Skip to main content

ECOWAS Endorsed Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for WTO Job


Harvard-educated and longtime World Bank economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is bidding to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organization under a nomination from her native Nigeria while also holding dual U.S. citizenship.


Okonjo-Iweala obtained American citizenship in 2019, her spokeswoman told Bloomberg News, after spending most of her career at the World Bank and living in the Washington suburbs.


It’s not uncommon for international civil servants who spend long stretches working abroad to take a second citizenship, especially when their families have been living overseas with them, a spokeswoman for Okonjo-Iweala said. She’s humbled by the support of the government of Nigeria and its people, the spokeswoman said.


Okonjo-Iweala has a resumé full of qualifications, and there is no citizenship requirement for the job. Still, the revelation of her dual status may become magnified as protectionist sentiment rises around the world and national allegiances are questioned, observers of the process said.


“Unfortunately in this rather mercantilist world we live in, some members might take nationality into account,” said Stuart Harbinson, a former senior WTO official and a senior consultant on international trade for the Brussels-based Hume Brophy communications agency. “It is much more important to get the right person.”


At least two other candidates for the top WTO job disclosed multiple nationalities on their biographies posted online by the Geneva-based organization.


Okonjo-Iweala’s bio doesn’t mention dual citizenship, and there’s no requirement to do so.

Former WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo officially stepped down on Monday, and a total of eight people are vying for the position. Six men have served as director-generals since its founding in 1995. Two women — Okonjo-Iweala and Amina Mohamed of Kenya — have emerged as front-runners to succeed Azevedo.


Though the Nigeria-born Okonjo-Iweala has twice served as the country’s finance minister, she spent most of her adult life working in America, after arriving in the 1970s to attend Harvard University. She lived in Potomac, Maryland, where she raised four children and worked for 25 years at the World Bank.

Popular posts from this blog

#Watchvideo : SECURITY FORCES BURST THE CAMP OF UNKNOWN GUNMEN IN AKOKWA

Security Forces in the state through a coordinated intelligence report has bursted the camp of the unknown gunmen at Akokwa, Arondizuogu after a long gun duel which resulted to the death of some of the criminals and others arrested. These criminal elements have been known to be behind several attacks in the state such as the killing of police men in Mbaise, Aba Branch in Ehime Mbano, burning down of police stations, attack and attempted kidnapping of former Governor Ikedi Ohakim, abduction of Miss. P.P. Johnson, a female soldier in Okigwe and recently the attack in Akokwa that left many dead. It is obvious that these daredevil gunmen have been perpetuating their evil plans unabated until yesterday when their camp was bursted by security agencies. This is another assurance that our security operatives are leaving no stone unturned in the fight against banditry and other related activities. While it has become obvious that the activities of these non state actors are politically motivate
Read more

BREAKING NEWS: NARD SET TO CALL OF STRIKE AFTER SENATE'S INTERVENTION

••• Cancels Planned National Protest Striking members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) are set to call off their two week old strike after a closed door meeting with Principal Officers of the Senate on Tuesday.  Adressing the media shortly after the closed door meeting with President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and other Principal Officers of the Senate, National President of the association, Dr Emeka Innocent Orji, stated "we had a very fruitful meeting with the Senate led by the President of the Senate and from our discussions with them, we are very hopeful that when we table our discussions today before the NEC, something positive would come out. "From our interaction with the President of the Senate and the practical demonstration he did before us today, we are very confident that there would be light at the end of the tunnel in the next 24 hours. "Because of the intervention of the President of the Senate, who is the number three citizen an
Read more

BREAKING: 2Baba Shot Dead In Rivers State

A notorious cult leader and the prime suspect in the brutal murder of the late Divisional Police Officer, SP Bako Angbashim, in the state, Gift Okpara, popularly referred to as 2Baba, has been reportedly killed in a police-led major security raid. The police and other security agencies were said to have conducted land and aerial raids at the identical hideout of the Iceland cult leader and his gang at Idu-Ekpeye in Ahoada East local government area of Rivers on Saturday, February 17. According to  The Nation , the Iceland cult leader was reportedly feared dead after the operation.   Recall that in September 2023, the late DPO was ambushed and captured by the cult group led by 2Baba in the Odiemudie community, Ahoada East LGA.   2Baba and his gang then took the DPO to the forest, where they killed him and dismembered his body. The cultists then filmed him. Another source, Obi, said he saw no less than 15 vehicles and an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) during the operation.  
Read more