Cool and calculated
Lagos, Nigeria
Joined September 2016
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Mayor Baba retweeted
Marwa handed Tinubu about ₦2bn in 1999.
Tinubu handed Fashola about ₦27bn in 2007.
Lagos also realised more than ₦19bn from its investment in Celtel.
Yet you hardly hear Tinubu jumping around, shouting about how much money he left for Lagos.
I know some people will doubt this because, for some of you, this may be the first time you’re hearing or seeing it.
But don’t take my word for it.
Fact-check it yourself before you comment.
The same Tinubu met Nigeria with net foreign exchange reserves of about $3.99bn at the end of 2023. By July 2026, the CBN Governor reported net reserves of about $40bn.
Again, don’t take my word for it. Go and verify.
Now, let me make something very clear.
If you want to hate or dislike Tinubu, there are valid issues you can point to. The same applies to every other presidential candidate.
Those who support Atiku can give reasons they believe justify their support. Those who support Obi can do the same. Those who support any other candidate can also give their reasons.
And those who don’t support them can equally have reasons for their position.
For me, Tinubu is my candidate.
And honestly, my love for Tinubu goes beyond him being a politician or even being the President of my country.
I love too many things about him.
I love his political journey.
I love his ambition.
I love his ability to think long-term.
I love the vision I believe he has for Nigeria.
I love the fact that he is willing to make difficult decisions even when those decisions are unpopular.
That doesn’t mean I believe Tinubu is perfect.
It doesn’t mean I will defend everything he does.
And it certainly doesn’t mean everybody has to love him because I do.
But I have my reasons for loving and supporting him, just as others have their reasons for supporting the people they support.
At the end of the day, it takes an optimistic person to look beyond the weaknesses of others and still recognise their strengths.
Tinubu is my candidate. I love him, and I make no apology for that.
Mayor Baba retweeted
According to Obidiot, Soludo a First class Graduate of economics who became a Prof at 39 and served as CBN Governor for the Obasanjo years you people always praise is daft but Peter Obi a 3rd class graduate of Philosophy surrounded by Mama Pee and other skit makers is the smart one with smart friends 😂
Mayor Baba retweeted
After Bola Tinubu won the 2023 presidential election, some people allegedly started deliberately increasing the prices of goods they imported from China, simply because they were bitter about the election.
Ask them why the price suddenly went up and the response was:
“No be you vote for Tinubu?” 😂
So apparently, even the customer who didn’t vote for Tinubu must now pay the political tax.
But with Chinese businesses and manufacturers increasingly looking directly at the Nigerian market, maybe the game is changing.
Dear China, welcome to Nigeria. 🇨🇳🇳🇬
Let competition decide who survives.
Mayor Baba retweeted
PETER OBI AND THE ANAMBRA DEBT RECORD: FACTS VERSUS FICTION
By Okoi Obono-Obla
The Anambra State Government's detailed rebuttal to Mr. Peter Obi's claims on "Phantom Debts" has finally laid bare the hollow foundation of the Obi mystique.
For years, Mr. Obi has postured as the frugal saint who turned Anambra into an El Dorado and has used that false pedestal to relentlessly and sanctimoniously attack the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The facts now show otherwise.
Four facts stand out from the Government's statement:
First, he spent an estimated $4.05 billion in eight years - about N5.4 trillion at today's rate. Yet Anambra was left without functional urban or rural water schemes, with 78 out of 179 communities without any public primary school, with dilapidated public hospitals that only 27% of the people used, and with rising poverty and insecurity.
Second, contrary to his claim that he borrowed nothing, he left behind eight external loans totaling $123.77 million at signing. According to the Debt Management Office as of June 30, 2026, the outstanding balance is $92.35 million or N127.4 billion, which the current government services monthly with hundreds of millions of Naira.
