Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu, the new Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, on Monday said that she was fully committed to the foreign policy thrust of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The wife of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was among the seven new ministers that were administered with the oath of office by President Tinubu at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the swearing-in ceremony, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, who once won the “Most Beautiful Girl” pageant in Nigeria, said that the country will be leveraging on the African Continental Free Trade Area to encourage and harness its economic potentials.
Asked what she would be bringing on the table based on the fact that she had served on foreign mission before, she promised to strengthen democratic institutions all over Africa.
According to her, “In this respect, I am fully committed to keying into the foreign policy thrust of this government.
“The President has actually made things much easier by building the foreign policy thrust of his administration. The 4Ds comprise of democracy, development, demographic engagement, and diaspora collaboration.”
She said, “We must leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area to harness our economic potentials.”
The Minister also said she would be looking at the nation’s demography, adding, “we have a huge youth population in Nigeria. 70 percent of the population is under the age of 43, so that’s a huge demographic.
“We intend in this administration to leverage on the creative potentials, on the skills on the huge capital that these young people have to bring to the country, and of course the diaspora.
“We have a diaspora that remits annually, $22 billion, we have a Diaspora that is doing so well all over the world, and if we can partner with them and ensure that we bring them into the administration’s initiatives and use them also to forge strategic partnerships with financial institutions all over the world, that will in no small way enhance the workings on the service delivery for the Foreign Minister.
“And of course, ensuring that consular services abroad are much more effective, and our citizens abroad are much happier with what they are receiving, and get that sense that their government truly cares for their welfare. Thank you very much.”
Also speaking to journalists, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole, echoed similar sentiments regarding Nigeria’s economic potential.
She said , “For about the last nine years, I have been working on business climate reforms.”
Oduwole, stressed the need to optimize the AfCFTA for Nigerian businesses and ensure that both domestic and foreign investments are retained.
“We need productive jobs that deliver value for Nigerians,” she emphasised.
She also highlighted the importance of aligning trade agenda with monetary and fiscal policies, saying, “this is significant and imperative; we will prioritize these in the short term.”