…Cites example of Bangladesh, Perul, Chile
Former Minister of Transportation and Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has told Nigerians that that the only way to oust President Bola Tinubu in 2027 is for them to take their fate in their own hands.
Amaechi stated this on Thursday at the public presentation of the 2025 Nigeria Social Cohesion Survey Report by the Africa Polling Institute in Abuja.
He said, “The only way you can stop Tinubu from being the president of Nigeria in 2027 is to run an election of Nigerians versus the bandits. If you think you will just sit down and do that, may God be with you.”
Amaechi critised Nigerians for remaining passive and grumbling in private instead of taking decisive actions.
“The elites who are stealing Nigerian money are not up to 100,000 but you have 200 million Nigerians who can fight 100,000 men. You sit down in your house and complain and grumble.
“What makes you think the elites would move their hands completely? Who told you the elites don’t know how you are feeling? They know you are not happy. But you are helpless not because the elites made you helpless, you made yourself helpless”, Amaechi said.
He pointed to other nations where public uprisings toppled unpopular governments, suggesting Nigerians could draw lessons from such examples.
According to the former minister, “Go to Bangladesh, right? The day they got tired of that woman, what did they do? They chased her out. Go to, is it Peru or Chile? Nigeria is the most docile society I’ve seen in my life. Please tell me, has there been any revolution without blood? Any revolution without blood is a failur”.
Amaechi revealed that if not for his wife, he would have left the country.
“I told my wife, I want to go to Japa like you people do. They will give me an official visa to come and stay in their country, any country. She said, no, we can’t leave Nigeria. Because Nigeria is lovable. It’s lovely,” he said.
He recalled how, in the past, students and labour unions came together to pressure the government but lamented that the Nigeria Labour Congress is now unable to mobilise.
He said, “There was a joint meeting between ASUU, NLC, and NANS. Where would I go? Who would be president of ASUU? Who would be president of NLC? Who would be president of NANS? So that when NANS spoke, ASUU would give the government one week, and NLC would give two weeks before joining in.
“Now, NLC can’t even mobilise their people. Why? Ethnicity. I’ve spoken to them before. I even told them, I will join you in the protest. They said they can’t. So, Nigeria is totally collapsed.”
He said the political class had worsened citizens’ suffering even more than the military did.
“We pushed away the military and brought in the politicians. The politicians have shown they are worse than the military,” he added.
Drawing from his experience as governor, Amaechi explained how economic hardship is tied to rising crime. “I was once a governor. The moment I see robbery, kidnapping, I know that there is no money in society. So the Commissioner for Finance pays contractors, pays those who are owing. When you pay, what happens? The base is workers.
The base is people who are suppliers who are supplying goods. They in turn go to the market. They buy goods. They pay the tailor, they pay the doctor. The money goes around. And then the crime rate will reduce.”
Presenting the report, the Executive Director of the Africa Polling Institute, Professor Bell Ihua, said, “This report has very telling information. Citizens are united in a shared struggle based on economic realities.
The government needs to act based on this scientific data to rebuild public confidence.”
He urged policymakers to see the findings as an opportunity to reorient governance.
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