It can’t be business as usual’: the Nigerian frontrunner to be next WTO head

-

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Larry ElliottNgozi Okonjo-Iweala says poorer nations have lost faith in trade body and Covid-19 is chance to prove its relevance.
The World Trade Organization needs to be at the forefront of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in order to help restore its battered reputation, one of the favourites to be its next leader has said.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s choice to replace Roberto Azevêdo as WTO directorgeneral, said trade rules should ensure that medical breakthroughs save lives everywhere and not just in the countries where they were developed.
In an interview with the Guardian, Okonjo-Iweala said poorer nations had lost faith with the WTO owing to its failure to deliver on the promise of trade liberalisation focused on development, adding that the pandemic gave the organisation the chance to prove its relevance.
“There has to be equitable access to medicines and the WTO could be part of the solution to that. The WTO has to programme the rules of trade in light of Covid-19, she said.
Okonjo-Iweala, a former finance minister, said intellectual property rights were softened during the HIV/Aids crisis to allow South Africa to produce cheap generic antiretroviral drugs and the same could be done again.
Eight candidates have put themselves forward to replace Azevêdo, including the former UK trade minister Liam Fox. Okonjo-Iweala is viewed as one of the frontrunners along with Kenya’s former ambassador to the WTO Amina Mohamed.
Okonjo-Iweala said her lack of hands-on experience as a trade minister or negotiator did not mean she lacked the qualifications to be the next head of the WTO and said the real issue was a fundamental breakdown in trust among the organisation’s 164 members.
“I have a very strong trade background. Trade is not a siloed discipline. Trade is part of development, something I have been working at my whole life.
“It’s true I am not a WTO insider but that’s a good thing. We need someone who knows trade but brings a fresh pair of eyes.
“There are a lot of people with technical skills at the WTO. There is no shortage of trade skills but the problems are there and they are getting worse. Something else is needed, strong political skills, someone able to engage leaders in a substantive way.”
Okonjo-Iweala said she had a track record of tackling difficult issues, having been responsible as Nigeria’s finance minster for negotiating a debt reduction deal, and for securing more money for grants and soft loans to poor countries while No 2 at the World Bank.
“It can’t be business as usual,” she said. “It can’t be more of the same. It can’t be someone who just knows the issues and how the place works. We have tried that. Of all the challengers for the job I have the right combination of skills.”
Okonjo-Iweala said it was “absolutely essential” to have the US engaged with the WTO, after a period in which Washington has been unhappy about trade rules that treat China as a developing country and the ability of appeal judges to make – rather than simply interpret – trade laws.
“The US has a real frustration that its issues are not being taken onboard. I think it has a point. We need to get the Americans to stay in and work with them,” she said.
Since it was created in the mid-1990s the WTO has never had an African or a woman as its director general, but the feeling in Geneva is that Okonjo-Iweala or Mohamed are the ones to beat in rounds of voting during which the field is whittled down to five and then a final two.
“Women have the qualifications and the experience but remain a sparse species in leadership circles,” Okonjo-Iweala said. “Look at heads of state: how many of them are women, just a handful? How many women are chief executives? A handful.”
As the co-author of a book with the former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard on women and leadership, Okonjo-Iweala said it was time to start redressing the gender imbalance in politics and business.
“Women face a glass cliff: they are given leadership roles only when things are going really badly.”


Follow us on twitter (ajuede.com) or on Instagram (ajuedeman) for details of the global situation presently.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dr. Vladimir Zelenko has now treated 699 coronavirus patients with 100% success

-
Image
Like our page on facebook @ Info4everybody Last Wednesday, we  published  the success story from Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, a board-certified family practitioner in New York, after he successfully treated 350 coronavirus patients with 100 percent success using a cocktail of drugs:  hydroxychloroquine, in combination with azithromycin (Z-Pak), an antibiotic to treat secondary infections, and zinc sulfate.  Dr. Zelenko said he saw the symptom of shortness of breath resolved within four to six hours after treatment. Do you know that the ancient Egypt were civilized by architects from the (500,000 - 4000 BC) Nsukka Civiliation?   Now, Dr. Zelenko provides updates on the treatment after he successfully treated 699 COVID-19 patients in New York. In an exclusive interview with former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, Dr. Vladmir Zelenko shares the results of his latest study, which showed that out of his 699 patients treated, zero patients died, zero patients intubated, and four ho
Read more

Taylor Swift: 'White supremacy is repulsive. There is nothing worse'

-
Image
  Taylor Swift says she is focused on the 2020 election but ‘I do feel that the celebrity involvement with Hillary’s campaign was used against her’. Photograph: Dimitrios Kambouris/VMN19/Getty Images for MTV After years of keeping herself at a largely indifferent remove, Taylor Swift has elaborated on her political ideology in a new  interview  with Rolling Stone. Harkening back to the perceived better times of the Obama years, Swift said, among other things, that she regrets not getting more involved in the 2016 election, and the way her allegiances or lack thereof have been manipulated by bad actors. For years her reluctance to stake out a claim one way or the other made her something of a useful political totem, including, notably, when neo-Nazis and alt-right trolls  adopted her  as an Aryan ideal. “Firstly,  Taylor Swift  is a pure Aryan goddess, like something out of classical Greek poetry. Athena reborn,” Andre Anglin of the white supremacist blog the Daily Stormer wrot
Read more

