World Bank: Nigeria lobbies diplomats for Okonjo-Iweala

The Nigerian Government on Monday in Abuja intensified lobbying for the World Bank Presidency candidature of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala with an appeal for support from the Diplomatic Corps.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Okonjo-Iweala, Coordinating Minister for the Economy, has been adopted by the AU, ECOWAS , African Finance Ministers among others, as the continent’s sole candidate.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, after a meeting with the diplomats, told newsmen that Okonjo-Iweala is an exceptional candidate, highly educated and right for the job.

“We are here to appeal to our friends to give it a positive consideration and to also encourage their countries to support this candidate not just because she is the candidate of Nigeria but because she is an exceptional one, with various experiences,’’Onwuliri said.

She said that Okonjo-Iweala, a former Managing Director of the World Bank, “is an economist of repute whose impact has been felt not just in Nigeria but across the global economy”.

While appealing for global support, the minister said “that the world will be making a powerful statement in trying to open up to different races and sexes, especially for someone who is highly trained and competent to do the job’’.

She said the envoys were unanimous in their belief that Okonjo-Iweala was very qualified for the job, adding that while some had made up their minds to support Nigeria, others were awaiting decisions from their home countries.

Onwuliri, while answering questions on possible challenges that Nigeria might encounter, said “it is about democracy and what you can offer; we expect that this time the world will have graduated from sentiments, and come together to support what is best for the global economy’’.

Okonjo-Iweala, who served as Managing Director of the bank from Oct. 2007 to July 2011, is vying for the top job alongside Mr Jim Yong Kim from the U.S., and Mr Jose Antonio Ocampo from Colombia.

The U.S. has always held the position since the World Bank was founded in 1944. However, there has been increasing pressure for the next head of the bank to be from a developing nation.