To: Media
From: Restoration Group/Utomi-Political Action Committee (U-PAC)
Date: Monday July 24, 2006

Re: Nigeria's renaissance will begin through constructive engagement of the Nigerian Diaspora

Prof Patrick Utomi, the front-runner in Nigeria's 2007 presidential elections, recently concluded a 5-city tour of the United States entitled, "Contract with the Diaspora" tour. During the tour, he shared with the different Nigerian groups and constituencies that Nigeria's renaissance will be won through the constructive engagement of the Nigerian Diaspora. He called on Nigerians in the Diaspora to join him and the Restoration Group, his political platform, to chart a new course for Nigeria. The Restoration Group, which has been in existence since 1994 and is in the process of being registered as a political party, is garnering an army of servant leaders who will contest at different political and legislative levels in Nigeria: local, state, and federal.

Speaking to an audience of about one hundred and fifty Nigerians at his first tour city at the Palacio Hotel in Miami, Florida, Pat Utomi explained that he was on tour as part of consultations prior to the formal kick off of his campaign for the 2007 presidential elections. He wanted the Nigerian Diaspora to buy into his vision of a new Nigeria and their role in implementing a rapid take off of the national transformation agenda immediately following the elections. In accordance with the core values of the Restoration Group, Pat Utomi told the animated audience that he was calling for Nigerians with character, competence, compassion, and commitment to join the group in its efforts to rebuild Nigeria.

Pat Utomi informed the Miami attendees that his strategy for rapidly reducing poverty and re-instituting social harmony and Nigeria's international prestige included using Industrial Parks to create an enabling environment for entrepreneurial businesses to succeed. The Industrial Parks, which will be established in the 6 geo-political zones, will be equipped will all the enabling infrastructure to enable business development. Instead of the current system where each business has to provide their own infrastructure, businesses that set up in and around these Industrial Parks will tap into the infrastructure at a marginal cost. These investments in the Industrial Parks should reduce the cost of production by over 30% in the first 4 years. This would generate a virtuous circle of investments, job creation, and economic expansion that would yield double-digit GDP growth. He also added that the investments in public works programs would be operated by public-private partnerships to minimize the inefficiencies in government execution of projects while also allowing the private sector to manage the projects for innovation and sustainability.

In his welcome address at the town hall meeting, Miami resident and Civil Engineering entrepreneur, Charles Gilbert, spoke passionately about how Pat Utomi's candidacy has rekindled some hope in Nigerians who had lost faith in the country. The Ondo State born engineer, and Coordinator of Utomi-Political Action Committee (U-PAC), Miami Chapter asked all present to spread the word to all Nigerians that the day we have all prayed for, that day when Nigerians would elect a leader who would draw his power from the people and remain accountable to the people is here and we should use all of our resources to make this dream a reality. In a similar vein, Katsina State born design engineer, Hassan Ahmad expressed appreciation that someone like Pat Utomi with a stellar record in the private sector and such an articulate vision has taken the courageous step of offering to serve Nigeria. Other speakers at the event included a representative of the Mayor of Miami who gave glowing tributes to the candidate's sense of service to Nigeria. Pat Utomi was compared to Pa Obafemi Awolowo in the sense that this is the first time in a long time that a Nigerian aspiring to office has shown that he has in deed given great thought to Nigeria's challenges and has pragmatic, workable solutions to Nigeria's many challenges.

Speaking at a meeting of Nigerian community leaders in Atlanta, Georgia, presidential candidate, Pat Utomi, talked about Nigeria being a country of "two nations" where the ruling elite who have recycled themselves in power since 1960 have exhibited contempt for the Nigerian people, and the common Nigerian on the other hand, have become intensely cynical of the elite. He pointed out that it is simply unbelievable (and unacceptable) that communities in the Niger-Delta (that produce Nigeria's major resource) are not even connected to the national electricity grid. It is the same contemptuous relationship that is exhibited in the fact that millions of Nigerians are jobless and swelling the ranks of armed robbers while the elite has not shown an evident concern to their plight. Nigerians, now more than ever before, are despondent. He argued that if nothing is done to reverse this trend, if we allow the same "recycled" rulers to perpetuate themselves in power, Nigeria's future would be questionable. He mentioned nations in Africa that have gone through the same path and have ended up as failed States.

Dr. Martin Okafor, coordinator of U-PAC, Atlanta Chapter, told the audience that he is invigorated by the work the Restoration Group has begun in Nigeria. He said that this is a breathe of fresh air for a Nigeria that has been under political enslavement to rulers who almost disdain Nigerians.

Rising from this meeting, the leaders of the various Nigerian communities in Atlanta implored Pat Utomi to return to Atlanta during the second leg of the "Contract with the Diaspora" tour planned for September 2006. They plan to organize a rally where thousands of Nigerians in the South of the United States would have an opportunity to engage with the candidate. They pledged both their moral and financial support for the candidate.

In Washington DC, Pat Utomi's "Contract with the Diaspora" tour met with numerous Nigerian groups, US Congressional staffers, and Think-Tanks. At a presentation made to Nigerian professionals at the World Bank titled, "Nigeria Economic Reforms: 2007 & Beyond" Pat Utomi commended the economic reforms of the Obasanjo administration. He, however, suggested that more needed to be done in the areas of institutional development, human capital development (education and healthcare), security, entrepreneurship, leadership, and values.

