Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has claimed that he ordered the employment of 1,000 northerners during the administration of former president Muhammadu Buhari.
Amaechi stated that he ordered the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to employ 1,000 northerners while in office.
The former Rivers State governor, who was a minister during Buhari’s tenure, made the disclosure at an event in Abuja.
He said that southerners were the highest employed in NIMASA, hence his directive to engage 1,000 northerners.
According to Amaechi, he ordered the huge employment due to the high level of poverty in the northern part of the country.
He said: “I built the University of Transport in Daura; I did those things because I knew poverty was a problem, unemployment was a problem.
“When I became Minister of Transportation, the South-South and South-East had the highest number of employees in NIMASA.
“I called the DG of NIMASA and asked him to employ 1,000 northerners. I took northerners to China.”
Meanwhile, Amaechi, has stated that both he and former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, would not have tolerated the current state of affairs in Nigeria if they were still serving as governors.
Amaechi, who chaired the Nigeria Governors’ Forum during Lamido’s second tenure as governor, emphasised that their era was marked by bold opposition and a strong commitment to holding the federal government accountable.
Speaking on Tuesday in Abuja at the public presentation of Lamido’s autobiography, ‘Being True to Myself’, Amaechi reflected on their shared governance principles.
“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 remarked.
He added, “We would have confronted the government, confronted the president. That’s how radical you were. That’s how our Governors Forum operated. That’s how determined we were to change things.”
Amaechi also shared insights into his political relationship with Lamido, noting that although they were once close allies in government, their paths eventually diverged over strategic differences.
“We were quite good friends in government. We had our bad times when we disagreed. 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 admitted.
He continued, “The last one before we broke ranks was when we all agreed to go against President Jonathan. We formed a committee of governors and others. At the end of the day, he went to find a new party, the SDP. We said, ‘If we go to the SDP, we will lose the election. Let’s hang on to this one called the APC.’ He disagreed and left us. That’s where we parted ways.”
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