Amaechi ‘Snubs’ Buhari Publicly While Speaking

Rotimi Amaechi, a former Minister of Transportation under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari emphasized that Nigeria is still in search of true national leaders, asserting that the country’s democracy requires a profound reconsideration in terms of its scope and focus.

Amaechi served as the keynote speaker at the 2023 TheNiche Annual Lecture, under the theme “Why We Stride and Slip: Leadership, Nationalism and Nigerian Condition,” held in Lagos on Thursday.

This lecture, now in its fourth edition, was organized by TheNiche Foundation for Development Journalism with the aim of engaging Nigerians and providing solutions to some of the nation’s most complex challenges.

The former governor of Rivers State highlighted that Nigeria’s sense of nationalism and nation-building is younger than the nation itself as an independent entity. He noted that there have been more rulers than leaders driven by genuine nationalism.

While commending Nigerian nationalists who fought for independence, Amaechi stressed that authentic nationalistic leadership transcends ethnic considerations.

He pointed out that public service equips individuals with practical experiences and insider knowledge about how Nigeria functions, why it sometimes fails, and how it should ideally operate.

Amaechi also raised important questions about the extent to which Nigerian leadership has truly embraced a sense of national unity.

“The only person near that point of Nationalism with all respect is Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo. The rest are ethnic leaders.

“Truly, remarkable national leadership is the ability of a leader to galvanise the totality of a nation around the common national banner with a vision and a sense of mission.

“The truly remarkable national leader is the one that is able to rise above limitations to take the nation and its people to that place where they long for but have never been before.

“It is a place of national greatness, pride, achievements and shared goals, aspirations and prosperity,” he said.

Amaechi noted that the formation of most nations involves the amalgamation of various nationalities under a shared sovereignty. Many nations have grappled with finding solutions to internal diversity.

He pointed out that a significant number of Nigerian leaders often operate within the corridors of power with a primary focus on the interests of their respective ethnic groups. This, he added, has led to an ongoing struggle with ethnicity that continues to impact the national identity of Nigeria.

“There can be no credible leadership for a diverse nation without some forms of resolutions on the national questions as it pertains to the particular nation in question,” he added.

Also speaking, Dr Uma Eleazu, Chairman of the lecture said that in spite of all the problems the country is facing, the future generation still has hope.

Questioning how the country got to its present point, Eleazu said the toxicity of living in Nigeria had birthed the ‘Japa Syndrome’ among the youth.

“Once the boundaries of national social order are removed, there will be problems.

“Men and women of goodwill must make the necessary investment of time and energy to counter these forces to build within the next generation lasting values.

“These values are embodied in politics of character, self-discipline, respect for authority and for one another, commitment to speaking the truth always no matter whose horses is gored, and unshakeable love for God and humanity,” he said.

Earlier in his remark, Ikechukwu Amaechi, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of TheNiche said that the lecture was organised to have various opinions that would shed light on why Nigeria’s enormous potential are not realised.

Mr Amaechi and Eleazu were inducted into TheNiche Hall of Fame, joining other prominent Nigerians including Prof. Remi Sonaiya, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, Babatunde Raji Fashola, among others