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Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 - Politics - Nairaland

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Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by ChimaAdeoye: 6:21am On Nov 28, 2012
FOR their sterling contributions to their societies through political engagements, the formulation of economic policies and condemnation of corruption and other obstacles to development, two Nigerians have made the list of 100 top Global Thinkers for 2012.

The two Nigerians are the Finance Minister and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the renowned author of Things Fall Apart Prof. Chinua Achebe. Another African on the list is Malawian President Joyce Banda.

The list was drawn up by Foreign Policy. Foreign Policy, a bimonthly American magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P. Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel was originally, a quarterly.

According to Wikipedia, the magazine under Editor-in-Chief Moisés Naím (1996–2010), changed from an academic quarterly in the 1990s to a bimonthly glossy, winning the 2009, 2007, and 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence. The topics it covers include global politics, economics, integration and ideas.

On September 29, 2008, The Washington Post Company announced that they had purchased Foreign Policy from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Foreign Policy publishes the annual “Globalization Index,” and “Failed State Index.” Its report “Inside the Ivory Tower” provides an annual comprehensive ranking of professional schools in international relations.

Banda, the Malawian President, occupies the 22nd position on the list. According to Foreign Policy, Banda made the list for “for stepping in - and up - to fix a broken country.”

When Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika died of a heart attack in April, it wasn’t immediately clear what would become of his vice president, Joyce Banda who had fallen out of favour with the increasingly autocratic president who sacked her from his political party in 2010.

Even Mutharika’s wife publicly derided Banda - a longtime grassroots advocate for women, children, and the poor- scoffing: “She will never be president. How can a fruit seller be president?”

After two days of tension in the wake of Mutharika’s death, however, Banda proved the first lady wrong, becoming Africa’s second-ever female president.

Governing Malawi, where an estimated 75 percent of its more than 15 million residents live on N160 or less a day, presents enormous challenges.

But in just seven months, Banda has largely shown the world how to take charge and work to turn around a troubled country.

Within days of taking office, she dismissed key members of Mutharika’s administration, including the police chief in power when 19 Malawian demonstrators were killed at a 2011 opposition rally.

By devaluing the Malawian currency by more than a third, Banda also secured a much-needed $157 million International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan in June, a first step toward rebuilding Malawi’s debilitated economy.

So far, all signs suggest Banda could become a new model for African leadership, shedding the strongman syndrome and getting down to business to help the poor. She has cut her own salary by 30 percent and put the late Mutharika’s $12 million presidential jet and most of his fleet of 60 luxury cars up for sale. “I can as well use private airlines,” she said. “I am already used to hitchhiking.

“I must demonstrate to Malawians that we are in this together,

“I must be the first person to set an example.”

For Okonjo-Iweala who is 51st on the list, she was chosen “for showing Africa how to break the resource curse.”

As a candidate in this year’s unusually public race for the World Bank presidency, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala seemingly had it all: an MIT education, high-level experience with both the bank and the Nigerian government, the potential to be the first woman and first person of colour to run the institution, and the support of everyone from the African Union to the Financial Times. She just didn’t have the one thing that really mattered: a United States passport.

But though she may have missed out on her chance to run the bank, Okonjo-Iweala is arguably as influential in her role as the powerful finance minister of Africa’s most populous country and one of its fastest-growing economies.

In a previous stint in the position, she successfully negotiated to wipe out millions of dollars of international debt, and since reassuming the post last year she has cut spending and helped establish a sovereign wealth fund to manage Nigeria’s oil riches.

Her driving idea: African countries can’t hope to develop economically until they get their institutions in order.

Although she enjoys a potent mandate from President Goodluck Jonathan, Okonjo-Iweala has seen her reform efforts consistently meet opposition from the ‘godfathers’ - the powerful officials who benefit from the oil wealth in Nigeria’s notoriously corrupt political system. Her efforts to end a popular but economically disastrous fuel subsidy have also so far been slow going. “It has not been easy, and the struggle is still ongoing,” she told Reuters this year.

“You make progress; then you get courage to make more.”

If she can succeed in helping one of Africa’s most pivotal countries overcome the infamous oil curse, it might have a much more lasting impact than anything she could have accomplished back in Washington.

Achebe who is the 68th top global thinker on the list was selected “ for forcing Africa to confront its demons.”

A giant of contemporary African letters for more than half a century, Achebe is still best known for his 1958 novel, Things Fall Apart, which drew on oral traditions to tell the story of a Nigerian village transformed by colonialism and Western-imposed Christianity.

