On the note to address Nigeria’s national dysfunction, former Transportation Minister and ex-Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, laid the blame for the country’s failures not just at the feet of its leaders, but squarely on the shoulders of its people.
“No Nigerian leader cares for you. And the reason why no leader cares is because you will do nothing,” Amaechi declared in an unscripted and emotionally charged statement during a public forum. “We are a do-nothing society,” he said, expressing disappointment in a citizenry he believes has enabled poor governance through silence, ethnic loyalty, and religious sentiment.
Amaechi, once a major figure in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), confirmed he did not support the party’s presidential ticket in the 2023 general election. “I told him in advance before the election. I couldn’t support that ticket. It was an issue of capacity,” he said, suggesting that he foresaw the challenges of the current administration and chose not to participate.
But his criticism didn’t end with leadership selection. He accused political elites of weaponizing poverty and manipulating Nigeria’s diversity to cling to power. “Some of us who raise issues of capacity are also the same ones who vote based on religion and ethnicity. We spoil poor, uneducated people to vote for the wrong reasons,” he lamented.
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He pointed out that the Nigerian state is inadvertently weaponizing its own people through systemic corruption and economic mismanagement. “They are weaponizing you by stealing the money they should have given you. Where are the gains of subsidy removal? If we saved ₦5 trillion, where is it? Why isn’t it reflected in your life?”
Amaechi then shared a personal anecdote that he said left him ashamed to be Nigerian. During a trip to Germany, he was detained for nearly 30 minutes by airport authorities simply for holding a Nigerian passport. “If you are not ashamed of Nigeria, I am,” he said. “They told me to show hotel tickets, travel details—just because I carry a green passport.”
Taking aim at Nigeria’s elite, Amaechi argued that true capitalism is absent in the country. “There are no capitalists in Nigeria. Capitalists invest to produce. Here, we share oil money. That’s why we’re stuck.” He blamed the country’s rent-seeking culture for its failure to grow beyond dependence on oil revenue. “Once someone becomes president, everyone—Muslim or Christian—rushes in just to have a hand in the stealing.”
Amaechi decried tribalism in government appointments, recalling an incident during his time in office when a woman was selected for a key post solely because she spoke the president’s language. “I was ashamed. I wanted someone who could change that place. But her only qualification was tribal access.”
Reflecting on the past, he described an era when Nigerian students were united across ethnic lines, organizing massive protests against military rule. “We organized protests against Babangida and Buhari. Northerners and Southerners stood together, ate the same food, shared the same goals. Today, we’ve poisoned the minds of our young people.”
He blamed political actors for inflaming religious and ethnic tensions during elections. “An ordinary northern Muslim has no problem with a southern Christian. But during elections, they tell you otherwise. They can’t even show you in the Qur’an where it says don’t vote for a Christian.”
On insecurity, Amaechi connected rising violence with economic hardship. “Insecurity is 99.9% poverty. When Boko Haram started, they said it was anti-Christian. But is Boko Haram not killing Muslims too? Hunger knows no religion.”
He claimed that during his time as governor of Rivers State, he tackled insecurity by pumping money into the economy. “When there’s no money, there’s crime. I told my finance commissioner, pay contractors, pay salaries. Insecurity will reduce.”
Amaechi didn’t spare the current administration, accusing it of allowing obscene levels of corruption. “They are not even afraid anymore. Have you seen the kind of houses they’re building? I’m ashamed for them. They have no name. Their neighbors don’t even know them.”
Despite the grim diagnosis, Amaechi insisted that change is possible—but only if Nigerians collectively commit to putting the nation’s interest above personal or ethnic loyalty. “If the opposition must save Nigeria, we must first submit to the interest of the nation before our own. If we want to be a real country, we must rise above the things that divide us.”
The former minister closed his remarks with appreciation for those who supported him in the past, but stressed that sentimentality must never replace national purpose. “When I was in the Governors’ Forum, we didn’t talk religion or tribe. We talked Nigeria.”
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