Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has accused politicians in Nigeria of weaponising insecurity in the country for political purposes, stressing that this has partly resulted in the difficult situation “we have now”.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Dr Okonjo-Iweala, who made the accusation in her keynote address at the 2024 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), lamented that the political actors do not care weather their acts lead to loss of life and properties of innocent Nigerians or not.
“Security has been weaponised in our country for political purposes by political actors, partly leading to the difficult 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 cannot govern, regardless of weather this leads to loss of life and properties of innocent Nigerians. This, has to stop,” said Okonjo-Iweala.
Speaking further, the WTO DG emphasised that security and development are intertwined, while stressing the need for a secure environment to achieve socio-economic development. “We cannot have socio-economic development without security. We certainly cannot have security without development,” she stressed.
While making a case for collective action to stop the theft of national assets in her keynote address, titled: “A Social Contract For Nigeria’s Future,” the former Minister of Finance emphasized that excuses for inaction are no longer acceptable, adding that technological innovations can aid in tracking crude oil theft and holding perpetrators accountable.