Nigeria former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, reveals that in all the positions she has occupied, the toughest one so far is serving as Nigeria Finance Minister.
Okonjo-Iweala has occupied several high-level positions both in Nigeria and at the international level. She had served as the Finance Minister under the former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.
In her recent interview at a webinar organized by Emmanuel Chapel, themed, ‘Economic Sustainability Beyond COVID-19’ held on Friday, the former Nigeria Finance Minister explained that finance ministers usually have many enemies, including their colleagues and bosses. She added that this is because they have to decline certain requests.
However, Okonjo-Iweala said she was very proud to have served Nigeria in that capacity for seven years, making her the longest finance minister Nigeria ever had.
She hinted that her greatest accomplishment was her four children.
While responding to questions from one of the moderators, Prof. Konyinsola Ajayi (SAN), on her most difficult task so far,
She said, “That’s a tough question, but I will answer it this way; being finance minister was a tough job because nobody likes finance ministers; your colleagues don’t like you, your boss may not even like you because you are in the business of saying no.
“You have to say no to your colleagues and sometimes to your boss. So, it’s a very difficult position all over the world. Former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, once told me he calculated the average tenure of finance minister and we rechecked what he said some time ago, it’s two years.
“They don’t last very long because it’s such a tough job. So, I’m very proud I was able to do seven years in Abuja and the longest finance minister in our history if you combine the two terms. So, that’s huge for me.”
It is essential to note that Okonjo-Iweala obtained AB magna cum laude in Economics, Harvard University and Ph.D. in Regional Economics & Development from MIT. She served as finance minister for three years and one year as Foreign Affairs Minister under Obasanjo, while she was reappointed as Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy for four years under Jonathan.
Okonjo-Iweala rose to the position of Managing Director in her 25-year career at the World Bank, she is currently the Chair, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization and Special African Union Envoy of COVID-19 Rehabilitation and has also been nominated for the position of the Director-General of the World Trade Organization by President Muhammadu Buhari.
On her biggest accomplishment, she said, “People usually ask me my biggest accomplishment, and they get astonished when I say, my four children. It’s not being a finance minister; it’s not having a Ph.D.; it’s not being in the World Bank. It’s just thanking God to have four healthy children who are good human beings.
“It’s not about going to Harvard University (as they are all graduates of Harvard University); it’s about what type of a human being are you; they are nice children; they still like to hang out with us and I like to hang out with them.”
