5 Truths Okonjo-Iweala Doesn’t Want Nigerians To Ever Find Out
Editor's note: Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has come under the spotlight since former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Chukwuma Soludo, alleged that at least N30 trillion of Nigerian money has either been stolen, diverted or unaccounted for in the last few years under her watch as finance minister. Having studied her feeble defense to Soludo's claims, Kess Ewubare of Legit.ng pens down 5 truths Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala doesn't want Nigerians to find out.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the original author. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Legit.ng, its editors or other contributors.
- Story highlights:
- A reference to Dr Iweala's prestigious academic qualifications.
- How Dr Iweala has managed the Nigerian economy poorly despite being overly qualified.
- 5 truths Dr Iweala doesn't want Nigerians to find out.
(Naij.com) - Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is one of the most distinguished economists of our time. Best known for her two terms as finance minister of Nigeria. Her academic qualifications stand her out, with a Harvard University degree, a PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology among other qualifications, her qualification can hardly be brought into question. But under these prestigious degrees from the world’s most respected institutions lies a cloud of incompetence that has marred the two tenures of Dr Okonjo – Iweala. Here are 5 facts our esteemed finance minister and coordinating minister of the economy doesn't want Nigerians to know.
1) That She has Performed Poorly In Managing Nigeria’s Economy
One misconception Dr Iweala tries to sell is that she is doing a good job in managing Nigeria’s economy. However, one does not need to be a soothsayer to see that our more than qualified minister of finance has performed poorly in this regard both in Obasanjo and Jonathan administration.
Her tenures as minister of finance in both administrations have at best produced bogus statistical growth that can hardly be verified. According to Sahara Reporters: Dr. Okonjo-Iweala oversaw an era of some of the most reckless acts of corruption and heists of the Nigerian commonwealth in her first four years as finance minister under Obasanjo’s administration. Under her watch, Nigeria attained bogus economic progress where numbers, charts and fake stats were frequently displayed and deployed to fool the unwary and the gullible.
In her second coming as finance minister since July 11, 2011, Dr Iweala has added the title of coordinating minister for the economy to her office, as if titles do the job. But her many titles, international degrees and international awards have not helped her record any significant feat in her duties. Nigeria’s economic condition has worsened under her watch. While Dr Iweala keeps on formulating statistical growths and inventing wonderful stories that Nigeria has about $48 billion its foreign reserves. Her fabricated lies have even become more evident by the fact that the lives of the common man on the street has not improved. Also, the Federal Government has repeatedly borrowed from international bodies to fund infrastructural projects as well as buying weapons to fight Boko Haram.
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2) Dr Ngozi Okonjo - Iweala Is Not Qualified For The Job
No doubt, Dr Iweala is a well educated economist, having studied in Harvard University and earning her Ph.D. in regional economic development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, her qualifications are not in doubt. But in most cases, educational qualifications don’t necessarily translate to competence on the holder of such lofty certificates. Truth be told, our finance minister doesn’t understand how Nigeria economy works, this is not surprising following from the fact that she studied and lived abroad for a while. She is a product of a western world. A round peg in a square hole as far as Nigeria’s economy is concerned.
While at the World Bank, she was a managing director. This explains her specialty in administration and limited know how in formulating economic policies. Simply put, she is neither grounded in formulating economic policies nor knows how to implementing them.
Dr Iweala’s professional expertise was also called into question when former Central Bank governor, Charles Soludo accused her of forging Nigeria’s national economics statistics and running the country’s economy to a detriment.
He said: “You are brilliant Madam, but you need serious help,”….. “Having spent all your life in the World Bank bureaucracy largely in administration/operations, no one will blame you if your economics has become a bit rusty. There are firebrand Nigerians all over the world to draft to service. It is certainly embarrassing to Nigeria for you to be bothering World Bank economists to help you with most basic economic analysis.”
Soludo couldn’t have put it more succinctly; Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala lacks the expertise to oversee the Nigerian economy. This was made manifest on On January 1, 2012, when Dr. Iweala championed the Nigerian government’s removal of fuel subsidy, explaining that it would sanitize the downstream sector. But three years after the removal of subsidy nothing has changed, The long queues have once again resurfaced at petrol stations, proving that our over qualified finance minister failed woefully in realizing that revitalizing the Nigerian refineries was the answer to Nigeria’a oil wahala and not removing subsidies.
The question begging for answer is how come our highly educated minister failed to realise that removal of subsidy was not the solution to Nigeria's problematic oil sector, when the ordinary Nigerian does? It appears Dr Iweala is only a mouth piece of an administration that has failed to deliver on the economy.
3) Not For The Love Of The Country But The Love Of The Money
Dr Iweala has enjoyed two successive tenures as finance minister in Nigeria, first in 2003 under Obasanjo administration and in 2011 till date. But is love for the country her reason for leaving her lofty position at the World Bank to answer the clarion call? I doubt. In 2003, controversy surrounded Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment as finance minister, she and Olu Adeniji, foreign affairs minister of United Nations, were paid US$240,000, while their other counterparts in other sectors were paid far less in naira. 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. Till date, the matter has been swept under the carpet.
Nigerians don’t know how much she is paid presently, but I am certain the Nigerian government is paying her far more than World Bank can offer. The huge pay our over qualified finance minister might be entitled to makes the job far too attractive to reject even though she has performed poorly at delivering.
4) Okonjo Iweals Cannot Account For The Missing Trillions Under her Watch
In February 2014, the immediate past governor of the Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido, wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan, alleging that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had failed to remit $20bn being part of the income it generated from the sale of crude oil to the Federation Account. His revelations sparked a public outcry and criticism against the government. Others who benefit from the wayo wayo of our government jumped to the defense of the Jonathan administration, claiming that Sanusi was mistaken. Sanusi’s letter was interpreted as an attempt to discredit the administration of President Jonathan. The allegations culminated in a surprise suspension of Sanusi by Goodluck Jonathan.
Less than a year now, another expert, Chukwuma Soludo has alleged that the sum of N30 trillion had disappeared under the watch of Ngozi Okonjo - Iweala. Are these past Central Bank governors cooking up false stories just to discredit Dr Okonjo Iweala?
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Well, rather than address the issues raised by Soludo in his article, Dr Iweala came smoking hot, asserting that Soludo performed poorly as governor of the Central Bank during his tenure as CBN governor. Dr Iweala however, failed woefully in convincing Nigerians that no funds were lost. Instead, she has politicized the issue, hurling insults at Soludo but failing to clarify the issues raised. She came out with tales by moonlight explanations with little credibility. She tried hard but failed to prove that the allegations against her office are false.
5) She Is No More an Economist But A Politician
When Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on behalf of the Federal Government denied Soludo's allegations that huge sums of monies were missing under her watch, she gave the government a pass mark. Unknown to her she was defending one of the most corrupt governments in the world, at the same time, passionately attacking Soludo’s credentials. Her fanatical argument exposed her for what she has become, a mouth piece of a corrupt and inefficient government. Our highly educated economic genius has been transformed to a politician. She couldn't beat them; now, it appears she has joined them.
It's time I passed the case to the peoples court. What do you think about Dr Igozi Okonjo Iweala? has she performed well? Have you benefited from her economic policies?
Source: Legit.ng
