Okonjo-Iweala?s resignation: The world will laugh at us

[tsly]

By Jude Nwauzor, Senior Correspondent, Lagos

The resignation of former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, will make Nigeria an object of ridicule in the eyes of the international community, former Minister of Information, Chief Alex Akinyele, has said.

Akinyele?s remark came as former Nigerian ambassador to Switzerland, and the arrow head of Advanced Congress for Democrats (ACD) in Plateau State, Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, described Okonjo-Iweala as one of the patriotic ministers that ever served under President Obasanjo.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, who also served, as the chairperson of the Administration?s Economic Team was in London to further negotiate Nigeria?s debt problem when the presidency dropped her as leader of the team, a move that made her resign her appointment.

Chief Akinyele who spoke with our correspondent on Friday said such a change was not just wrongly timed, it was capable of further denting the image of Nigeria, which the Obasanjo administration claimed to be laundering.

He argued that with the feat Okonjo-Iweala achieved, the present administration needed a globally recognised figure like that to continually break even in most of its international economic and political negotiations, adding that her resignation would make the international community doubt the sincerity of the Obasanjo administration.

\"By resigning her appointment as Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, she has set a very unprecedented and glorious example for us in Nigeria. There is no Nigerian in my experience who would resign voluntarily that kind of appointment when the person is being messed up. Because of that, I doff my hat for her and considering that she is a woman, it?s great. What that shows is that if you accept an appointment purely on merit you would not allow anybody to destroy your reputation and make you look stupid,\" Akinyele said.

\"For a woman that has achieved that feat, which she used to serve her country, its unwholesome to toss her around. When she was removed from the Finance Ministry, I felt she was moved to Foreign Affairs to replicate her achievements in the ministry and I was very happy. But the development that culminated in her resignation..., I believe the international community would laugh at us and we are very good in doing things that make people laugh at us. Okonjo-Iweala?s resignation is one of such and it is very unfortunate for Nigeria,\" Akinyele concluded.

Also reacting to the resignation of Okonjo-Iweala, Kwande, described her as one of the patriotic ministers that ever served under President Obasanjo.

He described her resignation as a big minus to the Peoples Democratic Party-led federal government.

Ambassador Kwande in an interview with newsmen at his residence in Jos on Friday said within the short period the former minister served in the Ministry of Finance and later Foreign Affairs before she dumped the government, there was a drastic change in term of policy implementation.

He added that she also distinguished herself as a patriotic, dedicated Nigerian.

The elder statesman said Nigerians in Diaspora would never forget the way she promptly evacuated Nigerians residing in Beirut, capital of Lebanon immediately the hostility between the Israel and Lebanon broke out.

\"As a former diplomat, I know she handled the situation very well without wasting any time because any attempt to delay might put the country in a very tight situation,\" he said.
http://odili.net/news/source/2006/aug/6/621.html

Any thoughts on the resignation of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala? Do you think this is a set back on Nigeria\'s fight against corruption?

[sly]

Her resignation is no doubt a huge setback on the fight against corruption.It is very obvious that Obasanjo changed her portfolio because the election is less than a year and once again its looting time. Being the kind of person she is OBJ knows that she will stand in the way of any sort of corruption from the govt and hence made the necessary adjustment to suit his plot. News in detail to follow