By Kio Amachree
Yes, I have met seven American Presidents in my life.
As a child I met President John F. Kennedy, then Johnson, through my father’s position as the first African Undersecretary General of the United Nations.
I met Nixon and Ford in college.
I met Clinton and Obama socially.
Bush socially.
Trump was my landlord in Manhattan.
And that is just America.
We have not even started talking about British Prime Ministers. The ones who used to come to Eton to lecture us students. Every one of them. From MacMillan, Heath, Thatcher.
Later in life, Johnson and Cameron were my juniors at Eton.
Nigerian leaders? Everyone since Tafawa Balewa. I did not know Ironsi, Yar’Adua, or Goodluck.
So let me be honest.
Am I showing off?
Yes and no.
What I am saying is this: my exposure and contact with world leaders gives me a better perspective on what to expect for Nigeria.
This is not fantasy.
This is not emotion.
This is not ego.
This is intelligence.
Perspective.
Experience.
I have warned the North that their days of unbridled power are over. They will never hold the type of power they had under Buhari again.
And trying to muscle Tinubu into fulfilling his side of the agreement he made with them to get the number one position is a waste of time.
By continually killing Christians, by allowing insecurity in the North, and by financing these terrorists, they have made themselves bottom of the heap in Washington.
I have explained what they should expect from the Yanks in detail.
This has nothing to do with my anger at being targeted by trolls.
This is business.
My business.
The intelligence business.
Now let me explain something.
Years back, I invested money with some British conservation group to stop the encroachment of the Sahara into Northern Nigeria.
When all the trees were cut down by the locals, the desert moved in.
Then former schoolmates of mine approached me to help them establish their company in Northern Nigeria to regrow trees.
We were on the border with Niger, up in Sokoto.
Not the kind of area I like spending my time, I assure you.
But I did it for a friend. For Nigeria.
To reclaim the land.
And the state appreciated the fact that these people were trying to help.
My friend had grown up in Nigeria in the 1960s, so he had fond memories of Nigeria. He brought his wife. He was so in love with Nigeria.
I thought they were crazy, but rich British aristocrats are funny people.
It soon became obvious to me that this was a very risky venture.
Not because of the villagers.
But the bandits.
And as time went by, the Islamic element.
I advised them to vacate the area.
I am not from the North.
I do not speak the language.
All I could do was introduce them to the governor.
But bullets, guns and bandits was not in my profile.
I told them clearly:
Get back South.
Bring your wife, your partners.
And don’t expect me, Kio, to be coming to that area again.
I do not want to get shot.
So this is why I get pissed off when Northerners question my loyalty to the North.
I know the North inside out, back to front, and back again.
Apparently these people did not read the two posts about me escaping the bows and arrows of the Maitatsine in 1982 during my National Service.
I am not repeating the story.
My father, Godfrey Amachree, owned a company called Radiators.
I worked there in Port Harcourt where it was based.
We were the sole makers of Peugeot car radiators.
Every car made in Peugeot Kaduna for the Nigerian market used radiators made by my factory in Port Harcourt.
And I was in and out of Kaduna supplying these radiators to PAN.
That was a serious commitment to the economy of Northern Nigeria from my father.
Because without those radiators there would be no Peugeot Kaduna.
And Peugeot Kaduna provided work for Northerners.
My British partners and I built grain storage silos across the North, especially in Niger State.
I was in and out of Minna a lot.
Another Amachree investment.
I supplied Russian cars to state governments.
I have tried.
Kio Amachree has tried.
It’s documented.
It’s part of my history.
It’s my contribution to the development of Nigeria.
But like my father, I don’t fly my flag.
I am low profile.
Unfortunately, when one dips their feet into the political cesspool, one opens the door to ridicule and abuse.
Even though I am not a member of any party.
I hold no office.
I, Kio Amachree, am now an enemy for simply saying:
Please start talking to each other.
Or the West will come and deal with the security problem itself.
And by the looks of things, they intend to do just that.
You don’t pay me.
You don’t know me.
But if you had not buried my father’s contribution to Nigeria, we would not be having this conversation.
I did much more than get on a polo pony and hit a ball around a polo field.
If a man with my experience tells you that a serious reboot is needed today, take it seriously.
Stop shooting yourselves in the feet.
Stop shooting the messenger.