He also achieved renown for his withering critiques of depictions of Africa by European writers, demanding a literature that traveled well beyond the Heart of Darkness clichés to reveal African realities, while urging Africans to be the ones to tell their own stories.

True to that appeal, this year brought Achebe’s own powerful memoir, There Was a Country, an account of his life during the 1967-1970 Biafran war. Achebe had taken the Biafran side in the conflict, which left more than one million people dead, and served as a roving international ambassador for the breakaway government, narrowly escaping Nigerian attacks on multiple occasions. His book makes the case that the Biafran war - Africa’s first civil war to generate major international media attention - was a harbinger of African conflicts to come, from Rwanda to Congo to Sierra Leone, all of which have their roots in the arbitrary drawing of borderlines during colonialism, were exacerbated by natural resources, and proved the inability of the international community to stop the bloodshed.

“Nigeria was once a land of great hope and progress, a nation with immense resources at its disposal,” writes Achebe, today a professor of Africana studies at Brown University.

“But the Biafran war changed the course of Nigeria. In my view it was a cataclysmic experience that changed the history of Africa.”

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106095:achebe-banda-okonjo-iweala-among-100-top-global-thinkers-for-2012-&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

2 Likes

Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by ChimaAdeoye: 6:22am On Nov 28, 2012
What do you think? No primitive tribal bashing please.
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by semid4lyfe(m): 7:17am On Nov 28, 2012
?
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by Iaz93: 7:24am On Nov 28, 2012
This thread gotta exceed 10pages...waiting for 'em bigots
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by solomon111(m): 7:30am On Nov 28, 2012
Well,they are both intellectual giants.
They are arguably africa's greatest minds.

1 Like

Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by KINGwax(m): 7:32am On Nov 28, 2012
The people who said this probably weren't thinkin straight!
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by slimming: 7:33am On Nov 28, 2012
What does this mean? Nonsense.
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by preciousoz: 7:34am On Nov 28, 2012
Good One... Proud of them. They sure are doing Nigeria Proud.
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by kollybay4u: 7:34am On Nov 28, 2012
Can that one reduce the price of beans from market. Mtcheeeee
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by alaoeri: 7:38am On Nov 28, 2012
What's the yardstick they use in choosing a thinker?
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by Nobody: 7:39am On Nov 28, 2012
Chima_Adeoye: What do you think? No primitive tribal bashing please.
Lol, even your names are fighting..

4 Likes

Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by Decryptor(m): 7:42am On Nov 28, 2012
Why didn't a y....ba person make the list?
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by cyril83(m): 7:44am On Nov 28, 2012
basisop: All Igbos, kudos!
Don't know where other tribes kept thr brain.
inclusion of that shameless runs woman "iweala" makes the news tasteless...as for d igbos, bros I know say u sef go dey laff wen u dey type dis nons.en.se
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by ypzilanti: 7:47am On Nov 28, 2012
Okonjo Iweala is not impressive in her second round as finance minister. She seems to have caught the 'OBJ syndrome' described as a public official who does not join others to steal and plunder initially, then retires and sees 'mates' enjoying their loot. Upon second chance in office, said official swears to also loot and not give a f@ck.
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by safarigirl(f): 7:49am On Nov 28, 2012
This same Achebe that people accuse of having a docile brain on NL. He's a thinker because he's radical, he won't be put in a box and accept stuff that he read on Wikipedia or some American-authored book on Nigerian history without a research, he's not like most NLers that will cry foul just because the facts don't favour them. The man has a mind of his own, he accepts when he discovers he's wrong and makes amends, unlike NLers that will argue with everyone who opposes them to the point of name-calling....he's a THINKER, not one to be affected by mere sentiments, one of just 3 to come out of Africa, and they say his views hold no water. Oya bigots and tribalists, the floor is open, dance and forget your troubles.

