Nigeria’s Overhyped And Uncoordinated Minister Of The Economy By Samuel O. Oluyemi

In 2011, I had the privilege of writing
a letter to the recently returned
Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-
Iweala, on behalf of my boss. Despite
being meticulously prepared, the
letter was returned back for
corrections. Astonishingly, the new
Minister was refusing to read any
letter that was not addressed to the
“Coordinating Minister of the
Economy.” To me, it seemed more like
a desperate power grab by a barely
literate politician than the behaviour
one would expect of a Harvard-
trained, internationally acclaimed
economist, although I was reluctant to
make that judgement at the time.
Yet, this claim has been confirmed
over time and is now common
knowledge to civil servants who have
had any recent contact with the
Nigerian Finance Ministry.
Without a doubt, Madam Okonjo-
Iweala has been a source of pride to
Nigeria. She has broken the glass
ceiling for Africans in general and
women in particular. She has inspired
us, Nigerian professionals, to believe
that with hard work, dedication and
some luck it is possible to rise to the
highest echelons of a global institution
and to occupy coveted positions in our
country. For that we are grateful.
However, since that incident in 2011,
it has become evident that something
has radically changed about the Ngozi
of the 2004-2007 era – the effective
technocrat who was instrumental in
negotiating Nigeria’s debt relief and
passionately pursued President
Olusegun Obasanjo’s reform agenda.
With each passing day, it appears that
the hitherto respectable World Bank
economist has stopped trying to beat
the bad guys, but has joined them.
Before our eyes, Ngozi’s
metamorphosis into a frighteningly
egocentric, corruption-condoning and
limelight-hugging Nigerian politician is
almost complete. She adds to these, a
uniquely dark skill of hoodwinking the
international media. While Nigerians
groan, Ngozi is celebrated abroad,
interviewed by international magazines
and sits smug on the plush seats at
Davos pontificating on her
achievements in Nigeria.
It is high time the international
agencies and the media see beyond
the facade of Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala’s
past glories for what she has now
become. These are not
unsubstantiated claims of some
imaginary opponents, but a factual
submission from one who used to
passionately defend and support her
actions. My submission is centred on
four broad reasons which are: (1)
Mismanagement of the Nigerian
economy (2) Vindictiveness and
intolerance of criticism (3) Emotional
manipulation of the international
media (4) Overambitious
personalisation of Nigeria’s reform
agenda.
ECONOMIC MISMANAGEMENT
The Control and Management of the
public finances of the Federation is
the broad mandate of the Finance
Ministry. This mandate cut across all
sectors of the Nigerian economy,
including budget preparation,
designing fiscal and monetary policies
and monitoring the country’s oil and
non-oil revenue among others. Given
these already enormous
responsibilities, the only justification
to assume a title of Coordinating
Minister of the Economy (CME) would
be to intimidate fellow ministers and
possibly take over the role of the
Ministry of National Planning which
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has effectively
done.
Unfortunately, high sounding titles
have not led to high quality delivery
of her mandates. Take the national
budget for example; this single most
important policy document of
government has become a source of
national disgrace – tardily prepared,
overbloated, and un-implementable.
The current 2014 budget estimates
signed off by Ngozi and submitted to
the National Assembly include desktop
computers for the Ministry of
Education at N2 million each (over $
13,000) and an allocation to Niger
Delta militants of N54 billion, much
higher than cumulative spending for
Nigeria’s army, air force and navy.
One would assume the job description
of a ‘coordinating minister’ includes
providing a coherent and realistic
budget for the government.
Apparently not. Where budgets have
passed, government Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDAs)
have been crippled by consistent lack
of releases. Expenditure warrants are
sent in with no cash backing
hampering the abilities of MDAs to
implement projects in a timely manner
and government contractors become
overdressed beggars in Ministries,
chasing their own resources. Dr.
Precious Gbeneol, Special Adviser to
President Jonathan on the MDGs, in a
presentation in 2013 identified
haphazard releases of the Finance
Ministry as most responsible for
Nigeria’s inability to achieve the
MDGs. The impact is worse at the
state level, with frequent stalemates
at the Federal Account Allocation
Committee (FAAC). Frivolous charges,
unaccounted drops in revenue and
archaic accounting systems from key
revenue generators make a mockery
of the entire revenue sharing process.
Nigeria’s rising debt profile, declining
foreign reserves and depleting Excess
Crude Account (ECA) will puzzle any
keen watcher of the nation’s
finances. In a time of booming global
oil prices, the country’s financial
indicators point downwards. The ECA –
an aberration to the constitution has
been maintained by the Federal
Government due to economic
arguments put forth by Mrs. Iweala
has become a slush fund for
managing political tensions between
the Presidency and State
governments. With a balance of about
$11.5 billion in December 2012, the
ECA has now declined to less than $
2.5 billion as at January 17, 2014!
