The President and top echelons in the Political hemisphere have led Nigerians in sharing their birthday wishes with the Minister for Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi.
Amaechi, who turned 56 yesterday, is an astute politician, a patriotic Nigerian and a father to many, who is believed to have touched many lives, whether as a steward in his home-State, Rivers or as a public servant under the Buhari’s regime. He previously served in oil-rich Rivers State as Governor of Rivers State from 2007 to 2015 and Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007.
Known for his penchant for details and success, the former Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly and former Governor of Rivers State has lived life beyond the ordinary, as his legacies still speak so much for him in Rivers State.
Many hardly know that his political proficiency dates back to the early 90s. During the transition to the Third Nigerian Republic, Amaechi was Secretary of the National Republican Convention in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Between 1992 and 1994, he was Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili – his boss believed in Amaechi as a young man with potential in politics, and brought him under his wing. In 1996, he was the Rivers State’s Secretary of the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) caretaker committee during the transition programme of General Sani Abacha
As speaker, Amaechi used his close working relationship with Governor Peter Odili to increase the harmonious relationship between the Executive and Legislative arms of government in Rivers State, until when Rotimi Amaechi launched a campaign against the State Government, and verbally attacked the image of the State Governor, in an effort to succeed Peter Odili as governor in 2007.
As the Governor of the oil-rich treasure base of the nation, Amaechi’s administration invested in infrastructure development, construction of roads and bridges, sticking to the vision of connecting all parts of the state by road. The governor was also committed to urban renewal and modernization of transportation services. His administration began building a monorail to provide mass transportation within the city of Port Harcourt. He also built some power plant projects (Afam, Trans Amadi, Onne) to improve power supply in the State.
Amaechi served as the Director-General, Presidential Campaign in 2015 and 2019 for president Muhammadu Buhari.
He currently supervises the transportation sector of the country. He once described the transport sector as the second-most important sector of the economy after oil and gas. He sees this sector as the one that affects all sectors, including oil and gas.
He is passionate about upgrading all modes of transport, including rail, roads, sea, and air. His tenure has succeeded in ensuring seaports at Onitsha, Baro, and Lokoja are ready for use. As the Minister for Transport, he is also planning to capitalize on Nigeria’s internal waterways and use them as a means of transport. In railways, his Ministry is in the process of laying 2,650km of new railways, investing USD20 billion over a period of four years. The construction of two deep-water ports is also underway in Lekki, near Lagos, and at Ibaka in Akwa Ibom River State. The Lekki deep-water port is still in an early phase but both these developments will be critical, particularly to handle trans-shipping.
In a saner clime, his birthday, May 27, being coincidental with commemoration of Children’s day, may be declared Public holiday for adults as well, just to honour, a man with so much poise, grandeur, opulence and special effects.
His achievements are not mere, they could only be achieved by Hon. Amaechi, a man with focus and splendour. We congratulate him on his 56th birthday, and wish him more impactful years in life.
Olamide Adeniji is a member of the editorial board of TheScript Newspaper