Third, contrary to his claim that he cleared all salaries and pensions, he left verified arrears. These include salaries of staff of the defunct Water Corporation which ended in court judgments, and 16 months arrears of primary school teachers from the Mbadinuju era which his own government verified but paid only five months.
Fourth, his claim of leaving N2.13 billion in Ecological Fund in First Bank Account No. 2018779464, UNIZIK Branch, Awka, is demonstrably false. The certified statement of account shows the account is an IGR-Consolidated Revenue Account and has never held such amount from inception in 2011 till date. The question is: where is the money?
The so-called N75 billion savings remains what the State Government correctly calls nebulous creative accounting.
Conclusion:
The evidence is clear. If a small, homogenous state like Anambra could not be transformed despite $4.05 billion in spending and massive borrowing, how can the same manager promise to fix a complex federation of 36 states and the FCT?
Mr. Obi's eight years was an unmitigated failure, now masked by revisionism. He should desist from deceiving Nigerians with sanctimonious sermons. The desperation is even clearer in his reported four-year single-term pact with his running mate, in direct contradiction of the two-term, eight-year provision of the 1999 Constitution.
Nigerians deserve honesty, not theatre.
Okoi Obono-Obla writes from Abuja.
Mayor Baba retweeted
The U.S. Government released report that Atiku Abubakar’s fourth wife, Jennifer Douglas Abubakar, helped him move about $40 million in suspicious funds into the United States between 2000 and 2008, during his tenure as Nigeria’s Vice President.
Mayor Baba retweeted
LAMBA 027
“Ghana’s health budget is $1.2 billion. If you divide it by 31 million Ghanaians, that is $41 million per head.”
— Peter Obi
The mathematics is not mathematics. 😂
$1.2 billion ÷ 31 million people = approximately $38.71 per person, not $41 million per person.
If he meant $41 per person, then that’s a simple but significant statistical slip.
But here’s another problem: Ghana’s 2026 health allocation needs to be properly defined before using the $1.2 billion figure for comparison. Ghana’s Ministry of Health itself says GH¢16.7 billion was set aside for health in the 2026 budget, while broader figures reported from the budget put health spending considerably higher.
So before we use Ghana to lecture Nigeria on healthcare spending, let’s get the budget figure, exchange rate, scope of spending and per-capita calculation right.
You cannot build a serious economic argument on inaccurate arithmetic.
Mayor Baba retweeted
Well...
The truth is that Yorubas did not learn the industry from the Igbos; they merely learned, after a brief slumber, to reclaim what their forebears had built.
Let us give Caesar what is Caesar’s.
The Igbos deserve unreserved commendation for the entrepreneurial energy with which they, for many years, gave commercial legs to an industry in the home video era, that Yorubas had largely approached as an art before they approached it as a business. While the Yorubas were absorbed in the passion of the craft, the Igbos saw the market and understood the economics of distribution, home videos and mass consumption.
They did not invent the fire, but they certainly understood how to make it burn brighter in the market.
But in praising that industrious spirit, we must not romanticise the darker chapter that accompanied it. The unbridled appetite for profit, particularly through piracy, inflicted enormous damage on some of the very giants whose shoulders the industry stood upon. Men who spent years, fortunes and creative energies producing legendary classics watched pirates cart away not merely their profits, but their capital, their incentives and, sometimes, their appetite to create again.
So, let us put the history in its proper frame.
Yorubas did not take anything from the Igbos. They simply woke up to their inheritance.
They returned to the house their forebears had built - the house of Ogunde, Duro Ladipo, Ade Love, Olumegbon, Isho Pepper and the countless pioneers who laid the theatrical and cinematic foundations upon which subsequent generations built.
The Igbos have been, and remain, worthy partners in the Nigerian motion-picture story. Their entrepreneurial instinct helped transform an artistic tradition into a formidable commercial enterprise. That contribution deserves its flowers.
But partnership is not ownership, and commercial dominance is not historical primacy.
A man who arrives early at a feast may eat first; that does not mean he cooked the soup.
