Jonathan, Okowa, Obi hail Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

 

• On her appointment into South Africa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council

 

BY OUR EDITOR

Former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, has expressed confidence in Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to deliver on her appointment as a member of South Africa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC).

Also, Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, have variously congratulated Dr Okonjo-Iweala, on her appointment as a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) of South Africa.

Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s two-time former Minister of Finance, was announced as a member of the South Africa’s PEAC by President Cyril Ramaphosa, at the second meeting of the council which held in Pretoria, over the weekend.

South Africa’s economy had last week fallen into recession.

Ramaphosa had inaugurated members of the council last October 2019, where he said their role was to ensure greater coherence and consistency in the implementation of economic policy to ensure that government and society in general were better equipped to respond to changing economic circumstances.

“This is your meeting as a council. You have been working in the intervening period and you are going to be making presentations. Now, as Advisory Council, you have set the agenda for this meeting yourself and you have identified various issues that you want to address us on. It is quite clear that a lot of work has been done since we last met.

“This meeting is really your collective response on the economic challenges our economy is facing right now. The diversity of ideas is what I appreciate. Now, there have been a number of developments that have taken place in our country, which I am not going to bore you with. Of course, the immediate challenge we are facing now is the energy crisis,” Ramaphosa said while addressing the council.

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Okonjo-Iweala, who is the Board Chairperson of Gavi, a public-private global health partnership committed to increasing access to immunisation in poor countries, gave credence to her appointment on her twitter handle when she announced: “With President Ramaphosa, members of cabinet, and members of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council in Pretoria discussing sources of growth for the South African economy and win-win economic interactions with the continent.”

Jonathan, in whose cabinet Okonjo-Iweala served as the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, said in his congratulatory message, said: “As a two-time minister in Nigeria, you left indelible marks as an astute manager of the nation’s economy and resources.

“I am delighted that you have continued to place your substantial wealth of experience as a development economist at the service of many nations and international organisations to aid global growth and progress.

“I have no doubt in my mind that you will excel in the new assignment.”

Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, said: “I am elated to hear of your appointment by President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.

“Your appointment is indeed, a testament to your competence and experience as a renowned economist and international development expert.

“On behalf of my family, the government and people of Delta, I congratulate a worthy ambassador of Delta and Nigeria, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on her appointment into South Africa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council.

“As you take on this onerous but distinguishing assignment in another country, I pray and urge you to re-enact that, which you have always done – bringing pride and honour to Delta and Nigeria.

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“It is without doubt that your pedigree and impeccable footprints in monetary and economic administration in Nigeria and at the World Bank stood you out for this sublime international assignment.

“As you continue in this remarkable trajectory, we wish you success and in all your other endeavours.”

Describing Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment as ‘deserving and highly rewarding’, former governor Peter Obi, who spoke with Thisday at the Domestic Wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, said with her appointment, South Africa had picked an experienced and committed economic manager.

He added that the choice of Okonjo-Iweala had put a square peg in a square hole, which he described as a “veritable move towards the restoration of her troubled economy.”

Obi recalled how Okonjo-Iweala’s effort to save for Nigeria’s future came to naught, when the Nigeria Governors’ Forum refused her advice, but called her names and even went to court to stop her from saving huge sum in excess crude account in the Sovereign Wealth fund.

Obi, therefore, described Okonjo-Iweala as “an exceptional personality and first-class ambassador of Nigeria and one whose commitment to a better society remains outstanding.