Renowned Nigerian political economic Prof Pat Utomi has also lambasted President Bola Tinubu for declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State, arguing there was no ground for such a move.
The president had shocked the nation when he made his broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, 2024, citing vandalization of pipelines and the political crisis in Rivers as reasons.
The president oust the governor and all elected state officials replacing them with a sole administrator Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd) as Administrator to take charge of the state.
Prof Utomi faulted President Tinubu’s decision in an interview on Channels Television, saying that the political crisis in Rivers did not warrant a state of emergency.
The professor of political economy asserted that even when militants in Rivers were blowing up pipelines during the previous administration, the state was not subjected to emergency rule.
He further questioned the president for not declaring a state of emergency in Lagos State during the crisis involving the Lagos House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa and his colleagues.
“What is the problem in Rivers State that warranted a state of emergency? Tell me what it is. When pipelines were blowing up like popcorn in Rivers State, was there a state of emergency?”
“Why did he not declare a state of emergency in Lagos State when the assembly was running back and forth? Why Rivers? There’s something about fairness, equity and pure decency, and I don’t see it here, and I think it’s a shame that they want to rubbish the democracy that we all fought so hard for.”
Prof Utomi also blasted the National Assembly for endorsing President Tinubu’s declaration of a State of Emergency in Rivers State.
According to him, the endorsement was an insult to Nigerians.
The Angry Prof Wasn’t Yet Finished
In a follow-up post on his X social media page after he left the Channels studio, Pat Utomi, then slammed Nigeria’s ruling class, as an “army of occupation” that has subjected the people to untold misery.
He said that governance in Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu had become “criminal networks” masquerading as elected officials.
“Today feels heavy. The Nigerian people are a conquered people. The political class is an army of occupation engaged in scorched earth tactics,” he said.
The academic said widespread food insecurity and rising crime rates as evidence of a deepening crisis.
“For a majority of the people, misery is their portion, whether it be from food insecurity or the many crimes that are now commonplace,” he stated.
He accused those in power of lacking empathy for the suffering masses, likening them to the biblical “pharaoh that knew not Joseph.”
“The governance of the commons is in the iron grip of criminal networks of people who claim to be elected,” he continued.
“But these people have no compassion in their souls,” he added.
Utomi’s X post concluded with a lamentation, “Cry, the beloved country.”
Tinubu’s action has been roundly condemned, but if it was a case of misjudgment, the nation was dismayed when the two chambers of the national assembly, rather than block, endorsed the unpopular move.
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