Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; A different Brand
Posted by FN Editor | 3 years ago | 818 times
By Onyebuchi Ememanka
Few days after assuming duties as the DG of the WTO, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala was on her way to Nigeria, on her very first official visit to any country.
Yes, she came to say thank you to President Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders of our country for the roles played in her emergence as DG WTO.
Asked why she chose to come to Nigeria first before any other country, her answer was simple... CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME!
This has been the defining character of this woman...her unapologetic Nigerianness!
In an international career that has spanned close to 4 decades, this woman leaves you in no doubt about where she comes from. From her dressing to the way she speaks, every single thing about her clearly tells you that she is not only from here but she is incredibly passionate about it.
This is a woman that left Nigeria as a teenager and studied in top American Universities for her first, masters and doctorate degrees, after which she started her career at the World Bank where she stayed till she rose to become a Vice President at the Bank.
You will never find this woman bad mouthing Nigeria in public. If she has reservations about the way things go here, and I am sure she does, she looks for ways to make her contributions to solving them.
She is always willing to help at home. Go to her husband's village at Umuda Isingwu, Umuahia North LGA of Abia State, you will see massive evidence of her love for her people. I am sure it's the same at her parent's home, Ogwashi Uku in Delta State.
When Governor Okezie Ikpeazu nominated her to serve on the Abia Post COVID-19 Economic Team, she graciously accepted and made solid contributions to the work of the Committee.
What an exceptional woman!
There are some of our people who travel abroad and after a few months there, they not only become more British than the Queen of England, they begin to see us here as some primitive human beings who live in caves. All they do is to tell us how backward and disorganized we are. They won't make any contributions to development here. All they do is to criticize and bad mouth their country and their home states.
They believe that anyone who plays any part in the service of our country at whatever level is a thief who came to steal and plunder.
They see nothing good about home. All they see here are negatives.
They criticize every effort, every project, and every move here, no matter how well thought out. They choose to compare us with what obtains currently in the environment where they live...an environment they just entered and played no part in its development.
These people forget that if all of us decide to travel abroad and make a career out of criticizing our country, then no one will be left here to try to fix things.
Funny enough, we knew most of these guys while they were here. We grew up and went to either primary, secondary school or universities with them and it's not as if there is anything exceptional about them. They are just normal average guys but as soon as they fly out of here, they become Albert Einstein!
Odi egwu really!
So, to Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala and those other Nigerians who do their best to push our narratives abroad and who try to see how to use the knowledge and experience they have acquired abroad as a tool to help fix things back home, and not to make a career in criticism,
Take a bow, all of you.
Readers Comments
comment(s)
No comments yet. Be the first to post comment.
