I think Okonjo Iweala should resign now - Bayo Olupohunda

She was recently listed as one of the most powerful women in the world. Her name conjures up the image of an Amazon who symbolises excellence and the height of intellectual achievement.

She is by no means a role model and a worthy example of the level Nigerian women can attain if given the opportunity to excel. There is also no doubt that the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is one of Nigeria's proud exports. One cannot but admire her simplicity and self-effacing demeanour. Personally, I am in awe of her spartan fashion style.

It portrays a woman not given to vanities or the mundane. For someone who has achieved global acclaim, one would expect her to wear her achievements like a diadem as most Nigerians of even lesser status are won't to do. But not so for our finance minister who is found to usually spot her simple Ankara fabric and trademark round head tie jauntily placed on her head. She seems not to take herself too seriously.

That Okonjo-Iweala is loved and spoken of in fond terms by ordinary Nigerians is also not in doubt. This outpouring of love was displayed in 2012 when she contested the position of the President of the World Bank. Many Nigerians rooted for her. Her quest to be African's first woman to head the Breton Wood institution became a national obsession. With the media rooting for her candidacy, her fellow citizens thought she was qualified to lead the foremost global financial institution. When she lost, Africa was disappointed. Prior to her 2003 appointment by Obasanjo as finance minister and head of the Economic Management Team, only a few Nigerians knew her. As a finance minister, she was known to have tenaciously used her influence to negotiate a deal with the Paris Club to pay a portion of Nigeria's external debt (US $12bn) in return for an $18bn debt write-off. Her role in the deal was widely acknowledged.

During this time, the Harvard-trained economist was also known for her insistence on accountability in public spending and budgeting. Among many of her well-known achievements was the practice of publishing each state and local government's monthly financial allocations in the newspapers. This went a long way in increasing transparency in governance. She was also instrumental in helping Nigeria obtain its first ever sovereign credit rating (of BB minus) from Fitch and Standard & Poor's. Nigeria then was considered as having defaulted on its sovereign debt in 1983 (debt rescheduling is considered a type of default by rating agencies).

In spite of the controversy that beclouded her removal by Obasanjo, Okonjo-Iweala left with her reputation intact as one of Nigeria's most hard-working and celebrated ministers of that era. She returned to the World Bank having been appointed as the Managing Director in 2007. To underscore the importance of the role she played in her first term, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed her as Minister of Finance with an expanded portfolio as the Coordinating Minister for the Economy in 2011.

But how well has she performed in her second coming? Has the Jonathan administration provided the enabling environment for her economic policies to impact positively on the economy? As a coordinating minister, Okonjo-Iweala has extensive influence in shaping the direction of Jonathan's economic team and the transformation agenda. But that is as far as it goes. In this largely corrupt administration, she has shouted herself hoarse on the need to reduce Nigeria's bourgeoning recurrent expenditure which accounts for a large chunk of the national budget.