Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has slammed Nigerians, saying they do not react to anything.
Amaechi was speaking at the 2023 TheNiche Annual Lecture themed “Why We Stride and Slip: Leadership, Nationalism, and the Nigerian Condition,” held on Thursday in Lagos where he was a special guest.
Speaking about the alleged certificate forgery, Amaechi said that politicians never denied being thieves, forging school or NYSC certificates, but Nigerians still vote for such politicians.
Amaechi lamented that serious issues which easily lead to mass protests elsewhere are swept under the carpet by Nigerians, who, according to him, take nothing seriously.
“Nigerians don’t react to anything. Has any politician told you he is not a thief? You are shouting ‘forgery’; forgery, Which politician told you he didn’t forge? Which politician told you they went to university? Which politician told you she served in NYSC? And which politician told you he has his certificate?” he said.
“Nigerians know and still vote for them, so what’s your problem? No, tell me, what’s your problem? Tell me, why should I speak when there’s already nothing new?
“Nothing bothers Nigerians, so why should I waste my time? I chose to stay in the house quietly. I chose not to speak again because Nigerians will do nothing.
“Nigerians are committing suicide. Instead of finding solutions to your problems, you’re committing suicide.
“I’m praying for you every day that you should continue to commit suicide so that by the time I wake up one day, all of you have died so that I can now reap the benefits of your death by taking those things.”
“Nigerians choose who to believe and who not to believe, Nigerians choose who to vote and who not to vote. Even if you come to a Nigerian man’s house and kill his mother, the father will continue his life. Nothing bothers you, nothing, so why should I waste my time?” Amaechi said.
The former governor of Rivers State also criticized a former Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority, (NPA), Hadiza Usman, for allegedly putting out false narratives in her book titled: “Stepping on Toes: My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority.”
“The lies were too many. For instance, she claimed she was not invited by the panel. I even came with the memo of the president, where the president endorsed her removal,” the 58-year-old said.
“Count one is in the question of the fact that the panel says she is guilty; count two is due to the fact that a Managing Director of NPA with an N2.5m approval limit can approve N2.8b contract with no appropriation.”
Two years ago, then-President Muhammadu Buhari asked Hadiza Usman to step aside from her role while an Administrative Panel of Inquiry, headed by Rotimi Amaechi, investigated the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Amaechi insisted that Mrs Usman was guilty of the same crimes she was accusing him of and making concessions for the high and mighty in society.
“Why is that document not published because prominent Nigerians are involved? She gave waivers to prominent Nigerians, which she has no power to give and these are dollars accruable to Nigeria’s economy but she was bold enough to write a book or is it a pamphlet and Nigerians are following her, launching the book, so how will Nigeria move forward?
“But let’s wait until they bring the original copy because if I give you the photocopy, you will say it is fake. I will show you the original but I won’t allow you to read it because you would see the names of those prominent Nigerians that were indicted by the panel. I would rather read the areas that concern her and leave those prominent Nigerians, they didn’t look for my trouble.”
The former minister affirmed that Usman had been indicted by the panel and denied that he was purposefully behind her removal as the boss of the NPA.
