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Okonjo-Iweala won’t serve in Buhari’s govt, even if invited| Here’s why

Former Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said she would not serve in the present administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari even if invited.

She said this while speaking as a guest on Al-Jazeera’s ‘The Stream’, where she talked about the current situation of the country’s economy.

Iweala said there were other capable hands who can run the economy, stating that she has served her country.

She added that it was a great honour serving her country for 7 years.

She said, “One of the things you learn as you get wiser is to talk less as you grow older. I have spent my time contributing to the country. It will be better to live those managing the economy to do what they know how to do. There can be solutions.

“I am not a typical politician. I went in as a technocrat. I think on the continent we have seen a period when the economy was doing well, in the last two years we have been experiencing challenges. We  need to focus on the basics which are macro-economics. You must get the fundamentals like having a stable exchange rate and having  inflation under control.

“I served my country for seven years and it was a great honour. The second time was very tough but it is still an honour. I am not the only person who is a repository of knowledge. There are other people who can equally try their hands in running the economy.

“I will advise young people not to wait for employment. They should create jobs to employ six people or more. During my time in government, we had a programme called You Win designed to support young entrepreneurs. The whole idea was to have a business plan competition.

“The idea was that they should create jobs. And each, created 9-10 jobs. The World Bank did an evaluation of it and found it good. I do believe that the government should come in. We started a peer to peer mentoring. Now, one of the things I want to say is that creating employment is not only about struggles, it is about managing success.”

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