Amaechi says Nigerian elites are fueling ethnicity

The Minister of Transportation , Rotimi Amaechi, has claimed that the elites in Nigeria are responsible for ethnicity and enmity among the different tribes in the country. 

Amaechi said this to Vanguard as he debunked an online report alleging him of blaming politicians who benefited from the Goodluck Jonathan government and other past governments as those fanning the embers of ethnicity.

He said: “I didn’t say that. I am tired of mischief makers. I said ethnicity is fuelled by the elites and that the poor of all tribes do not concern themselves with ethnicity.”

Amaechi, who earlier spoke as a guest lecturer at the Annual Public Lecture of the Department of Economics at the University of Lagos, had said ethnicity is a big challenge to development in Nigeria.

The Minister said at the lecture that rail projects around the country were built for the growth of the economy rather than ethnic biases.

He  identified what he called politicising of railway development as one of the major challenges hindering the government’s effort to stimulate the economy.

“It is a key element in driving development of economies all over the world and it creates possibilities for other sectors; therefore, you can’t even create employment.