According to Daily Sun, former Minister of Transportation and ex-Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, spoke candidly about his life both in public and private, making striking revelations, in a interview.
Reflecting on life after public office, Amaechi dismissed any notion of withdrawal from relevance. “The phones still ring,” he said, though he admitted the calls are now mostly from people seeking help amid harsh economic realities.
Far from the limelight of governance, Amaechi has plunged headlong into academics. “I have acquired three degrees in six years… I’m about to complete another LLB at the University of London,” he revealed, proudly recounting his academic journey which includes a Law School certificate and an LLM from King’s College London.
He isn’t chasing legal practice, though. For him, the goal is credibility.
What drives this tireless pursuit of knowledge? “Instead of nightclubs and women, I read,” he said plainly.
The image he paints is starkly different from the stereotypical life of a politician — no lavish fleet of cars, no security drama, no extravagant lifestyle. According to him, his wife doesn’t even have a car, adding that she drives one of his backup cars.
His simplicity, he insists, isn’t an act. “It’s just my nature. I don’t like protocol. I hate security. I just want to be me,” he said. He noted that this attitude troubled his security detail when he governor because he could park his car to pick up an old friend and drive off.
Amaechi’s attitude is deeply rooted in his upbringing. Raised in poverty in Port Harcourt, he recalls wearing the same clothes for years and being largely invisible to peers.
His early ambition was modest — he wanted to be a broadcaster — until politics came calling.
At 34, he became Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly. At 42, governor. By 50, he was Minister for Transport. Looking back, he sees no regrets, only lessons. One such lesson was missed opportunity: “If I had known what I later discovered as Minister, I would have borrowed money to build high-rise houses for the six million people in Rivers State.”
Despite political turbulence, betrayal and power plays, Amaechi claims he holds no bitterness. “If I get angry with you, give me 30 minutes, I’ll forget why.” His attitude to betrayal is also stoic: he is always mindful that the person he trusts today might betray you tomorrow. That way, betrayal doesn’t hurt him.
One of the most striking revelations came when he reflected on his father’s influence:
Speaking about this, he described his father as a “serial monogamist,” explaining, “That means you can never meet my father with two wives at the same time. But he was married and divorced, married and divorced, he was changing wives the way they change cloths.”
In his words, that side of his father is what he vowed never to emulate, noting, “I told my wife, I said, before I met you, I have been praying to God to give me a wife that I will never divorce.”
True to that prayer, he claims his marriage has never faced threats — and his Catholic faith, which forbids divorce, has further reinforced that bond.
He, however, wants to be like his father in other things like honesty and strong principles.
Though many of his peers have set up foundations, Amaechi prefers quiet philanthropy. He recounted how a group of children waving at him during a morning jog turned into a personal mission to fund their education. “I enrolled five of them in school. When their father had two more kids, I told him, ‘those ones, I won’t train.’”
As he approaches 60, Amaechi is weighing whether to pursue a PhD or write a memoir. Either way, he says, it’s about sharing knowledge — not building legacy monuments.
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