Prominent figure Professor Pat Utomi, a key leader in the Labour Party, has disclosed his personal struggle with prostate cancer. The diagnosis, received last year, has been the reason for his noticeable absence from the public eye.
Through a series of tweets, on Friday, August 11, 2023, Utomi, who also contested the presidential elections in 2011 under the banner of the Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP), shed light on his experience.
Drawing parallels with the successful campaigns for breast cancer prevention among women, Prof. Utomi underscored the potential benefits of early detection and informed patient guidance for prostate cancer. He suggested that such efforts could lead to better containment of misery and improved chances of recovery.
Prof. Utomi recounted his personal journey, revealing that he commenced treatment at a cancer center in Ikeja and VI after a biopsy confirmed his diagnosis last year. He described attending treatment sessions even during election campaigns, with doctors at the Ikeja center going to great lengths to ensure his privacy.
The Labour Party leader further revealed that following the conclusion of the elections, his family members who are medical professionals in Europe and the US collaborated with the team at Lakeshore to provide him with direct care. This comprehensive approach involved controlling his phone usage to reduce stress, leading to his apparent withdrawal from public engagements.
Notably, Prof. Utomi played a pivotal role in Labour Party candidate Peter Obi's 2023 presidential campaign, contributing to the emergence of a notable third force in Nigerian politics. Despite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially declaring Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the president, legal challenges by Peter Obi and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, are currently underway to contest the election outcome in court.