The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was headed by Soludo, who also served as the former president’s finance minister, and Okonjo-Iweala.
Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president, has denounced what he calls “chronic” igbophobia, which is a dislike of persons with southeastern ancestry.
Obasanjo remembered his collaborations with the economics professor and the current Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, while speaking at a celebration in Anambra State to mark Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s one-year tenure.
While Okonjo-Iweala was the Minister of Finance under Obasanjo‘s government, which lasted from 1999 to 2007, Soludo served as the CBN’s governor.
The former president claimed that Soludo, who served as his close economic advisor, “never misadvised me,” and he was so pleased with the economist’s work that he requested him to take over as head of the central bank.
The 85-year-old statesman said that Soludo was just the second CBN governor in Nigerian history who was not a member of the financial services industry.
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Obasanjo was quickly faced by a dissident voice, nevertheless, after selecting the scholar.
“Wow! Someone remarked to me,’ and I was speechless. Nigeria’s economy has been destroyed by you. How, I enquired? He questioned, “Would you rather have an Igbo guy as central bank governor or an Igbo woman as minister of finance? After that, it is obvious that you have succeeded in destroying Nigeria’s economy.
“Aside from what I can only describe as Igbophobia, which I don’t take lightly, I have no idea why he said that. It is still there and continues. So, what do you do when something like that, as I just described, is stated to you or something you know is happening?
“According to the Bible, which states that good must triumph over evil, I think we need to return to it. And no matter who you are or where you are, you must befriend those who are terrified of you in order to gain their friendship. Obasanjo emphasised that this is what we must do.
Nothing wins friendship like being friendly, the former president saw from personal experience.
He went on to say that Okonjo-Iweala and Soludo’s appointments were “perhaps the greatest of the appointments I made when I was president.”
