By Sam Amadi
Chibuike Amaechi may be the most experienced aspirant to the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023. Speaker for eight years; Governor of one of the richest and most complex states in Nigeria for eight years; and Minister supervising one of the most critical infrastructures in Nigeria for close to eight years. That’s massive. There is no better political profile for a presidential job.
But Amaechi’s occupational profile dwarfs his competence record. He has been extremely lucky in grabbing the big political job. He had no job experience in private or public sector when he was forced upon Rivers people as speaker of the state’s house of assembly by his benefactor, Governor Peter Odili.
Amaechi was just a Personal Assistant to Odili as a modest doctor of a little known hospital. That was the highest job he held until Odili shooed him into Speakership. He finished that job and became Governor courtesy of Supreme Court’s Supreme illogic. He was prescient to embrace Buhari and used the huge resources available to him as a governor to help get Buhari elected as President and earned himself a plum job in the federal cabinet, and access to the President’s ears and favors.
Amaechi is youthful. This is an advantage after the Buhari sickly presidency. He is also charismatic enough to be in the sorority of the likes of Wole Soyinka. He is prickly and could easily throw tantrums.
He was my student once and I can attest to his intelligence. But I can also attest to his lack of deliberateness. He would be a sort of a Buhari in carrying no trunk with due process. It is not entirely surprising that he would want an infant company with no demonstrated capability to undertake a highly technical job for Nigerian Railways, a job that requires high competences at very high costs. Amaechi can award any amount of money to anyone he feels like, notwithstanding what the due process officer says.
I would not like Amaechi to be the President that succeeds Buhari. The recklessness and unenlightened audacity would continue and only made worse by what looks like emotional immaturity. But this is APC’s likely candidate.
Dr. Sam Amadi lawyer and former Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), is Director Abuja School of Social & Political Thought.