And perhaps this is where the argument should finally end: in the hierarchy of the craft, greatness is not determined by ethnicity, geography or who arrived at the box office first. It is determined by the weight of one’s contribution to the art and the depth of its source.
However great the neck grows, it can never stand equal to the head. So it is that in the true hierarchy of this house, even the towering, incomparable Pete Edochie must stand shoulder to shoulder in terms of years devoted to the craft - alongside - the likes of Dejo Tunfulu.
For, as another African wisdom teaches:
“The river does not forget its source.”
And neither should Cinema.
Mayor Baba retweeted
Be accountable for once @PoliceNG, we will not let this matter slide.
A car belonging to one @RbrnJerry was stolen but later recovered by the police, the owner identified the car after the recovery and was requested to pay a particular sum of money which he paid.
Only at the time which he was supposed to take possession of the car, he was informed that the car had been sold by some police men right in the police station.
This matter deserves the attention it needs, we must not keep quiet at the face of this injustice.
Remember, today may be Mr. Oguji Jeremiah Onyebuchi, tomorrow it may be you or me.
Let's help a brother to get justice, this must not be allowed.
Repost, quote and tag the necessary authorities until justice is served.
Attention: @PoliceNG @TunjiDisu1
@CspIniedu
Mayor Baba retweeted
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Despite hours of rehearsals your dullard can’t still deliver his scripted lines.
Nonsense!
Mayor Baba retweeted
WHY YOU CAN'T LEAK TINUBU'S CALLS OR VOICE NOTES: UNDERSTANDING THE LEVEL OF SECURITY AROUND A PRESIDENT.
I am writing this post for all who just believe anything on social media.
And I would like you to help me SHARE this post.
People asking “why can’t Tinubu’s private audio calls just leak?” clearly don’t understand how presidential security works globally.
A sitting President is not an ordinary politician with an iPhone and MTN line.
The moment you become Commander-in-Chief, your entire communication ecosystem changes.
In America, the President travels with the White House:
- Communications Agency (WHCA),
- military encryption teams,
- satellite systems,
- mobile command centers, - Anti-jamming technology and secure communication bunkers.
Air Force One alone has over 80 secure communication systems and is designed to function as a flying war room during nuclear emergencies.
That is why U.S. Presidents can literally command military operations from the sky.
The aircraft itself is hardened against electromagnetic attacks and nuclear EMPs.
Calls are routed through encrypted military networks, not normal telecom systems.
Now imagine Nigeria’s President.
Do people seriously think Tinubu discusses state secrets on ordinary WhatsApp calls like a local government chairman?
The President of Nigeria is protected by:
- DSS electronic intelligence units
- Military Signals Corps
- Presidential Air Fleet secure systems
- NSA cyber intelligence teams
- Anti-surveillance protocols
- Signal interception countermeasures
- Rotating secure devices
- Multiple encrypted communication layers
Even his movements are classified until the last minute.
He doesn't just ride in any vehicle.
Didn't you notice that as he's in Lagos now, they're driving him in his official vehicle?
The Air Force flew that vehicle and a few others from Abuja to Lagos.
Why?
Because of the security capabilities in it.
That's for vehicles o..
Imagine his calls?
Most presidential calls worldwide are routed through heavily encrypted government-controlled systems, not commercial lines.
That is why real leaks are extremely rare.
And when leaks happen globally, they usually come from:
insiders, hacked aides, unofficial apps, human error, NOT because someone “recorded the President’s normal call or voice notes.”
Look at what happened recently in America when officials improperly used apps like Signal and unsecured devices.
Intelligence experts immediately panicked because senior leaders are expected to use hardened government systems, not commercial apps.
That alone tells you the level of security expected around heads of state.
People underestimate the scale of presidential protection.
When Tinubu travels:
Advance teams move ahead days earlier,
Airspace is monitored.
Communications are secured.
Electronic sweeps are conducted.
