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By Jethro Ibileke
A Professor of Political Economy and Management, Pat Utomi has sais Nigeria is trapped in a feeding bottle economy because its elites live off the state instead of creating wealth.
Utomi spoke on Monday in Benin City, Edo State, during an interview with journalists.
He said the country’s economic structure rewards rent-seeking and connections rather than productivity.
“Nigeria should be creating wealth but because of the economic rent in the system, you have connection you get contracts, you do all these things and you get money without creating any real value,” he said.
According to him, real wealth creation generates jobs and improves living standards, but what obtains in Nigeria is individuals enriching themselves from public funds with little impact on the wider population.
“If you are creating wealth, the thing you are producing will result in jobs and jobs will make life better for many more people. But you see somebody who has so much money but just a few hangers-on are the jobs that he creates because he is not creating wealth, he is just taking public money and putting it in his pocket. That’s why it’s a feeding bottle economy,” he said.
Utomi said it’s tragic that despite huge endowments, Nigeria remains among the poorest countries, unlike Qatar and Saudi Arabia which have transformed their resources. He referenced a recent lecture by former Minister of Agriculture and AfDB President, Akinwunmi Adesina.
“Nigerian elites are not willing to work hard and build their people up because they are so selfish. They just see what they can take from the system, not something they create,” he added.
He explained that capitalism thrives on competition and creative destruction where new, better ideas displace old ones, but in Nigeria, those in power block emerging players.
“The nature of capitalism is not wickedness, it is competition. In Nigeria, those who have power try to block the way for those who are coming and that will keep everybody down. If the system has institutional arrangements that enable people who have great ideas but don’t have resources to break through, then they can torpedo the current dominant capitalist class. That’s creative destruction,” he said.
Utomi said fixing Nigeria requires visionary leadership and institutions that support innovation and merit.
He charged journalists to be agents of transformation by enlightening the public and moving political discourse from tribal sentiments to ideas.
“Enlightenment from journalists like you is a critical part of it. When people are more enlightened, they will see that the quarrel is about ideas, not us against them based on emotion,” he said.
English (US) ·