The coming honorary doctorate degree award to the convener of #BringBackOurGirls, Obiageli Ezekwesili, by University of Essex, England, on July 12, is a testimony of the woman’s uncommon accomplishment in advancing the cause of humanity. Correspondent, SAM NWOKORO, profiles this chartered accountant and co-founder of Transparency International.
In this age of extreme selfishness and warped orientation, it is certainly big news that the humane attribute of a Nigerian is celebrated the world over. When such a person is an African woman, those species whose lot is thought to be in the kitchen, then the attributes of Mrs. Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili comes into sharper admiration.
The tragedy here is that we don’t celebrate our best while they are alive. But the ‘whiteman’ who appreciates values and the worth of the human capability does not fail to locate the good ones among us. That is precisely what the message the 55-year-old University of Sussex, England, is showcasing by awarding Doctor of Letters (LittD) to Mrs. Ezekwesili. The event will take place on July 12 during its 2016 convocation.
A letter sent to the former Minister of Education by the school noted that the award was in recognition of her “inspiring activities and accomplishments” both in and out of government, particularly her campaigns against the kidnapping of girls by Boko Haram terrorists.
“Our honorary degrees are presented to outstanding individuals to recognise their contributions to arts, sports, industry and public service.
“With the award, Mrs. Ezekwesili has joined an elite crowd of awardees which include notable personalities like Nuela Mole, an international human rights lawyer who led some of the world’s pro bono legal advice and advocacy organisations; and Annie Lennox, a successful musician and founder of the SING campaigns which supports women and children affected by HIV/AIDS; among others,” the school said.
Reformer extraordinaire
The antecedents of Mrs. Ezekwesili as an accomplished public servant needs no much research. The most important thing is that those reforms have been of fundamental value constructs in Nigeria’s institution-building that they have become the global parameters for measuring countries’ performances. And by the time those reforms she wrought were made, those aspects of national life were, to say the least, chaotic: from budget monitoring and implementation to educational policy reforms, to enhanced school enrolment for children, and to girl-child education.
From the trenches of pro-democracy and good governance to development issues, Ezekwesili’s life has undoubtedly been one of selfless service, no matter the cost to her pocket, time and energy. It has been one founded on higher and nobler virtues and dreams of utilitarian value to our generation and those yet unborn. Her brain – cocooned in her low-cut hairstyle – always comes up with ingenious ideas. Her forages into the public domain has been an eye-opener to the elite and the plebian on how Africa has shortchanged her people for long.
Her involvement in social activism instantly draws the hitherto apathetic public into the act, a measure of the woman’s sincerity of purpose and altruism of all time. She may rightly be ranked among great women in history; women who possess the physical features of the feminine gender, but masculine hearts, guts and drive. Her activism in the social space, arguably, towers above that of her contemporaries.
Any African woman privileged to have been exposed to similar opportunities and environment as Oby (as she is fondly called by admirers) would have been swimming in scandals. But not her. According to one of her thousands of Facebook acquaintances, “It is amazing Oby has been a former World Bank Vice President. It is heartwarming she helped other African countries in many of her developmental strides through loans and grants advances. But she did not become a billionaire. She did not steal money from Nigeria… I doubt if there can be any other Ezekwesili in this our shores.”
Impactful service
It is on record that somebody just came to Nigeria and demystified the activities of Aso Rock kitchen cabinet. That person was Oby Ezekwesili when she was President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Senior Special Adviser on Budgets and Policy Monitoring. It was during her term in 2003 that the hitherto obscure office where facts and budget figures were padded became somewhat transparent and its activities open to public criticism. That earned Ezekwesili the sobriquet, “Madam Due Process”. She insisted that public procurement followed due process of vetting in line with budgetary provisions to avoid prodigality and ensure that budget projections and allocations meet targets. Notwithstanding the byzantine nature of the presidency then, with its often controversial face-off with the legislature, it was public knowledge that Ezekwesili was one person the Ota farmer could not rubbish. The accomplishment of the woman as presidential adviser on budgets so impressed the President that he made her Minister of Education. And she did not disappoint.
Knowledge-loving amazon
The boom in knowledge acquisition through private schools, especially secondary education, is to Ezekwesili’s credit. The number of tertiary educational institutions witnessed significant growth. The child Right Act, The Girl Education Act are some of the landmark initiatives which Ezekwesili’s relentless campaign for equitable treatment of the girl child brought about. Her tenure as minister encouraged state governors to embark on campaigns which saw increment in school enrolment in all the states of Nigeria. Policies as well as teacher training were also improved. Her era in the education ministry made it compulsory for teachers to be formally trained as teachers irrespective of specialisation of discipline, and this also helped the quality of education.
Girl-child education, vocational education and skill acquisition, elements in Nigeria’s education sector had hitherto being given only mouthing concerns, were also given priority.
It is no doubt that she bankrolled the #BringBackOurGirls campaigns, an awareness project that kindled global concerns about the release of the over 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram terrorists from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State. But for her campaigns, the issue would have been swept under the carpet like others before it. Any success the authorities in Nigeria acclaim regarding the Chibok girls goes to this woman who managed to keep the tragedy in public consciousness for that long.