In response to a question on Federalism posed by a leading Nigerian economist at the World Bank, Pat Utomi talked about instituting true Federalism by making the six geo-political regions and States more competitive. He stated that the regions should be empowered to use their different competitive advantages to serve the common good of all Nigerians who live within the region. He talked about the economic leadership that was provided by Pa Awolowo, Michael Okpara, and the Sir Ahmadu Bello in the 1960s when the regions had to generate their revenue and were truly accountable to the people.

In an interview granted to NVS Radio while in Washington DC, Pat Utomi admitted that the sequencing of reforms is critical to the achievement of the goals he has set for Nigeria. He stated that his top priority would be addressing the power crisis. He pledged that his administration would ensure that this problem is significantly resolved in the first four years. A full text/audio of the interview is available on www.nigeriavillagesquare.com.

At a reception organized by U-PAC, Los Angeles Chapter, top contender for the Nigerian presidency, Pat Utomi, told the animated audience that another of his top priorities was human capital development. He explained that there are two aspects to human capital: healthcare and education. He shared his ideas on how to rebuild our healthcare system to ensure primary and specialist healthcare services to Nigerians. He talked about programs that would ensure access to affordable healthcare to all. This scheme, which will be a partnership between the Nigerian government and the private sector, will include initial massive investments in infrastructure by the government. He told the audience that Nigerians are worse off today than they were in 1960. He promised that at the end of the first four years of his administration, we would have stemmed the decline of life expectancy, minimized the scourge of malaria and typhoid fever, and reduced the HIV infection. Pat Utomi called on Nigerians in the greater Los Angeles/ Southern California area to work with U-PAC LA Chapter (under the leadership of Prof. Gbolahan Olajide) to generate pragmatic ideas on how to tackle these challenges.

During the question and answer session, Pat Utomi was informed of a Nigerian entrepreneur in Los Angeles who returned to Nigeria to set up a call-center business but was frustrated by bureaucratic red tape such that he moved the business to Ghana where it is thriving. In response, Pat Utomi discussed how his administration would leverage technology-enabled process to reduce redundancies and increase organizational efficiency. He encouraged Nigerian professionals in the greater Los Angeles/ Southern California region to support his efforts in recruiting technology experts to work with his U-PAC team. He argued that there is no reason why Nigeria, like India, should not be a leader in technology-enabled products and services once we get the infrastructure challenges resolved.

In response to a question on the financial supporter(s) of the Restoration Group, Pat Utomi informed the audience that the Restoration Group is the first true, democratic, grassroots party for Nigerians by Nigerians. The party is being run through donations and contributions from Nigerians. The group will not be indebted to any individual or group. On behalf of the Restoration Group, he appealed to Nigerians to contribute their "widow's mite" in support of this campaign. His administration will seek support and authority from Nigerians and will be answerable to Nigerians and not to any "godfather" or clique. Although the Los Angeles event was not planned as a fundraising event, many Nigerians in attendance made donations to the candidate.

Pat Utomi concluded his "Contract with the Diaspora" tour with a fundraising dinner in Centerville, Ohio. The dinner attracted attendees from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and many other States in the mid-west. In his opening remarks, the co-chairman for the occasion, scientist and entrepreneur, Dr. Ibrahim Katamkpe said "this was the first time he was meeting Pat Utomi in person but has been a studious follower of his writings over the years". He expressed his pleasure in being able to contribute to this opportunity to rebuilding Nigeria. The host, acclaimed political scientist, Prof Ebere Onwudiwe, told the impassioned audience that Pat Utomi is one of the few "bridge builders" in Nigeria today, connecting people on different sides of our economic, social, and political aisles.

In response to a statement pointing out that predominately professionals or middle class Nigerians were in support of the Utomi campaign, Pat Utomi mentioned that he is probably one of the few Nigerians who has a real connection with the grassroots. He mentioned that since his return to Nigeria over 23 years ago, he has championed different initiatives focused on bringing relief to many of Nigeria's forgotten. He has marched with "area boys" in the streets of Lagos, worked with many market women and widows, pro-actively engaged with Nigeria's forgotten living in the creeks of the Niger-Delta. He said that increasingly Nigerians would see that his real constituency is the common man of Nigeria. The problem is that these people have been disenfranchised for so long that no one actually listens to them.

Pat Utomi left the United States for a 2-city tour of the United Kingdom from where he would return to Nigeria for a tour of cities in Northern Nigeria. Pat Utomi will be back for the second leg of the "Contract with the Diaspora" tour in September 2006. A number of rallies are planned for different cities around the United States.

For more information, please contact

USA:
Patrick O. Okigbo III
Coordinator
Utomi-Political Action Committee (U-PAC), North America
+1-347 886 6412
UPAC@PatUtomi2007.com

NIGERIA:
John Onyeukwu
Coordinator
Restoration Group (RG)
36A, Ikorodu Crescent, Dolphin Estate
P. O. Box 51796, Falomo
Ikoyi, Lagos State
Office: +234 (0)1 461 4085
Mobile: +234 (0) 803 303 8002
eMail: john@restorenigeria.net or John_Onyeukwu@PatUtomi2007.com