The Duke Meets Professor Pat Utomi

It was Sunday night and I was on my way from the Freedom Park when my friend Mudi called me that he was headed towards Prof Utomi’s house. I immediately joined the team. Prof. Utomi has been a recurring decimal in our body politic ever since the Second Republic where he emerged as Special Adviser on something to the then President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari. He has been quite prominent in the land especially in intellectual discourse. His attempt at party politics has not been quite as successful as his foray into business. Moreover, I heard some slight rumour regarding his perceived aspiration in Delta State and this made this visit very critical. As we walked in, the amiable gentleman came out to welcome us with a warm handshake, leading us into his very expansive living rom. Settling down, we indulged in some very powerful political discussions. You know Utomi is very sound and deep intellectually and me sef, I am not easy or why do you think they made me the Duke of Shomolu, na only Mudi lose. The discussions went from the emergence of Buhari, to the havoc of Herdsmen and to his ambitions come 2019. We even discussed the intrigues surrounding the Bank PHB where he was Chairman and the travails of its erstwhile Managing Director Francis Atuche. Let’s just say it was a meeting of two intellectual giants which left Mudi with new found respect for me. You dey mind the Warri man before? He was looking at me like him mate in politics. Well, I am sorry I cannot really give you guys the details of this meeting because it was supposed to be a highly confidential one. I’ll wait however for the Prof to release his new book where I am sure he will expand more on the discussions and its effect on the power dynamics as we move towards 2019. Thank you.