15 Likes

Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by justsayemma(m): 7:50am On Nov 28, 2012
I don't know d criteria or parameter they used in arriving @ dis,bt I think madam NOI thinkin power Is only 4 ha family n western institutions,it has nt helped Nigerians in anyway.was it not dsame Okonjo dat paid outrageous sum of our moni,2 d so cald cabal witout importatn of fuel? Wuld she had done dat wit ha own personal biz?
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by ypzilanti: 7:52am On Nov 28, 2012
cyril83: inclusion of that shameless runs woman "iweala" makes the news tasteless...as for d igbos, bros I know say u sef go dey laff wen u dey type dis nons.en.se

Does everything have to be tribal in Nigeria? Yorubas have also produced people of global reknown, chief of which is Wole Soyinka...he did not make this particular list due to whatever criteria the selectors used. Most likely that he has not made a major news in the past year. I am igbo and do not think Okonjo Iweala should be on the list. I think she made it due to her wave making hunt for the world bank job. Her performance on the job, however has been dismal.
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by bory09(m): 7:53am On Nov 28, 2012
Someone does not usually have respect from where is born. That is the situation with okonjo-iweala she is been insult day by day by his people nigeria and she is getting more honour everyday from the elite world. Okonjo iweala is God chosen there is nothing else haters should just go and soak garri inside river jare. am out
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by emron1(m): 7:55am On Nov 28, 2012
they all truelly deserved their recognition, I truelly admire joyce for her true leadership skills, okonjo for her braveness and achebe for his courage in exposing the moral ills of the nigerian socio political atmosphere.

4 Likes

Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by hugafella(m): 8:03am On Nov 28, 2012
Great Nigerians I must say. We all young people of Nigeria should emulate the ideals of studying hard to contribute positively to Nigeria and our generation. We must resist divisive tendencies and promote peace and unity.

We must understand that for now, as far as Nigeria is concerned, a yoruba man in IMO state is just as Nigerian as an ibo man in Lagos.

I dare the users of this forum to channel their energies towards constructive topics like solutions to unemployment for instance. How about that?

1 Like

Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by abdulkayus(m): 8:04am On Nov 28, 2012
I dont agree esp for dat of Ngozi Okonjo. Since she has been d economic minister, wat has she achieve pls, pls let be sincere, wat has she achieve? Is it d recommendation for d removal of subsidy thereby subjectin nigerians to hardship or payin lip service to curroption in her ministries or d implementation of her masters IMF and World bank to further improvise d country abeg, dey shld stop playin wit our senses.
And for Prof Achebe, hmmm, i dont knw wat criteria dey use to put him there cos if we are talkin abt great thinker and human right fighters, Prof Wole Soyinka is far better than him in dat aspect. Maybe dey jus put him to pity him for d outcry abt Biafra war.
For JOYCE of Malawi, i tuale for dat woman. If we can hav somebody lyk her, 9ja will be rid of corruption in no tym.

Inshort where did dey put Mandela. Crap lists frm d imperalists.

Jus my opinion, intelligen ones shld nt insult me.
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by caesaraba(m): 8:04am On Nov 28, 2012
Not surprising in the least sense. These people are really good in their various fields and have made significant contributions in those areas.
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by Youngzedd(m): 8:05am On Nov 28, 2012
I will be among the list soon.

"I never think of the
future. It comes soon
enough." By Albert Einstein

1 Like

Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by ypzilanti: 8:07am On Nov 28, 2012
abdulkayus: I dont agree esp for dat of Ngozi Okonjo. Since she has been d economic minister, wat has she achieve pls, pls let be sincere, wat has she achieve? Is it d recommendation for d removal of subsidy thereby subjectin nigerians to hardship or payin lip service to curroption in her ministries or d implementation of her masters IMF and World bank to further improvise d country abeg, dey shld stop playin wit our senses.
And for Prof Achebe, hmmm, i dont knw wat criteria dey use to put him there cos if we are talkin abt great thinker and human right fighters, Prof Wole Soyinka is far better than him in dat aspect. Maybe dey jus put him to pity him for d outcry abt Biafra war.
For JOYCE of Malawi, i tuale for dat woman. If we can hav somebody lyk her, 9ja will be rid of corruption in no tym.

Inshort where did dey put Mandela. Crap lists frm d imperalists.

Jus my opinion, intelligen ones shld nt insult me.

Mandela is in retirement. Soyinka has not made news lately but Achebe did. It does not matter if you agree with him or not, but his book is one of the most debated books in the world this year. Okonjo on the list is a joke...I agree.
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by caesaraba(m): 8:08am On Nov 28, 2012
hugafella: Great Nigerians I must say. We all young people of Nigeria should emulate the ideals of studying hard to contribute positively to Nigeria and our generation. We must resist divisive tendencies and promote peace and unity.

We must understand that for now, as far as Nigeria is concerned, a yoruba man in IMO state is just as Nigerian as an ibo man in Lagos.