Convoy routes can change instantly
and multiple agencies coordinate simultaneously.
Even in the 1960s and 1970s, U.S. presidential aircraft already used secure voice scrambling technology.
Today’s systems are exponentially more advanced.
This is why serious nations invest billions into executive protection infrastructure.
The President is not just a politician.
He is a moving national command center.
Many Nigerians still think governance operates like gossip blogs and TikTok live sessions.
Omo make una open eyes o.
It doesn’t work that way.
Ugoji Maximillian.
Mayor Baba retweeted
Whenever they tell you “Yoruba are cowards,” remind them.
Even in their Biafra, it was a Yoruba man, Victor Banjo who was leading the war.
Remind them that Adekunle “Black Scorpion” was the man who changed the tide of the war and took it back into their territory when they crossed the line at Ore.
Remind them that Olusegun Obasanjo was the man who finally switched off the light of their Biafra.
Our people don’t dress as a female to run away, we faced it like men.
Mayor Baba retweeted
Author Unknown
"When Dollar was equal to Naira, Peugeot was assembling cars in Kaduna, Volkswagen was producing their brand from Lagos. Leyland was rolling out Trucks from Ibadan while Anamco produce buses from Enugu. Dunlop and Michelin were making Tyres for these vehicles. The Windscreen for those vehicles were made by Oluwa Glass and one other company in Ibadan(I've forgotten the name offhead) Even car batteries were produced locally while Berec was making Radio batteries.
In secondary school, during long holiday, I was employed as Time keeper at Federal Secretariat during the construction
Textile factories litters the place not to mention plastic factories. All these companies have distributors all over the country. Peugeot distributor in Calabar then will most likely be a Calabar person(no monopoly). Late Ooni of Ife Oba Sijuade was Peugeot distributor in Ile-Ife before he became king.
In 1979 when Alex Ekweme became the vice president, he was controlling the economy and introduce import licence. Getting a licence became difficult like going to heaven but not for his Ibo brothers. Companies like UAC and 7Up cried out for not getting licence to bring their products and raw materials. The Ibos that got the licence enter China, India and Taiwan with it bringing fake and substandard products. Many houses catch fire because of substandard electrical Cables from China. No cable is better than those made by Nigeria Wire Company in Ikeja till today.
Dunlop and Michelin left Nigeria because of fake tyres they brought into the country that killedthe local manufacturer. Mind you, all those companies employed thousands of Nigerians(when these animals says no employment today, they killed all the companies that would have employ people). Atlantic Textile Mills alone in Ikeja had over ten thousand staffs. Royal Paints, Dulux Paints, PZ Industries. Thermocool was making refrigerator. Bolous Enterprises in Ikeja was assembling Suzuki while Honda in Otta roll out Honda products. Asaba Textiles in Asaba even had football club that plays in division one then. Can you imagine what the value of Naira will be today if we are not importing all these things? They killed the local producers to become sole importers from China.
One animal who have been doing importation for more than 30 years and have not stop will say "I want to move Nigeria from consumption to production"
They killed Nigeria Airways, Nigeria National Shipping Line, Nigeria Railways!
They killed Nigeria!
Obasanjo said Nigeria Airways had 47 functional planes when he hand over to Shagari/Ekweme in 1979. Just 20 year later in 1999 when he came back as president, only 4 grounded plane was remaining. They killed Nitel and set fire on its building.
Nigeria was able to make great achievements after the war became Ibos were not in position of decision making after the war. Middle Belts, Niger Delta, Yoruba and Northerners were in position of policy making in Nigeria when those companies and Industries sprang up.
They sabotage every good thing we achieved.
Nigeria had it's highest GDP when Ibos were not around to import useless things even though Nigeria was fighting a war.(God bless Awolowo economy)
Mayor Baba retweeted
NIGERIANS, THIS IS THE BIGGEST FINANCIAL SCAM YOU’RE IGNORING!
