that they can do anything, exclude everybody, play any game and prevent constitution and all kinds.
“But we will definitely find out whether there was a convention or not but as far as I am concerned, if Nigerian people don’t want to build a nation, let everybody go to his father’s house, let’s walk away and live in our small communities because we can survive with Nigeria.
“The elites are so destructive of the possibility of progress in Nigeria that I have switched off. I’m no longer looking at Nigeria anymore because if you look at Nigeria you will just give yourself a heart attack.”
Speaking on the new economic team formed by President Bola Tinubu, Utomi said the power game within the system might prevent the team from achieving their set target. “Repeatedly, attempts on reforms in Nigeria have not worked because of power games within the process and how we manage those games are far more important than even the ideas being put forward.
“The naked truth is that if you look at our history, why did we make progress between 1957 and 1960? Why was it that the colonial Nigeria deliberately failed to industrialise Nigeria? But the Independent fathers in taking over in 1957 could go from low industrialisation to industrialised nation by 1960 because manufacturing was 20 per cent of our GDP in 1960.”
