Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Encyclopedia
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed in July 2011 as Nigeria's “de facto prime minister” and the new Minister of Finance for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Prior to this appointment, she was the Managing Director of World Bank (October 2007 - July 2011) and has also held the position of a Finance Minister
and Foreign Minister
of Nigeria
, between 2003 and 2006. She is notable for being the first woman to hold either of those positions. She served as finance minister from July 2003 until her appointment as foreign minister in June 2006, and as foreign minister until her resignation in August 2006. Okonjo-Iweala was considered as a possible replacement for former World Bank
President Paul Wolfowitz
.
from Ogwashi-Uku
, Delta State
where her father Professor Chukuka Okonjo is the Obi, or King, from the Umu Obi Obahai Royal Family of Ogwashi-Ukwu.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was educated at Harvard University
, graduating magna cum laude with an A.B. in 1977, and earned her Ph.D. in urban and regional planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT). She is married to her husband Ikemba Iweala from Umuahia
, Abia State
- and they have four children. The eldest, Onyinye Iweala received her Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology from Harvard University in 2008 and graduated Harvard Medical School in 2010. Her son, Uzodinma Iweala
, is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Beasts of No Nation
(2005).'
. She left it in 2003 after she was appointed to President Obasanjo's cabinet as Finance Minister
on 15 July.
In October 2005, she led the Nigerian team that struck a deal with the Paris Club
, a group of bilateral creditors, to pay a portion of Nigeria's external debt (US $12 billion) in return for an $18 billion debt write-off. Prior to the partial debt payment and write-off, Nigeria spent roughly US $1 billion every year on debt servicing, without making a dent in the principal owed. This action has subsequently generated serious controversies, both in the action itself and the alleged contracts Okonjo-Iweala funnelled to her brother. Not too long after the debt's payment, she was reassigned to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, a move perceived by many to be preparatory to an outright sack. Okonjo-Iweala read the writings on the wall and quickly threw in the towel by resigning from the Obasanjo administration, claiming she needed "... to take care of pressing family issues".
Okonjo-Iweala also introduced the practice of publishing each state
's monthly financial allocation from the federal government in the newspapers. She was instrumental in helping Nigeria obtain its first ever sovereign credit rating
(of BB minus) from Fitch and Standard & Poor's. Nigeria is considered to have defaulted on its sovereign debt in 1983 (debt rescheduling is considered a type of default by rating agencies).
Some controversy surrounded Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment as Finance Minister, and that of Foreign Affairs minister, Olu Adeniji, as other ministers were resentful of their United Nations
salaries of over US$
240,000, compared with their own $6,000 base salary. The controversy was spearheaded by reform-minded media reports, although Okonjo-Iweala felt that her critics were unjustified because of the temporary nature of the payment, which came out of the donor supported Diaspora Fund negotiated by the Nigerian government. On Friday, 20 July 2007, the Court of Appeal ruled that the salary payment was not done within the ambit of Nigeria's laws, and directed her and Adeniji to pay back the excess to the account of the state.
Both Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government of Nigeria have appealed the case to the Supreme Court, and judgement is pending. The appeal is on the basis that the appeals court made its judgement due to erroneous information provided to it that the Nigerian government was making the salary payments, when in fact it was not.
She resigned as Nigeria's Foreign Minister on August 3, 2006 following her sudden removal as head of Nigeria's Economic Intelligence team by President Olusegun Obasanjo. She left office at the end of August 2006.
On October 4, 2007, World Bank President Robert Zoellick
appointed her to the post of Managing Director, effective December 1, 2007.
Given the recent challenges faced by Nigeria on how to manage the macroeconomic policy in such a way to achieve the country's vision 2020, it is actually debatable whether Okonjo Iweala is a Joshua who can actually lead the country to attain achieve her goal or an hatchet person who is serving other interests apart from that of the nation. During her confirmation as a Minister, she stressed the need to reduce the country's recurrent expenditure which is presently 74% of the National Budget and embark on capital projects which could improve the 14% unemployment rate in the country. One of the conditions she gave to the incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan, was an additional power to influence/exercise power over the economic team. This power include the appointment of credible and proven staff to head departments and ministries under her portfolio.
, the NOI poll
, into the Nigerian polity. She is a fellow at the Brookings Institution
. Okonjo-Iweala also serves on the Advisory Board of Global Financial Integrity
and on the Board of Directors of the World Resources Institute
.
