At the 2024 Nigerian Bar Association’s Annual General Conference, held at Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), delivered a strong rebuke to Nigerian politicians for weaponizing insecurity to undermine President Bola Tinubu’s administration and state governors across the country.
In her address, Okonjo-Iweala, who previously served as finance minister under President Goodluck Jonathan, expressed deep concern over the manipulation of security issues for political gain. She stated, “We all know that security has been weaponized in our country for political purposes by political actors, leading partly to the situation we have now. We have politicians who believe that the best way to make their opponents look bad is to instigate insecurity, making it look like they can’t govern, regardless of whether this leads to loss of lives and property of innocent Nigerians. This has to stop.”
Okonjo-Iweala emphasized that Nigeria’s socio-economic progress is being significantly hindered by the ongoing insecurity crisis. She underscored the urgent need to address the theft of national assets using advanced technology, stressing that, “We cannot have socio-economic development without security,” and that the theft of national assets must be stopped immediately.
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She called for a collective effort among Nigerians to agree that the theft of national assets, in any form, is intolerable. Okonjo-Iweala insisted that with the available technology to track such thefts, there should be “no more excuses for inaction.”
Her remarks come at a time when Nigeria is grappling with severe and persistent security challenges, exacerbated by political maneuvering. Her call to action is a stark reminder of the need for unity and technological innovation in addressing the country’s deep-rooted issues.
