Most southeasterners have lost faith in governance –Okonjo-Iweala
The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said many Nigerians, especially those from the South-East, have lost hope in governance.
She charged the Abia State governor-elect, Dr Alex Otti, to run a clean and transparent government.
Okonjo-Iweala said the incoming government should focus on “disruptive strategies rather than traditional operational systems”.
She gave the charge in a speech she presented virtually at the inauguration of the 100-member 2023 Abia Transition Council held in Aba, Abia’s economic hub.
She said, “I told the governor-elect that everything we will do would depend on this governance. Nigerians, especially from that side of the South-East, have lost faith in governance.
“They no longer believe the government can provide anything for them. They provide for themselves boreholes, electricity and every other thing for themselves. Although that is entrepreneurial, on the other hand, that is not how to run the place.”
She urged Otti to run a “better and cleaner governance” and transparent governance that should be exemplary.
Okonjo-Iweala also urged Abia citizens abroad, who have the capacity to assist in recovering the state and upgrade development, to return and help out.
She expressed the hope that through Otti, “there is a unique chance to set Abia on the right side of development and modernisation through disruptive digital technology”.
Otti inaugurated the transition committee to midwife the take-off of his administration on May 29, 2023.
He tasked the committee, headed by Victor Onyenkpa, to produce a policy document that would forge a direction and developmental agenda for Abia State, in line with his vision for the state and campaign promises.
