The Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called on the authorities of Yale University, USA to ignore the petition by one Mr. Sunday Iwalaiye requesting them to withdraw the honourary doctorate degree recently awarded the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

A statement signed by NANS President, Comrade Tijani Usman, stressed that the call was ill motivated by some perceived enemies of the state. NANS maintained that the award conferred on Dr. Okonjo-Iweala by the institution was a well deserved one, adding that the basis that was cited by the institution for the award perfectly describe their perception and understanding of what she has done as regards the reshaping Nigerian economy.

The student’s body why regretting that the petitioners has turned a blind eye to all the achievements made by the minister noted that it was clear from their findings that it was done in bad taste.

“From our investigations, we have come to the conclusion that this is a politically sponsored campaign against one of our most outstanding and distinguished Nigerians.

“We the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, totally and unequivocally condemn the said act, the initiator and the vested political interests that are behind the act, and also call on the authorities of the Yale University to totally disregard the said petition.

“The position of Sunday Iwalaiye, and the mobilised and paid signatures that are being promoted by highly political and compromised media platforms like Sahara Reporters does not reflect the opinions of majority of Nigerians.

“We are aware that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as the Coordinating Minister for the Nigerian Economy, has been able to build strong institutions like the Development Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company and the Sovereign Wealth Authority, that are already powering the growth of the Nigerian economy.

“We are also aware that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala implemented an electronic personnel management system which has stopped corruption in the multi billion naira corruptions that hitherto existed in the Nigerian civil service by weeding out over 60,000 ghost workers.

“This singular initiative has saved the country over N200 billion. We know that this is significant because it means that the country has lost trillions within the over five decades of the life of this country. The strength of this initiative far exceeds the total monies recovered from corrupt officials in the entire history of legally fighting corruption in Nigeria,” NANS said.

The student’s body further stated that Okonjo-Iweala has helped greatly to reduce the unemployment level in Nigeria through smart programs and policies like YouWin, Graduate Internship programmes, among others.