ORIGIN OF THE AKAN - Onyeji Nnaji

-
Image
                           Copied from the book, Reality as Myth by Onyeji Nnaji .                        The influence of the Akan on their content nations lies on their population and commonwealth of their sister nations. The Akan are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. Their population is scattered across West Africa and beyond.  Origin of Africa Among this huge population of the Akan, the Ghanaians are more popular, perhaps because of the political influence of the Ashanti Empire in the area. Not much is heard or known about other Akan settlements like the Akwamu, the Akyem , the Akuapem, the Denkyira, the Abron, the Aowin, the Ahanta, the Anyi, the Baoule, the Chokosi, the Fante, the Kwahu, the Sefwi, the Ahafo, the Assin, the Evalue, the Wassa the Adjukru, the Akye, the Alladian, the Attie,the M'Bato, the Abidji, the Avikam,the Avatime the Ebrie, the Ehotile, the Nzema, the Abbe, the Aboure, the Coromantins, t
Read more

GARDEN OF EDEN FOUND IN WEST AFRICA - Onyeji Nnaji

-
Image
Copied from the Book; " Reality as Myth " by Onyeji Nnaji The beauty of the discovering of the Radar Rivers and their channels is that it disproves the western hegemonic claim of the Euphrates valley being the position of the birth of the great river, all the points that opposed their claims notwithstanding. Even God himself was very perfect in His creation by placing them in their positions, hierarchically, according to their birth. The first river that flowed located the Havilah land where there are good quality gold, bdellium and fine onyx stones. Pison was the oldest of the rivers and it flowed through the land of the southern Africa. The second river flowed northward to Ethiopia. It was when Africa had been overtaken by virtue of her proximity to the Great Water that other parts of the world began to encounter the remaining river; remarkable with Hiddekel.  Subscribe to  ajuede.com  to be updated on our posts on dailies.   The major problem towards
Read more

TYPES OF PREPOSITION - Onyeji Nnaji

-
Image
                  INTRODUCTION In the history of syntax, prepositions alongside other parts of speech are considered as one of the esteemed contributions of the sophists (the itinerant teachers) to the development of the human language. Etymologically, the term “preposition” belonged to the group of word class Aristotle, the founder, referred to as “syndesmoi”. Others in this group are conjunction , article and pronoun . They were thus grouped by Aristotle because they were found to be performing related functions that are summed up in binding terms and exposing the gaps amidst sentences when they are not included. As a plural term, “syndesmoi” is a collective noun that stands for the group while, conjunction , the part of speech that binds together the discourse and finds gaps in its interpretation was called “syndesmos” (see Robins, 1968). Indicating the function of prepositions, Aristotle called it “Prothesis” (a part of speech placed before other words in a composition
Read more

Tulsi Gabbard says impeachment of Trump would be 'terribly divisive' for country

-
Image
As many of her House Democratic colleagues decided to back the impeachment of President Donald Trump, Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday said she doesn't support the move because it would be "terribly divisive" for an "already very divided" United States. "Look, my position remains the same. I think impeachment would be terribly divisive for our already very divided country," Gabbard said in an interview with CNN's Brooke Baldwin. "I think Congress needs to exercise oversight over the information that's been leaked. I think it's important this transcript is released to Congress so that Congress can do its job." The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, in the past, has  cautioned against  impeaching Trump. Her comments on Tuesday came shortly before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  announced a formal impeachment inquiry  into the President. "The actions of the Trump presidency revealed the dishonorable fact
Read more

Marine Charged for Facebook Comments Gets Hearing Date

-
Image
  Marine lieutenant colonel initially jailed for posting videos critical of the U.S. military’s leadership regarding the withdrawal from Afghanistan will go to trial on Oct. 14-15 at Camp Lejeune near Jacksonville, North Carolina, the Marine Corps announced on Friday. The special court martial hearing for Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller regards the six counts he was charged with on Wednesday, a day after he was released following more than a week of pre-trial confinement. Scheller, an Afghanistan veteran,  is accused of: disrespect toward superior commissioned officers; willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer; dereliction in the performance of duties; failure to obey order or regulation; and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. The first count — contempt toward officials — was dropped. Scheller was released from pretrial confinement on Tuesday after spending more than a week in the brig. The release followed intense public criticism and rebukes from several members of C
Read more

THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF NSUKKA by Onyeji Nnaji

-
Image
There are four generations…, and the fourth generation, which is the most exalted, is kingless and perfect. These people will enter the holy place of their Father and they will reside in rest … They are kings. They are the immortal within the mortal                      ( The Nag Hammadi, 219 ) O ne of the African homes that colonialism has completely deformed beyond certain level of recognition is Nsukka. Colonialism apart, the most affecting factor to the survival of the meaning which the rich cultural enclave, Nsukka, carries will best be blamed on postcolonial political structure. The biggest harm all these have against Nsukka as a people is that they rubbed her of the meaning of her name; their place of origin; how their fathers managed to come into their present abodes and who their ancestors were. A profound understanding of the excerpt above will open the door towards deciphering the meaning and origin of the people called Nsukka. Also read  Nsukka Civilization: The Peoplin
Read more

EGYPTIANS LAMBAST NIGERIAN FOOTBALLERS OVER ‘FREQUENT’ PROTESTS

-
Image
Some Egyptian fans feel the frequent reports of protests by Nigerian players about non-payment of match allowances and bonuses are not doing the African continent any good. Within the last two months, Nigerian teams taking part in international competitions have protested over alleged non-payment of entitlements by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). From the Flying Eagles’ participation at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland, the Super Falcons involvement at the yet to be concluded FIFA Women’s World Cup in France and the Super Eagles’ campaign in the Egypt 2019 AFCON, it has been one squabble over alleged unpaid allowances or another. At the Cairo Stadium on Wednesday night, where the Pharaohs of Egypt defeated Congo 2-0 to move into the round of 16, the issue of Super Eagles’ protests over unpaid wages was the major topic by some of the fans. Those who spoke with The Guardian carpeted the Nigerian players for turning their participation at major championships into
Read more