I dare the users of this forum to channel their energies towards constructive topics like solutions to unemployment for instance. How about that?

Haha, not on N.L bro. Many folks here can't see past their noses o. Dem never wake up this morning complete sha, that's why u can see at least 2 constructive comments before the insults commence. Don't get your hopes up.
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by ARareGem(f): 8:12am On Nov 28, 2012
Banda makes the list, so does Achebe. I do not think Iweala does. Just my 2 kobos.

BTW, whatever happened to those Ministers slashing down their remuneration to atleast half?
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by Youngzedd(m): 8:12am On Nov 28, 2012
safarigirl: This same Achebe that people accuse of having a docile brain on NL. He's a thinker because he's radical, he won't be put in a box and accept stuff that he read on Wikipedia or some American-authored book on Nigerian history without a research, he's not like most NLers that will cry foul just because the facts don't favour them. The man has a mind of his own, he accepts when he discovers he's wrong and makes amends, unlike NLers that will argue with everyone who opposes them to the point of name-calling....he's a THINKER, not one to be affected by mere sentiments, one of just 3 to come out of Africa, and they say his views hold no water. Oya bigots and tribalists, the floor is open, dance and forget your troubles.

Seconded.

1 Like

Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by hugafella(m): 8:16am On Nov 28, 2012
cyril83: inclusion of that shameless runs woman "iweala" makes the news tasteless...as for d igbos, bros I know say u sef go dey laff wen u dey type dis nons.en.se

what do u mean by runs woman? we seem to have lost our morals really. How can someone who has not achieved anything apart from a couple of NL posts be calling NOI a "runs woman"? I was brought up to know that u don't insult other peoples' parents, especially where you know you can never match any of NOI's children.

U see the examples of the systemic decay in our society? U see the failure of parenthood? U see where we are failing even in having a conscience? People just run their mouths only on Nairaland and its accepted as okay. I don't know who trained "cyril83" but u have to help yourself to change the way u think. #fact.

10 Likes

Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by Nobody: 8:21am On Nov 28, 2012
Y nt GEJ on d list? Atleast he also suceed yar'adua and he eat 2 times a day instead of 3 meal, he remove fuel subsidy inorder 4 d economy nt to crash, above all he claimed to av implemented 65% of budget.
Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by kutchs: 8:22am On Nov 28, 2012
abdulkayus: I dont agree esp for dat of Ngozi Okonjo. Since she has been d economic minister, wat has she achieve pls, pls let be sincere, wat has she achieve? Is it d recommendation for d removal of subsidy thereby subjectin nigerians to hardship or payin lip service to curroption in her ministries or d implementation of her masters IMF and World bank to further improvise d country abeg, dey shld stop playin wit our senses.
And for Prof Achebe, hmmm, i dont knw wat criteria dey use to put him there cos if we are talkin abt great thinker and human right fighters, Prof Wole Soyinka is far better than him in dat aspect. Maybe dey jus put him to pity him for d outcry abt Biafra war.
For JOYCE of Malawi, i tuale for dat woman. If we can hav somebody lyk her, 9ja will be rid of corruption in no tym.

Inshort where did dey put Mandela. Crap lists frm d imperalists.

Jus my opinion, intelligen ones shld nt insult me.
It is a crap list from the imperialists because Achebe and Iweala (two people you probably never liked) made the list. I guess it would have been a wonderful list had any other than the two made the list.

Well I challenge you to compile your own list and lets see who makes it.

Despite our disdain and dislike for these two legends they keep receiving international accolades, take it or leave it they are up there with the very best.

For ur information the piece on Iweala describes the fuel subsidy as popular yet economically disastrous and most of her policies meant to improve the country has met with stern nd stiff opposition from godfathers and cabals who are hell bent on maintaining the status quo.

2 Likes

Re: Achebe, Okonjo-Iweala Among Top 100 Global Thinkers In 2012 by abdulkayus(m): 8:24am On Nov 28, 2012
ypzilanti:

Mandela is in retirement. Soyinka has not made news lately but Achebe did. It does not matter if you agree with him or not, but his book is one of the most debated books in the world this year. Okonjo on the list is a joke...I agree.

i agree dat Achebe book is d most debated book, and as i say, he may included due to sympathy abt d recent book he release. Soyinka may nt make news lately bt he is still very active. So, Mandela in in retirement and no more recognition for him?

As far NOI, cant disagree wit u. Her being there loss d valie of d report.

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