Five cities host lectures, symposia as Pat Utomi clocks 70

Associates, scholars and public leaders will converge across five cities in four states to mark the 70th birthday of renowned political economist and public intellectual, Professor Patrick Okedinachi Utomi, who turns 70 on February 6, 2026.

According to a statement shared on Tuesday by journalist and public relations expert, Chido Nwakama, the celebrations will take place in Enugu, Asaba-Ibuzo, Lagos, Abuja and Kaduna, featuring a mix of intellectual discourse, policy conversations and thanksgiving activities in honour of Utomi’s “three score and ten years of ideas, service and values-driven leadership.”

The programme will open on February 4, 2026, in Enugu with the annual lecture symposium of the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL), scheduled for the Amadeo Event Centre, Ebeano Tunnel.

Former President of Mauritius and first female head of state of the island nation, Dr Ameena Gurib-Fakim, will deliver the keynote lecture, while the Chief Executive Officer of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Wankele Mene, and the President of Afreximbank, Dr George Elombi, will present associate keynote addresses.

The Enugu symposium will also feature panel discussions anchored by Professor James Robinson, co-author of Why Nations Fail and winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics, alongside Professor Paul Collier of Oxford University, author of The Bottom Billion.

Joining the panels are Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti; Enugu State Governor, Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah; former New York chief economist, Prof Fred Olayele; and former UNIDO Director-General, Dr Kandeh Yumkella. Others include Prof Osita Ogbu, Ghanaian politician and former presidential candidate Alan John Kyerematen, with Lagos Business School professor Franklin Ngwu moderating. Former PenCom Director-General, MK Ahmad, will chair the Enugu proceedings.

The birthday lecture will hold on February 6 in Asaba, under the chairmanship of the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe (CFR, mni). Africa’s foremost industrialist, Dr Aliko Dangote, is expected to deliver the lecture.

Discussions at the Asaba event will centre on opportunities in the oil and gas value chain, with panellists including Chief Leemon Ikpea, Dr Austin Avuru, Rainoil founder Dr Gabriel Ogbechie, Deacon Chris Iyowaye, Casimir Maduafokwa and Alfred Okoigun of the ARCO Group. Franklin Ngwu will moderate the session.

The Lagos leg of the celebration, scheduled for February 8, will be chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of Pan-Atlantic University, Professor Enase Okonedo.

Fr George Ehusani of Lux Terra said similar events would be held in Abuja two weeks later, while the celebrations will culminate in a thanksgiving ceremony in Kaduna, where Utomi was born.

Born on February 6, 1956, in Kaduna and originally from Delta State, Utomi is the founder of the Centre for Values in Leadership and the African Democratic Congress. He is widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s leading voices on political economy, leadership and governance.

Utomi attended St Thomas Primary School, Kano, and Our Lady of Fatima, Gusau, before proceeding to Christ the King College, Onitsha, and Loyola College, Ibadan, for his secondary education. He studied Mass Communication at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, graduating in 1977, and later obtained an MA, MPA and PhD from Indiana University, United States.

His career spans academia, government and the private sector. He served as Special Assistant to former President Shehu Shagari, later became Chief Operating Officer of Volkswagen Nigeria, and is a Professor at Lagos Business School, with academic affiliations to Harvard Business School and the American University, Washington DC.

Utomi has also served as Vice Chairman of Platinum-Habib Bank and Chairman of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA). A Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of Nigeria, he has been named among Nigeria’s “Top Ten Living Legends” and remains a respected commentator on global economic and governance issues, with engagements at institutions such as Chatham House and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).