TheCable

Presidential declarations have become the order of the day. So much so, that it’s hard to keep count. Already it has been almost two weeks since the minister of transportation and former Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (CRA) announced his decision to run for president. 

I’d wanted to wait at least until parties have picked their candidates but so much is happening. I mean the latest news is the N100m that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC is asking from presidential aspirants. At this rate, who’ll be left when it’s time for the primaries? All that said, I couldn’t let Rotimi Amaechi’s declaration slide. Especially because he reportedly promised to install closed-circuit (CCTV) cameras around train tracks. This man, who has been secretary, to the Rivers government and its two-term governor, all of those years barring one with the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, is the current minister of transportation, yes I’ve mentioned that already. And I’m sure you’re thinking the reason he’s now aspiring for the highest office in the land is more than the 23 years’ political experience he’s touting, that this must be because of his achievements as minister of transportation, yes? Well, I’m sure he has achievements he can crow about.

However, on March 28, 2022, a Kaduna-bound train from Abuja was attacked by terrorists the government likes to call bandits. This was the second such attack on the same route within 6 months. Before then, a Lagos-Ibadan train was stranded in the middle of nowhere because it ran out of fuel. A week after the Abuja-Kaduna train attack on April 4, over 100 people were still missing. Five days after news came that over 100 people were still missing, Amaechi announced his desire to become Nigeria’s president. This is only significant because Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as minister of transportation oversees the trains. His response to that attack which still has people in hostage was to lament how he was refused the N3billion he’d asked to install CCTV cameras. The implication of that bit of information as he told his listeners (he didn’t let them deduce by themselves) was that the attack wouldn’t have happened had he been given the 3 billion naira he’d asked for. As insensitive as that sounded, did C.R.A (set to add P to his initials) leave the matter? No. He would add that he now needed maybe 6 or 9 billion naira, I’m not sure. I suppose the N100million for the APC presidential ticket must come from somewhere. Do you know of any sane country where after such a horrific attack, the minister in charge wouldn’t resign, apologise, organise a manhunt for abducted passengers, etc?  

Meanwhile, as I write this, there’s no official passenger manifest to account for the passengers on that Abuja-Kaduna train. This is because there had been reports of ticket hoarding so no one is sure of the exact names of those that were on board that ill-fated train. And as it’s the norm, no one has yet to be punished. All that wouldn’t matter if, during the 2015 elections campaigns, of which Amaechi was an integral part, promises hadn’t been made to stamp out corruption. Now, those who promised change and zero corruption cannot even crack a ticket-hoarding ring? Then to add insult to injury, the man in charge of transportation wants Nigerians to reward him with the job of president supposedly saying he’s going to install cameras on train tracks?

So, what’s going to change if Amaechi becomes president? Will he suddenly become Superman and all the superheroes rolled into one? Is he saying as president, he’ll have ultimate power and there will be no judiciary, or that he won’t have to deal with any asses in NASS (National Assembly)? I bet he’s already setting up the excuses he’ll give if he becomes president. Or as social media bants go: The excuse Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, CRA, is going to give is doing press-ups or being cooked like Ewa Aganyin. I know Nigerians are famous for having short memories but are people really going to forget that a good number of the passengers on the Abuja-Kaduna March 28, 2022 train have yet to be released? Are Nigerians going to forget so soon the passengers and security operatives that were killed, just because Amaechi is waving CCTV like a magic wand?