By Obinna Uballa
Associates, scholars and public leaders will gather across five cities in four states to celebrate the 70th birthday of renowned Nigerian political economist and public intellectual, Professor Patrick Okedinachi, who turns 70 on February 6, 2026.
According to a statement shared by Chido Nwakama, a journalist and public relations expert on Tuesday, the celebrations, scheduled to hold in Enugu, Asaba-Ibuzo, Lagos, Abuja and Kaduna, are expected to feature a blend of intellectual engagements, policy dialogues and thanksgiving events marking what organisers describe as Utomi’s “three score and ten years of ideas, service and values-driven leadership.”
Activities will commence on February 4, 2026, in Enugu with the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) Annual Lecture Symposium at the Amadeo Event Centre, Ebeano Tunnel.
The keynote lecture will be delivered by Dr Ameena Gurib-Fakim, former President of Mauritius and the country’s first female head of state. Associate keynote addresses will be given by the Chief Executive Officer of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Wankele Mene, and the President of Afreximbank, Dr George Elombi.
The Enugu symposium will also feature high-level panel discussions led by Professor James Robinson, co-author of Why Nations Fail and winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics, and Professor Paul Collier of Oxford University, author of The Bottom Billion.
Other panellists include Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti; Enugu State Governor, Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah; former New York Chief Economist, Prof Fred Olayele; and Dr Kandeh Yumkella, former Director-General of UNIDO. Also expected are Prof Osita Ogbu, Ghanaian politician and former presidential candidate Alan John Kyerematen, and Lagos Business School professor Franklin Ngwu, who will moderate the session. Former PenCom Director-General, Mr MK Ahmad, will chair the Enugu proceedings.
The birthday lecture proper will hold on February 6 in Asaba, presided over by the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe (CFR, mni). Africa’s leading industrialist, Dr Aliko Dangote, is billed to deliver the lecture.
The Asaba event will focus on opportunities in the oil and gas value chain, with panellists including Chief Leemon Ikpea, Dr Austin Avuru, Rainoil founder Dr Gabriel Ogbechie, Deacon Chris Iyowaye, Casimir Maduafokwa and Alfred Okoigun of the ARCO Group. Franklin Ngwu will again serve as moderator.
The Lagos finale, scheduled for February 8, will be chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of Pan-Atlantic University, Professor Enase Okonedo.
According to Fr George Ehusani of Lux Terra, similar events will take place in Abuja two weeks later, while the celebrations will conclude with a thanksgiving ceremony in Kaduna, Utomi’s birthplace.
Born on February 6, 1956, in Kaduna and hailing from Delta State, Utomi is the founder of the Centre for Values in Leadership and the African Democratic Congress. He is widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s foremost thinkers on political economy, leadership and governance.
Utomi attended St Thomas Primary School in Kano and Our Lady of Fatima in Gusau before completing his secondary education at Christ the King College, Onitsha, and Loyola College, Ibadan. He studied Mass Communication at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, graduating in 1977, and later earned an MA, MPA and PhD from Indiana University in the United States.
His career spans academia, public service and the private sector. He served as Special Assistant to former President Shehu Shagari, later became Chief Operating Officer of Volkswagen Nigeria, and is a Professor at Lagos Business School, with affiliations to Harvard Business School and American University, Washington DC.
Utomi has also served as Vice Chairman of Platinum-Habib Bank and Chairman of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA). A prominent civil society advocate, he has coordinated several reform-focused groups, including Transparency in Nigeria and Concerned Professionals.
A Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of Nigeria, Utomi has been recognised as one of Nigeria’s “Top Ten Living Legends” and remains a respected commentator on global economic and governance issues, with collaborations with institutions such as Chatham House and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
