Oby Ezekwesili At 60: An Attestation - Latest News
From the Due Process Office, I appointed Oby a minister in charge of solid minerals. At that period, illegal mining was being carried out in several parts of Nigeria and most of the people in the business I shared my frustration with said we needed to put in place the requisite regulation. They also suggested that we needed someone tough to handle that ministry. So, knowing Oby very well, I could not see a more perfect fit for the sector.
After we had gone far in our transformation reforms in the Ministry of Solid Minerals, I realised that we had not done much in education. At that time, I knew that the Ministry of Education required reforms and the three people that I thought I could use were already heavily involved in other things. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was still in finance, Nasir el-Rufai was handling the Federal Capital Territory, which had almost been destroyed with deviation from the original master plan.
As President, I tried to expose some of the brightest talents I had in government to opportunities available to be the best they could possibly be. Without any doubt, Oby was one of the best talents I had working with me. On a lighter note, when Oby worked with me, she was quite young, but very intelligent. There were three of them at that time that used to drag age, and I enjoyed their banters: Oby, Frank Nweke and Nenadi Usman. The three of them were under 40 and then in council.
I recall when Oby informed me that she was given a job at the World Bank, I did not want her to go because I really needed her. But then I said to myself, “Let her go, it may be part of Nigeria’s contribution to global development, especially in Africa.” She went to the World Bank and did her best. She was, for me, one of the best from Africa.
Now that she is 60, she should look at what she has done in the past and what God has enabled her to do and give thanks, while preparing herself for the future. She is still a young lady. My prayer is that God’s grace will continue to abound in her.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
No govt can solve all country's problems - EzekwesiliFormer Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, on Thursday, said no single government was capable of solving all the problems of the country alone.
Read more »
Ezekwesili At 60, Tasks Women On Leadership, Career DevelopmentA former vice president of the World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili, has tasked girls and young women to aspire for leadership positions from early stages of their
Read more »
Ezekwesili At 60, Tasks Women On Leadership, Career DevelopmentA former vice president of the World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili, has tasked girls and young women to aspire for leadership positions from early stages of their
Read more »
No govt can solve all country's problems - EzekwesiliFormer Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, on Thursday, said no single government was capable of solving all the problems of the country alone.
Read more »
Tears, encomium as first North female plastic surgeon dies at 60The first female plastic surgeon in Northern Nigeria, Dr Halima Rabeh-David, has died.
Read more »
Nigeria has highest number of collapsed buildings in Africa, says SON DGDirector General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Farouk Salim, yesterday, said that Nigeria had witnessed a disturbing increase in cases of building collapse over the years. He noted that statistics have shown that there are over 221 cases in Nigeria, making it the topmost country in Africa with the highest number of building collapse, adding that Lagos State alone constitutes 60 per cent of the cases.
Read more »