Please SHARE this post. This is your contribution to helping Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu move Nigeria forward.
Everybody is shouting:
“Tinubu this!”
“Tinubu that!”
But let’s bring FACTS, no be chochocho.
Let me show you that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not your problem.
Your weakness to check your Governors is.
IN 2022 — THIS WAS THE REALITY:
States were sharing roughly ₦300B – ₦450B monthly.
Total yearly FAAC to states ≈ ₦4T – ₦5T.
IN 2026 — HERE IS WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW:
States are collecting ₦650B – ₦700B EVERY MONTH .
That is:
₦7.8 TRILLION – ₦8.4 TRILLION yearly.
That’s almost DOUBLE what they got in 2022.
In just January 2026 alone:
States shared ₦703 BILLION .
And here’s the shocking part:
Just 10 states took 44.7% of that money .
2026 BREAKDOWN (WHAT YOUR STATE IS COLLECTING)
TOP STATES (Monthly and Yearly Projection).
Lagos M ₦50–55B, Y ₦600B+
Delta M ₦40–47B Y ₦500B+
Rivers M ₦33–40B Y ₦450B+
Akwa Ibom M ₦33–38B Y ₦450B+
Bayelsa M ₦32–37B Y ₦400B+
AVERAGE STATES
Kano, Kaduna, Oyo ₦25–32B monthly, ₦300B+ yearly
“SMALLER” STATES (YES, SMALLER!)
Ekiti, Ebonyi, Nasarawa, Gombe
₦17B – ₦22B monthly
₦200B+ yearly
NOW COMPARE WITH 2022
In 2022:
Many states were earning
₦10B – ₦18B monthly
Today (2026):
SAME STATES now earn
₦18B – ₦30B monthly
That is a massive jump in revenue
SO WHY IS NOTHING WORKING?
Let’s ask the real questions:
Roads still bad .
Hospitals still collapsing .
Schools still underfunded .
Salaries still delayed .
Meanwhile…
States received ₦6.73 TRILLION in just 11 months recently.
THE TRUTH THEY WON’T TELL YOU
After:
Subsidy removal
FX reforms
Increased FAAC
STATE GOVERNMENTS ARE NOW SWIMMING IN MONEY
But Nigerians are still:
- Blaming only the President
- Ignoring Governors
- Voting emotionally
But we forget that...
The President does NOT:
Build your local roads
Run your state hospitals
Pay your state workers
Implement local minimum wage
YOUR GOVERNOR DOES
If your state is still poor in 2026…
Despite receiving:
- ₦20B+ EVERY MONTH
- ₦200B+ EVERY YEAR
Then stop complaining blindly.
THE PROBLEM IS NOT MONEY.
THE PROBLEM IS ACCOUNTABILITY.
Nigerians…Shift your anger.
Follow the money.
Hold the right people accountable.
If this opened your eyes, share it.
Because the real story is not in Abuja…It’s in your state.
Mayor Baba retweeted
WHEN SANUSI WAS CBN GOVERNOR, JONATHAN WAS BORROWING DESPITE OIL BOOM
I don't like hypocrisy.
And when I see it, I will say it .
Remember under the Goodluck Jonathan administration there was oil boom?
Oil was selling for $80- $120 .
Money was in excess.
So why were they borrowing?
They earned over $300 billion (which can't be accounted for) through oil , they were not supposed to borrow.
So why did they borrow?
Here’s a clear, fact-based breakdown:
Nigeria’s Borrowing Under Jonathan (2010–2015)
Total Public Debt
2010 (start): ₦12.6 trillion ($65 billion)
2015 (end): ₦12.1 trillion ($63–65 billion)
Key Shift: Domestic vs External Debt
Domestic Debt (major increase)
2010: ~₦4.5 trillion
2015: ~₦8.4 trillion
Government relied heavily on local borrowing (Treasury bills, bonds)
External Debt (declined initially, then slightly rose)
2010: ~$4.5 billion
2013: ~$2.1 billion (lowest point)
2015: ~$7–9 billion
Here's what you should know.
