Former President Olusegun Obasanjo recalled his relationship with Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo and current World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as appointees on Saturday.
He said they were among the best appointments he made as President.
The former Nigerian leader also condemned “persistent” discrimination against people of southeastern descent, dubbed “Igbophobia.”
Obasanjo spoke at an event marking Governor Soludo’s first year in office.
Soludo was the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during Obasanjo’s administration, which lasted from 1999 to 2007, and Okonjo-Iweala was the Minister of Finance.
According to the former President, Soludo, who worked closely with him as an advisor,
“Never misadvised me,” the economist said, and his performance impressed him so much that he was asked to lead the apex bank.
Soludo was the second Nigerian CBN governor who was not a commercial banker, according to the 85-year-old statesman.
However, the ex-president stated that soon after appointing the academic, he encountered a dissenting voice.
“Someone approached me and said, ‘Wow! You have ruined Nigeria’s economy.’
“I asked, ‘How?'” ‘An Igbo woman as Minister of Finance; an Igbo man as Governor of the Central Bank?’ he asked. Then you have clearly completed the task of destroying Nigeria’s economy.’
“I’m not sure why he said that, other than Igbophobia, and I’m sorry.”
Take that seriously. It remains, it endures.
“But what do you do when you have that type of thing that was said to me and the type of thing that you know is going on, as I just called it?”
“I believe we must return to the scriptures, which state that we must defeat evil with good.”
“And whoever you are, wherever people are afraid of you, you must make yourself friendly to those who are afraid of you, and earn their friendship by being good to them,” Obasanjo said.
According to the former president’s personal experience, nothing wins friendship like being friendly.
He also mentioned Okonjo-appointments. Iweala’s
and Soludo were “probably the best appointments I made while president.”
admin
