World Trade Organization Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said she will never give up hope on Nigeria despite the country’s recurring setbacks, arguing that lasting prosperity depends on Nigerians building a national consensus that rises above ethnic, religious and regional divisions.

Speaking at the public presentation of a book by public policy analyst Paul Nwabuikwu in Abuja, Okonjo-Iweala said Nigeria’s greatest obstacle is no longer a lack of talent but an inability to agree on national priorities that survive changes in government, describing the country as complicated and often frustrating but always exciting. She praised the book’s chronicle of Nigeria’s journey through military rule, democratic transition and economic reform, recommending it especially to younger Nigerians seeking to understand the country’s history.

Reflecting on her own tenure leading Nigeria’s economic reform programme, Okonjo-Iweala said reform is not just about writing new laws but about persuading people and building enough trust for government to keep pushing through obstacles, crediting Nwabuikwu, whom she recruited into the finance ministry, for providing the communications leadership that helped explain difficult reforms, including the negotiation of about 30 billion dollars in Paris Club debt relief, to ordinary Nigerians in accessible language. She said the book’s questions about whether banking reforms actually translated into productive lending and job creation remain central to Nigeria’s economic future.

Former Minister of Aviation Osita Chidoka described Nwabuikwu as one of Nigeria’s finest public intellectuals, while Baze University Vice Chancellor Abiodun Adeniyi called the book an archive of conscience that documents not just Nigeria’s major events but the shifting public consciousness that accompanied them over three decades.