These were why they borrowed.
- Low savings despite high oil prices.
- The famous allegation that $20 billion oil revenue was unaccounted for (later disputed and politically controversial)
- Heavy fuel subsidy payments.
That's very important.
They were borrowing to pay subsidy even when there was oil boom.
Oil was selling $100 - $120 per barrel.
- Large government wage bill.
- Declining savings in:
Excess Crude Account (from $20bn to $3bn)
- Little infrastructure impact compared to borrowing levels.
- Failure to save during oil boom years.
Here's my focus.
What I want you to focus on is the fact that they borrowed to fund subsidy even with huge money from oil boom.
Did Tinubu experience oil boom?
The $300 billion made under Jonathan was supposed to be saved and reinvested, they wasted it.
Nigeria became dry.
You should also know that ..
The spendings in oil subsidy was eating into money they needed to work plus the financial RASCALITY of that administration.
So the removal of fuel subsidy doesn't automatically mean we have cash from money we're no longer paying.
That cash doesn't exist physically. It never existed under Jonathan.
Previous administrations all borrowed to fund it .
Now under Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, what changed Is that even when we borrow, we're no longer using it to pay subsidy.
We're now giving it to states and local governments to develop Nigeria.
But they're not doing it .
This is where the problem is.
So people asking, what is Tinubu doing with subsidy Money.
Here's your answer.
1. There's no physical cash anywhere saved from subsidy.
2. Administrations before Tinubu had to borrow to fund it.
3. Nigeria borrows mainly because it is not industrialized...
productivity is low...
we're broke...
We even produce less oil bellow our capacity to the world.
So we earn less far Below our national needs .
4. So under Tinubu, nothing has changed except that the money borrowed is now given for the building of railways, roads and given to states and local governments to develop.
So Emir Mohammed Sanusi was just playing politics.
What he said doesn't match facts on the table.
Please retweet
Mayor Baba retweeted
NIGERIA, WE NEED TO WAKE UP THE SPIRIT OF AWOLOWO —TO GIVE GOVERNORS ECONOMIC SENSE!
There was a time in this country when a region behaved like a business empire, not a begging office.
That time was under Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
Let me shock you with facts.
So that you will understand why I am hammering that Governors are the ones holding Nigeria down.
1. A REGION THAT DIDN’T WAIT FOR Lagos.
In the 1950s–60s, there was NO oil money.
Yet the Western Region:
Built Cocoa House in Ibadan (first skyscraper in West Africa).
Established Africa’s first TV station (WNTV).
Funded free primary education.
Built Liberty Stadium.
Created industrial estates and factories.
All these were funded NOT by federal allocation, but by internally generated revenue — mainly cocoa.
2. COCOA WAS THEIR “OIL” — AND THEY RAN IT LIKE A BUSINESS.
Awolowo didn’t just “grow cocoa”… he built a complete economic system.
Created the Western Nigeria Marketing Board which acted like a state-owned investment bank funding projects.
Stabilized farmer income with guaranteed prices.
Reinvested profits into infrastructure, education, and industry.
Used agriculture to fund social programs like free education.
At one point, cocoa contributed about 50% of Nigeria’s export earnings.
Let that sink in.
3. HE BUILT BUSINESSES, NOT JUST GOVERNMENT OFFICES.
Under Awolowo, the government owned and invested in:
Oodua Group (regional conglomerate).
Textile industries.
Oil palm mills.
Ceramics, glass, and agro-processing firms .
This is what we call “government as an economic engine”.
Not today’s version:
“Government as salary payer”
“Government as contract distributor”
4. EVEN ROADS AND COOPERATIVES WERE STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS.
Within a few years:
Over 900 cooperative societies were created.
Road networks expanded massively to support trade and agriculture .
