The Former Nigerian Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala yesterday said it was
better to allow those managing Nigeria’s economy to do the best they
could, noting that there could be solutions to the present economic
decline in the country.
She also noted that she would not be
available to serve the present administration if overtures were made to
her by President Muhammadu Buhari, noting that Nigeria boasts of
competent people, who would offer their services when called upon.
Okonjo-Iweala,
who said this while participating in an Aljazeera programme: The
Stream, regretted that the economic gains recorded in Africa started
eroding a few years ago, noting that solving macroeconomic question was
key to fixing the continent’s economic challenges.
She
specifically said that having a firm control over the rate of inflation
in addition to ensuring a stable exchange rate should be prioritised by
African governments.
She said:
“One of the things you learn as
you get wiser is to talk less as you grow older. I have spent my time
contributing to the country. It will be better to live those managing
the economy to do what they know how to do. There can be solutions.
“I
am not a typical politician. I went in as a technocrat. I think on the
continent we have seen a period when the economy was doing well, in the
last two years we have been experiencing challenges. We need to focus on
the basics which are macro-economics. You must get the fundamentals
like having a stable exchange rate and having inflation under control.
“I
served my country for seven years and it was a great honour. The second
time was very tough but it is still an honour. I am not the only person
who is a repository of knowledge. There are other people who can
equally try their hands in running the economy.
“I will advise
young people not to wait for employment. They should create jobs to
employ six people or more. During my time in government, we had a
programme called You Win designed to support young entrepreneurs. The
whole idea was to have a business plan competition.
“The idea was
that they should create jobs. And each, created 9-10 jobs. The World
Bank did an evaluation of it and found it good. I do believe that the
government should come in. We started a peer to peer mentoring. Now, one
of the things I want to say is that creating employment is not only
about struggles, it is about managing success.”
Also, counseling people on accounting, bookkeeping and not falling apart is very important.”
Responding
to a question on how the anti-corruption war was fought during her time
in government, she said:
“It was a very tough fight, I must thank my
team, you don’t do it alone, I had the support of an economic team in
the Ministry of Finance. It was tough because at the end of the day you
need to have some principles.”
On her roles as a Finance
Minister, Okonjo-Iweala said:
“The average life span of a Finance
Minister is two year in a country. No one likes a Finance Minister
because it is the business of saying no. It is very difficult and
challenging. It was interesting for me. I wish I had seen myself as
wielding power. All I saw was the job because I was seeing myself
working for the country.”