Democracy activist
It is not only in the educational sphere that Ezekwesili has given a redemptive service. She also champions the cause of good governance and democracy. She grants interviews on the way Nigeria ought to move in modern times. She says Nigeria is still operating archaic governance methods that are not in tandem with modern governance trends all over the world.
For this present government and its change mantra, Ezekwesili opines that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is akin to the days of military jack-boot.
A proficient public speaker and motivator, deeply inspired in all her engagements by righteous zeal, Madam Due Process knows no class. She identifies with the desires of the yuppies, the elite and the hoi polloi.
Change agents have just that disposition. They draw inspiration from public complaints and worries. They are not much after pecuniary benefits. That is why she missed several international organisation board appointments while she was campaigning for the release of the Chibok girls.
Mrs. Integrity
The Nigerian extractive industry owes its credibility today to the efforts of Mrs. Ezekwesili who co-founded the Transparency International. The Nigerian arm of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has helped waken consciousness about the sleaze that go on in Nigeria’s extractive industry, especially in the byzantine oil and gas sector. She and EITI have been able to waken global consciousness about the criminality in the extractive sector and the long term implication of such criminality to global energy sustainability and Nigeria’s fragile ecosystem. To date, Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has released annual reports on Nigeria’s energy sector up to 2013. Nigerian authorities are getting conscious more than ever in the manner the energy sector is being exploited.
Development agent
Most countries in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) owe their current development projects to the grants and loans Ezekwesili advanced to them while she held sway at the World Bank as Vice President (Africa). Most states in Nigeria too, especially in the Niger Delta region, commenced development programmes to shift their dependence on oil revenue derivation on the strength of the sundry credits the woman advanced to them from World Bank. Even most telecom companies benefitted from her foresight. It is on record that while she was at the World Bank, most African countries had access to credit more than they used to. For instance, Delta State’s ‘Delta Beyond Oil’ rides on the wings of World Bank facilities which the woman advanced to the state in times past while she was at the World Bank.
Ezekwesili, until she disengaged from World Bank in May 2012, was the Vice President of Africa for five years. She oversaw more than 1,800 staff and is responsible for the delivery of projects and economic and sectoral work in 47 SSA countries.
Under her leadership, the Bretton Woods institution committed $40 billion in new project lending in Africa in grants. The knowledge services to countries in Africa were through over 400 economic and analytical studies, including Technical Assistance (TA).
She was appointed Minister of Solid Minerals (Mines and Steel) in June 2005 during which she led a vibrant reform programme that led to Nigeria’s global recognition as a credible mining investment destination.
In June 2006, Ezekwesili was appointed the Minister of Education, holding this post until World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz, announced her appointment as Vice-President for the Africa Region starting on May 1, 2007.
As Minister of Education, she led a comprehensive reform programme that led to the attainment of Education for All (EfA) targets and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). She also introduced the Public-Private Partnership models for education service delivery; revamped the Federal Inspectorate Service as an improved quality assurance mechanism and introduced transparency and accountability mechanisms for better governance of the budget. She led the establishment of the Innovation and Vocational Enterprise Institutions initiative which focuses on the development of skills for economic competitiveness and – in conjunction with the Nigerian Stock Exchange – launched the ‘Adopt-A-School’ programme, an initiative that fosters philanthropy by corporations; community groups and individuals.
Prudent custodian
Ezekwesili began her career with Deloitte & Touche Akintola Williams. She then served as a founding Director of Transparency International (TI) for Africa from 1994 to 1999. Between 2000 and 2002, she worked with Professor Jeffrey Sachs as Director of the Harvard-Nigeria Economic Strategy programme, during which she was also appointed as an aide to then President Obasanjo. In 2003, she was designated Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence. As Minister of Solid Minerals from 2005 to 2006, Mrs. Ezekwesili oversaw the passage of the Minerals and Mining Act, the establishment of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office and the opening of the sector to private participation. She was a member of the widely acclaimed Obasanjo administration’s Economic Team and was responsible for its comprehensive Governance, Transparency, Accountability and Anti-Corruption strategy.
As Vice President of the largest unit of the World Bank, her close attention to the needs of clients, engagement with African leadership and with regional institutions such as the African Union (AU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as well as with the United Nations and other partners has been instrumental in the bank’s enhanced effectiveness across Africa. The bank’s new strategy for Africa and its implementation plan developed under her leadership.
Ezekwesili is embarking on a new Soros Foundation-funded initiative of establishing a public policy centre based in Abuja focused on providing economic policy advisory support for pro- reform governments in Africa as well as the founding of an Africa-wide graduate school of public policy to produce capable and competent public servants for African countries.
She holds a Masters in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos (UNILAG), a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government as well as a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Education from the University of Nigeria (UNN). In 2006, she was given the national award of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) and has received several national and international awards.
She is married to Pastor Chinedu Ezekwesili and they have three sons.