MY MINISTER, MY HEROINE
You won’t be wrong if presumably you imply that Ikemefuna Mba has the proclivity of taking queer positions on issues that concern morality and civility. You may conclude that I am devil’s advocate Well, to my defence, before I criticise anyone I always put into circumspect the fact that we are humans, and as one, we are imperfect. A 19th century Scottish writer, Robert Louis Stevenson once said “All human beings are commingled out of good and evil”; a mixture of Jekyll and Hyde. Therefore no man is wholly good nor completely bad. Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. These seeds are in a constant struggle as to which will win. And one cannot exist without the other. I therefore strongly believe that all men are capable of doing good deeds as well as evil. Even the devil was once an angel. So when we love others, it’s not because they are impeccable or immaculate but because … we inexplicably love them.

In any case, I must admit this is not the best of times for Jonathan’s ex-ministers. The hullabaloo surrounding the senate president, Dr Bukola Saraki, asset declaration and impudence has somewhat diverted attention, albeit, momentarily, away from them. Whenever a member of GEJ’s kitchen cabinet is in the news these days, it is invariably for infamous reasons. They have allegations ranging from corruption, mismanagement, misappropriation, embezzlement of public fund, and so on hanging on their necks like an albatross. The present administration has however vowed to hunt them down and make scape-goats out of them.

Meanwhile, among all the former aides of the ex-president, there is one woman I have always held in high esteem. To me she is the most venerable and renowned among them all. This woman is a member of several international organisations and was also a former vice president and corporate secretary of the World Bank Group. She left the World Bank Group in 2003 after she was appointed to serve in president Olusegun Obasanjo's cabinet as Finance Minister on 15 July 2003. In October 2005, she led the Nigerian team that struck a deal with the Paris Club, a group of bilateral creditors, to pay a portion of Nigeria's external debt (US$12 billion) in return for an $18 billion debt write-off.

This cerebral woman has won enviable arrays of awards. She was the Time Europe Hero of 2004 and also the This Day Nigerian Minister of the Year 2004. Apart from those, she was awarded the Euromoney Magazine Global Finance Minister of the year 2005. Similarly, she was honoured with the Financial Times/The Banker African Finance Minister 2005. In addition, she was the Nigerian of the Year 2006 as well as the Silverbird WoMan of the year 2012. She resurfaced in the public sector in 2011, when she was appointed by ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan, to serve in his cabinet. She is without doubt a tower of ivory.

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is from the Umuobi Royal Family of Ogwashi-Ukwu, an Igbo speaking community of Delta State. Her father, Professor Chukwuka Okonjo, is the King of Ogwashi-Ukwu, Delta state. Her educational background is almost unparalleled. Okonjo-Iweala had her secondary school education at the International School Ibadan. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in one of the Ivy League, Harvard University, graduating with a magna cum laude (Second Class Upper Division) in 1977. She had her doctorate degree (PhD) in regional economic development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1981. She also received an honorary doctorate degree from Brown University in 2006; another from Colby College in 2007; there was also one from the Northern Caribbean University, among a host of others. Not only these, she received an International Fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) that supported her doctoral studies. Apart from her affiliation with these renowned institutions of learning, Okonjo-Iweala is also affiliated with The World Bank Group, African Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Resource Institute, Islamic Development Bank, but to mention a few (and not to mention national organisations).

If you think Ngozi has been propitious with just her educational career, then I will tell you she has also been blessed in her marriage. She is married to Ikemba Iweala from Umuahia, Abia State and they have four wonderful children. The eldest, Onyinye Iweala received her PhD in Experimental Pathology from Harvard University in 2008 and graduated from Harvard Medical School in 2010. Her son, Uzodinma Iweala, is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Beasts of No Nation (2005) and the thoughts on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa [Our Kind of People] (2012). If truth be told, these are the type of children any parents will be proud of.

In 2011, Okonjo-Iweala was reappointed as Minister of Finance with the expanded portfolio of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy by President Goodluck Jonathan, a position she held until May 2015 when Goodluck Jonathan’s administration handed over to a newly elected president, Muhammadu Buhari who won the 2015 presidential election. During GEJ regime, Okonjo-Iweala was widely criticised more than any other government official especially for the unpopular fuel subsidy removal policy by the Nigerian government which led to Occupy Nigeria protests in January 2012. All fingers pointed at her as the brain behind the removal. Thus she was depicted as anti-masses and insensitive.

If the criticism was raining when she was serving as minister, it was pouring when she left office. Barely four months after the Jonathan led government was voted out of office, Okonjo-Iweala has been one of the most maligned ex-public servants. Maybe because she was the minister of finance, but all corruption related allegations were invariably narrowed down to her office. For instance, one doddering libidonist governing Edo state never hides his disdain for her with his inundated incriminating and pejorative remarks. He claims Okonjo-Iweala should be held culpable for the mismanagement of revenue accrued to the Excess Crude Account. He believes money was siphoned from that account into personal accounts under Okonjo-Iweala’s nose or in collaboration with her. Dr Okonjo-Iweala has come out to emphatically deny this and every allegation levelled against her. She has also highlighted how funds from the Excess Crude Account were expended while also reiterating that the former Labour leader is suffering from numerical diarrhoea.

