The Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has expressed deep concern over the recent abductions of pupils and teachers in Kaduna and Sokoto States respectively.
Speaking at the launch of the 2024 Technical Assistance and Trade Support programmes for Nigeria, an initiative of the WTO, World Bank, and International Trade Centre (ITC), she called on security authorities to ensure the immediate rescue of the missing persons.
“It’s always wonderful to be back home in Nigeria. But I must confess that while I am happy, I am also sad. I am sad because I am here at a time when once more hundreds of our school children and teachers have been abducted,” she said.
She also urged the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to do everything possible to ensure the safe return of all the missing persons.
“As a mother, grandmother, educator and someone for whom education is paramount for creating economic opportunity, I am very sad and with the representative of my brother, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu here, I hope he can be able to recover them very soon in Kaduna and Sokoto.”
Okonjo-Iweala reiterated the importance of education in creating economic opportunities for the people.
She also disclosed WTO’s latest interventions, which aim to support the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment, the federal government, and the states in their efforts to diversify the economy.
“We all know the story about Nigeria being a significant exporter of palm kernel, groundnuts, palm oil, cotton, and cocoa in the past– but again we all know, the
To tackle these problems, Okonjo-Iweala said the new programme seeks to develop the “capacities of stakeholders across the sesame and cowpeas value chains to better understand market access requirements, to improve agricultural practices such as pesticide application, hygiene techniques, harvest and post-harvest methods, and food safety.”
