Prof. Patrick Utomi, a Nigerian political economist and management specialist, stated on Tuesday that Nigeria needs leaders who understand economics and how economies work in order to double production output.
Utomi stated this in an interview with the Nigerian News Agency in Lagos.
He stated that unemployment and poverty, among other issues, require leaders who understand economics to address.
“We live in a knowledge capital era, in which knowledge is more valuable than any mineral resource.”
“The fight for these resources is diverting Nigeria’s attention away from what counts most: output.
“No country has ever been wealthy through revenues; instead, countries have become affluent through output,” the lecturer explained.
He believes that Nigerian officials need a clear strategy for getting the country to start producing, and that this may be accomplished by focusing development on the country’s natural resources.
“Among many other natural assets, some sections of Nigeria include sesame seeds, cocoa, and crude oil.”
“What we should do is pick a specific number of them, assign them to each region, and build clusters of industrial parks around them,” the professor suggested.
Utomi, who recently met with Ms Patience Key, a presidential candidate for the Peoples Republic Party (PRP), said he was not opposed to a woman becoming Nigeria’s next president.
“Gender discrimination is nothing more than prejudice; we are all equally talented, and everyone can make a difference.”
“In Scandinavian countries like Denmark and Finland, where more than half of the cabinet members are under 40, including the prime minister, things are going well.
“So I have every confidence in the world that if women are allowed to reign, they can make a difference,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, Ms Patience Key stated that if Nigeria is to have development and growth, it must be calm and free of insecurity.
Her three-point program, according to the former chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organization, is intertwined and would work together to achieve the country’s desired stability, peace, and wealth.
“One is to promote peace in Nigeria, the second is to build equitable connections in communities, and the third is to create prosperity for Nigerians,” Key explained.
(NAN
