Then he spoke on the need for men to have the courage to be witnesses,
rather than just preachers and teachers, and this is where the gospel according to Pat Utomi seems to take its essence. He began by acknowledging that God has given him, “the grace to see things going wrong around me and want to do something about it: I have had that good fortune”. That, for him, is the very core of the Christian’s witness. He cited a number of examples of such social activism as Christian witness.
First, full disclosure. For the avoidance of any doubts, I am a Pat Utomi partisan. I admire his doggedness in advocacy and his roll-up-your sleeves style of activism. That was why in the run-down to the last elections in which he ran as president, I sent out hundreds of text messages canvassing his candidacy, unknown to him and totally independent of his structure. That was why, in a piece meant for this column, but which found itself in the op-ed page of the Daily Independent, I even played the geo-politics card, as it were. The relevant paragraph read like this:
“…The first is that all who wish to enthrone equity and call the bluff of those who think might is right should refuse to vote for candidates from outside of the two disadvantaged regions. There are a number of candidates to choose from. I do not shy away from saying that my personal preference would be Professor Pat Utomi. Apart from his other attributes of character, compassion, competence and freshness, he uniquely meets the objective of filling the South-South/South-East slot. As a Deltan, his geo-political home is the South-South while as an Igbo; his root is in the South-East. Thus, he could even be the President that completes the rotation circle and free our nation to henceforth shop for the best from anywhere at all times.”
That could easily be seen as the reason Professor Utomi was invited to speak at last quarter’s Real Men Luncheon of Christian Men’s Network Nigeria of which I am one of the Coordinators. For a while, I felt I might even be guilty of abuse of privilege, using what was fast becoming a major men’s forum to “push a personal agenda.” It didn’t help matters that a number of my colleagues actually questioned the gentleman’s Christian credentials! But thank God, apart from what I knew about Pat Utomi’s impeccable Christian character which went way back, I had a witness in my spirit that he was absolutely qualified to follow in the footsteps of our illustrious earlier guest speakers: Elder Felix Ohiwerei, Dr Christopher Kolade and Deacon Gamaliel Onosode. Thank God for the Holy Spirit. Full disclosure over.
And so Professor Patrick Okedinachi Utomi came, spoke and left an indelible impression on the minds of that gathering of hardly impressionable men, at the Sparkles Hall, Ikeja GRA on August 2. Aged 52, last February 6, but looking as youthful as ever in his “parachute”, his version of “agbada”, he spoke, as he was requested to, on “The Men Nigeria Needs.”
He began somewhat like this. “Nigeria needs men strong enough to love…courageous enough to be witnesses, not just teachers and preachers… men who are leaders…; men of integrity… men who trust God and are therefore unshaken in His faithfulness… men who have the courage to stay the course…”
Kicking off on the subject of love, he said, being tough does not mean being unable to love. It does not mean lack of compassion. He noted that it is widely thought that men are not supposed to cry; that they are not supposed to love. The typical Nigerian father is supposed to be so tough and feared that the children scamper for cover the moment he arrives at the gate of their home. And this is not applicable only to the home-based, or if you like, the unexposed Nigerian male! The Nigerian family in the United States, for instance is in grave danger. The divorce rate of African marriages in that country is above the national average, he pointed out
He recalled a famous Reuben Abati column in the Guardian. Titled “The 12 O’clock Man”, it told of a man who was so busy making money to keep his family materially comfortable, that he was never home except on Sundays when he manages to have lunch with them at noon. One day, goes the story, he failed to do even that. One of the children wondered aloud; where is that man who usually comes to lunch every 12 O’clock on Sunday. You can imagine the rest.
Emphasising the place of this quintessential issue, Utomi referred to a Yale University study which has identified the greatest challenge of the future as the challenge of compassion, adding that it is now widely accepted that what the world needs, most of all, now is a civilization of love.
If Nigerian men would rise up and love; love their family enough to want to safeguard the future of their children and love their neighbours as themselves, which is the Christian thing to do, then we won’t have corruption, for instance.
