Okonjo-Iweala to governors-elect: You need to rebuild broken trust through your policies. We must manage our country better

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade
Organisation (WTO), says nation-building is impossible without trust.

Okonjo-Iweala spoke on Monday at an induction organised for
elected governors in Abuja.

Okonjo-Iweala said “a lot of trust” was broken following the
general election and that no government can achieve growth and progress
“without first of all building trust”.

“If taking the wider global context into account is one prerequisite
for successful nation-building, another prerequisite is trust and a sense of
common purpose,” she said.

 “I remain convinced
that a better future is within our collective grasp. But to move ahead and
seize it, we will need political and business leaders at the state and national
levels to form a compact in pursuit of pro-growth and pro-development policies.

“We ought to be seeking to double our growth rate and
sustain that higher growth until we attain upper middle-income status. We can
also aim to double Nigeria’s share of world trade from 0.33% to 0.66% within a
decade. To build such a compact, we need trust.

“Nation-building is impossible in the absence of trust —
perhaps especially so in Nigeria. Even before independence, the generation of
leaders that led us to freedom identified how important trust would be to our
nation’s success.

 “Honourable
governors, let us be candid: trust in Nigeria has always been fragile but
following the election, a lot of trust has been broken.

“Nigeria is a country with no social contract, meaning that
Nigerian political leaders have never been able to agree with each other to
stick to a common set of principles, values, and policies that consistently
deliver for their citizens regardless of ethnic group or political persuasion.”

The WTO DG said the governors-elect need to rebuild trust
through their policies and programmes to regain the support of Nigerians.

“Excellencies, you have a lot of healing to do — within your
states, and between them. Through your words, deeds, and policies, you need to
demonstrate to Nigerians that they are equally loved. That they can settle and
do business in any part of the country without fear. I love Nigeria deeply and
I want to feel welcome in any part of this country,” she said.

“Just as different states need to rebuild perceptions among
people across Nigeria, we collectively need to rebuild the Nigerian brand in
the wider regional and international economy.

“Narratives about countries matter for capital allocation
decisions — especially for emerging markets and developing economies. When we
have presented a positive story in the past, backed by a credible reform
trajectory, foreign investment has followed.

“When we have shown that we are cognizant that we account
for around 70% of the West African sub-region’s GDP and 23% of sub-Saharan
Africa’s GDP, and we have run our country and economy responsibly to benefit
not just us, but the region and sub-region, we have garnered respect.

“We must continue to recognize that Nigeria has an outsize
role to play at home and abroad and we must manage our country better not just
for ourselves but also for the rest of Africa.”