The immediate past governor of Rivers State and current Nigeria’s Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has revealed that he was forced into politics by employment.
The Minister who is also a former Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, stated that though he was exposed to politics right from his young age, he didn’t nurse the idea of building a career in politics.
He said this while speaking in a recent interview with Punch.
Amaechi noted that he believes the masses are not properly represented in government and the elites, as well as those with political power, must cater for people in such categories adequately.
“I believe that the poor are not properly represented by the government – whether it is this current administration or the ones before it. The poor are still here and I doubt if they would ever go away. What happens is that the elite – whether the capitalists or socialists – must manage them in such a way that they can be provided for.”
Speaking specifically on how and why he developed an interest and ventured into politics, he said unemployment forced him to join politics but he has enjoyed grace after joining the nation’s political terrain.
“My father was a politician. He ran for councillorship during his time. However, I didn’t join politics because I wanted to be a leader or because I wanted to solve Nigeria’s problems. I joined because of unemployment. I also believe there is a part that grace played in it.”
Amaechi also spoke further on which career he might have ventured into if he hadn’t joined politics.
“I actually got auditioned at the Nigeria Television Authority to be a broadcaster. I recall that I walked into their office then and said I wanted to see a certain person. But the person I met asked me if I had been auditioned because I had a wonderful voice. I told him I hadn’t and he asked for me to be auditioned. However, before the employment letter came, I was already into politics. That saved me. I would have been a broadcaster by now.”
“I would have loved to become a broadcaster or a lawyer. If I didn’t go into politics, I would have gone on to study Law. Though how good a lawyer I would have made, I cannot tell,” Amaechi disclosed when asked about what he would have been doing now if he hadn’t become a politician.
The Minister added that though his father was also a politician, he was indifferent to his own decision to venture into full-time politics, adding that his father died before he became a governor.
“Nigerian politics is not something one would want one’s child to go into because there are no rules. One can be easily destroyed. One must have the grace to survive. I don’t know if he has that grace (and I’m not talking about tact or sagacity) to survive because it is a man-eat-man world,” Amaechi noted.
