Okonjo-Iweala Slams Politicians for Using Insecurity as Political Tool

• Calls for Collective Action to Address Insecurity Challenges

• Says Nigeria’s Development Depends on Security

The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has called on Nigerian politicians to cease using insecurity as a political tool against their opponents.

Speaking at the 2024 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos, Okonjo-Iweala emphasized that security and development are interdependent.

“We cannot have socio-economic development without security. We certainly cannot have security without development,” she stated.

Okonjo-Iweala criticized politicians for instigating insecurity to discredit their opponents, leading to loss of lives and property. “We have politicians who believe that the best way to make their opponents look bad is to instigate insecurity… This has to stop,” she urged.

Okonjo-Iweala also addressed crude oil theft, calling it “intolerable” and emphasizing that technological innovations can track and bring perpetrators to justice.

“All Nigerians must agree that stealing of our national assets of any type is intolerable and must be stopped,” she said.

She noted that oil theft has hampered the strengthening of foreign reserves, adding, “There is so much technology available now to track such theft, and there must be no more excuses for inaction.”

The event, themed “Pressing Forward; A National Posture to Rebuilding Nigeria,” featured notable personalities, including former Ghanaian President John Mahama, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, and representatives of President Bola Tinubu, Acting Chief Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.