Two-time Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has revealed why she did not resign from Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, despite numerous calls for her to do so.

Speaking about her recent book, ‘Fighting Corruption is Dangerous’ at the London School of Economics and Political Science on Tuesday, Okonjo-Iweala said although resigning was the easiest way out, she was not willing to take that route.

While advising young professionals on how to work in the Nigerian system, the former World Bank managing director said courage, focus, family support, and the skill to deliver for the people kept her going.

“I knew elsewhere in the system things were not going right, I had to focus; Nigeria is a large country, we are talking of the federal level, we haven’t even spoken of the decentralized level.

“You choose the things, and you know what you are doing, and you are resilient and focused in doing them. Holding your head high, and knowing in spite of everything being said, you know you have not done anything wrong.

“I often joke with people, if you want to know how much I have, you can go to the Bank-Fund Credit Union and the World Bank, that is where you will see all my transactions. There is nothing to hide. Above all, I had the support of family and friends, and my family was just fantastic,” she said.

Addressing issues around the call for resignation, the 64-year-old said it was a dilemma for her, seeing she could not solve all the problems, but she knew she would do all the good she could.

“I also understood that I could not solve everything, and it was that dilemma that was difficult to deal with sometimes and many Nigerians will say to me, why didn’t you leave and resign?

“That was the easiest solution. I could have just gotten up and walked away, I resigned the first time. When I saw there was such intense desire for me to leave and resign, I decided that I must be doing something.

“You know when people kidnap your mother so you can resign, they told me to go announce my resignation on TV. They want to disable you so you would no longer be able to work and leave the country.

“When everyday everyone is asking you why you haven’t resigned, yes, I decided that there must be something Okonjo-Iweala is doing, so that is why I stayed,” she added.

The minister, who institutionalized Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) and Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) for the elimination of ghost workers in Nigeria, said no one gets excited about institutional ways of fighting corruption.

She therefore called on the West, especially the UK and the US to stop taking cuts on looted funds kept in their countries, asking that they return such loot to the countries they were stolen from without a charge or with very little charge.