Letter To Yale University: Withdraw the honorary doctorate degree given to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
"YALE UNIVERSITY GAVE ITS PRESTIGIOUS HONORARY DOCTORATE DEGREE TO AN UNDESERVING NIGERIAN": Ngozi
Iweala, the outgoing Nigeria's finance minister was awarded a honorary
doctorate degree by Yale University on May 15, 2015. The citation from
the Yale University reads:"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Doctor of Humane
Letters. You are a citizen of your country, your continent, and the
world. Shaped by challenging experiences during your childhood in
Nigeria, you have made social and economic reform 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. At
the World Bank, you made food security a priority and provided policy
advice and capital for the world’s poorest countries. With wisdom, a
fierce dedication to doing what is right, and unflagging energy, you
have transformed the economic landscape of your nation. We are proud to
name you Doctor of Humane Letter".
This citation
from Yale University does not represent everything that has happened
under the watch and the supervision of the Nigerian economy by Ngozi
Iweala as the nation's finance minister...
There is no
tangible evidence of any economic development in Nigeria under the
leadership of Ngozi Iweala in all reality. Nigeria's economy is still an
oil-dependent economy that is debt and borrowing ridden as well as 100%
consuming and importing in nature. Nigeria's debt profile has risen
rapidly under Ngozi Iweala and Nigeria has borrowed over $2 billion 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
Ngozi Iweala. The recurrent expenditures in the federal budgets reached
the highest levels which made capital development practically impossible
in Nigeria under Ngozi Iweala. The board of regents of this ivy league
school missed it completely by awarding their prestigious honorary
doctorate degree to an undeserving Nigerian in all truth, honesty and
reality.
The Nigeria's
economy has remained the same under Ngozi Iweala without any evidence of
its diversity from oil. The Nigerian Naira crashed to its lowest value
in its history under Ngozi Iweala. 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 makes its a daunting task for the
incoming administration of General Muhammadu Buhari to meet its campaign
promises.
The menace of
official corruption and financial scandals have both reached their peaks
in Nigeria under Ngozi Iweala. A central bank governor was fired for
disclosing that $20 billion was missing from the federal coffers and
this allegation was investigated in a shady and questionable manner. The
oil subsidy scam that cheated Nigeria's tax payers of trillions of
Naira was coordinated and supervised by Ngozi Iweala. The culture of
official corruption and state resource mismanagement were both honored,
celebrated, protected and defended under the leadership of Ngozi Iweala
as the supervising coordinator of the Nigerian economy.
To give a
honorary doctorate degree to an undeserving Nigerian by this world's
reknown 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.
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