Despite the pristine image that is being put across especially in the media by Ngozi Okonjo Iweala in a country where corrupt practices among public officials is a notorious reality, her records had taken a huge hit with the disclosures that she steered $50 million consultancy contracts to her brother without conforming with due process
Additionally, on September 28, 2007, Irish musician Bono
was awarded the Liberty Medal. Bono donated the $100,000 prize to the Washington
-based Debt AIDS Trade Africa, which he co-founded, and Okonjo-Iweala accepted the award on the organization's behalf. Bono has been severely criticised for the purported works he is doing on behalf of African nations but which actual impacts are not being felt where they matter most.
Paul Theroux has correctly argued that (a) World Bank study has confirmed that the emigration to the West of skilled people from small to medium-sized countries in Africa has been disastrous and that it seems to have been Africa's fate to become a theater of empty talk and public gestures.
The appointments of Okonjo-Iweala by both the Obasanjo and Goodluck administrations did not stem from her intellectual prowess and managerial capabilities but rather as a means to an end; which basically is the unwritten understanding that as a political appointee, once she departs from the official government position regarding a policy, the other option is to resign from the government, which said option she opted for under the Obasanjo government. It is therefore curious that she would be unceremoniously transferred to the Foreign Affairs Ministry from the Ministry of Finance under the Obasanjo administration if her grasp of the nation's economic policies were sterling.
It is widely believed that the appointments of Okonjo-Iweala and her likes are means to an end; that the satraps running the country would benefit from her well publicised connections, real or imagined, with the World Bank and its elements. That is why Okonjo-Iweala is seen as a pawn, both by the Nigerian overlords and her Western handlers such as the Brookings Institute et. al. The performance of Okonjo-Iweala therefore, which despite her much trumpeted foreign background in academic qualifications and professional experience working at the World Bank, has not displayed a proper understanding of the multivarious economic challenges facing the Nigerian society so far and there has been no real concrete workable policy capable of lifting the fiscal challenges of the country out of the woods apart from the effectless publications of revenues accruing to the various levels of government and working the talk-circuit. The effective management of the financial and economic resources of Nigeria needs more than these insignificant tweakings. The Ministry of Finance has not, under Okonjo-Iweala, come up with any credible model different from the tired IMF/World Bank panacea for developing nations. Her plattitudes upon resumption of office confirm these. Her repeated hirings therefore have confirmed the suspicion that Nigerian politicians, clueless about and bereft of deep knowledge of modern economic thinking and the intellectual platform necessary for the application of autochtonous homegrown solutions to the peculiar problems of the nation, such as have been displayed by the BRIC nations, and desperate for credibility and legitimacy at all costs (as a result of the growing discontent from controversial electoral victories), are fond of bringing foregin-based technocrats to head critical positions in the government as a means of acceptability to foreign governments. The final results are that these foreign-based professionals are out of tune with the realities of the economic policies required to jumpstart the economy of the country. Indeed, analysts have argued that it is inevitable that the policies these foreign-trained professionals would inevitably be against the general welfare and interests of the masses but favouring the western economies who would continue the hypocrisy of being seeing to be interested in African nations development but massively benefitting from the anti-people policies the likes of Okonjo-Iweala; Olusegun Aganga ex Finance Minister and currently the Minister for Trade and Investments (an ex-Goldman Sachs employee); Mustafa Chike-Obi Managing Director and CEO of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria AMCON, another ex-Goldman Sachs employee, et.c would actively give support to and vigorously execute controversial policies like the agitation for the removal of the fuel subsidy; imposition of the Sovereign Wealth Fund currently tearing the Federal Government and the State Governments. It is also noteworthy that Okonjo-Iweala has perfected the art of treating lawful summons by the National Assembly, the legislature with disdain and scorn. It is therefore highly debatable whether Okonjo-Iweala would be acceptable to the polity if she were to contest any political office rather than the political appointments she has been enjoying right from the Obasanjo administration.
Finance Minister of Nigeria
The Minister of Finance of Nigeria is a senior cabinet official in the Nigerian Federal Executive Council. The Finance Minister's directs the Nigerian Ministry of Finance and ensures that it operates in a transparent, accountable and efficient manner to bolster the country's economic development...
and Foreign Minister
Foreign Minister of Nigeria
The Nigerian foreign ministry is a statutory body created to handle the external push of Nigeria's domestic vision and ideals; it is headed by the Foreign Minister of Nigeria. As of late its mission has geared towards increasing awareness about Nigeria's economic potential...
of Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, between 2003 and 2006. She is notable for being the first woman to hold either of those positions. She served as finance minister from July 2003 until her appointment as foreign minister in June 2006, and as foreign minister until her resignation in August 2006. Okonjo-Iweala was considered as a possible replacement for former World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
President Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University...
