Renowned political economist, Pat Utomi to celebrate 60th birthday with week-long event

The reason why many nations including Nigeria are poor is the thrust of a new book titled Why Nations are Poor authored by Prof. Pat Utomi, renowned political-economist and Founder/CEO of CVL [Centre for Values in Leadership].

The incisive book and two other publications associated with Prof. Utomi will be launched in Lagos on Thursday, February 4, 2016 as part of the week-long activities designed to celebrate the 60th birthday anniversary of the founder of CVL.

The other publications that will be unveiled at the book launch include The Art of Leading also authored by Prof. Utomi. The book puts into proper perspective, appropriate leadership which eluded Nigeria for several years. The book professes the way out of the current leadership gap.

It also challenges Nigerians seeking to lead the nation now and in the future. The third and final book that will debut at the launch is a book of readings in honour of Prof. Pat Utomi titled The Political Economy of Courtship with Poverty published by the University of Calabar Press with chapters by more than 20 university professors.

At the book launch, Why Nations are Poor will be reviewed by Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, Chairman Editorial Board, Thisday newspapers; The Art of Leading by Mr. Fela Durotoye, national and international awards winner for his leadership development and nation building activities ; and The Compendium on Prof. Pat Utomi by Dr. Michael Okom, university lecturer and the Executive Director of Life Resource Network, an NGO.

Events preceding the book launch include a Night of Entertainment and Culture on Sunday, January 31, 2016 where galaxies of Nigerian popular artistes reflecting music, dance, drama and comedy have been lined up for live performances.

A workshop on Youth Entrepreneurship and Leadership planned for Tuesday, February 2, 2016 will unveil the Winner and Runners-up of the maiden edition of Pat Utomi@60 Business Plan Writing Competition at the Lagos Business School. The prize money for the Winner is N1.0million. The Enterprise Development Centre [EDC] of the Lagos Business School and Fidelity Bank Plc are partners of CVL for the competition.

A Colloquium on Development State and the Politics of Development will take place the following day with a lineup of influential Speakers.

The hallmark of the week-long celebration is the 13th edition of CVL Annual Lecture which is designed to draw public attention to current socio-economic challenges in Africa through its theme – Wealth, Poverty and Human Dignity on Friday, February 5, 2016 with international speakers drawn from East, South and West Africa.

The Keynote Address at the Lecture is expected from Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria. Other speakers include Rev. Fr. Godfrey Nzamujo – President/Founder Songhai Farms, Benin Republic; Dr. Pinkie Mekgwe– Executive Director, Internationalization, University of Johannesburg, South Africa; Ms. Nana Afadzinu – Executive Director, West African Civil Society Institute[WACSI], Ghana and Dr. Fred Olayele – Canada based Nigerian Economist.\

High profile personalities expected to participate in the week-long celebration include Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

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