Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada A renowned economist and scholar, Prof. Pat Utomi, has urged the nation’s youths to take up the mantle of leadership, amid the current economic challenges being experienced in the country.
Utomi said on Tuesday in Lagos that youths should be interested in rising up to challenges that could make a difference in the society.
The Professor of Economics, spoke against the backdrop of an award conferred on him by The Verdant Zeal Quantum Awards at the prestigious Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, on March 22.
He was honoured for his pivotal role as a Leader of thought in Development Economics.
“I want to encourage young people that the world we live in can be changed by few people. If they so wish; it is their time to take up the mantle.
“It is a function of few committed individuals who know what to do; they should not sit back and watch. They should act now.
“Almost everything I do most times is to show young people example that it is possible to have a vision that is bigger than the size of your bank account.
“They should have interest in changing the world around them, and not trying or emulate those who accumulate everything without success,’’ he said.
Utomi added that he had lived a life that could be mirrored by the society and told said that he had been engaged more in philanthropic activities in recent times.
“My life is an open book; everything about my life is what I want everyone to know. I am a person of faith in the last 40 years.
“I have been deeply involved in different faith-based activities to change the world as a Christian in my church and the Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship (FGMF) member.
“I do a lot of social enterprise with widows, the weak and the challenged. Generally, I don’t like to talk about it, but people know that I’ve been working on it more than 30 years now.
“I am committed to a centre that takes care of widows and to render help. I see them as vulnerable in the society,’’ he said.
Utomi said that the focus on helping widows was borne out of the experience he had sometimes ago in his village.
