By Joyce Ekeh
The Federal Government has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to the World Trade Organisation, WTO, and the multilateral trading system, declaring that no nation can prosper in isolation from the global community.
Vice President Kashim Shettima stated this on Saturday during a meeting with the Director-General of the WTO, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on the sidelines of the ongoing BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, India.
Shettima said Nigeria would continue to support the WTO in strengthening multilateralism and promoting a global system founded on cooperation and interconnectedness rather than isolation.
“I believe the world is greater than one nation. We will continue to support the WTO in championing the cause of multilateralism. We are essentially one human family and interconnected. You cannot divorce yourself from the global community,” he said.
The Vice President also highlighted the role of migration in driving development, innovation and economic growth, noting that migrants had historically contributed significantly to the development of nations and cities around the world.
“Nations are built by immigrants. Even cities are built by people who came from outside, not just by the locals. That goes to show that we have so much to gain from global migration,” Shettima said.
Using the Nigerian diaspora as an example, he said Nigerians living abroad had continued to distinguish themselves through academic excellence, entrepreneurship and professional achievements.
Shettima cited a recent Pew Research Center analysis of 2024 US Census Bureau data which, according to him, showed that 67 per cent of Nigerian-born Black immigrants aged 25 and above in the United States had attained at least a bachelor’s degree, representing the highest proportion among the major Black immigrant groups examined.
The Vice President commended Okonjo-Iweala for her leadership of the WTO, urging her to continue deploying her experience to advance global development.
“You are doing a very wonderful job at the WTO, but you still have a lot to contribute to humanity,” he told the WTO Director-General.
Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and first African to head the WTO, began her second four-year term as Director-General in September 2025.
Meanwhile, Shettima is expected to present Nigeria’s partnership and foreign investment opportunities to leaders of the BRICS alliance on Sunday at the ongoing summit, which is themed, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”
The Vice President is expected to use the platform to seek a more inclusive international order while highlighting the objectives of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He is also expected to emphasise Nigeria’s ongoing reforms, infrastructure expansion and efforts to promote private-sector-led growth as key pillars of the administration’s drive to create sustainable economic opportunities for Nigerians.
