Professor Patrick Utomi is a renowned scholar, entrepreneur, and public intellectual with over four decades of leadership across business, academia, and civil society. He is the Founder and CEO of the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) and a Professor at the Lagos Business School, where he pioneered entrepreneurship teaching in Nigeria.
Utomi has served as Adviser to the President of Nigeria, Chief Operating Officer of Volkswagen Nigeria, and held leadership roles on numerous corporate and non-profit boards. A prolific author and columnist, he is Chairman of Business Day Media Limited and creator of Patito’s Gang, a widely acclaimed policy-focused television talkshow.
Internationally, he has collaborated with institutions such as Chatham House and CSIS, and is a frequent speaker on governance, leadership, and political economy. Twice a candidate for President of Nigeria, Utomi brings to AVPA a deep commitment to ethical leadership, governance reform, and nurturing the next generation of African leaders.
He studied Mass Communication at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1973 and further MA, MPA, and Ph.D degrees from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.