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14 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2022
Why the Kano-Maradi
Rail Project
controversy is
unwarranted
—Amaechi, ex-Minister
•speaks on why he read the law
Former Minister of Transportation and Rivers State
Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, shocked the world on
Saturday when he bagged a second class upper law degree
from Baze University Abuja.
In this interview with Joseph Erunke and Gbemiga
Olamikan, Amaechi speaks on why he went to school to get a
law degree at 57 and why the controversy over the Kano-
Maradi Railway Project, which was executed during his tenure
as transportation minister, is unwarranted. Excerpts.
•Rotimi Amaechi...read law to fulfil late father's wish
YOU were among the
excited students who
graduated from Baze
University last Saturday. How
do you feel about graduating
with a law degree at this age?
At this age, 57? Well, it is
normal. I should have
graduated a long time ago.
When I hear people say I
bought a degree, I just laugh.
I laugh because until I started
campaigning for the
presidency, I never missed a
class. So, for three years and
six months, I never missed a
class. And I appeared before
all the lecturers and all the
students. The school even
gave me an award for being
very diligent and punctual. I
never failed any course work.
But that's not important.
What is important is that I
did all my course work in
person, and nobody can say
the lecturers passed me. And
in Baze University, we don't
write our matriculation
number or our names; instead,
a barcode is placed on the
answer sheet.
So when the teachers mark,
they do what is called ‘blind
marking’ and they can't take
it home. They mark it there in
the school, and if they can't
finish, they leave it there and
come back the next day. When
they come the next day, they
continue. And as they are
marking, they mark with a
barcode, so they don't know
the name of the person or the
matriculation number, and I
don't think they are
handwriting experts.
Let me give you an instance.
I scored 69 in Jurisprudence,
which was a B grade. The
person who taught me
Jurisprudence was my
supervisor in my long essay;
I'm sure if he had known that
it was me, he would have
added one mark to make it 70
to give me an A. The whole
faculty was like, "Oh, no; he
should have added you just
one mark to make it 70
percent." But overall, it was
fun having to attend classes
with children as young as 16
and 17 years of age and a few
other adults.
But what was the motivation
for going to study law at that
age and after being a
governor, speaker, and
serving minister of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria,
for that matter?
First and foremost, it was to
fulfil my father's wish that I
read law. At least, I have
satisfied his wish, and he
would have been happy if he
were alive.
What was his reason for
asking to read the law?
He was in love with the work
of Chief Rotimi Williams, who
was one of the best lawyers
then, and felt I should be like
him.
How were you able to
combine schooling with the
rigours of the office of
Minister of Transportation?
When I got the admission,
I started asking myself how I
would cope with my work. I
would go to school as early as
8 a.m. and report to work by
6pm. I worked from 6 p.m. to
11 p.m., and sometimes until
11:30 p.m., then went home. I
did that on Mondays,
Tuesdays, and Thursdays.
Wednesdays were reserved for
Federal Executive Council
meetings. I worked on
Wednesdays and Fridays.
Do you intend to go a step
further by going to law
school?
Yes, I think so. I may go to
law school. I'm already doing
a Master’s degree in
corporate and company law at
Kings College, London. I
hope to combine it with law
school.
So what comes next after
law school, sir? Do you intend
to practise law and represent
clients in court?
Never.
So is it just the sake of
having a law degree that took
you to the school?
No, it is not just the
certificates but to also have the
knowledge of law and to be
able to lead and manage
better with sound knowledge.
The knowledge will help me
not make some mistakes. There
is no excuse under the law. So
they are some things one
cannot know except they read
Law.
Would you want your
children to read the law, as
your father did for you?
It's their choice, whatever
they want to read is for them
to choose.
Why would you not practise
law and represent clients in
court?
Why do I need to practice?
I have a lawyer, and my lawyer
is one of the
best lawyers
in Nigeria.
L a t e e f
Fagbemi,
who is more
exposed,
m o r e
experienced.
So why do I
need to
practise
a g a i n ?
Besides, I
may be such
a bad lawyer
that they may send me to jail.
Why do I need to be a lawyer
to defend myself when I know
my lawyer can defend me? It's
just the benefit of the fact that
my father wanted me to be a
lawyer. That is all. And
unfortunately, he is dead.
Since we have this local belief
that our dead parents watch
over us, I’m sure he would
have been happy when I
walked to obtain my certificate
during the convocation.
Would you advise others to
emulate you?
There is no knowledge that
is a waste. You can only stop
acquiring knowledge when
you die. Consider how few
men are aware that engaging
a girl under the age of 18
constitutes rape. Even if the
girl agrees to sexual
intercourse with you, it is still
rape. The fact that she's 18
puts you in jail whether she
agrees to it or not, but how
many men know that? But if
you read the law, you would
know that it’s part of the
criminal code. There are quite
a lot of things you learn when
you are studying law. So you
just make sure that you act
properly and do not put
yourself in trouble and go to
jail for nothing. For those who
have money, I would advise
that they go to Baze
University because of the
quality of the infrastructure
and the quality of the faculty.
I advise the federal
government
to improve
the quality
Why do I need to be a
lawyer to defend myself
when I know my lawyer
can defend me? It's just
the benefit of the fact that
my father wanted me to be
a lawyer; that is all, and
unfortunately, he is dead
o f
infrastructure
in public
universities.
I advise
people to
acquire
m o r e
knowledge.
There
are claims
out there
that you
rejected the establishment of
a campus of the Law School
in Rivers State when you
were the governor. Why did
you kick against it?
Yes, it's true. When they
brought the proposal, I asked
who would be funding the
school since it is a federal
government project, and they
said the federal government
would not be paying for it, and
I said no. I would rather use
what we had at the time to
establish more primary and
secondary schools to provide
functional education for
Rivers' children. I'm not
Father Christmas. I said
primary and secondary
schools in Rivers State were
not functioning at that time and
that it would be unwise to
leave them in that sordid state
and establish a campus of the
Nigerian Law School, which
is in the responsibility of the
Federal Government.
I offered them a large parcel
of land for the project, but they
rejected it. So, I don't know
why that is an achievement for
a man whose primary and
secondary schools are not
functioning and teachers are
not paid. By the time I
conducted the education audit
in Rivers State, we had
employed 90,000 teachers,
and I hired another 13,200,
significantly improving the
state's teaching quality. So that
money that he used to build
the law school would have
been used to employ more
teachers.
Are you saying that it's a
misplaced priority?
Exactly. It's a federal
government responsibility. I
told them I was not interested
but I would give them the
land. So the money spent
there could have been used in
building more schools,
employing more teachers, and
training them. Out of the
13,200 teachers, only 3000
plus were teachers, the other
10,000 were people who were
just looking for jobs, and we
employed them and took them
to the Rivers State University
of Education to train them for
six months.
So, instead of investing in a
large federal government
project, you should have used
the funds to hire more
teachers, build more schools,
and create more jobs for our
people. Rivers State has the
highest rate of
unemployment.
Looking back now, do you
have anything you feel you
should have done as a
minister but could not do by
the time you left?
No. Go back to my history. I
was a speaker, and during my
time as a speaker, I was known
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