TECH DIGEST – So many people who nag and complain about the non-workability of Nigeria or desire to relocate are only lazy and don’t understand how to benefit from Nigeria in my opinion.

And this is why I had since believed in President Buhari’s assertion of Nigerian youths being lazy.

As imperfect as Nigerias system is for which I don’t even believe it will ever become to what the people I described above want of it, so many Nigerians are becoming great and living well albeit with some patience and contentment which form the basic attributes of living a good life the world over.

You may not be able to understand what some of us are talking about till you travel around and see for yourself how truckloads of goods travel between one point and another with the people in the entire chain making good money and living a good life in their various levels. Such also has to come with very less bigotry and an open mind.

Because we are patriotic and truly wish well of this country and its people, let me today share free secret about how you can live in Nigeria and benefit of it big time; it is so simple; Involvement.

Nigeria likes that you get involved in her activities without assuming in any way that it will be an easy ride devoid of the usual challenges of life that one could face anywhere in the world including Canada, don’t mind the little sarcasm here, the people I described in paragraph one know exactly what I’m talking about.

Involvement does not only relate to politics, it involves everything; business, entertainment, religious activities, NGO, activism and so on. You have to be present in the activities, you have to be humble to learn, you have to give in your all and once you gain admission, your ‘Chairman’ position has been confirmed and you can flaunt it if you like.

If you analyze the comment of the young people who feel disappointed and want to relocate, it is that of expecting a perfect system before they can venture in anything. A perfect system that they see in American movies or that which is propagated to them through social media of which they practically know nothing about. There is no free meal anywhere. Get your mind right.

It was the same imperfect system that has landed Wizkid and Burnaboy Grammy awards while Tiwa Savage grabbed a nomination. They never waited for a perfect system, in fact Tiwa relocated back to Nigeria before she could earn her stardom.

Furthermore, it was after the event that some of us got to know that Michael Babatunde Olatunji had since won the award in 1991 with Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum projects. Pa Michael did not have to wait for drums to become digital before he worked had on his music to merit a Grammy award.

By the way, between Pa Michael’s time till now Nigeria has grown so much in many aspects, ask progressive governors like Tinubu, Kwankwaso and Wike and they would tell you how Lagos, Portharcourt and Kano are far more developed than they were during Pa Michaels time. States where there are less progress are those states that have minimal involvement in the democratic process from the citizenry. So get involved today!

To buttress the importance of involvement without giving any credence to violence and waywardness, you could see how miscreants also end up with attention and perhaps compensations for getting involved albeit in the most negative ways. Little did they even know that they could get involved in so many other ways and still reap the appropriate benefits with less risks and sustainability assurances.

Involvement and appropriate concerns by the citizenry can also help us solve the whole insecurity problem, everything must not be heaped on the government like is currently the case, we have to care for our communities and get involved.

Even people from the religious fronts like Sheikh Pantami and Pastor Osinbajo decided to participate in the system by being involved and today they have used the opportunity to showcase their ingenuities and Nigeria is better for it.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala did not have to be a bigot nor gloat over electoral victories or losses. All she did was to get involved with the nation and it paid off appropriately with the latest emergence as WTO DG amongst all other positions she had held in and outside Nigeria.

Nigeria is 200 million people and more, it is a developing economy and such makes it a major market, if people from the outside can recognize its potentials and come to tap it, what more of us from the inside who have chosen to not participate but rant from all corners over unrealistic expectations that have never happened anywhere without some deliberate work been put in by the citizenry.

Before any of us criticizes, we should first ponder on how much we have chosen a path to get involved in that has not paid. But I can tell you for free that Nigeria does reciprocate with commensurate involvement!

May God bless Nigeria!

Hashim Suleiman can be reached via oneheartnaija@yahoo.com.

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TECH DIGEST – The newly appointed Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has paid a visit to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Headquarters in Abuja.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who was received by a delegation led by CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, on Tuesday, March 16, said Nigeria has enough resources and opportunities to exit the recession.

The WTO DG said:“I think we have what it takes in the country, particularly our young people to do the necessary which is to move forward as to how we are going to create jobs and move this economy in the direction that would support our youths in the future.

“There are opportunities that can be used in improving trade so that our economy can climb out of this pandemic recession that we are in faster than would have been the case.”

The WTO boss added that the country also needs to embrace trade remedies and a digital economy to help Nigerian industries.

According to her, “WTO has what we call trade remedies. Without banning things we can be able to protect our industries against dumping and cheap imports if we use those remedies. We can use those remedies as a tool to help our industries.

“Digital Economy has come to stay and people are doing well there. We need to support our young people to make use of the digital economy.”

She added that this is a big task before the country and conversations must start in that direction and also the creative industry should not be neglected as it creates more jobs for the youths.

On his part, Emefiele said the local industry should be given the room to grow as it would create more job opportunities, given the rate of high unemployment

The CBN governor, however, declared that Nigeria is open to business in any part of the world.

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TECH DIGEST – History is made as Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been chosen as the new Director General of World Trade Organisation (WTO).

WTO members made history today (15th February, 2021) when the General Council agreed by consensus to select Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria as the organization’s seventh Director-General.

When she takes office on 1 March, Dr Okonjo-Iweala will become the first woman and the first African to be chosen as Director-General. Her term, renewable, will expire on 31 August 2025.

“This is a very significant moment for the WTO. On behalf of the General Council, I extend our warmest congratulations to Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on her appointment as the WTO’s next Director-General and formally welcome her to this General Council meeting,” said General Council Chair David Walker of New Zealand who, together with co-facilitators Amb. Dacio Castillo (Honduras) and Amb. Harald Aspelund (Iceland) led the nine-month DG selection process.

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TECH DIGEST – The United States government on Thursday endorsed Nigeria’s former Finance minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the office of the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The endorsement is contained in a statement issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

The statement reads inter alia: “The Biden-Harris Administration is pleased to express its strong support for the candidacy of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director General of the WTO. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala brings a wealth of knowledge in economics and international diplomacy from her 25 years with the World Bank and two terms as Nigerian Finance Minister. She is widely respected for her effective leadership and has proven experience managing a large international organization with a diverse membership”.

*THE FULL STATEMENT BELOW:*

“Office of the United States Trade Representative Statement on the Director General of the World Trade Organization

“Washington, DC – The United States takes note of today’s decision by the Republic of Korea’s Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee to withdraw her candidacy for Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“The Biden-Harris Administration is pleased to express its strong support for the candidacy of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director General of the WTO. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala brings a wealth of knowledge in economics and international diplomacy from her 25 years with the World Bank and two terms as Nigerian Finance Minister. She is widely respected for her effective leadership and has proven experience managing a large international organization with a diverse membership.

“The Biden-Harris Administration also congratulates Minister Yoo Myung-hee on her strong campaign for this position. She is a trailblazer as the Republic of Korea’s first female trade minister and the first candidate from Korea to advance this far in the Director General selection process. The United States respects her decision to withdraw her candidacy from the Director General race to help facilitate a consensus decision at the WTO.

“It is particularly important to underscore that two highly qualified women made it to the final round of consideration for the position of WTO Director General — the first time that any woman has made it to this stage in the history of the institution.

“The United States stands ready to engage in the next phase of the WTO process for reaching a consensus decision on the WTO Director General. The Biden-Harris Administration looks forward to working with a new WTO Director General to find paths forward to achieve necessary substantive and procedural reform of the WTO”.

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