Former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has responded to Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike’s recent criticisms, declaring he would not engage in a war of words with “children.”
The exchange occurred during Amaechi’s Tuesday appearance on ARISE TV, where he addressed Wike’s remarks about his comments on Nigeria’s economic hardship.
“God, Peter Odili, the judiciary and the Rivers State people made me governor. Ask him how he made me governor. I’m saying this because I don’t want to join issues with children,” Amaechi stated, dismissing Wike’s claims of political influence over his career.
The dispute originated from Amaechi’s speech at his 60th birthday celebration, where he expressed concerns about Nigeria’s economic challenges: “Nigerian elites are not the problems of Nigeria. The problems of Nigeria are the followership. There are no capitalists in Nigeria; capitalists are those with capital to invest for production. Do we produce here? I look at Nigeria and ask what are we doing here? Do we really want to be a country? What is important is how do we change this country? We’re all hungry, all of us are. If you’re not hungry, I’m. For us, the opposition, if you want us to remove the man in power, we can remove him from this power.”
Wike, during a Monday media chat, dismissed these remarks as politically motivated: “He did not talk about hunger. He became a minister — super minister of transportation. He did not talk about hunger. Two years after he left office and as a member of the coalition, he is talking about hunger. He is just hungry for power. How do you insult Nigerians and trivialise poverty and hunger? You are insulting Nigerians. It is just that you have stayed out of power — that is the hunger.”
Amaechi countered by clarifying Wike’s political origins, revealing he had appointed Wike as chief of staff rather than finance commissioner for closer supervision: “Mohammed Adoke flew all the way from Abuja to Port Harcourt. That week he asked me to make him commissioner for finance and I said no, he has to work under me. I want him as chief of staff so I can supervise him. I didn’t offer him commissioner for finance. You see, I’m saying this because I don’t want to join issues with children. I was once his boss. Whether he likes it or not. I hired him. I could have said no.”
The former transportation minister further critiqued Wike’s political trajectory: “You know, he made himself chief of staff. He made himself governor. He made himself minister. He made himself local government chairman.”
Amaechi concluded with a veiled criticism of contemporary political conduct: “There’s no more respect for family names. People just do and say anything.”