Pat Utomi challenges youths doing political thuggery: 'Will your parents be proud at 50?'
Prof Pat Utomi calls out young Nigerians working as political thugs for corrupt politicians in a Saturday X post. "Is this what you will still be doing at 50? Are your parents proud of what you are doing?" he asks, using the local term "agbero" for thuggery work.
Utomi warns that politicians feed these youths "crumbs while continuing to profit from the chaos they are creating in your neighbourhoods." With the 2027 general elections approaching, he urges young people not to allow themselves to become "instruments of destruction in these men's hands. You deserve better."
The political economist's message cuts to the core of Nigeria's political economy—where unemployed youth are recruited for violence during election cycles, then abandoned afterward. This pattern has fueled electoral violence from Lagos to Kano for decades.
As 2027 campaigns heat up, the question isn't just about today's ₦5,000 or ₦10,000 payment for rally disruption. It's about whether this generation accepts being disposable tools for politicians who send their own children abroad.
What would it take for you to refuse the crumbs and demand a seat at the table instead?