OKONJI IWEALA HAS RUN A GOOD RACE
I AM often times baffled at the way some so-
called intelligent Nigerians express their
frustrations, play out their fantasies and reveal
their dark thoughts.
In the days following the release of the results
of the presidential election, all sorts of opinion
articles have been published, most revealing
the inner workings of the minds of their
writers. Most of these op-eds focus on whom to
blame for President Jonathan’s narrow loss to
General Buhari at the elections. Some have
made fanciful commentaries here and there,
whilst certain others have stooped to
derogatory remarks which, by all accounts, are
uncalled for. But, that is not where I am going
with this piece.
The first is a reaction to the so-called list of
people who caused the president’s alleged
downfall. There are desperate attempts by
some jesters to reduce the eminence of
Okonjo-Iweala by roping her in the scandalous
activities of the likes of Diezani Allison
Madueke and Mama Peace. Now, isn’t that
ridiculous? If there is anything an unbiased
analysis of the Jonathan’s administration would
acknowledge, it is the fact that Okonjo-Iweala
added legitimacy, respectability, zest, as well as
local and international acceptance to the GEJ
administration.
May I mention the billions of dollars that
flowed into the Nigerian economy from Direct
Foreign Investments (DFIs) under the watch of
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala? This is unprecedented in
the entire history of Nigeria’s economy.
Friendly policies
Can we even enumerate the number of
businesses that started, blossomed and are
thriving because of the friendly policies she put
in place to drive the growth of cottage, small
and medium scale enterprises in this country?
While it may not be a bad idea to begin to reel
out the long list of local and international
awards she has received in the last four years, I
will spare my readers the trouble and go
straight to the point. Madam Finance Minister
remained committed to her passion of seeing
the Nigerian economy bloom, even to the point
of it being acclaimed the largest on the
continent and one of the most promising in the
world.
This she did regardless of various attacks from
vested interests who are averse to the
structures she put in place to block leakages
and pilfering in the system, whereas some of
them are simply jealous of her portfolio as
Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
I wonder if any of those writing these articles
have ever read Mrs Iweala’s profile. Do they
know anything about her academic and
professional background before she became
minister? Do they imagine that heading the
Nigerian finance ministry is the highest office
she has occupied, or that her earnings while
serving as minister are anything compared to
what she was being paid before? Some may not
have the answers to these questions, and I
have decided to take it upon myself to fill in
the blanks for them, thus ending their
ignorance.
Madam Okonjo-Iweala came into the Nigerian
polity at a time when the nation’s economy was
badly in need of restructuring. And President
Obasanjo sought out the best head for the job.
She came in with a mouth-watering reputation,
was widely renowned as a developmental
economist to the thrill of us all, then she
delivered and she left. Did her career end
there? No. She went on to become Director at
the World Bank and was at a time considered
for the World Bank presidency.
When she leaves her office as Coordinating
Minister of the Economy on May 29, 2015, I can
assure you, it will not be to sit in some corner
biting her nails and scheming how she might
publish some ten-pager as to re-launch herself
back to reckoning like the Soludos of this world.
She was born to shine, and shine she always
will.She is an example that hard work pays off.
When she joined the Jonathan administration,
she had a local and international reputation
that few people can boast of. The accolades,
awards and commendations have increased
since then. She will leave with her reputation
intact because despite all the best efforts of
her political enemies to mar her stellar
reputation, the international community and
those that know better are not deceived; they
know a gem when they see one.
When someone lends her talents, skills and
even put her reputation on the line to manage
her country’s economy, posterity will forever
remember her for good for selfless service to
fatherland. While we may be subjective here,
biased even, there are tons of records to prove
that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is in a class of her
own.
Selfless service
I think her haters are just scared that some
other government, institutions or organisations
who know her worth will quickly grab her off
the market; thus further skyrocketing her
career, and ultimately prove them wrong or
reveal them for whom they really are: haters!
Secondly, some of our people have this very
abominable habit of always looking for whom
to blame when things go wrong. Jonathan lost,
so people must be blamed. May I ask at this
point, has Jonathan told you he blames
anyone? If the President is mature enough to
move on with his life rather than looking for
whom to blame, I think we should all borrow a
leaf from him. Mind you, these jesters are not
looking for accountability here. They are rather
more interested in the drama that results from
throwing dirt.
I am all for people having opinions and
enjoying the freedom to express them, but I
have found that some Nigerians are too fond of
dishing out uninformed opinions which and
then passionately carrying on with it in order to
make a name for themselves as social
commentators.
As annoying as it is, we will forgive them. And,
why not? After all, in a few short years when Dr
Mrs Okonjo-Iweala adds more laurels to her
already intimidating list of recognitions, we are
all going to be saying, “That’s our woman. She is
doing Nigeria proud.”
