Former Minister of Transportation and two‑term Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, has revealed that extreme poverty during his youth forced him to wear a single shirt and trousers for nearly four years.
Amaechi, who also served as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, made the disclosure in an interview with the Daily .Sun on Monday.
Reflecting on his upbringing in Port Harcourt, he described a childhood marked by severe deprivation.
READ ALSO:
“I grew up in Port Harcourt. Poverty was everywhere, we couldn’t feed, you can hardly eat three times a day, and you can hardly change your clothes,” Amaechi said. “In fact, when I tell people that I wore a shirt and a trouser for nearly four years, most people don’t believe it, but my classmates will tell you.”
The former governor said he plans to attend a school reunion in Umuahia, where he intends to remind former classmates of the hardships they all endured. “We were very poor, we didn’t have money to feed, we didn’t have clothes to wear, you people didn’t give us attention,” he said. “You didn’t think we had a bright future. But one thing you don’t know about men is that they fight to be relevant. So, for me, I am as simple as life can give.”
Amaechi’s candid account offers a personal perspective on the adversity that shaped his resilience and eventual ascent through Nigeria’s political hierarchy.