He tarried a while on the issue of corruption. He quoted an international agency report which opened in these words: “Corruption runs a spectrum in Afric; from rare in Botswana, to widespread in Ghana, to systemic in Nigeria.” In other words, whereas corruption hardly exists in resource poor Botswana, and it’s widespread in Ghana, in Nigeria, it is ingrained in the system! He also noted the irony of how Nigeria is characterized both as religious and corrupt. He recalled the story of a man, who upon hearing that he (Pat) was being considered for a ministerial appointment, complained to somebody that he would stop the flow of ill-gotten wealth if so appointed. The man then prayed; “he won’t get there, in Jesus’ Name.” That’s the kind of amazing thing we do in the name of Jesus.
He spoke about how, in their greed for corrupt acquisition, many people are today consuming the future of their children. And how so myopic those who corruptly enrich themselves while in office are, even at the practical level. He drew attention to the fact that they do not even really enjoy their stolen wealth. Once out of office, they have to provide for themselves the municipal services they failed to provide for society while in office – power, water, security, name it. Have you seen the high fence walls behind which many erstwhile public officers live; or the roads that lead to their villages and homes, he asked. He quoted several passages from the Bible Book of Proverbs to buttress his position about the futility of wealth by ungodly methods.
Then he spoke on the need for men to have the courage to be witnesses, rather than just preachers and teachers, and this is where the gospel according to Pat Utomi seems to take its essence.
He began by acknowledging that God has given him, “the grace to see things going wrong around me and want to do something about it: I have had that good fortune”. That, for him, is the very core of the Christian’s witness. He cited a number of examples of such social activism as Christian witness.
He spoke about how the experience of a woman he knew who went from living comfortably in a middle class suburb of Lagos to become homeless within a few weeks of her husband’s death. Her husband’s relations had thrown her out and taken over the family house, in accordance with tradition. He was so moved that he wrote a newspaper article to draw attention to the plight of widows in our society. He recalled how his concern over the issue eventually led to his involvement with a Widow Support Group.
“…The first is that all who wish to enthrone equity and call the bluff of those who think might is right should refuse to vote for candidates from outside of the two disadvantaged regions. There are a number of candidates to choose from. I do not shy away from saying that my personal preference would be Professor Pat Utomi. Apart from his other attributes of character, compassion, competence and freshness, he uniquely meets the objective of filling the South-South/South-East slot. As a Deltan, his geo-political home is the South-South while as an Igbo; his root is in the South-East. Thus, he could even be the President that completes the rotation circle and free our nation to henceforth shop for the best from anywhere at all times.”
That could easily be seen as the reason Professor Utomi was invited to speak at last quarter’s Real Men Luncheon of Christian Men’s Network Nigeria of which I am one of the Coordinators. For a while, I felt I might even be guilty of abuse of privilege, using what was fast becoming a major men’s forum to “push a personal agenda.” It didn’t help matters that a number of my colleagues actually questioned the gentleman’s Christian credentials! But thank God, apart from what I knew about Pat Utomi’s impeccable Christian character which went way back, I had a witness in my spirit that he was absolutely qualified to follow in the footsteps of our illustrious earlier guest speakers: Elder Felix Ohiwerei, Dr Christopher Kolade and Deacon Gamaliel Onosode. Thank God for the Holy Spirit. Full disclosure over.
And so Professor Patrick Okedinachi Utomi came, spoke and left an indelible impression on the minds of that gathering of hardly impressionable men, at the Sparkles Hall, Ikeja GRA on August 2. Aged 52, last February 6, but looking as youthful as ever in his “parachute”, his version of “agbada”, he spoke, as he was requested to, on “The Men Nigeria Needs.”
