* At inauguration of Abia transition council
The Director General of World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Friday, urged Abia State Governor-elect, Dr Alex Otti, to consciously reposition the State as the headquarters of transparency by walking away from the traditional ways of conducting government business in Nigeria.
The former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, who spoke from her base in Geneva, Switzerland, to set an agenda for the incoming administration in her home State, said that new things must start happening from the first day of the Otti administration, to underscore the enthusiasm of the people who voted for the renowned banker and administrator.
To underscore her interest in the State, Okonjo-Iweala sent a clear message to a group of 100 egg-heads that constitute the transition council, including Arumah Otteh, a former Vice President of the World Bank.
She said Abia has now got the opportunity it had been craving to set itself apart from the rest of Nigeria, by tapping into the rich resources available within its domain.
To achieve this, continued, she the new administration must engage in disruptive strategies, rather than the traditional way; attract international businesses into the State and raise the local supply chain, and ensure access to power by looking at how to leverage renewable energy to, at least, power households.
She also recommended the re-gigging of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by expanding the revenue base of the State to make it depend less on the Federal Government, make itself the focal point of infrastructural development, upgrade its healthcare by not only investing heavily in production of pharmaceuticals, but also attracting companies, to reduce importation, currently standing at close to 90 per cent importation.
Okonjo-Iweala, who delivered her keynote address virtually, also prescribed the type of government that must be run in the State from now on, saying: “There must be transparency in our finances. Let’s set an example in Abia for good governance and financial transparency.”