Nigeria needed Ngozi more than the World Bank
Writing in Nigeria’s Business Day, Eghe Isiaka Guobadia contends that the World Bank’s selection of Jim Kim over Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala works to Nigeria’s advantage: the country gets to keep hold of one of its most talented public servants: [A]s the finance and coordinating minister of the economy for a country of Nigeria’s stature, she already ...
Writing in Nigeria's Business Day, Eghe Isiaka Guobadia contends that the World Bank's selection of Jim Kim over Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala works to Nigeria's advantage: the country gets to keep hold of one of its most talented public servants:
Writing in Nigeria’s Business Day, Eghe Isiaka Guobadia contends that the World Bank’s selection of Jim Kim over Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala works to Nigeria’s advantage: the country gets to keep hold of one of its most talented public servants:
[A]s the finance and coordinating minister of the economy for a country of Nigeria’s stature, she already has a prestigious but tough job, which has won her several admirers as well as detractors. The job to head the World Bank where she had previously spent many years certainly would have brought her a sense of fulfillment but will never be fulfilling enough as serving her country at a very critical moment – and helping it out of its difficulties.
Every nation passes through its own critical moments. In these days that there is so much talk in the air about corruption, secession, sovereign bankruptcy, continuing security threats and the likes, all conspiring to threaten the nation’s sovereign foundation, nothing better describes a critical moment for Nigeria than these. Nigeria, in my view, is currently in the vestibule of such a moment and it calls for sacrifice from all, including Okonjo-Iweala. Her experience will continue to be useful in the area of budgeting across all time horizons, and in inducing the desired synergy through effective coordination to increase the pace of economic and social well-being.
To my mind, this was a neglected aspect of the World Bank race. Ngozi’s direct influence on Africa’s most populous state seems likely to be of much greater consequence than globally via the World Bank. At the Bank, her impact would have been greatly diffused as it filtered through the preferences of the institution’s key shareholders and the embedded practices of its large staff. Her influence on whether Nigeria achieves stable governance, by contrast, should be significant.
David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist
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