Nigeria Reaffirms Support For WTO, Multilateralism At BRICS Summit

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Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to the World Trade Organisation, WTO, and the multilateral trading system, stressing that no country can prosper in isolation from the global community.

Vice President Kashim Shettima gave the assurance during a meeting with the Director-General of the WTO, 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 built on cooperation 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 made a case for migration as an important driver of development, innovation and economic growth, noting that immigrants have historically contributed 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,” he explained.

Citing the Nigerian diaspora as an example, Shettima said Nigerians living abroad had continued to distinguish themselves through education, enterprise and professional achievement.

He cited a recent Pew Research Center analysis of 2024 US Census Bureau data, which showed that 67 per cent of Nigerian-born Black immigrants aged 25 and above in the United States held at least a bachelor’s degree, the highest proportion among the major Black immigrant groups examined.

The Vice President also commended Okonjo-Iweala for her leadership of the WTO and urged her to continue deploying her experience in the service of 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.

(Channels NEWS)