I will never serve in Buhari's government, no matter what - Okonjo-Iweala

Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said she would not serve in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, even if invited. Okonjo-Iweala said this yesterday during a programme on Al Jazeera, The Stream.

She said this was because Nigeria boasts of competent people. She said it was better to allow those managing the economy now to do the best they could, noting that there could be solutions to the present economic decline in the country.

“I have spent my time contributing to the country. “It will be better to live those managing the economy to do what they know how to do. There can be solutions. I am not a typical politician. “I went in as a technocrat. I think on the continent we have seen a period when the economy was doing well. In the last two years we have been experiencing challenges. We need to focus on the basics, which are macro-economics, she said. Do continue...

“You must get the fundamentals like having a stable exchange rate and having inflation under control.

“I served my country for seven years and it was a great honour.

“The second time was very tough but it is still an honour. “I am not the only person who is a repository of knowledge. “There are other people who can equally try their hands in running the economy.

“I will advice young people not to wait for employment. “They should create jobs to employ six people or more.

“During my time in government, we had a programme called ‘You Win’ designed to support young entrepreneurs.

“The whole idea was to have a business plan competition. “The idea was that they should create jobs.“And each created nine to 10 jobs.

“The World Bank did an evaluation of it and found it good.

“I do believe that the government should come in. “We started a peer to peer mentoring.

“Now, one of the things I want to say is that creating employment is not only about struggles, it is about managing success.”