{"id":75027,"date":"2020-07-24T16:07:48","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T15:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=75027"},"modified":"2020-07-24T16:07:48","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T15:07:48","slug":"ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/","title":{"rendered":"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala – A Perfect Fit for the WTO"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
By: Oluwakemi Makinde<\/div>\n
\n
\nIn the cesspool of corruption and continuous A-grade drama that is
\nNigeria, only a handful of names have stood out to tell a different
\nstory, not only in Nigerian circles but across global scenes, too. One
\nvery prominent name to reckon with is the iconic name of Dr Ngozi
\nOkonjo-Iweala, who through sheer hard work and pristine service has
\nrisen to the ranks of a national hero. She is a woman of reckoning
\nacross the world, sitting on many seats without breaking them, standing
\nat many a podium, accepting heavy responsibilities and handling them all
\nwith classy aplomb, thus deserving the countless feathered caps that sit
\nso immaculately well on her head.<\/p>\n

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is not a name that suddenly leapt out of nowhere. It
\nbelongs to a personality that has worked hard and tirelessly in the
\neconomic echelon of Nigeria. One quick mention of this is, to quote
\nForbes, “helping to increase the economic value of Nigeria by an average
\nof 6%, consistently for three years”. This is no small feat as Nigeria’s
\neconomy is considered one of the largest in Africa and had been on a
\nsteady decline. This Harvard and MIT trained epitome of excellence has
\nleft a long line of achievements in her trail and, at the risk of
\nsounding repetitive, recounted they must be.<\/p>\n

Mrs Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has shown her devotion to Nigeria’s progress
\nsince as far back as 1981 when she bagged a PhD in Regional Economics
\nwith a thesis on Credit Policy, Rural Financial markets, and Nigeria’s
\nAgricultural Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
\n(MIT). She has since then, had a 25-year career with the World Bank,
\nrising to the position of the Managing Director, the second-highest
\nposition there, and making indelible waves in procuring aid and support
\nfor developing countries. She also served as a two time Minister of
\nFinance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2003-2006, 2011-2015),
\nCoordinating Minister of the Economy (2011-2015) and Minister of Foreign
\nAffairs (June-August 2006).<\/p>\n

During this time, she established herself as a leader who doesn’t turn
\nup her nose at the mess made, but as one who rolls up her sleeve to
\nclean up the debris. This she proved by embarking on several
\ngroundbreaking projects, including helping to increase the economic
\nstrength of the country, driving negotiations that led to the relief of
\nNigeria’s over USD30 billion debt, initiating transparency and
\naccountability in the system with tools and policies such as
\npublications of monthly financial allocations to each state, the
\nTreasury Single Account (TSA) and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel
\nInformation System (IPPIS). She also spearheaded several notable
\nprojects such as the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Corporation (NMRC), the
\nGrowing Girls and Women in Nigeria Programme (GWIN) and the Youth
\nEnterprise with Innovation Programme (YouWIN), which has been proclaimed
\nas one of the most effectual agendas deployed for economic balance by
\nthe World Bank.<\/p>\n

She has not only clinched remarkable notches to her bedpost on a
\nnational level. She has also gained acclaim on an international level,
\nas someone capable of deriving positive results from the most strenuous
\nof situations. The results of her work in Nigeria, a country renowned
\nfor its complacent and fraudulent elements with a high rate of
\ncorruption and poverty, are only testaments to this fact.<\/p>\n

Apart from her position at the World Bank, this remarkable woman has
\nheld and still holds several positions with international organisations.
\nSome of these include Chair on the Board of the Global Alliance for
\nVaccines and Immunisation (GAVI); Senior Adviser at Lazard, one of the
\nforemost financial and asset management firms in the world; Chair of the
\nBoard of the African Risk Capacity of the AU; Nonresident Distinguished
\nFellow with the Africa Growth Initiative in the Global Economy and
\nDevelopment Programme at Brookings; Adviser on Stolen Assets Recovery
\nInitiative at the World Bank; Board of Directors, Twitter; Special Envoy
\non COVID-19 for the African Union, to mention a few.<\/p>\n

