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.