Pressure is mounting on both President Goodluck Jonathan and the United States President, Barack Obama, on the appointment of the next president of the World Bank, a position for which the name of Nigeria's Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is being mentioned, but the final nod is expected to be by consensus of the bank's board.
Empowered Newswire reported that since Wednesday afternoon at the White House, US reporters had been pressing President Obama's Press Secretary, Jay Carney, on the issue of who the president might propose for the office since traditionally, an American had always occupied the position.
As of press time, there was no clear candidate of the US government although media reports were mentioning the name of the current US Ambassador to the UN, Ms Susan Rice. Carney simply dodged the question saying there were "no updates," on the issue yet, even though as World Bank officials said yesterday, the Americans have only one more day to decide
Besides, President Jonathan has also come under international pressure from some eminent Africans including Dr Ali Mazrui, who has sent a letter through the Nigerian embassy here to convince the Nigerian president on the need to support Okonjo-Iweala's nomination. A source said the embassy has promptly forwarded the letter to Aso Rock, because according to the diplomatic source, "if a Nigerian gets the job, it will be a great honour for the country."
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