Utomi warns corruption costing Nigerians lives

File Photo: Economist and political activist, Prof Pat Utomi

A professor of political economy, Pat Utomi, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Jibrin Okutepa, have blamed corruption for Nigeria’s development challenges, warning that stolen public funds cost citizens lives while societal tolerance of ill-gotten wealth undermines efforts to tackle the menace.

The duo, in separate posts on their X handles on Monday, highlighted the consequences of corruption, with Utomi focusing on its impact on essential public services and Okutepa criticising Nigerians who condemn the practice but aspire to benefit from it.

Utomi said corruption should not be viewed merely as politicians stealing public money, but also through the suffering caused by poorly equipped hospitals, bad roads, inadequate education and unreliable electricity.

“Corruption is not just about corrupt politicians filling their pockets with public money,” he said.

He illustrated the consequences with the plight of a mother who loses her baby because a community hospital lacks basic equipment and families mourning loved ones killed on roads riddled with potholes.

The professor also cited children denied decent education and businesses forced to close because of inadequate electricity as examples of how the diversion of public funds affects ordinary Nigerians.

“When public money is stolen by corrupt politicians, ordinary Nigerians pay the price with their lives, their dreams, and sadly their future,” Utomi said.

Similarly, Okutepa identified the desire to benefit from corruption as a major obstacle to eradicating the practice, arguing that some Nigerians oppose it only when they are excluded from its benefits.

“One of the deepest obstacles to fighting corruption in Nigeria is that too many who suffer from it today secretly hope to benefit from it tomorrow,” he said.

He added that people who resent the privileges enjoyed by beneficiaries of corruption often abandon their opposition when opportunities arise for them to join the same system.

“Their grievance disappears once an opportunity arises to join the beneficiaries. Where this attitude prevails, corruption merely changes hands,” he said.

The senior advocate also faulted the celebration of individuals whose wealth appeared disproportionate to their legitimate earnings, despite public complaints about funds diverted from hospitals, schools and roads.

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He said some Nigerians confer titles on such individuals, seek their patronage and celebrate donations from them as acts of generosity without questioning the sources of their wealth.

“We complain about the diversion of resources meant for hospitals, schools and roads, yet honour people whose fortunes bear no reasonable relationship to their legitimate earnings,” Okutepa said.

He further cited the use of influence to secure appointments for unqualified relatives, demands for payment for publicly funded services and attempts to evade lawful obligations through personal connections as practices that sustain corruption.

According to him, public condemnation of corruption is also often selective, depending on whether the person accused is a political opponent or someone with whom the accuser has personal, ethnic or other ties.

“An allegation against a political opponent provokes outrage; the same allegation against a friend, benefactor, relative or ethnic champion prompts excuses,” he said.

Okutepa warned that replacing public officeholders without changing societal attitudes and strengthening institutions would not guarantee lasting reform.

“A victim of yesterday’s abuse may become tomorrow’s abuser if the only lesson learnt was how power can be exploited. Suffering injustice does not automatically create a commitment to justice,” he said.

He urged Nigerians to judge success by how wealth was acquired rather than by possessions, and to demand accountability even when allegations involved people close to them.

“We must stop measuring achievement solely by what people possess and begin asking how they acquired it,” he said.

He added that the fight against corruption would remain difficult while its proceeds remained socially desirable and those who benefited from it continued to be celebrated.

“The decisive question is personal: when the opportunity comes, will we resist the corruption we condemn today, or merely take our turn?” Okutepa asked.