Yesterday, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), conveyed that President Bola Tinubu’s dedication to enhancing the well-being of Nigerians was affirmed. In her capacity as the head of the WTO, she expressed her commitment, alongside her team, to providing substantial backing to Nigeria during these challenging times. Okonjo-Iweala made these remarks while engaging with State House correspondents subsequent to her meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Accompanied by Mohammed Ali Pate, the former Minister of State for Health during the Goodluck Jonathan administration, the WTO DG disclosed that their conversation with the President revolved around strategies to bolster Nigeria. They deliberated on the potential implementation of a grassroots initiative aimed at assisting the youth and women. Furthermore, they discussed the prospect of the WTO extending aid to sectors such as agriculture, textiles, and the establishment of a pharmaceutical industry.
“We want to help them in digital trade, so they can create more jobs. We saw the President and the focus was on how do we support Nigerians at this time of need.
“We all know that things are very difficult for Nigerians outside, everyone is struggling. I’m here on a quiet visit. So this was not really an official WTO mission but we’re able to engage with the President, talk about what are the kinds of programmes that could be put in place to make sure the suffering of Nigerians are being alleviated.
“We had a really good conversation on trying to look at the community and grassroots programmes that can be put in place to create jobs for young people, trying to support women and children, who are bearing the brunt of some of the suffering in the country.
“We talked about how for the longer term, we need to do that investment opportunities that Nigeria can seize, including the pharmaceutical industry.
“We also talked about what type of support the World Trade Organization can bring. We’re already working in Nigeria with women in particular, who own small and medium enterprises to try to help them upgrade the quality of their products.
‘’Whether it’s in the agricultural area, in textiles and in other areas so that they can sell more internationally.
“We’re trying to help them with digital trade. So how do we train and empower Nigerian women and owners of small and medium enterprises so that they can trade more and create more jobs?
“So that is what’s needed now, helping Nigerians to alleviate the difficult conditions that they are in. That is what we discussed with the President and as the Director General of the World Trade Organization, we are going to try to do the most we can to support Nigerians at this particular time.’’
Additionally, Dr. Ali Pate remarked that President Tinubu was acutely conscious of the challenges confronting the populace, and he emphasized that active measures were being taken to mitigate these issues.
“I think the DG has mentioned the purpose of this visit. I’ll just reaffirm that Mr. President is fully aware of the difficulties people are facing, and committed and I think he is doing all he can and with his team to ensure that those sufferings are alleviated.
“That was the main thrust of the conversation we had in terms of targeting those who are most vulnerable – women, children, youth, attracting investment opportunities that can grow the economy so that people will get some succour because the difficulties we’re facing is transitory.
“I think with the vision of the President, there’s reason to be very hopeful that we’ll navigate through this difficult time and have a Nigeria that sees us stronger, united and aspire to the greatness that is in our future.
“So Mr. President also discussed with us some of the vision on health that he has and I think is great to see that health is one area where it connects everyone.
“Health affects everyone from the policy side, regulatory side, pharmaceuticals and quality of pharmaceuticals, the financing side, in terms of financial protection, health insurance, and all those elements, primary health care in every nook and cranny of this country, folks have ailments like malaria, vaccinations, treatment of basic diseases with primary healthcare system, as well as hospital care, which is very important.
“Because sometimes you have primary healthcare. And Mr President is very committed to all those policy interventions, not only on health, but also in all other arenas that will bring succour to this country and to move our economy for the greatness that is in our future. That was really the purpose of this very fruitful discussion with the President”, he said.
