Well, Dr. Kassim is right when he says that many thought that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala might become Nigeria's first female President, her reputation was that strong. But it is precisely the previous strength of that reputation that causes such disappointment now, because while she remained in the Jonathan administration as 'Coordinating Minister for the Economy' no less, many people thought that whatever else might be going on, there was a steady hand at the tiller and put their trust in her that things were being done properly and that there was real coordination.
It is after she left that we have seen that the petroleum sector was not under her control or coordination, it was under Diezani Allison-Madueke's, and possibly the President's - both of whom were steeped in the mindset that any income from there belonged not to Nigeria, but to Niger Deltans, and then to only a small favoured group amongst them. So Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was only coordinating what was left.
Whatever the real story behind her departure from the Obasanjo cabinet, people believed that if things were not being done right under Jonathan, she would not hesitate to depart. From this distance one can speculate that it was when she realised how little power would be left to her that she tried to parachute out into the World Bank, and when that failed, she basically just surrendered to events and circumstances. Or maybe Charles Soludo was right when he said that her success was as the leader of a good team, not solely her own qualities and capacities, because it's worth noting that her national achievements of which Dr. Kassim is so proud were achieved as leader of the Obasanjo 'Dream Team'.
On Fri, Jun 17, 2016 at 2:48 PM, 'Ayotunde Bewaji' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:
There are times egbon Dr. Kassim does this bobbing and weaving - esprit des corps. Could any Chairman of American Treasury have allowed what happened under Okonjo to happen without facing the music? Objective my foot. Sorry egbon, l don't buy that.On Friday, 17 June 2016, 4:52, africanherald via OkonkwoNetworks <okonkwonetworks@googlegroups.com> wrote:
An objective write-up.
Nwachukwu
-------Original Message-----
From: olakassimmd via OkonkwoNetworks <okonkwonetworks@googlegroups.com>
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Cc: okonkwonetworks <okonkwonetworks@googlegroups.com>; NigerianWorldForum <NigerianWorldForum@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thu, Jun 16, 2016 2:45 pm
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: 15 Things Every Nigerian Should Know
Dear All:As a long term die hard fan of Dr Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,I wish her and her family well on this her 62nd Birthday anniversary.Her husband Dr Ikemba Iweala, a neurosurgeon was my classmate at UI MedicalSchool (Class of !975).I sincerely believe that Mrs Okonjo-Iweala is a rare gift toNigeria and that she has on aggregate served Nigerians wellto the best of her abilities in all the positionsshe occupied during the Obasanjo and Jonathan led civilianadministrations in Nigeria.It is not easy being a saint in a room full of rogues.It is also difficult to wine, dine and dance with swines in rat infected gutterswithout getting some dirt squirted on one's clothing.I am also aware that serving Nigerians comes at risk not only to one's physical safetybut also one's reputation. Mrs Okonjo-Iweala's mother was once kidnapped overher daughter's role in advocating for a policy position during the GEJadministration.During her first tern as Minister of Finance, she started the ideaof publishing monthly allocations from the federal governmentto all state governments and LGAs.She implored Nigerian citizens to ask their state governors andLGA Chairmen about what they were doing with their monthly allocationsfrom Abuja,I have been on Mrs Okonjo-Iweala's side on most issues inclusive ofmost of her economicprescriptions for Nigeria and on her incessant warnings as Minister of Finance thatNigeria needed to save for the rainy day when other Nigerian leadersespecially the state governors, were clamoring that the savings fromthe excess crude fund be distributed to them to the last cent.I was also one of those Nigerians who supported the decision to remove theoil subsidy when she served as the Finance Minister so that the funds spenton the subsidy could be saved and spent on infrastructure projects.A few years ago I spent some time promoting the idea that she could becomethe first female President of Nigeria. I still believe she would make a greatPresident of Nigeria if she decided to throw her hat in the ring and contest.However, as "No human being is perfect", Mrs Ngozi Oknojo-Iweala is also not a perfecthuman being.In all the years that she served Nigeria, I have only had one issueon which I criticised and questioned her decision and her judgement.I still find it difficult accepting Mrs Okonjo-Iweala's role in the Dasukigate Affair,despite the fact that I sincerely believe that she most probably did not touch a kobo ofthe $48 million USD, carted out of the CBN vaults in 11 suit casesby Mr Dasuki, then National Security Adviser and his Deputy.Seeing Mrs Okonjo-Iweala's signature on that official document in which she minuted(wrote) the following words in her handwriting:"accountability to the President"followed by her signature felt like a dagger through my heart. I personally felt betrayed!I found it difficult accepting all the explanations and rationalizations provided by the punditsabout how she had no choice but to sign the document, since President Jonathan had alreadygiven a verbal approval for what the world now knows was a massive heist andploy to defraud Nigerian citizens.I have asked myself about what I would have done if I were in Mrs Okonjo-Iweala's