The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Saturday, welcomed 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 the World Trade Organisation.
He said Nigeria and Africa were happy about this new position of the United States, which he said, signified a shift and an important turnaround in the relations between the continent and the US under Joe Biden’s administration.
Buhari made his position known in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, titled, ‘President Buhari welcomes US acceptance of Okonjo-Iweala’s imminent WTO leadership’.
Shehu quoted Buhari as saying, “We certainly welcome the decision of the new US 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.
“Nigeria and the entire African continent are happy about this new US position, which signifies a shift and an important turnaround in the relations between our continent and the United States under the Biden 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. 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.’’

By Olalekan Adetayo