By Asmau Ahmad
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has described as welcome development the pronouncement of the Office of the United States Trade Representative, signifying withdrawal of the country’s objection to the emergence of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Director General of World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Buhari made stated this in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu.
President Buhari had been at the vanguard of the campaign for the emergence of Okonjo-Iweala as the Director General of the WTO.
“We certainly welcome the decision of the new U.S. administration to remove the last obstacle in the path of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala to becoming the first female and the first person of African descent to lead the organisation,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria and the entire African continent are happy about this new U.S. position, “which signifies a shift and an important turnaround in the relations between our continent and the United States under President Joe Biden’s administration.”
“Today, we see that the United States stands with Nigeria and Africa with the acceptance of our widely respected citizen, Okonjo-Iweala to lead the WTO.”
Buhari added that Nigeria looks forward to working closely with Biden led administration with a view to addressing all issues of common interests to both countries.
“We look forward to working very closely with the new U.S. administration on this and all issues of common interests, especially in such areas as accelerated economic growth, fight against terrorism and deepening progress on development issues.’’
The United States government announced its endorsement of Okonjo-Iweala in a statement by its office of trade representative on February.