This wasn’t random development.
It was economic planning.
NOW LOOK AT TODAY’S GOVERNORS…
Be honest:
How many states can survive without FAAC?
How many governors run their state like a business enterprise?
How many have built ONE revenue-generating institution?
Most states today are:
Monthly rent collectors from Abuja.
Waiting for oil money they did not produce.
Sharing allocation instead of multiplying it.
What angers me most...
Awolowo’s Western Region:
Produced
Processed
Exported
Reinvested
Today’s Nigeria:
Collects
Shares
Consumes
Complains
The Controversial Question is..
If a region in the 1960s could:
Fund free education
Build industries
Export globally
Without oil money.
What exactly is stopping governors in 2026?
Is it:
Lack of ideas?
Lack of courage?
Or comfort in easy money?
Awolowo didn’t govern a region…he ran a profitable economic system.
Until Nigerian governors start thinking like:
CEOs
Investors
Economic strategists
Not politicians waiting for allocation,
We will keep moving in circles.
Nigeria doesn’t just need new leaders…
We need leaders who understand BUSINESS.
Ugoji Maximillian
Mayor Baba retweeted
2027 will humble a lot of anti-Bola Ahmed Tinubu voices.
All the noise, all the insults none of it will stop reality.
Anti-Bola Ahmed Tinubu crowd, get ready.
Reality is coming.
You will learn the hard way😂
I stand with Tinubu.
#supportwhoyoubelieve #istandwithasiwaju #renewedhope #APC #2027
Mayor Baba retweeted
Pat Utomi: Time to take a back seat
By Temitope Ajayi
Since bursting into national consciousness, Professor Patrick Utomi has convinced himself that he is the Nigerian equivalent of Albert Einstein, Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes rolled into one.
For decades, as a public intellectual/commentator on national affairs and economic matters, Utomi has consistently shared his views on the world and on how Nigeria's political economy should be constructed. Like Peter Obi, his newfound comrade-in-arms, Utomi copiously cites examples from South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Chile, among others. While there is no doubt about the quantum of economic theories Utomi has memorised, there is always a limit to book knowledge when the realities of the real world show up.
In the furnace of the real world, Utomi has been tried, tested and allowed to demonstrate the applicability and practicality of his ideas. While he has had the opportunity at many fora to defend his own record, the verdict remains that he did not cover himself in glory as Managing Director/Chief Executive of the defunct Volkswagen of Nigeria and as the Vice Chairman of BankPHB of equally blessed memory.
From the sordid details revealed in court after forensic investigators visited, Utomi essentially presided over a bank where depositors’ funds were converted into private pockets in the most primitive way. Alas, the enterprises that would have been a showpiece or foretaste of what Utomi is capable of doing at a higher level of public leadership went down under his “brilliant” watch.
At BankPHB, there was also a massive shareholder value erosion and insider abuse. Francis Atuche, the bank's Chief Executive, is serving a jail term for the mismanagement of a bank in which Utomi served on its Board of Directors. Were Utomi really capable of any sense of propriety, he ought to be in self-seclusion over the unravelling of BankPHB and not continue his often annoying career of sophistry and peddling of untested economic doctrines.
The other side of Utomi was also exposed when Senator Ibikunle Amosun claimed an NGO controlled by the self-styled political economist had offered him an unsolicited award, ostensibly to influence him to approve an unfair consideration in a disputed property case before him while he was Ogun State Governor. So much for a moral crusader!
Overall, there is a pattern to Utomi’s intellectual arrogance. Every four years, he comes out to mount a moral high horse on who should lead Nigeria. He touts himself as a political strategist with an uncanny ability to cobble victory at the polls for whoever he backs. Yet, time and again, he has failed. But rather than accept loss with humility and introspect as an intellectual should do, he will rather raise a storm. That was what he did in 2023, using his social media platform to mislead the gullible at a critical time, proclaiming his candidate's victory before the election results were announced.