Okonjo-Iweala’s yale award to be withdrawn

Firstclass newsline learnt that some Nigerians have said to Yale
University in the United States to withdraw the Honorary Degree it
bestowed on the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the
Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Okonjo-Iweala had been awarded Doctor of Humane Letters by the
prestigious institution on May 15, 2015.
The institution, while presenting the award to Okonjo-Iweala, had
said, "As a minister in your country, you made social and economic
reforms your mission. As Nigeria's coordinating minister of economic
development and minister of finance, you have tackled corruption,
created a vision and path to long-term economic stability, and worked
to build a culture of transparency."
However, a Nigerian, Sunday Iwalaiye, on Wednesday started an online
petition on Change.Org, urging Nigerians to also sign the petition.
Checks by our correspondent showed that 22 hours after the petition
was created, 2,500 people had signed it.
The petition stated that Okonjo-Iweala did not deserve the award,
accusing her of being responsible for the harsh economic conditions
the country is facing.
The petitioner wondered why Yale University would give an award to a
minister under whose watch billions of dollars in oil money went
missing.
Iwalaiye stated that corruption did not reduce under Okonjo-Iweala as
claimed by the institution but reached unprecedented levels.
The petition read, "This citation from the Yale University does not
reflect nor represent everything that has happened under the watch and
the supervision of the Nigerian economy by Okonjo-Iweala as the
nation's finance minister.
"There is no tangible evidence of any economic development in Nigeria
under the leadership of Okonjo-Iweala in all reality. Nigeria's debt
profile has risen rapidly under Okonjo-Iweala and Nigeria has borrowed
over $2bn in the last four months alone to pay salaries of the federal
and state civil servants.
"Our foreign reserves and excess crude oil accounts have both depleted
heavily under Okonjo-Iweala. The recurrent expenditures in the federal
budgets reached the highest levels which made capital development
practically impossible in Nigeria under her.
"The true picture that Yale University missed is the fact that the
economy of Nigeria has almost grounded to its final halt today which
will make it a daunting task for the incoming administration of
Muhammadu Buhari to meet its campaign promises."
The petitioner wondered whether Yale University was rewarding
Okonjo-Iweala for the $20bn oil money that went missing under her
watch.
He said Yale University would be seen to be rewarding recklessness and
criminality if it does not rescind the award given to the minister.
He added, "To give an honorary doctorate degree to an undeserving
Nigerian by a world renowned university is the biggest slap on the
faces of the 180 million Nigerians in 2015. I am using this social
medium to appeal to the board of regents of this prestigious
university to withdraw this honorary degree that they awarded to this
Nigerian immediately and without any further delay for the sake of
posterity."
Firstclassnewsline.net