Former Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has alleged that the military accused her of being responsible for Boko Haram’s take over of some areas in the North East in 2014.
Okonjo-Iweala recalled how she was accused of refusing to give out operational funds, sending her team into panic mode.
She noted this in Washington DC at a signing event for the launch of her book ‘Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines’, held at The Politics and Prose.
According to her, “I remember a time when the Army said, and it is in the book, that the Ministry of Finance was withholding resources and therefore they were not able to fight Boko Haram, and it was in the papers.
“People in my ministry panicked and said you have to do something because that is a really serious charge. And I had to go out to the media and give all the figures of all we had disbursed.
“So, other people not just me suffered a lot. So, we have to be willing. If you don’t have willing people who are ready to fight, then you can’t even have the strengthening of the institutions. If you strengthen the judiciary and you don’t have strong incorruptible judges, what is going to happen?
“If you don’t have people who will put their neck on the line to say we shan’t discuss this or we can’t do that, or we can’t allow the sources from the budget to be used for certain things, what will happen?”
Furthermore, she said: “So I’m just encouraging people, especially from developing countries, to have the will to fight, and those in the international community to have the will to put up instruments and back those people.
“Let them know that if they need to run out, they have somewhere to go. So, if you want to start up something that is a project for you, start a fund to support these people. Let’s find institutions, anyone that will house the fellowships that will support these people.”