Indeed, Nigeria’s financial accounts
have a direct inverse relationship to
political upheavals. If you doubt this,
pay close attention to the above three
indicators next time Governor Amaechi
calls a meeting of the Nigeria
Governors Forum, or House Speaker
Aminu Tambuwal is reportedly in a
meeting with the opposition. That the
Finance Minister could be blatantly
dipping into the nation’s resources to
support political interventions is
unprofessional and unbecoming. For
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala to claim no
knowledge that this is happening would
be admitting ineptitude.
The Minister, and her aides, are quick
to point to the impressive growth
rates of Nigeria’s economy as
evidence of her economic prowess.
However anyone bothering to do a
month’s research at the National
Bureau of Statistics would exercise
caution in subscribing to these claims.
The Nigerian economy has grown in
spite of the actions of the Minister
and not because of any targeted
policy action resulting from the
‘brilliance’ of Mrs. CME. A deep
analysis into the drivers of growth
limits any attribution to policies of the
Finance Ministry. The economy has
grown because of the hard work of
Nigerians who have developed a knack
for succeeding against all odds
despite the artificial obstacles
frequently put in their way- a key
example being Nollywood. The non-oil
sectors seem to be rising faster than
the oil sector due to a drop in oil
production and rampant oil theft
rather than any conscious
diversification policy. In fact rather
than provide growth generating
policies, the Finance ministry has
focused on protecting entrenched
interests and de-industrialising key
sectors. It is poignant to note that
the Nigeria Customs Authority
recently raised the alarm that the
country had lost over N1.7 trillion ($
10.3 billion) to the retrogressive
waivers granted by the Finance
Ministry. Waivers have been granted
for frivolous items including bullet
proof luxury cars, religious books and
kitchen utensils signed off by Minister
Okonjo-Iweala disregarding the real
sectors that require them.
Perhaps the most damning indication
of Ngozi’s uncoordinated incompetence
is the ongoing saga of an unaccounted
$20 billion oil revenues from the oil
corporation, the NNPC. That the
Finance minister can go to bed at
night knowing that this heist
happened under her watch and she
has still not resigned or been jailed is
a uniquely Nigerian anomaly. Ngozi’s
culpability has drawn ire even from
former close friends. Past World Bank
Vice President and member of
Nigeria’s economic team during the
Obasanjo years, Madam Oby Ezekwesili
has publicly criticized Madam Iweala’s
role in the unremitted funds. As a
Minister of Finance, Mrs. Okonjo-
Iweala is mandated to “monitor the oil
and non-oil revenue of the country”
for which she has failed woefully. Her
added role as coordinating Minister
surely goes even further! That a
coordinating Minister would be
unaware of such colossal losses reeks
of incompetence. And surely Ngozi is
not incompetent, or is she? Well she is
either incapable of her job or was in
the know and thus culpable.
VINDICTIVENESS AND INTOLERANCE
OF CRITICISM
Over the course of her work, Dr.
Okonjo Iweala has gained a notorious
reputation for taking no prisoners.
She ferociously hunts anyone who
questions her methods or sincerity. In
2013, after writing a less than
flattering article on the Minister,
Yushau Shuaibu got an unexpected call
from the Ngozi herself- a rare honour
on the wrong issue- she proceeded to
dress him down. A few weeks later,
Mr. Shuaibu was summarily dismissed
from a 25 year civil service career,
for daring to speak out on the all-
powerful Minister, he is currently in
court challenging this Sicilian style
retribution. In-country journalists
have subsequently gotten the hint,
with only a few brave reporters still
going down this path. Similarly,
several Nigerians who dared ask her
probing questions at international
events have reported receiving a
scathing tongue-lashing from her.
EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION
So intolerant is she about critical
reports by Nigerian newspapers that
in a recent TEDx talk delivered in
London, rather than the inspirational
speech participants were expecting,
Dr. Iweala dragged the young
audience to the gutters of Nigerian
politics. She went off on a tangent
ranting against the Nigerian media,
particularly The Punch for attacking
her personally and for being opposed
to reform because the media dared to
question her questionable waivers. For
theatrical effect, she reminded
listeners that even her mother was
kidnapped by powerful anti-reform
vested interests although the
kidnappers as widely reported were
her father’s former staff. Alas this
was quintessential Ngozi at her
Nollywood best, playing the victim yet
again!
In a recent parliamentary inquiry at
Nigeria’s energetic House of
Representatives, Ngozi’s acting skills
were in full display as she tried to
emotionally blackmail the committee,
accusing them of being disrespectful,
to the extent of releasing a doctored
clip of the proceedings. Were it not
for the original longer clip available
from Premium Times, what really
happened would have been obscured.
