{"id":8242,"date":"2025-08-03T07:21:03","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T07:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/?p=8242"},"modified":"2025-08-03T07:21:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T07:21:03","slug":"pat-utomi-criticizes-revenue-driven-economic-policy-urges-focus-on-productive-sectors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/03\/pat-utomi-criticizes-revenue-driven-economic-policy-urges-focus-on-productive-sectors\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat Utomi Criticizes Revenue-Driven Economic Policy, Urges Focus on Productive Sectors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"354\" data-end=\"577\">Renowned political economist <strong data-start=\"383\" data-end=\"406\">Professor Pat Utomi<\/strong> has strongly criticized the Nigerian federal government\u2019s economic strategy, warning that its aggressive revenue drive is hurting the nation\u2019s long-term growth prospects.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"579\" data-end=\"849\">Speaking during a televised interview over the weekend, Utomi argued that the government\u2019s revenue obsession is enriching the political class while undermining productive sectors like agriculture, healthcare, and manufacturing\u2014areas critical for sustainable development.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"851\" data-end=\"1030\">\u201cMost of the country\u2019s resources are being diverted to non-productive sectors. We need to prioritize agriculture and build value chains from our local factor endowments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1032\" data-end=\"1350\">Utomi condemned the burden placed on importers and small businesses, especially at the ports, where excessive levies are making operations nearly impossible. He cited examples of pharmaceutical importers struggling to restock anti-malarial medications due to container charges reportedly reaching <strong data-start=\"1329\" data-end=\"1344\">\u20a618 million<\/strong> each.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1352\" data-end=\"1517\">\u201cThis desperation for revenue is destroying the business environment. It\u2019s creating a false sense of economic improvement while ordinary Nigerians suffer,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1519\" data-end=\"1743\">According to Utomi, rising government revenues are not translating into better living standards. He warned against using revenue figures as a sole indicator of progress, stressing that inflation and hunger remain widespread.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1745\" data-end=\"1870\">\u201cIf you move from hell to purgatory, is that salvation?\u201d he asked, dismissing official claims that the economy is recovering.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1872\" data-end=\"2005\">He emphasized that <strong data-start=\"1891\" data-end=\"1962\">job creation, food security, and access to healthcare and education<\/strong> are the real markers of economic progress.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2007\" data-end=\"2137\">\u201cFood is fundamental. A hungry population is a volatile population. We must invest in what truly improves lives,\u201d Utomi concluded.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2139\" data-end=\"2330\">Despite a reported <strong data-start=\"2158\" data-end=\"2178\">3.13% GDP growth<\/strong> in Q1 2025 by the <strong data-start=\"2197\" data-end=\"2236\">National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)<\/strong>, Utomi insisted that the numbers are meaningless without tangible improvements in daily life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Renowned political economist Professor Pat Utomi has strongly criticized the Nigerian federal government\u2019s economic strategy, warning that its aggressive revenue drive is hurting the nation\u2019s long-term growth prospects. Speaking during a televised interview over the weekend, Utomi argued that the government\u2019s revenue obsession is enriching the political class while undermining productive sectors like agriculture, healthcare, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8242"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8246,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8242\/revisions\/8246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}