I’m in no position to judge who is telling the truth, neither am I saying that Dr Okonjo-Iweala was impeccable while in office. We have the judiciary to worry about that. I am rather interested in recent events. Well, while our dear governor has probably been busy having coitus with his fledgling bride who can arguably pass for his granddaughter, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala announced she will be joining US investment bank, Lazard, as a senior special adviser in the sovereign advice division. Not only this, she has also been appointed as the second Africa chair-elect of the board of Gavi Alliance, founded by famous computer tycoon Bill Gates, and his wife Melinda Gates.

These indeed are rare auspicious bulletin for someone who is often in the news for all the wrongs reasons or sometimes as the case might be, to defend herself. Unsurprisingly she admitted that the change from public to private sector is a prospect she would relish. According to her, “I think the shift to the private sector is very good for me … though it is from a private sector perspective. But it will also be good because it will bring a different eye and a different methodology to the way that I’ve been working. I will learn, and the company will also learn.” Her words ooze freshness, sparkling with renewed optimism.

When quizzed on whether she will accept to sit as the new chair of the Gavi Alliance and what she will be bringing to the table, Okonjo-Iweala said: “I think a couple of things. Gavi is one of the most important multinational organisations in the world. I think that Gavi is looking for someone to also bring in some broader economic development knowledge, as well as some financial knowledge.” She further stated that her work at Gavi will help her continue her work in strengthening institutions and building systems to improve the health of children through immunisation.

And at Lazard, Okonjo-Iweala said she would advise countries on structuring their finances and dealing with debt issues. According to her, “… Lazard is the premier company in the world for sovereign advisory. That’s what I’ll be focusing on, advice to government all over the developing world. In addition, she reiterated that “we will be helping government in restructuring their debts, in managing their macroeconomic framework. These are areas in which I’ve developed expertise over 33 years of my career.”

The irony is that she might yet end up advising the Buhari’s government that has persecuted her (like Saul in the Bible) on how to manage Nigeria’s finances amid accumulating debt.

This is not the time for political shenanigan. The truth of the matter is that the world needs Okonjo-Iweala. Nigeria needs her. Buhari needs her. Her expertise in finance management was the focus in these appointments. These show that she is good in what she does. If she is not, then renowned firm like the US investment bank would not have reckoned with her. Neither will Microsoft mogul and billionaire Bill Gates, with his wife, appoint her to be on their board (which will definitely comprise leading experts in the world). And on the issue of corruption, I strongly believe that the US government would have thoroughly done their investigation to find out if Okonjo-Iweala is indeed culpable of any corrupt practices. Presumably, having found none, they sanctioned her appointments.

Goodluck Jonathan once said he had "a good economic team" that was trying to steady the dilapidated ship called Nigeria. I was one of the many cynics that laughed at him. Interestingly, a critical look indicates that the Ijaw man was in actual fact telling the truth, no matter how minute it may seem. The reason being that: the world has decided to tap into Jonathan’s team. First, Mr Akinwumi Adesina was appointed to head the African Development Bank. Second, Mrs Aruma Oteh was chosen as the vice president of the World Bank. And now, a US investment bank and Gavi Alliance, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates, have appointed Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to serve in various capacities.

Perhaps not all the people who served under Jonathan government were corrupt and incompetent as the then opposition made us to believe; perhaps they were caught in a labyrinth that will make even an angel flunk and commit sin. Perhaps Nigerians generally are not corrupt; perhaps it is the system that is corrupt. A system I strongly believe needs a holistic overhaul. Have we ever stopped and asked ourselves why Nigerians in Nigeria’s public sector are customarily seen as not infallible but other Nigerians working outside the shore of this country are perceived by their employers in those countries to be impeccable?

Okonjo-Iweala is a woman I have always admired. She is intelligent, assured and exudes confidence. As a minister under GEJ, I strongly believe she did her best to put things aright. No doubt she had good intentions. But things apparently might not have worked-out as she had projected.

If my mother is ugly; she remains my mother. If my mother is beautiful; so be it- she is still my mother. If my mother is crippled; who cares? She will always be my mother. And if she is a witch; I will call her mother. And so it is also with my heroine. Disparaged; denigrated; defamed; haunted; hunted; pilloried; smeared; slandered; or even indicted, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will always remain my heroine. Her services might not be appreciated in her home country (which prophet was ever accepted in his hometown?) but her halo radiates all over the world. “I wish her all the best she is wishing herself” in her new appointments.

Crap.

Only in Nigeria do we praise mediocre ' s and criminals. This woman should be in jail.

The guy above me needs urgent brain transplant. You want to jail her on what basis? Bring your proofs out let's c ur reason.
Some ex drug peddler come politicians are parading themselves as your mentor and tribal leader yet you see no wrong in it. But you are quick to jump from your region to pokenose on another person's life and achievements

@ Hunger Bad, A US bank nor Bill Gates will never hire a 'mediocre'