Her propaganda machinery even went
as far as playing the gender-
discrimination card against the all-
male committee. Thankfully, most
Nigerians who followed the incident
refused to fall for the trickery.
An effective manipulation strategy
perfected by Ngozi is a pre-emptive
mentioning of corruption in order to
project the image of one who
identifies the problem first. She does
this when she senses a growing
momentum by the public against
corruption acts which she otherwise
condones. This has happened on at
least three occasions including the
fuel subsidy corruption saga, ongoing
oil theft and most recently at the
TEDx talk in London, she alluded to
corruption in elections financing. By
mentioning such an issue to the press,
for instance, giving estimates of
400,000 barrels of crude oil stolen
daily, Ngozi cleverly distances herself
from acts she deliberately overlooks,
while creating an erroneous public
perception that she is the lone and
‘brave reformer’ swimming against
the tide of rancid venality.
One wonders why Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is
so ruthless about projecting this
squeaky clean super hero image to the
detriment of free speech. The answer
lies in who Dr. Okonjo-Iweala actually
considers her constituents. With
growing disdain for the ordinary
Nigerians, professionals and even her
ministerial colleagues, Ngozi has
always found it easier to mingle and
profess her ‘love’ for Nigeria, with
the international community. She
spares no time or resources in
attending any conference at Harvard,
New York, Davos or Oxford explaining
her lone efforts to ‘reform’ Nigeria.
Yet, she is hardly seen communicating
her policies at the University of
Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University, and
the Lagos Business School not to
mention everyday Nigerians.
Consequently, Ngozi has invested
significant resources ruthlessly
suppressing any adverse news reports
that could be seen by the
international community. A well-oiled
and cunning propaganda machinery
run with her media assistant, Paul
Nwabuikwu as the front, and a
network of highly paid international
media consultants at the back room,
assures that the true picture of
Madam Okonjo-Iweala is hardly seen.
OVERAMBITIOUS PERSONALISATION
OF NIGERIA’S REFORM AGENDA
With a consistent knack for wanting
to outshine the master, Ngozi seems
to have forgotten Robert Greene’s
first law of power. This is perhaps the
single reason why former President
Obasanjo summarily dispatched her to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
2006. With the current administration,
she has carved a niche for being first
to claim the glory on any positive
initiatives at the expense of other
hardworking colleagues and quickly
distancing herself from any
negatives. This personal policy of
fair-weathered friendship leaves the
President vulnerable to consistent
scorn from Nigerians and the
international community while Ngozi
scoops up all accolades.
Even more indicative of Ngozi’s crass
opportunism is the recent revelation in
a book by former FCT Minister Nasir
El-rufai in which he details how Dr.
Okonjo-Iweala flew into Abuja all the
way from Washington DC hoping to
become General Buhari’s running
mate in the 2011 elections- to run
against President Jonathan. Shortly
after that episode, she was appointed
as Nigeria’s Finance Minister. No
sooner did she have this post however,
than she was scheming to be President
of the World Bank, expending
Nigeria’s financial and political capital
for her own personal gains.
Effectively therefore, being Nigeria’s
CME is second choice, reaffirming her
superiority to ordinary Nigerians and
her Ministerial colleagues. Her next
move is rumoured to be a bid for the
Presidency of the African
Development Bank, a position also
being eyed by outgoing Governor of
the Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido with
some believing the ongoing altercation
between the two is a proxy war for
this upcoming contest.
CONCLUSION
I have found myself frequently asking
if this is the same Ngozi we admired
on the pages of newspapers between
2004 and 2007 or whether all along the
power-hungry, egoistic and vindictive
Nigerian politician she tries so hard to
distance herself from is her true self.
In searching for answers I picked up
the Minister’s latest book on her
experiences during the Obasanjo years
titled “Reforming the Unreformable”-
ignoring that the title itself reeked of
arrogant self-promotion. Reading
through, I realised the preponderance
of the word “I”. A word search
astonishingly showed over 5,000
mentions of the word “I” in the book.
It’s amazing that anyone who led an
economic “team” could be so self-
absorbed. I also recalled that Ngozi’s
one condition for joining the Obasanjo
government was how to maintain her
World Bank salary to which
subsequently her Nigerian salaries
were dollarized, and that of joining
President Goodluck’s cabinet was that
she would be “Coordinating Minister.”
I wondered why her condition would
not be a tolerance for zero corruption,
or that as mandated by the
constitution, all revenues must be paid
to federation account. As President
Jonathan’s first term, comes to an
end, and possibly the end of his
administration as well, this will
hopefully be Minister Ngozi’s last
ditch attempt at using Nigeria to
build her international profile. We will
wish her good luck in her departure
and what will surely be the title of her
next book; “Coordinating the
Uncoordinate-able”

Samuel O. Oluyemi is a financial and
emerging markets consultant based in
London. He can be reached on
sooluyemi@gmail.com