MINISTER of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy of Nigeria, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and a host of others, have been honoured by Time Magazine at a gala in New York.
Okonjo-Iweala and others were last week named to the Time Magazine yearly list of 100 most influential people in the world.
The minister was named in the “Leaders” category, which features Presidents and Prime Ministers such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Shinzo Abe of Japan, Xi Jinping of China, President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Nerandra Modi of India and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani.
Described as the “Guardian of Nigeria’s Public Funds”, the minister whose profile was written by world acclaimed musician Bono was hailed for taking up “one of the toughest jobs on the planet.”
In her response, Okonjo-Iweala stated: “I am delighted and honoured to be included in this August list. I could not be happier that someone of Bono’s distinction, a lover of Africa, wrote about me.
“I am grateful to God that two Nigerians were recognised this year. It is wonderful for Nigeria. I see that other Africans were also recognised. So, I think it is a measure of where our continent is heading despite all our challenges.”
As TIME has described the list in the past, “they’re scientists, they’re thinkers, they’re philosophers, they’re leaders, they’re icons, they’re artists, they’re visionaries.
People who are using their ideas, their visions, their actions to transform the world and have an effect on a multitude of people.”
Source: Guardian
