Nigeria on Free fall, Would’ve Been Better off Under My Set of Governors, Laments Amaechi

Former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi has expressed his disappointment with the current state of politics in Nigeria, saying that the country would have been better off if his class of governors were still in office.

Speaking at the public presentation of Sule Lamido’s autobiography, “Being True To Myself”, in Abuja on Tuesday, Amaechi reminisced about the era of fearless opposition and commitment to federal government oversight that defined his tenure as chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).

“I asked you (Lamido) this morning, what is going on currently in the country, in Nigerian politics — would it have happened when we were governors? You said no. And the answer is no,” Amaechi said, referencing a conversation he had with Lamido earlier in the day.

Amaechi, who was a key figure in the NGF during Lamido’s second term as governor of Jigawa, said that their era was marked by a willingness to confront the government and the president, even if it meant going against the status quo.

“We would confront the government, confront the president. That’s how radical we were, that’s how our governors forum operated, that’s how determined we were to change things,” he said.

The former minister of transportation also reflected on his working relationship with Lamido, saying that despite occasional disagreements, they had a strong bond. One of the major disagreements that led to their separation, according to Amaechi, occurred during the opposition to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“We were quite good friends in government. We had our bad times when we disagreed,” he said. “I made the mistake of assuming he was as radical as I was. So, he was one of the governors I clung to when it came to radical decisions.”

Amaechi’s comments come two months after President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, a move that Amaechi described as a “brazen attempt” at power grab.

The former minister has been a vocal critic of the president’s actions, alleging that the declaration was a ploy to intimidate governors into supporting his re-election bid.

In a recent interview, Amaechi expressed his disappointment with Nigerians for their seeming laid-back disposition to the economic hardship sweeping through the country.

“There should be protests. Not even protests against anybody but against the politicians that ‘we won’t vote’,” he said.