.
Education and personal life
Okonjo-Iweala is an IgboIgbo people
Igbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...
from Ogwashi-Uku
Ogwashi-Uku
Ogwashi-Uku is an Igbo town in southern Nigeria in Delta State west of the state capital, Asaba. It is the headquarters for the local government area, Aniocha South. The population of Ogwashi-Uku, Nigeria is 26,137 according to the GeoNames geographical database. -Institutions:*Delta State...
, Delta State
Delta State
Delta State may refer to:*Delta State, a state in southern Nigeria.*Delta State , a Canadian animated television series.*Delta State University, a public university located in the U.S. state of Mississippi....
where her father Professor Chukuka Okonjo is the Obi, or King, from the Umu Obi Obahai Royal Family of Ogwashi-Ukwu.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was educated at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, graduating magna cum laude with an A.B. in 1977, and earned her Ph.D. in urban and regional planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT). She is married to her husband Ikemba Iweala from Umuahia
Umuahia
Umuahia is the capital of Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. Umuahia is located along the rail road that lies between Port Harcourt to Umuahia's south and Enugu city to its north. Umuahia has a population of 359,230 according to the 2006 Nigerian census. Umuahia's indigenous ethnic group are the...
, Abia State
Abia State
Abia State is a state in southeastern Nigeria. The capital is Umuahia, although the major commercial city is Aba, formerly a British colonial government outpost. The state was created in 1991 from part of Imo State and its citizens are predominantly Igbo people...
- and they have four children. The eldest, Onyinye Iweala received her Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology from Harvard University in 2008 and graduated Harvard Medical School in 2010. Her son, Uzodinma Iweala
Uzodinma Iweala
Dr. Uzodinma Iweala is an author and physician who hails from Washington, DC and Nigeria. His debut novel, Beasts of No Nation, is a formation of his thesis work at Harvard. It depicts a child soldier in an unnamed African country...
, is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Beasts of No Nation
Beasts of No Nation
Beasts of No Nation is a 2005 novel by Uzodinma Iweala.The novel follows the journey of a young boy, Agu, who is forced to join a group of soldiers in an unnamed West African country...
(2005).'
Career
Prior to her ministerial career in Nigeria, Okonjo-Iweala was vice-president and corporate secretary of the World Bank GroupWorld Bank Group
The World Bank Group is a family of five international organizations that makes leveraged loans, generally to poor countries.The Bank came into formal existence on 27 December 1945 following international ratification of the Bretton Woods agreements, which emerged from the United Nations Monetary...
. She left it in 2003 after she was appointed to President Obasanjo's cabinet as Finance Minister
Finance Minister of Nigeria
The Minister of Finance of Nigeria is a senior cabinet official in the Nigerian Federal Executive Council. The Finance Minister's directs the Nigerian Ministry of Finance and ensures that it operates in a transparent, accountable and efficient manner to bolster the country's economic development...
on 15 July.
In October 2005, she led the Nigerian team that struck a deal with the Paris Club
Paris Club
The Paris Club is an informal group of financial officials from 19 of some of the world's biggest economies, which provides financial services such as war funding, debt restructuring, debt relief, and debt cancellation to indebted countries and their creditors...
, a group of bilateral creditors, to pay a portion of Nigeria's external debt (US $12 billion) in return for an $18 billion debt write-off. Prior to the partial debt payment and write-off, Nigeria spent roughly US $1 billion every year on debt servicing, without making a dent in the principal owed. This action has subsequently generated serious controversies, both in the action itself and the alleged contracts Okonjo-Iweala funnelled to her brother. Not too long after the debt's payment, she was reassigned to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, a move perceived by many to be preparatory to an outright sack. Okonjo-Iweala read the writings on the wall and quickly threw in the towel by resigning from the Obasanjo administration, claiming she needed "... to take care of pressing family issues".
Okonjo-Iweala also introduced the practice of publishing each state
States of Nigeria
Nigeria is currently divided into 36 states and Abuja, the federal capital territory. The states are further divided into 774 Local Government Areas....
's monthly financial allocation from the federal government in the newspapers. She was instrumental in helping Nigeria obtain its first ever sovereign credit rating
Credit rating
A credit rating evaluates the credit worthiness of an issuer of specific types of debt, specifically, debt issued by a business enterprise such as a corporation or a government. It is an evaluation made by a credit rating agency of the debt issuers likelihood of default. Credit ratings are...
(of BB minus) from Fitch and Standard & Poor's. Nigeria is considered to have defaulted on its sovereign debt in 1983 (debt rescheduling is considered a type of default by rating agencies).
