Pat Utomi, a professor of political economy and management expert, says Nigerian politicians are responsible for the divisions in the country.

Mr Utomi said this at the first Tony Uranta Memorial Lecture on Saturday in Lagos.

Mr Utomi said, “Sadly, you will find much of today’s divisions come from politicians weaponising differences. Also, they deepen cleavages so they can pull the wool of emotions over reason to get votes they should not.

“Nigeria’s political class has traded a vision that God cut out for us. We need new thinking, if this phase is to pass Nigeria by,“ he said.

Earlier, the event’s chairman, Godknows Ighali, said that Nigeria was an intentional creation of our fathers.

“When India and Pakistan were to have independence in 1948, they told the British, ‘We do not want to be one country; separate us’. But in the case of Nigeria, our father said, ‘We want to be one’; but the terms of being one were agreed from 1950 up to the Independent Constitution of 1963.

“They agreed on what Nigeria should be. A country where all Nigerians are treated equally, where elections, people queue up and vote, will count. That is what we should be. That is what Nigeria is, that our fathers agreed to,“ he said.

The widow of Mr Uranta and founder of TIU Foundation, Baarong Uranta, described her late husband as a patriot and an inveterate nationalist.

She said her late husband worked to raise awareness of political and social reforms in the Niger Delta and Nigeria.

“Tony Uranta, in his lifetime, was a civil rights activist who stood for Nigerian unity that was founded on the principles of fairness, equity, and justice for all citizens. The TIU foundation was founded to carry on with the ideals and legacies which Tony stood upon and worked assiduously for, all through his lifetime,” she said.