Rotimi Amaechi Enrols As Law Student At Baze University

Years after completion of his tertiary education as a graduate
of English studies and literature, transportation minister Rotimi
Amaechi has enrolled at Baze University, Abuja, as a law
student.

Mr. Amaechi received a bachelor of arts degree (honours) from
the University of Port Harcourt in 1987.

It is not clear the exact year the former Rivers governor
enrolled in the private university popular with children of Abuja
elite, but sources told Peoples Gazette that he is in 200 level
going to 300. Some of the students who saw him on Thursday said
they drew inspiration from his decision to acquire more knowledge
even as he could be considered to have done significantly well for
himself as a citizen.

The minister, who has been hailed as one of the most active
amongst President Muhammadu Buhari‘s cabinet members, was said to
have sought permission from the president prior to enrolment,
pledging that it would not affect his ministerial duties.

Mr. Amaechi, appointed as the transportation minister since
2015, has specifically been hailed for his ongoing overhaul of
Nigeria’s moribund rail sector.

The construction of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line, which is
intended to reduce congestion on the expressway, commenced in 2017
and picked in 2019, presumably coinciding with the time he enrolled
as a law student.

A trial service conducted on October 14, 2020, with passengers
on board, achieved an end-to-end journey time of two hours 40 mins,
according to Railjournal.

Also, Mr. Buhari, earlier this month, flagged off the 284
kilometre rail project starting from Kano, Nigeria, via Jibia in
Katsina and extending into Maradi in the Niger Republic.

The 58-year-old minister had described the project as a
favourable one to Nigeria on basis that it will help the country to
compete favourably with other coastal countries in West Africa to
service its landlocked neighbours in the movement of cargoes; while
also making the Lagos and other Nigerian seaports more viable.

Mr. Amaechi’s enrolment as a law student is perhaps the most
prolific since former President Olusegun Obasanjo was admitted to
the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) for master’s in
Christian Theology before bagging PhD in the same course.

A spokesman for the minister did not immediately return a
request seeking comments on Thursday evening.

A former member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), Mr. Amaechi was Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly
between 1999 and 2007 and became the state governor at the age of
42 (twice elected) between 2007 and 2015.

Years after completion of his tertiary education as a graduate
of English studies and literature, transportation minister Rotimi
Amaechi has enrolled at Baze University, Abuja, as a law
student.

Mr. Amaechi received a bachelor of arts degree (honours) from
the University of Port Harcourt in 1987.

It is not clear the exact year the former Rivers governor
enrolled in the private university popular with children of Abuja
elite, but sources told Peoples Gazette that he is in 200 level
going to 300. Some of the students who saw him on Thursday said
they drew inspiration from his decision to acquire more knowledge
even as he could be considered to have done significantly well for
himself as a citizen.

The minister, who has been hailed as one of the most active
amongst President Muhammadu Buhari‘s cabinet members, was said to
have sought permission from the president prior to enrolment,
pledging that it would not affect his ministerial duties.

Mr. Amaechi, appointed as the transportation minister since
2015, has specifically been hailed for his ongoing overhaul of
Nigeria’s moribund rail sector.

The construction of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line, which is
intended to reduce congestion on the expressway, commenced in 2017
and picked in 2019, presumably coinciding with the time he enrolled
as a law student.

A trial service conducted on October 14, 2020, with passengers
on board, achieved an end-to-end journey time of two hours 40 mins,
according to Railjournal.

Also, Mr. Buhari, earlier this month, flagged off the 284
kilometre rail project starting from Kano, Nigeria, via Jibia in
Katsina and extending into Maradi in the Niger Republic.

The 58-year-old minister had described the project as a
favourable one to Nigeria on basis that it will help the country to
compete favourably with other coastal countries in West Africa to
service its landlocked neighbours in the movement of cargoes; while
also making the Lagos and other Nigerian seaports more viable.

Mr. Amaechi’s enrolment as a law student is perhaps the most
prolific since former President Olusegun Obasanjo was admitted to
the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) for master’s in
Christian Theology before bagging PhD in the same course.

A spokesman for the minister did not immediately return a
request seeking comments on Thursday evening.

A former member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), Mr. Amaechi was Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly
between 1999 and 2007 and became the state governor at the age of
42 (twice elected) between 2007 and 2015.