Professor of political economy, Pat Utomi, has lamented that Nigeria is collapsing under the weight of poverty, insecurity, institutional decay and elite failure.
Utomi, convener of a political coalition, ‘The Big Tent’, spoke at media briefing where he described the situation in the country as an “existential crisis requiring urgent civic action and responsible leadership”.
“The rural economy has collapsed. Farmers can’t farm, and yet our political elite are obsessed with convoys, jets and SUVs. It’s morally bankrupt,” he said.
Utomi proposed structural reforms including overhauling land tenure laws, empowering universities for extension services, and supporting agro-processing clusters with the view to addressing the challenges.
Weighing in on insecurity, Utomi emphasised the link between poverty and rising violence.
He stressed that poverty makes people easy recruits for terrorists and criminals, stressing the need for decentralised policing.
