Time Magazine has
named Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala alongside Africa’s
richest man and business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote to the 2014 TIME 100 Most
Influential People in its annual list of the most influential people in the
world.
The minister is part of the “Leaders” category of the
respected list, along with Chinese President Xi Jinping; US Secretary of State, John Kerry; Russian President, Vladmir
Putin; Iranian President, Hassan
Rouhani; Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo
Abe and others. Africa’s richest man, Aliko
Dangote; former US Secretary of State,
Hillary Clinton; Chair of the US Federal Reserve Board, Janet Yellen and German Chancellor, Angela Merkel were among those honoured
in other categories of the award.
In an accompanying profile, respected global activist and
founder of ONE campaign, Bono paid tribute to the Okonjo-Iweala’s contribution
to achieving the historic debt deal with the Paris Club and the fight against
corruption. He also lauded her for her work as finance minister, stating that
“she’s got one of the toughest jobs on the planet”.
Bono said of Okonjo-Iweala: “Humour and joy spill out of her. She is “fiercely intelligent;
everyone wants her to work with them. I couldn’t be prouder to work for her.”
In her reaction, Okonjo-Iweala expressed her delight and
humility at the honour, following so soon after the Rockefeller Leadership
Award which she got recently.
“I am grateful to God
for his blessings and I appreciate the privilege and honour of working for my
country. I am thankful to my teams that
worked hard to help me achieve. I appreciate the support and prayers of
millions of Nigerians and friends around the world. This is vastly
encouraging”.
Bill Gates, Microsoft
Founder and Melinda Gates wrote a
tribute in honour of Dangote in commemoration of his listing by Time Magazine. Gates dwelt extensively
on the philanthropic gestures of the President of the Dangote Group in the
areas of health especially polio eradication and job creation efforts. Gates
was lavish in his praise of timely response of Dangote to the need for a health
alliance by the private sector.
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