By Henry Young The inauguration of Mr Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. as the 46th President of the United States of America (USA) brought to a...
By Henry Young
The inauguration of Mr Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. as the 46th President of the United States of America (USA) brought to an end an era of drama following the Nov 3rd 2020 presidential election.
Americans and the world heaved a sigh of relief on Jan 20th 2021 when Biden finally took the oath of office. The event was preceded, two weeks earlier, by the invasion of the Capitol Hill building, housing the US legislative arm of government, by the loyalists of the outgoing president Donald Trump, who were disenchanted over the loss of the election by their demi-god.
Following the successful inauguration, congratulatory and goodwill messages began to pour in from world leaders, pledging their commitment to working with his administration to foster mutual development and promote world peace. Our own President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) also sent his goodwill on behalf of the Nigerian Government and Nigerians. According to PMB,
We look forward to the Biden presidency with great hope and optimism for the strengthening of existing cordial relationships, working together to tackle global terrorism, climate change, poverty and improvement of economic ties and expansion of trade. We hope that this will be an era of great positivity between our two nations, as we jointly address issues of mutual interest.
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PMB expressed optimism that when it matters and Nigeria calls, the Biden administration would respond and deploy support. This support could be in form of military aid or intelligence. It could also be in the form of supporting a Nigerian candidate gunning for a global position. In this case, the World Trade Organization (WTO) top job, currently being contested comes to mind. PMB’s message of “…as we jointly address issues of mutual interest…”, conveys the impression that Biden should be able to rally round Nigerian candidate for the WTO Director-General (DG), thus marking a departure from the Trump administration’s rejection of the Nigerian candidate opting rather support the South Korean trade minister, Yoo Myung-hee.
However, the available evidence points out that the contrary may be the case. The emergence of the Biden administration may not engender the much-needed sperm that will fertilize mutual interest and birth the emergence of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (NOI) as the next DG of the WTO. This argument is premised on the following.
First, the relationship between the US and South Korea is synonymous to father and son relationship. Some writers have described South Korea as “an overseas territory or state of the United States”. Established in 1948, South Korea has massively depended on the US for military, economic and political support to find its feet and compete with other Asian nations. Today, it is a force to reckon with in the Asian continent both in terms of technological and military capabilities.
According to Geoff Iyatse of The Guardian, “Notwithstanding the power diffusion of recent years, South Korea has remained a reliable strategic ally of the US. The recent trade tension and the increasingly stronger alliance between China and North Korea have further strengthened the Washington-Seoul bond”.
Secondly, it was during the Obama-Biden administration between 2009 and 2017 that the same Nigerian candidate lost the World Bank presidential race to Dr Jim Yong Kim, a Korean-American physician. He went ahead to serve as the 12th president of the World Bank from 2012 to 2019. Being the holder of most votes at the World Bank (making voting a mere formality) the US president, Barrack Obama said about Kim’s nomination,
“It is time for a development professional to lead the world’s largest development agency… Jim has a truly global experience. His personal story exemplifies the great diversity of our country… and his experience makes him ideally suited to forge partnerships all around the world.”
Despite carving a niche as a leading figure in global health, the US found a way around to rally its allies to support her choice candidate. He went on to emerge ahead of the developmental economist, Dr NOI, a Nigerian nominee. Someone has written than politics is not a game of emotions and in the international arena, nations play for their interest and those of their allies. Thus explains the staunch support of the US to the Korean born Dr Kim even ahead of the likes of the former White House adviser, Larry Summers, Pepsi Head, Indra Nooyi, and UN Ambassador, Susan Rice. Again, we have seen the US-Korean affinity come into play.
Also, that the Obama-Biden administration did not support NOI, partly due to her having same development template as the then World Bank President, Robert Zoellick, could mean another hurdle for her race towards the WTO DG. The US sought a departure from that style, and NOI being a ‘student’ of that school of developmental strategy, the US was not prepared to support her.
In fact, NOI has openly expressed support for the ‘Zoellick Model’ approach of multilateralism as against bilateralism favoured by the Trump-backed candidate, Yoo Myung-hee. In this regard, we could say that both the Obama-Biden and Trump administrations were on the same page.
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NOI could also face integrity test in the eyes of the Biden administration. The media has not been friendly with her. Her reputation has been bruised by the critical media both at home in Nigeria, in Europe and America. She has been faulted especially in her role as the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, an administration that did not enjoy the support of the Obama-Biden tenure allegedly for aiding and abetting large-scale corruption practices, human right violations, extrajudicial killings etc.
In fact, it was Obama who had to activate the spirit of the Leahy Act, effectively blocking the US from selling critical military infrastructures to the Jonathan Government needed to combat terrorism. The same Obama-Biden administration went ahead to give tacit support to then main opposition party, APC and its presidential candidate, which eventually saw them defeat the ruling PDP and its candidate, Jonathan, in 2015. This position, if retained by the new Biden administration could be a clog on the NOI’s wheel of progress.
However, some ray of hope that NOI could bank on to clinch the top job at the WTO includes the expiration of the window for nomination and replacement of candidates, the unlikelihood that the Biden administration will support Yoo Myung-hee, a candidate nominated by the very erratic Donald Trump. Also, if the WTO has to resort to voting in the absence of the emergence of a consensus candidate, its rule of one-nation-one-vote (which leaves the US with just a vote as against the World Bank rule where voting is done by political weight, shares and stakes held) will be applied. In this case, Nigeria and her candidate will be banking on Africa and the 164 countries that have endorsed NOI’s candidacy.
All accusations of poor stewardship and corruption by have not been substantiated yet with any verifiable evidence. Leaked memos have indicated that NOI’s action while serving as Minister in Nigeria were carried out with utmost integrity and due process. Perhaps, this explains why the PMB administration, which originated the criticisms, is mounting the international podium to canvass support for her candidacy.
The Nigeria Government has absolute confidence in her integrity, Africa believes in her resume and the world trusts her competence.
The post Bidens’s Presidency and Okonjo-Iweala’s WTO DG Bid: Not yet Uhuru appeared first on Vanguard News.
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