Nigerians petition Yale Univeristy to withdraw Honorary degree from Okonjo-Iweala
A Nigerian, Sunday Iwalaiye has started a petition on change.org calling
on authorities of Yale University to withdraw the Honorary Degree it
bestowed on Minister of Finance and Coordinator of the Economy, Dr Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala on May 15th.
Sunday, in his petition stated that Dr Okonjo-Iweala is not deserving of
the honorary degree as the Nigerian economy has taken a nose dive since
she assumed office as Minister of Finance. A thousand Nigerians have so
far signed the petition.
His petition below
"YALE UNIVERSITY GAVE ITS PRESTIGIOUS HONORARY DOCTORATE DEGREE TO AN
UNDESERVING NIGERIAN":Ngozi Iweala, the outgoing Nigeria's finance
minister was awarded a honorary doctorate degree by Yale University on
May 15, 2015.
The citation from the Yale University reads:"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Doctor
of Humane Letters. You are a citizen of your country, your continent,
and the world. Shaped by challenging experiences during your childhood
in Nigeria, you have made social and economic reform 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. At the World Bank, you made food security a priority and
provided policy advice and capital for the world’s poorest countries.
With wisdom, a fierce dedication to doing what is right, and unflagging
energy, you have transformed the economic landscape of your nation. We
are proud to name you Doctor of Humane Letter"
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 Ngozi Iweala as the nation's finance minister. There
is no tangible evidence of any economic development in Nigeria under
the leadership of Ngozi Iweala in all reality. Nigeria's economy is
still an oil-dependent economy that is debt and borrowing ridden as well
as 100% consuming and importing in nature.
Nigeria's debt profile
has risen rapidly under Ngozi Iweala and Nigeria has borrowed over $2
billion 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 Ngozi Iweala. The recurrent expenditures in the federal
budgets reached the highest levels which made capital development
practically impossible in Nigeria under Ngozi Iweala.
The board of regents of this ivy league school missed it completely by
awarding their prestigious honorary doctorate degree to an undeserving
Nigerian in all truth, honesty and reality. The Nigeria's economy has
remained the same under Ngozi Iweala without any evidence of its
diversity from oil.
The Nigerian Naira crashed to its lowest value in its history under
Ngozi Iweala. 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 makes its a daunting task for the incoming administration of
General Muhammadu Buhari to meet its campaign promises.
The menace of official corruption and financial scandals have both
reached their peaks in Nigeria under Ngozi Iweala. A central bank
governor was fired for disclosing that $20 billion was missing from the
federal coffers and this allegation was investigated in a shady and
questionable manner. The oil subsidy scam that cheated Nigeria's tax
payers of trillions of Naira was coordinated and supervised by Ngozi
Iweala.
