“We cannot have socio-economic development without security. We certainly cannot have security without development
By Abdulrahman Aliagan, Abuja
In a scathing rebuke, the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has urged Nigerian politicians to stop using insecurity as a political weapon against their opponents.
Delivering the keynote address at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos on Sunday, Okonjo-Iweala minced no words in her criticism of the practice.
“We cannot have socio-economic development without security. We certainly cannot have security without development,” the former Nigerian finance minister stated emphatically.
“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.”
Okonjo-Iweala lambasted politicians who she said believe “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,” she declared.
The WTO chief also took aim at the scourge of oil theft, which she said has seriously undermined the country’s economic and financial health, hampering the strengthening of foreign reserves.
“Nigerians have seen for years how organized crude oil theft on a massive scale seriously undermines the economic and financial health of the country,” Okonjo-Iweala stated. “All Nigerians must agree that stealing of our national assets of any type is intolerable and must be stopped.”
Highlighting the available technological solutions to track such theft, Okonjo-Iweala said “there must be no more excuses for inaction.”
The event, themed “Pressing Forward; A National Posture to Rebuilding Nigeria,” brought together eminent personalities from Nigeria and abroad to address the country’s pressing challenges.