He began somewhat like this. “Nigeria needs men strong enough to love…courageous enough to be witnesses, not just teachers and preachers… men who are leaders…; men of integrity… men who trust God and are therefore unshaken in His faithfulness… men who have the courage to stay the course…”
Kicking off on the subject of love, he said, being tough does not mean being unable to love. It does not mean lack of compassion. He noted that it is widely thought that men are not supposed to cry; that they are not supposed to love. The typical Nigerian father is supposed to be so tough and feared that the children scamper for cover the moment he arrives at the gate of their home. And this is not applicable only to the home-based, or if you like, the unexposed Nigerian male! The Nigerian family in the United States, for instance is in grave danger. The divorce rate of African marriages in that country is above the national average, he pointed out
He recalled a famous Reuben Abati column in the Guardian. Titled “The 12 O’clock Man”, it told of a man who was so busy making money to keep his family materially comfortable, that he was never home except on Sundays when he manages to have lunch with them at noon. One day, goes the story, he failed to do even that. One of the children wondered aloud; where is that man who usually comes to lunch every 12 O’clock on Sunday. You can imagine the rest.
Emphasising the place of this quintessential issue, Utomi referred to a Yale University study which has identified the greatest challenge of the future as the challenge of compassion, adding that it is now widely accepted that what the world needs, most of all, now is a civilization of love.
If Nigerian men would rise up and love; love their family enough to want to safeguard the future of their children and love their neighbours as themselves, which is the Christian thing to do, then we won’t have corruption, for instance.
He tarried a while on the issue of corruption. He quoted an international agency report which opened in these words: “Corruption runs a spectrum in Afric; from rare in Botswana, to widespread in Ghana, to systemic in Nigeria.” In other words, whereas corruption hardly exists in resource poor Botswana, and it’s widespread in Ghana, in Nigeria, it is ingrained in the system! He also noted the irony of how Nigeria is characterized both as religious and corrupt. He recalled the story of a man, who upon hearing that he (Pat) was being considered for a ministerial appointment, complained to somebody that he would stop the flow of ill-gotten wealth if so appointed. The man then prayed; “he won’t get there, in Jesus’ Name.” That’s the kind of amazing thing we do in the name of Jesus.
He spoke about how, in their greed for corrupt acquisition, many people are today consuming the future of their children. And how so myopic those who corruptly enrich themselves while in office are, even at the practical level. He drew attention to the fact that they do not even really enjoy their stolen wealth. Once out of office, they have to provide for themselves the municipal services they failed to provide for society while in office – power, water, security, name it. Have you seen the high fence walls behind which many erstwhile public officers live; or the roads that lead to their villages and homes, he asked. He quoted several passages from the Bible Book of Proverbs to buttress his position about the futility of wealth by ungodly methods.
Then he spoke on the need for men to have the courage to be witnesses, rather than just preachers and teachers, and this is where the gospel according to Pat Utomi seems to take its essence.
He began by acknowledging that God has given him, “the grace to see things going wrong around me and want to do something about it: I have had that good fortune”. That, for him, is the very core of the Christian’s witness. He cited a number of examples of such social activism as Christian witness.
He spoke about how the experience of a woman he knew who went from living comfortably in a middle class suburb of Lagos to become homeless within a few weeks of her husband’s death. Her husband’s relations had thrown her out and taken over the family house, in accordance with tradition. He was so moved that he wrote a newspaper article to draw attention to the plight of widows in our society. He recalled how his concern over the issue eventually led to his involvement with a Widow Support Group.
He also gave Christian witness as his motivation for establishing the Centre for Values in Leadership which trains young men to inculcate elevating values and prepare them for future leadership. Many Lagosians remember this centre as responsible for clearing the daunting mountain of refuse at Obalende in the heart of Lagos a few years back. Though, he didn’t mention it, the now famous Lagos Business School is a product of Christian witness through the Catholic group, Opus Dei. Even his transition from political activism to politics is situated in within the concept of Christian witness.
As he spoke, one couldn’t but see that social and political activism is an essential part of Christian witness. In fact, without it, we would just be preachers and teachers and our fruits would be limited. Jesus could have stayed in Heaven and tried to persuade God to send an angel to come and save mankind. He did not. He could have ignored the woman whose only son was about to be buried; after all, she didn’t ask for his help (Luke 7: 12-15). He did not. Neither he did he wait for the helpless cripple at the pool in Bethesda who had waited for miracle healing for 38 years (John 5:2-9). Like Pat Utomi and others like him, we should follow the Lord’s example.
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