Professor Pat Utomi, notable economist and presidential aspirant in the 2007 general elections, has challenged the President, Alhaji Shehu Umaru Yar’Adua to convince Nigerians that he is really in charge of the affairs of the country.

Utomi, a director of the Lagos Business School, listed some biting issues concerning the country and requested the President to prove he is still in the cockpit of the destiny of Nigeria and Nigerians.

Professor Utomi enumerated some of Nigeria’s ills and the lack of will and wits on the part of the president to fix them.
He was speaking during the popular weekly ‘People’s Parliament‘Television programme, Patito’s Gang, a forum where members of the public sit to x-tray and analyse both government and nation’s social activities as it relates to Nigeria.

According to him, the president needs to assure the country’s citizens of their safety, following the spate of unresolved social unrest currently cripping into Nigerian society. He pointer at the recent spate of assassinations and kidnapping in some parts of the country.

Utomi said: “I call upon the president to answer the question that was reportedly asked of him by Olusegun Obasanjo, who was reported to have asked the president, ‘Umaru, are you in charge?’

Professor Utomi said an answer was necessary in view of some conflicting statements emanating from top government functionaries in recent times.

Utomi also referred to some statement, which had been credited to the Attorney-General of the Federation and which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions (EFCC) had challenged and contradicted.

“At the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, the Foreign Affairs Minister made statements that have been challenged by the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Utomi further reminded.
The economist further referred to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) denial that former (EFCC) boss, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, visited Nigeria, and that when shown pictorial evidence only shifted the blame to the country’s Comptroller-General of Immigration.

“The Nigeria Customs and Excise Service is knee-deep in a monumental certificate forgery scandal, while a self-confessed close confidant of the president and ex-governor, James Ibori, made public statements to the effect that people in political circles believe he has sufficient influence to propel them into high-power positions and influence the judiciary, yet the only reaction from the seat of government is a loud silence.”

He decried the situation whereby persisting insecurity in the country remain unchecked.
According to him, the thinking of Nigerians is that if the Secretary to the Kaduna State government, the third ranking official in the state’s hierarchy, could be kidnapped, “who then is safe? ‘The Presidency cannot afford to keep quiet on an issue like this,” he stressed.

Utomi further said: “Nigerians recall the often touted campaign promise of the president that he would declare an emergency in the power sector. Mr. President followed this up with a bold statement to The Guardian’s editorial board that the emergency would come soon and he would requisition any national asset necessary to meet that emergency.
“We are told in the Webster English Dictionary that an emergency is something that is urgent, important and pressing upon you. Alas, in Nigeria our president has taught us a different meaning of this word.

Utomi deplored a situation whereby only 10 per cent of students passed the National Examinations Council (NECO) exams this year asking for the rationale behind Yar’Adu’s visit to Saudi’s monarch, King Abdullahi, to open a new state of the art university, while the school system in the country was burning with strike by teachers. “Charity must begin at home,” he advised the president.

Utomi, who also agreed with most Nigerians that there is nothing to celebrate about the country’s 49th independence anniversary, also said: “If you take the vision of the founding fathers of Nigeria as the goal for which we gained independence and if you take the degree to which we have attained that goal as a measure, the only conclusion to be drawn is that we have failed and the failure is traceable to our leaders.

News source: Eromosele Ebhomel, PMNews

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