But no official of the Nigerian government has issued any statement in support of Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who will be interviewed for the World Bank presidency alongside Colombian nominee Jose Antonio Ocampo and the American nominee.
Besides Okonjo-Iweala’s appearance in South Africa on Friday to underline her presence in the race just before Obama’s announcement, presidency and federal government officials, including the Foreign Affairs Ministry, have remained silent, sending curious signals about the real attitude of the federal government.
Sources also said that the denial by Paul Nwabuikwu, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s official spokesperson, on Wednesday does not help matters; two days later, the Finance Minister herself was ready to start her campaign.
In Washington DC over the weekend, the White House started releasing different statements of support for Obama’s choice including one from an African head of state, Rwandan Paul Kagame, a noted and respectable voice in the continent.
World Bank sources said Kagame’s immediate support of the US choice already shows a crack in the African camp, and also indicates the lack of an active support from the Nigerian federal government.
Although World Bank sources close to the Board of Directors who will make the final decision said it will be an uphill task to overcome Obama’s choice, there are many within and outside the Bank who see College President Dr. Kim as a notable development activist especially in the medical and health areas, but who lacks the broader experience that the World Bank President should normally possess.
A top World Bank source said yesterday that the “global development community have already started tearing away at President Obama’s choice,” adding that “if you look at it purely on the merit, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has the edge.”
The decision of the bank’s Board of Directors which is made up of 25 members would be by consensus, although the US and European countries already have a majority. The US alone has about 15% voting power on the board, while Nigeria has less than 1%.
Despite the massive support that the US candidate, Jim Yong Kim, is expected to enjoy among the board of directors, the US government is not leaving any stone unturned in their campaign for him.
For instance top US government officials said Kim would soon embark on a global tour to nation’s capital seeking support of governments with the full weight of American diplomats behind him.
Besides, over the weekend, the White House released statements of support from the US Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner, former President Bill Clinton, Kagame of Rwanda and even Prof Jeff Sachs, who had earlier shown active interests in the position.
In the White House release, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said, “I was delighted to learn that Jim Kim has been nominated for this post, as he is a true friend of Africa and well known for his decade of work to support us in developing an efficient health system in Rwanda.”
Kagame, who is widely respected within and outside Africa, added that Kim is “not only a physician and a leader who knows what it takes to address poverty, but also a genuinely good person. President Obama’s nomination of Dr. Kim as President of the World Bank is a welcome one, and should resonate well with the many men and women who are working to transform lives around the world."
But even among the Americans in the development community, some voices have started speaking in support of Okonjo-Iweala.
For instance the Center for Global Development based in the US capital, which is said to have connections with the Nigerian Finance Minister said over the weekend on its website that “the US had a chance to lead. It abdicated that chance to play domestic politics and put forward a US nominee who is manifestly less qualified to be head of the World Bank than the alternative candidate nominated by African countries: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.”
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