The Director-General of World Trade Organisation, WTO, Professor Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has disclosed the details of her discussion with President Bola Tinubu.
Okonjo-Iweala alongside the former Minister of State for Health during the Goodluck Jonathan administration, Mohammed Ali Pate met with Tinubu at the presidential Villa on Tuesday.
Speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with Tinubu, Okonjo-Iweala said as the person at the helm of the world body, she alongside her team will do their best to support Nigeria at this difficult time.
The WTO DG flanked by Pate said they saw the President and that the focus of their discussion was on what they would do to support Nigeria.
She said they are contemplating a grassroot programme that they could put in place to help the young people as well as women.
She said the WTO would look at the kind of trade it can do for the people on agriculture, textile and even in establishing pharmaceutical industry
According to her, “We want to help them in digital trade so that they can create more jobs.”
She said, “We saw the President and the focus was on how do we support Nigerians at this time of need.
“We all know that things are very difficult for Nigerians outside, everyone is struggling. I’m here myself on a quiet visit. So this was not really an official WTO mission but we’re able to engage with Mr. President, talk about what are the kinds of programmes that could be put in place to make sure that the suffering of Nigerians are being alleviated.
“And we had a really good conversation on trying to look at the community and grassroots programmes that can be put in place to create jobs for young people, trying to support women and children, who are bearing the brunt of some of the suffering in the country.
“We talked about how for the longer term, we need to do that investment opportunities that Nigeria can cease including in the pharmaceutical industry.
“We also talked about what type of support the World Trade Organization can bring. We’re already working in Nigeria with women in particular, who own small and medium enterprises to try to help them upgrade the quality of their products. Whether it’s in the agricultural area, in textiles and in other areas so that they can sell more internationally.
“We’re trying to help them with digital trade. So how do we train and empower Nigerian women and owners of small and medium enterprises so that they can trade more and create more jobs?
“So that is what’s needed now, helping Nigerians to alleviate the difficult conditions that they are in.
“So that is what we discussed with Mr. President and as the Director General of the World Trade Organization, we are going to try to do the most we can to support Nigerians at this particular time”
