Okonjo-Iweala, who has occupied several high-level positions locally and internationally including serving as the Finance Minister under former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, explained that finance ministers usually have many enemies, including their colleagues and bosses, because they have to decline certain requests. She however said she was very proud to have served Nigeria in that capacity for seven years.
“You have to say no to your colleagues and sometimes to your boss. So, it’s a very difficult position all over the world. Former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, once told me he calculated the average tenure of finance minister and we rechecked what he said sometime ago, it’s two years. Notably, Okonjo-Iweala, who obtained an AB magna cum laude in Economics, Harvard University and PhD in Regional Economics & Development from MIT, served as finance minister for three years and one year as Foreign Affairs Minister under Obasanjo, while she was reappointed as Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy for four years under Jonathan.
While speaking on her biggest accomplishment, she said, “People usually ask me my biggest accomplishment, and they get astonished when I say my four children. It’s not being a finance minister; it’s not having a PhD, it’s not being in the World Bank. It’s just thanking God to have four healthy children who are good human beings.