Dan Osofisan writes from University of Jos
I AM often times baffled at the way some so-
called intelligent Nigerians express their
frustrations, play out their fantasies and reveal
their dark thoughts.
In the days following the release of the results
of the presidential election, all sorts of opinion
articles have been published, most revealing
the inner workings of the minds of their
writers. Most of these op-eds focus on whom to
blame for President Jonathan’s narrow loss to
General Buhari at the elections. Some have
made fanciful commentaries here and there,
whilst certain others have stooped to
derogatory remarks which, by all accounts, are
uncalled for. But, that is not where I am going
with this piece.
The first is a reaction to the so-called list of
people who caused the president’s alleged
downfall. There are desperate attempts by
some jesters to reduce the eminence of
Okonjo-Iweala by roping her in the scandalous
activities of the likes of Diezani Allison
Madueke and Mama Peace. Now, isn’t that
ridiculous? If there is anything an unbiased
analysis of the Jonathan’s administration would
acknowledge, it is the fact that Okonjo-Iweala
added legitimacy, respectability, zest, as well as
local and international acceptance to the GEJ
administration.
May I mention the billions of dollars that
flowed into the Nigerian economy from Direct
Foreign Investments (DFIs) under the watch of
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala? This is unprecedented in
the entire history of Nigeria’s economy.
Friendly policies
Can we even enumerate the number of
businesses that started, blossomed and are
thriving because of the friendly policies she put
in place to drive the growth of cottage, small
and medium scale enterprises in this country?
While it may not be a bad idea to begin to reel
out the long list of local and international
awards she has received in the last four years, I
will spare my readers the trouble and go
straight to the point. Madam Finance Minister
remained committed to her passion of seeing
the Nigerian economy bloom, even to the point
of it being acclaimed the largest on the
continent and one of the most promising in the
world.
This she did regardless of various attacks from
vested interests who are averse to the
structures she put in place to block leakages
and pilfering in the system, whereas some of
them are simply jealous of her portfolio as
Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
I wonder if any of those writing these articles
have ever read Mrs Iweala’s profile. Do they
know anything about her academic and
professional background before she became
minister? Do they imagine that heading the
Nigerian finance ministry is the highest office
she has occupied, or that her earnings while
serving as minister are anything compared to
what she was being paid before? Some may not
have the answers to these questions, and I
have decided to take it upon myself to fill in
the blanks for them, thus ending their
ignorance.
Madam Okonjo-Iweala came into the Nigerian
polity at a time when the nation’s economy was
badly in need of restructuring. And President
Obasanjo sought out the best head for the job.
She came in with a mouth-watering reputation,
was widely renowned as a developmental
economist to the thrill of us all, then she
delivered and she left. Did her career end
there? No. She went on to become Director at
the World Bank and was at a time considered
for the World Bank presidency.
When she leaves her office as Coordinating
Minister of the Economy on May 29, 2015, I can
assure you, it will not be to sit in some corner
biting her nails and scheming how she might
publish some ten-pager as to re-launch herself
back to reckoning like the Soludos of this world.
She was born to shine, and shine she always
will.She is an example that hard work pays off.
When she joined the Jonathan administration,
she had a local and international reputation
that few people can boast of. The accolades,
awards and commendations have increased
since then. She will leave with her reputation
intact because despite all the best efforts of
her political enemies to mar her stellar
reputation, the international community and
those that know better are not deceived; they
know a gem when they see one.
When someone lends her talents, skills and
even put her reputation on the line to manage
her country’s economy, posterity will forever
remember her for good for selfless service to
fatherland. While we may be subjective here,
biased even, there are tons of records to prove
that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is in a class of her
own.
Selfless service
I think her haters are just scared that some
other government, institutions or organisations
who know her worth will quickly grab her off
the market; thus further skyrocketing her
career, and ultimately prove them wrong or
reveal them for whom they really are: haters!
Secondly, some of our people have this very
abominable habit of always looking for whom
to blame when things go wrong. Jonathan lost,
so people must be blamed. May I ask at this
point, has Jonathan told you he blames
anyone? If the President is mature enough to
move on with his life rather than looking for
whom to blame, I think we should all borrow a
leaf from him. Mind you, these jesters are not
looking for accountability here. They are rather
more interested in the drama that results from
throwing dirt.
I am all for people having opinions and
enjoying the freedom to express them, but I
have found that some Nigerians are too fond of
dishing out uninformed opinions which and
then passionately carrying on with it in order to
make a name for themselves as social
commentators.
As annoying as it is, we will forgive them. And,
why not? After all, in a few short years when Dr
Mrs Okonjo-Iweala adds more laurels to her
already intimidating list of recognitions, we are
all going to be saying, “That’s our woman. She is
doing Nigeria proud.”
Dan Osofisan writes from University of Jos
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