Nigerians ask Yale to withdraw Okonjo-Iweala’s award

Some Nigerians have called on 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.”