position and I had theopportunity as the last man standing in the way of the looters led by Dasuki who werebent on stealing $ 48 million USD from the proceeds that were meant to purchase ammunition forthe Nigerian Armed Forces so the soldiers could more effectively prosecute the war againstthe Boko Haram.Mrs Okonjo-Iweala had the following options:a) she could have insisted that the disbursement of the funds and the manner in whichit would be carried out be openly discussed and vetted at the FederalExecutive Council.b) she could have refused to sign the memo and direct that President Jonathan sign off onthe disbursement.c) she could have resigned her position as Minister of Finance and Co-Ordinator of the Economywithout necessarily providing any reasons for doing so.The above steps are what I would have taken if I were to have been in Mrs Okonjo-Iweala's position!Even though I doubt if Mrs Okonjo-Iweala could have stopped the heist thatwe now know as Dasukigate if she had resigned her positions from the GEJ cabinet over this issue,I would still have preferred that she kept her reputation clean by refusing to lend her official signatureto this crime against the peoples of Nigeria.As I wrote above, no human being is perfect. It is human to err!Notwithstanding, the above I still believe that Mrs Okonjo-Iweala has left an indelible mark in the annalsof Nigerian public service and that she is a great ambassador for Nigeria and an international icon.As a citizen if Nigeria, I am proud of her achievements both in Nigeria and on the world stage.I pray that the best is yet to come for her!Bye,OlaOkonkwoNetworks..........Building NIGERIA of our DREAM---- Original Message ------
From: Olusola Daniel <olusoladaniel316@gmail.com>
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thu, Jun 16, 2016 9:18 am
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: 15 Things Every Nigerian Should Know
--Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: 15 Things Every Nigerian Should KnowTop of Form1. The immediate past Finance Minister of Nigeria, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is 62 years today.
Below are 15 Things you should know about her.
![Description: Ngozi-Okonjo-Iweala-Nigeria-012.jpg]()
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"When I became finance minister, they called me Okonjo-Wahala – or 'Trouble Woman.' It means 'I give you hell.' But I don't care what names they call me. I'm a fighter; I'm very focused on what I'm doing, and relentless in what I want to achieve, almost to a fault. If you get in my way, you get kicked".- Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
1. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was was born on 13 June 1954, and married to Ikemba Iweala a Neuro-Surgeon.
2. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala graduated from prestigious Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts.
3. She earned her PhD in regional economic development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1981 and received an International Fellowship from the American Association of University women (AAUW) that supported her doctoral studies.
4. Okonjo-Iweala has had a two stints with the World Bank Group, first as the vice-president and corporate secretary of the World Bank Group before her first tenure as Minister of Finance in Nigeria and as Managing Director in 2007.
5. She was reappointed as Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy by President Goodluck Jonathan from 2011-2015.
6. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala led the team that negotiated an $18 billion debt write-off from the Paris Club in 2005.
7. Okonjo-Iweala also introduced the practice of publishing the monthly financial allocation to each state from the federal government in the newspapers. She played a major part in nigeria obtaining its first ever sovereign credit rating (of BB minus) from Fitch and Standard & Poor's.
8. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the daughter of a king, but that is not her CV. The Harvard-educated economist has risen to become one of the most respected economists in the world, she is an inspiration and a pride of Africa.
9. She is now a Senior Advisor at Lazard, a Global financial advisory and asset management firm.
10. She is a board member at African Risk Capacity, a Specialized Agency of the African Union (AU) to help Member States improve their capacities to better plan, prepare and respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters, therefore protecting the food security of their vulnerable populations.
11. She is the Board Chair at Gavi, an international organisation - a global Vaccine Alliance, bringing together public and private sectors with the shared goal of creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world's poorest countries
12. In 2007, Okonjo-Iweala was considered as a possible replacement for former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.
13. Subsequently, in 2012, she became one of three candidates in the race to replace World Bank President Robert Zoellick at the end of his term of office in June 2012.
14. On 16 April 2012 it was announced that she had been unsuccessful in her bid for the World Bank presidency, having lost to the US nominee, Jim Yong Kim. This outcome had been widely anticipated. However, this was the first contested election for World Bank president after the demise in 2010 of the Gentlemen's agreement that the US would appoint the World Bank president and Europe would appoint the managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
15. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is blessed with four children.
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OkonkwoNetworks..........Building NIGERIA of our DREAM
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