Okonjo-Iweala to Otti: Make Abia HQ of transparency in Nigeria

The Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has tasked the incoming administration of Alex Otti in Abia State to make Abia State the headquarters of transparency, by breaking away from the traditional ways of conducting government business.

The former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, who spoke from her base in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday to set an agenda for the incoming administration of Alex Otti, in her home Abia State, said that new things must start happening in the state from the first day of the new administration to underscore the enthusiasm of the people who voted for the renowned banker and administrator.

To underscore her interest in the state of her birth, Okonjo-Iweala, who is married to an indigene of Delta State, sent a clear message to a group of 100 egg-heads from the state, including Arumah Otteh, former Vice President of the World Bank, said Abia had now got the opportunity it had been craving to set itself apart from the rest of Nigeria, by tapping into the rich resources available within its domain.

To achieve this, the new administration, must engage in disruptive strategies, rather than the traditional way, attract international businesses into the state and raise the local supply chain, and ensure access to power by looking at how to leverage renewable energy to at least power households.

She also recommended the re-gigging of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), by expanding the revenue base of the state to make it depend less on the Federal Government, make itself the focal point of infrastructural development, upgrade its healthcare by not only investing heavily in production of pharmaceutical products, but also attracting companies, to reduce importation, currently standing at close to 90 per cent importation.

Okonjo-Iweala, whose address, delivered virtually, also told the audience on the type of government that must be run in the state from now on, saying: “There must be transparency in our finances. Let’s set an example in Abia for good governance and financial transparency.”

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