Some controversy surrounded Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment as Finance Minister, and that of Foreign Affairs minister, Olu Adeniji, as other ministers were resentful of their United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
salaries of over US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
240,000, compared with their own $6,000 base salary. The controversy was spearheaded by reform-minded media reports, although Okonjo-Iweala felt that her critics were unjustified because of the temporary nature of the payment, which came out of the donor supported Diaspora Fund negotiated by the Nigerian government. On Friday, 20 July 2007, the Court of Appeal ruled that the salary payment was not done within the ambit of Nigeria's laws, and directed her and Adeniji to pay back the excess to the account of the state.
Both Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government of Nigeria have appealed the case to the Supreme Court, and judgement is pending. The appeal is on the basis that the appeals court made its judgement due to erroneous information provided to it that the Nigerian government was making the salary payments, when in fact it was not.
She resigned as Nigeria's Foreign Minister on August 3, 2006 following her sudden removal as head of Nigeria's Economic Intelligence team by President Olusegun Obasanjo. She left office at the end of August 2006.
On October 4, 2007, World Bank President Robert Zoellick
Robert Zoellick
Robert Bruce Zoellick is the eleventh president of the World Bank, a position he has held since July 1, 2007. He was previously a managing director of Goldman Sachs, United States Deputy Secretary of State and U.S. Trade Representative, from February 7, 2001 until February 22, 2005.President...
appointed her to the post of Managing Director, effective December 1, 2007.
Given the recent challenges faced by Nigeria on how to manage the macroeconomic policy in such a way to achieve the country's vision 2020, it is actually debatable whether Okonjo Iweala is a Joshua who can actually lead the country to attain achieve her goal or an hatchet person who is serving other interests apart from that of the nation. During her confirmation as a Minister, she stressed the need to reduce the country's recurrent expenditure which is presently 74% of the National Budget and embark on capital projects which could improve the 14% unemployment rate in the country. One of the conditions she gave to the incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan, was an additional power to influence/exercise power over the economic team. This power include the appointment of credible and proven staff to head departments and ministries under her portfolio.
Non-profit work
In 2007, Okonjo-Iweala's NGO, NOI Global Consulting, partnered with the Gallup Organization to introduce an opinion pollOpinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
, the NOI poll
NOI poll
The NOI poll is an opinion poll conducted by NOI Global Consulting, a non governmental organization established by former Finance Minister of Nigeria Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in collaboration with the Gallup Organization, to be used as a representation of Nigerian public opinion...
, into the Nigerian polity. She is a fellow at the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
. Okonjo-Iweala also serves on the Advisory Board of Global Financial Integrity
Global Financial Integrity
Global Financial Integrity is a non-profit, research and advocacy organization located in Washington, DC. GFI advocates and conducts research on national and multilateral policies, safeguards, and agreements aimed at curtailing illicit financial flows and enhancing global development and security...
and on the Board of Directors of the World Resources Institute
World Resources Institute
The World Resources Institute is an environmental think tank founded in 1982 based in Washington, D.C. in the United States.WRI is an independent, non-partisan and nonprofit organization with a staff of more than 100 scientists, economists, policy experts, business analysts, statistical analysts,...
.
Despite the pristine image that is being put across especially in the media by Ngozi Okonjo Iweala in a country where corrupt practices among public officials is a notorious reality, her records had taken a huge hit with the disclosures that she steered $50 million consultancy contracts to her brother without conforming with due process
Honors and awards
- Time Europe Hero 2004
- This DayThis DayThis Day could refer to:Newspapers*Thisday, a Nigerian newspaper*This Day *This Day Music*A song from the album Porcelain by the Emil Bulls* This Day , a song by Emma's Imagination...
Nigeria Minister of the Year 2004 - Euromoney Magazine Global Finance Minister of the year 2005
- Financial TimesFinancial TimesThe Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
/The BankerThe BankerThe Banker is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by The Financial Times Ltd. and edited in London...
African Finance Minister 2005 - Nigerian of the Year 2006.
- Honorary Doctorate from Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
- Honorary Doctorate from Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland.
- Honorary Doctorate from Colby College, Maine, USA.
- Honorary Doctorate from Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica.
- Honorary Doctorate from Amherst College, Amherst, MA, USA.
Additionally, on September 28, 2007, Irish musician Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
was awarded the Liberty Medal. Bono donated the $100,000 prize to the Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
-based Debt AIDS Trade Africa, which he co-founded, and Okonjo-Iweala accepted the award on the organization's behalf. Bono has been severely criticised for the purported works he is doing on behalf of African nations but which actual impacts are not being felt where they matter most.
