COLUMN -  Prince Tony Princewill

Okonjo-Iweala – The romance and the reality (1)- On September 16, 2011

Love,” in the words of Shalamar, one of my favourite groups growing up, “is better the second time around”. I’m sure you’ve heard this adage before—just as you are, no doubt, aware that some renewed relationships still end up on the rocks. My previous and current governors remain a case in point. Uncertainty makes the world go round. So it is with the much celebrated second coming of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as Finance Minister. Her embrace of the Jonathan administration is hardly a match made in heaven.

 Yet the outcome is not carved in stone: The union is neither doomed to failure nor necessarily destined to succeed. Like any other relationship, the partners will simply have to work hard to achieve success; and they will need the support and cooperation of those around them, as well as the general public.

The Jonathan administration, on its part, has made a start. Would I have done several things differently? Yes. But on this issue, (quite rightly) the President has cautioned his cabinet—a not too bad aggregation in its own right—to shape up or ship out. Since his performance is an aggregation of their own, maybe we will see a difference. More importantly, he has made Okonjo-Iweala chairman of his Economic Management Team and given her unprecedented powers. For me that is progress.

According to Hussain J. Ibrahim, of The Weekly Trust, this includes oversight over departmental appointments within the ministries that fall under her jurisdiction. In addition, the Finance Minister will also head Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, whose function it is to “act as a catalyst” for new investment in the power sector and help stabilize the market for existing companies after the disposal of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN. No wonder some observers are beginning to refer to Okonjo-Iweala as the “Prime Minister”! Nevertheless, one can understand the President’s reasoning. He wants her to have the tools she needs to get the job done. Because if she wins, so do we.

This is fine; and I hope the trust and confidence Nigeria is placing in her will, in the end, prove warranted. But it must be stressed that Okonjo-Iweala is not a “magician,” as one newspaper headline described her, any more than those around her are villains, ready to tie her to the railroad track. Nor is she endowed with any “special ability” because of her gender. If she succeeds—and I hope she does— it will be for the same reason a competent male Finance Minister would have succeeded: She is qualified and capable of doing the job. A rare breed in the Nigerian political space that occupies government. Just like Odein Ajumogobia, she knows her stuff.

But the credentials that are causing such accolades as “magician” to fly around could very well turn out be a yoke around her neck rather than a talisman that will ensure her success. It all depends on her flexibility, intellect, and on yes – her political acumen. If Okonjo-Iweala was quoted correctly in the press, she has even acknowledged as much. It is not enough to be a technician, she is reported to have told The London Guardian, but one must also have the political maturity and skill to put new policies into effect. This is where I like my tutors – Atiku, Asiwaju and Amaechi. Masters at this.

The Finance Minister holds a BA (Bachelor of Arts) degree from Harvard College, where she graduated magna cum laude, and a Ph.D. in Regional Economics and Development from the equally prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT. These are the best academic credentials the USA has to offer; and they have certainly served her well in that country. Indeed, this plain-dressing and frank speaking mother of four gave up the second most powerful position at the World Bank (Managing Director) to return to the service of her country.

But it should be kept in mind that Okonjo-Iweala left Nigeria at age 18 and has not really resided here for very long periods of time. She and her husband, a medical surgeon, spend most of their time in the USA—moving in and out of Nigeria at their convenience. During her sojourn abroad though, she kept at least one foot solidly on her home base, establishing the NOI-Gallup polls opinion survey and co-founding the Makeda Fund, to help create investment opportunities for women. But she still has a lot of learning to catch up on. Academic degrees aside, her real education still lies ahead of her. It started during her tenure as minister under the Obasanjo administration; and in the next four years, she’ll be doing her post-graduate!

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/okonjo-iweala-the-romance-and-the-reality-1/