A picture taken on July 15, 2020, in Geneva shows Nigerian former Foreign and Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala smiling during a hearing before World Trade Organization 164 member states' representatives, as part of the application process to head the WTO as Director General. - South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee on February 5, 2021 abandoned her bid to become head of the WTOm, Seoul said, clearing the way for Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to become the global body's first woman and first African director-general. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

Ohanaeze felicitates Okonjo-Iweala at 70

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has felicitated with the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Okonjo-Iweala, as she clocked 70 years on Thursday.

The congratulatory message is contained in a statement in Enugu on Saturday by the Publicity Secretary of the group, Dr Alex Ogbonnia.

Ogbonnia said that the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and Ohanaeze Ndigbo joined other numerous admirers to felicitate with Okonjo-Iweala.

Iwuanyanwu said “We felicitate one of our best; a cerebral modest woman of substance, a distinctive global icon and a renowned development economist.

“Ngozi Okonjo Iweala is a quintessential Igbo in character, ingenuity, elegance and integrity.

“Her trajectory is a veritable testament to the audacity of intellectual prowess, hard work, competence, self-confidence, humility, prudence and service to humanity.

“Our daughter, Okonjo-Iweala is a source of pride. She has distinguished herself in all the facets she has ever set her foot; at the Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Brookings Institution, World Bank and in the Nigerian government, among others”.

The Igbo leading group said Nigerians would always recall with nostalgia, the various economic reforms that Iweala introduced into the Nigerian financial institutions as a Minister of Finance; under President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He said she spearheaded negotiations with the Paris Club which led to the wiping out about $30 Billion of Nigeria’s Debt, including the outright cancellation of $18 Billion in favour of Nigeria.

Iwuanyanwu added that she introduced the monthly publication of the federal, state and local government shares of revenue from the country’s federation account.

“Back home, the keynote address delivered by Okonjo-Iweala at the South East Economic Summit at Owerri, Imo State, on Sept. 28, 2023 still reverberates with profound wisdom, and instructive reflections.

“On behalf of all the National Executive Committee (NEC), states and local government structures of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide; and indeed all the sons and daughters of Igbo land, I wish you many more years in good health and full of more accomplishments.”

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