Renowned Political Economist, Prof. Pat Utomi has lamented the failure of World Leaders, particularly business and political leaders, in promoting ethical leadership.

Utomi stated this in a keynote address he delivered at the Global Leadership Forum in Bangalore, India, on Friday 10th November, 2017. Another speaker at the event which was organized by the Art of Living International Center was the former Prime Minister of Slovenia, and now Member of the European Parliament, Lijze Peterle, who coincidentally was part of the EU Observer Mission for the 2011 general election in Nigeria.

Pat Utomi at world Leadership talk in India

Utomi cautioned that if ethical conduct was not stepped up in the conduct of world political leaders, politicians could in no time face a massive legitimacy crisis just as business men face a crisis of public confidence. This was to echo similar remarks he had made in Cape Town, South Africa a month ago at the Africa Partners meeting of the Global Professional Services firm, Deloitte, when he said businesses should think of new concepts like Return on Reputation, ROR, and Return on Experience, ROE, just like Return on Investment, ROI which is already well established.

He further explained that less corruption and more ethical conduct will make for greater economic expansion and more inclusive growth around the world.

Citizens and customers, he said, “would more aggressively demand this as we encounter more disruptive technologies at the dawn of this fourth industrial revolution.

Utomi charged that, “to have any one left behind in this new advance will have even more dire consequences than the situation in a place like Nigeria where people in oil-bearing parts of the country were left behind in the modernization that oil has brought.” He noted that this kind of neglect has turned the once peaceful zone to a centre of unending agitation for a fairer deal from the Nigeria system.