Nigeria’s former finance minister, Okonjo-Iweala joins Twitter’s board

Twitter has appointed Nigeria’s former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to its board of directors, as Marjorie Scardino steps down, the social media company announced Thursday, 19th of July, 2018.

The former senior World Bank official was appointed alongside an American lawyer Robert Zoellick to the social media platform’s board.

“We’re adding Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Robert Zoellick to the Twitter board. Welcome! Sadly we’re also saying farewell to our friend Marjorie Scardino. She’s been an amazing advocate for journalists everywhere, and pushed us constantly to better inform people. Thank you Marjorie” said co-founder, Jack Dorsey.

Commenting on the appointment, Twitter’s Executive Chairman Omid Kordestani said, “We are confident they will be incredible assets to Twitter as we continue to focus on driving transparency and making Twitter a safer, healthier place for everyone who uses our service”.

On her part, Okonjo-Iweala welcomed the appointment and said she looked forward to leveraging the platform to drive conversations on global issues.

“Excited to work with Jack and an incredible team on the Board of Twitter, a global platform that is such a strong connector of people and ideas. Look forward to contributing to the strong and visionary future for Twitter. As we strive to build a better world for tomorrow, Twitter can amplify messages and drive critical conversations around today’s most important issues,” she said in a statement.

Okonjo-Iweala also reacted to the felicitations spewing out of Nigeria and Africa. “Grateful for the outpouring of commendation, love and support from all parts of the world on the Twitter Board appointment, including from our past leaders. I am especially thankful for the love and support of my compatriots, Nigerians and Africans. I feel humble but excited and will do my very best by God’s grace,” she tweeted.

However, some users criticized the company’s decision to choose board members that were not active on the platform. “Does Robert Zoellick know how to use twitter?” a user queried.

But the company’s co-founder Jack Dorsey defended the decision saying while many use the platform to drive conversations, the company was open to fresh perspectives from new users.

“We get critiques about how active board members look on Twitter. Lots of ways to use the service effectively. Some folks use it only to see what’s happening!? On us to make it valuable to join the conversation. But we also benefit from folks new to Twitter: fresh perspectives,” Dorsey said in a tweet.

Twitter has over 336 million users and is gaining widespread popularity among Africans who use it to amplify their concerns and create online communities.

Desmond Okon