Paul Theroux has correctly argued that (a) World Bank study has confirmed that the emigration to the West of skilled people from small to medium-sized countries in Africa has been disastrous and that it seems to have been Africa's fate to become a theater of empty talk and public gestures.
Works
- Chinua Achebe: Teacher of Light - a biography of Nigerian author Chinua AchebeChinua AchebeAlbert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe popularly known as Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic...
, published by Africa World Press, (2003), co-authored with Tijan Sallah. - The Debt Trap in Nigeria: Towards a Sustainable Debt Strategy - an academic piece, published by Africa World Press, (2003), co-edited with Charles C. Soludo and Mansur Muhtar
Politics
Okonjo-Iweala has not expressed interest to contest political office in Nigeria in the current election circa 2011. However, from her vast expertise in World Economic circles and with a keen understanding of economic realities in developing countries (having served as a distinguished Minister in the Nigerian government), she has been vocal in her denunciation of the manner in which the country is currently accumulating huge debts. Indeed the current presidential aspirants have been called upon to adopt or develop an Economic Action Plan that can be endorsed by notable economic experts like Okonjo-Iweala.It is not easy to make the transition from being a political appointee to running for an actual political office in Nigeria.The appointments of Okonjo-Iweala by both the Obasanjo and Goodluck administrations did not stem from her intellectual prowess and managerial capabilities but rather as a means to an end; which basically is the unwritten understanding that as a political appointee, once she departs from the official government position regarding a policy, the other option is to resign from the government, which said option she opted for under the Obasanjo government. It is therefore curious that she would be unceremoniously transferred to the Foreign Affairs Ministry from the Ministry of Finance under the Obasanjo administration if her grasp of the nation's economic policies were sterling.
It is widely believed that the appointments of Okonjo-Iweala and her likes are means to an end; that the satraps running the country would benefit from her well publicised connections, real or imagined, with the World Bank and its elements. That is why Okonjo-Iweala is seen as a pawn, both by the Nigerian overlords and her Western handlers such as the Brookings Institute et. al. The performance of Okonjo-Iweala therefore, which despite her much trumpeted foreign background in academic qualifications and professional experience working at the World Bank, has not displayed a proper understanding of the multivarious economic challenges facing the Nigerian society so far and there has been no real concrete workable policy capable of lifting the fiscal challenges of the country out of the woods apart from the effectless publications of revenues accruing to the various levels of government and working the talk-circuit. The effective management of the financial and economic resources of Nigeria needs more than these insignificant tweakings. The Ministry of Finance has not, under Okonjo-Iweala, come up with any credible model different from the tired IMF/World Bank panacea for developing nations. Her plattitudes upon resumption of office confirm these. Her repeated hirings therefore have confirmed the suspicion that Nigerian politicians, clueless about and bereft of deep knowledge of modern economic thinking and the intellectual platform necessary for the application of autochtonous homegrown solutions to the peculiar problems of the nation, such as have been displayed by the BRIC nations, and desperate for credibility and legitimacy at all costs (as a result of the growing discontent from controversial electoral victories), are fond of bringing foregin-based technocrats to head critical positions in the government as a means of acceptability to foreign governments. The final results are that these foreign-based professionals are out of tune with the realities of the economic policies required to jumpstart the economy of the country. Indeed, analysts have argued that it is inevitable that the policies these foreign-trained professionals would inevitably be against the general welfare and interests of the masses but favouring the western economies who would continue the hypocrisy of being seeing to be interested in African nations development but massively benefitting from the anti-people policies the likes of Okonjo-Iweala; Olusegun Aganga ex Finance Minister and currently the Minister for Trade and Investments (an ex-Goldman Sachs employee); Mustafa Chike-Obi Managing Director and CEO of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria AMCON, another ex-Goldman Sachs employee, et.c would actively give support to and vigorously execute controversial policies like the agitation for the removal of the fuel subsidy; imposition of the Sovereign Wealth Fund currently tearing the Federal Government and the State Governments. It is also noteworthy that Okonjo-Iweala has perfected the art of treating lawful summons by the National Assembly, the legislature with disdain and scorn. It is therefore highly debatable whether Okonjo-Iweala would be acceptable to the polity if she were to contest any political office rather than the political appointments she has been enjoying right from the Obasanjo administration.
External links
- Video of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the TED Conference
- Time Europe's Heroes of 2004
- 'I keep my ego in my handbag', interview in The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, August 2005 - 'Okonjo-Iweala is second highest paid official– World Bank'
- '2011 budget not good for development – Okonjo-Iweala'