[dropcap]A[/dropcap]nytime I hear a Nigerian bash Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala because of the politics or PDP vs APC, I feel pity for such a person. It is the PHD syndrome – Pull Him/Her Down syndrome. That is why some people are sceptical about serving Nigeria.
We live in a society where some of us derive joy in destroying the best among us because of politics, ethnicity, religion, gender, age and other irrelevant factors. Was is it not shameful to see some funny characters signing a petition to Yale University in May to withdraw the honorary degree given to her? Someone that already has a Ph.D. from MIT!
This was a woman that President Jonathan said other African heads of state were asking him how he managed to convince her to accept to serve in his cabinet from the World Bank. If one remembers that the first time she came to serve Nigeria, Obasanjo wanted to mess her up like other Nigerians that have no self worth and would take any post just to remain in power, but she resigned and went back to the World Bank.
This is a woman whose father is a king and a professor, a woman who excelled in her studies and went to two of the best universities in the world (Harvard and MIT), rose rapidly and reached the pinnacle of her career and then became Nigeria’s first female Finance Minister as well as the first and only Coordinating Minister of the Economy, which made her the leader of all the ministers – male and female.
In spite of all these accomplishments and all the attacks from those who choose never to see any good in her tenure, she has never used foul language to respond to them. Even when some egoistic and chauvinistic member of the House Committee on Finance chose to unleash his inferiority complex on her, she remained calm, something Ms. Arunma Oteh or any other excellent brain never took from the same House Members.
It is rare to find a woman who is exceptionally brilliant and has risen to the top where she is the boss of even men, and is sought after for positions men beg to get, but is still humble and soft-spoken. When you beat everybody in your class and achieve everything by merit, and rise to the top, it is very difficult not to be arrogant (knowing that you don’t need to beg, bribe or sleep around to get whatever you want in your career).
But despite all these, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has remained humble and soft-spoken, always calm under attacks. That is why I have a soft spot for her and pity those who love to attack her for choosing to serve her fatherland and build the economy of her nation. Since her exit, we can now compare and contrast Nigeria’s economy that was rated early this year by CNN Money as the 3rd fastest growing in the world and Nigeria’s economy of today.
Ngozi means blessing. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a blessing to Nigeria. If she were from Europe or North America, she would have been something else.
Congrats on your new job at Lazard US as Senior Advisor and new appointment into the board of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest private NGO in the world.
Whom God has blessed and named Ngozi, no man or woman can curse and rename Nkocha!
Azuka Onwuka is a veteran journalist and writer. He is also a social commentator and public affairs analyst. Connect with him on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