With the endless economical threats the infamous COVID-19 pandemic
\nposes, Dr Okonjo-Iweala, a recipient of several awards and honorary
\ndegrees has written several articles and accepted several speaking
\nengagements with World Economic Forum, CNBC Africa, World Bank among
\nothers. These were steps taken in a bid to give solid and practicable
\nsolutions to the economic and health problems caused by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Little wonder local, national and international organisations all over
\nthe globe have been more than eager to engage her expertise in just a
\nfew short weeks she was appointed not only as an AU Special Envoy on
\nCOVID-19 solutions and a special envoy for the newly inaugurated Access
\nto COVID-19 Tools (ACT) accelerator. She also sits on the External
\nAdvisory Board of the International Monetary Fund and the Presidential
\nEconomic Advisory Council of South Africa and since she has been
\nappointed for this latter role by the President of South Africa in
\nMarch, she has been nothing but a positive influence on the growth of
\ntheir economy, despite the economic influences of a global pandemic.<\/p>\n

This unbeatable portfolio of effective leadership is no doubt a solid
\nlaunching pad for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to head the World Trade
\nOrganisation. She has the experience to deliver. She has promised to
\nwork at bringing the World Trade to a point of unity and purpose and to
\ndeploy the WTO as a platform for sustainable growth and economic
\nrecovery. From the much we know, she is more than capable of this. She
\nis a woman that has carved a niche in a field where few can stand and
\nwalked a path where many have slipped.<\/p>\n

While it is obvious that it will take more than a few well-constructed
\nsentences to achieve these promises, it is also more trustworthy to say
\nthat if anyone can walk her talk with tangible results, it is Dr
\nOkonjo-Iweala.<\/p>\n

Oluwakemi Makinde is dedicated to informative writing that drives
\npositive change and impact in the society. She is an advocate of both
\nart for art sake and art for life sake.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your kind consideration.<\/p>\n

Respectfully,
\nOluwakemi Makinde<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Oluwakemi Makinde In the cesspool of corruption and continuous A-grade drama that is Nigeria, only a handful of names have stood out to tell a different story, not only…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\nNgozi Okonjo-Iweala - A Perfect Fit for the WTO - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala - A Perfect Fit for the WTO - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By: Oluwakemi Makinde In the cesspool of corruption and continuous A-grade drama that is Nigeria, only a handful of names have stood out to tell a different story, not only…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-24T15:07:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Iweala.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"headline\":\"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala – A Perfect Fit for the WTO\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-24T15:07:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/\"},\"wordCount\":1020,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Iweala.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Articles & Opinions\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/\",\"name\":\"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala - A Perfect Fit for the WTO - Pointblank News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Iweala.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-24T15:07:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Iweala.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Iweala.jpg\",\"width\":700,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala – A Perfect Fit for the WTO\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\",\"name\":\"Pointblank News\",\"description\":\"Just the news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\",\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Our Reporter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala - A Perfect Fit for the WTO - Pointblank News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala - A Perfect Fit for the WTO - Pointblank News","og_description":"By: Oluwakemi Makinde In the cesspool of corruption and continuous A-grade drama that is Nigeria, only a handful of names have stood out to tell a different story, not only…","og_url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/","og_site_name":"Pointblank News","article_published_time":"2020-07-24T15:07:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Iweala.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Our Reporter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Our Reporter","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/"},"author":{"name":"Our Reporter","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"headline":"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala – A Perfect Fit for the WTO","datePublished":"2020-07-24T15:07:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/"},"wordCount":1020,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Iweala.jpg","articleSection":["Articles & Opinions"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/","name":"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala - A Perfect Fit for the WTO - Pointblank News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Iweala.jpg","datePublished":"2020-07-24T15:07:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Iweala.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Iweala.jpg","width":700,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-a-perfect-fit-for-the-wto\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala – A Perfect Fit for the WTO"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/","name":"Pointblank News","description":"Just the news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c","name":"Our Reporter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Our Reporter"},"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}