2023: Utomi Urges Citizens To Embrace Efforts For Good Governance In Nigeria

Leader of the Third Force Movement, Prof. Pat Utomi has called for a shift of mindset by Nigerian citizens to facilitate a new order of good governance as the country prepares to transit to a another democratic dispensation in 2023 election.

Third Force Movement, also known as the Big Tent of coalition, is a fusion of the National Consultative Front (NCFront), Labour unions, the Labour Party and other alliance partners has the goal of rescuing Nigeria from the throes of poor political leadership.

According to the movement, the new order of good governance entails commitment to the dignity of the human person, and value for adequate utilization of economic resources at all levels.

Utomi, a Professor of Political Economy, while speaking on Friday at a virtual conference of Concerned Professionals and members of the New Fabian Society, said professionals have to take part of the blame for the state capture that has brought Nigeria to the brink of State failure.

He added that admitting guilt is part of the penitential rites we must make, adding that peers that allowed accountants to participate in looting state treasury as evidenced in the accusation of the Accountant General of the Federation by the EFCC of N80 billion fraud, and health care professionals in reducing the health sector to a man made disaster have become vicariously culpable.

Utomi who has in the past five decades been part of the struggle for entrenchment of good democratic governance in Nigeria, urged all to join hands with the Third Force Movement to install a government that will “focus on the people and not the need and greed of politicians.”

The Activist, who is also the founder of Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) assured the Concerned Professionals that the effort to build a strategic alliance for the 2023 elections, beginning with the alliance of NCFront with the Labour Party and the fusion of an election alliance with other parties which include the ADC, PRP, NNPP, NMR, SDP, APM and several others was bearing fruit.

Utomi disclosed that he had opened discussions with APGA before recent Supreme Court judgments regarding the Party, adding that he was much hopeful for progress.

Utomi while expressing his gratitude to the Rescue Nigeria Project Coordnator Dr Usman Bugaje, PRPs Halilu Bello and Prof. Attahiru Jega, as well as ADC chairman, Ralph Okey Nwosu for their untiring work in the formation of the Third Force, said the new Nigeria which beckons from 2023 would profit from lessons drawn from the errors of the last 20 years.

Such errors he said, resulted in failure to fix the electric power problem and neglect of the need to move orientation away from revenue sharing to production which has resulted in unprecedented unemployment. This he continued, has been responsible for the current orgy of violence and insecurity festering in different parts of the country.

Stressing that it was time for Nigeria to be born again and go back to drawing, Utomi said professionals should propagate the values and programmes of the Big Tent partners which reflect the spirit of the founding fathers of Nigeria.

Assuring them that Nigeria will rise up again, the activist said the Big Tent will employ the collegial leadership approach and will announce before the end of next week the members of the presidential college that will collectively account to the Nigerian people for governance performance even though only one person will be called President.

Professor Utomi urged Nigerians to reject the old way which has led to lost glory and favour big idea instead of big men, pointing out that to continue to follow a failed approach and hope for a different, preferable outcome is a good definition of insanity and failure.