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Political economist Pat Utomi has said the behaviour of Nigerian politicians suggests a mental health crisis among the country’s leaders, following a meeting with an unnamed Nigerian-born doctor who raised concerns about their conduct.
Utomi shared his conversation with the doctor on his X account on Thursday.
He recounted the doctor’s observations about the actions of political office holders.
“His examples made sense, but I was sure if he returned to Nigeria he could be quickly consigned to an asylum for them,” Utomi wrote.
Credit: The WhistleNewspaper
The doctor, according to Utomi, questioned why politicians would travel with dangerously armed policemen and waste expensive fuel in long motorcades, describing the practice as a source of insecurity rather than safety.
The doctor also pointed to other “evidence” of insanity, Utomi said, including politicians buying houses abroad that they seldom use while paying huge taxes on those properties, even as those they govern are starving and roads remain unmotorable.
“Those abroad are as angry as the hungry at home,” Utomi wrote.
He wrapped up his post with a question: “Will this revolution they say is coming be staged in mental homes?”
I met today with a Nigerian born Doctor. He is persuaded there is a mental health epidemic in Nigeria and that the politicians are the ones in most urgent need of psychiatric attention. His examples made sense but I was sure if he returned to Nigeria he could be quickly consigned…
— Pat Utomi (@UtomiPat) September 4, 2026
