Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), has said that Nigerians have lost confidence in government.
Abia State governor-elect, Dr. Alex Otti, yesterday, inaugurated 100-member Transition Committee (TC) to prepare a roadmap for his government, saying that more would be added when necessary.
She charged the Abia State governor-elect, Dr Alex Otti, to run a clean and transparent government.
Okonjo-Iweala said the incoming government should focus on “disruptive strategies rather than traditional operational systems”.
She gave the charge in a speech she presented virtually at the inauguration of the 100-member 2023 Abia Transition Council held in Aba, Abia’s economic hub.
She said, “I told the governor-elect that everything we will do would depend on this governance. Nigerians, especially from that side of the South-East, have lost faith in governance.
“They no longer believe the government can provide anything for them. They provide for themselves boreholes, electricity and every other thing for themselves. Although that is entrepreneurial, on the other hand, that is not how to run the place.”
She urged Otti to run a “better and cleaner governance” and transparent governance that should be exemplary.
Okonjo-Iweala also urged Abia citizens abroad, who have the capacity to assist in recovering the state and upgrade development, to return and help out.
According to Rueben Abati, she expressed the hope that through Otti, “there is a unique chance to set Abia on the right side of development and modernisation through disruptive digital technology”.
Otti inaugurated the transition committee to midwife the take-off of his administration on May 29, 2023.
He tasked the committee, headed by Victor Onyenkpa, to produce a policy document that would forge a direction and developmental agenda for Abia State, in line with his vision for the state and campaign promises.
Okonjo-Iweala Suggests Priority Areas
“I am more encouraged that you (TC) have accepted to let me draw from your expertise to assist me. I have no doubt that you would answer this call to articulate the process based on my detailed published manifesto,” Otti said.
He said he has chosen to frontally address the issues of Aba, the industrial, business hub and heartbeat of the state. From there, he would move to other areas, citing industrial hub as one of his selected priority projects for Aba.
He noted that the presence of power from Geometric Power Ltd., former Vice President of the World Bank and former Nigeria’s Finance Minister as well as the serving Director General of the World Trade Center (WTC), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, would achieve a lot.
Okonjo-Iweala, who spoke virtually during the inauguration, set a number of tasks for Otti, ahead of his administration, urging him to focus on power and Small, Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) development among others.
She admonished him to tap into available human resources, digital market, Abia diaspora and run open, transparent and accountable government among others.
