I want Nigeria to work, not because I cannot leave as most of my friends have, but because I understand that Nigeria is the only place on this earth where I can be whole - a first-class citizen. A few days ago, someone said that “although Kemi Badenoch might be British, she can never be an English woman” and many people failed to understand what that meant. Dr Okonji-Iweala’s path to being Director-General of the World Trade Organisation is a perfect explanation of that statement. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a dual citizen of Nigeria and the United States. She studied, worked and has lived in the US for several years however, that didn’t make her “American” enough, even with her US citizenship. The US opposed her candidacy when she declared her intention to become the DG. She ran back to Nigeria and President Buhari accepted that Nigeria would sponsor her candidacy. President Buhari actively supported Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy through diplomatic channels, with backing from Nigeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various African and international allies. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the leader of the major opposition party in Nigeria at that time also joined in on those diplomatic missions to sell Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy. Nigeria was fully onboard! The US government chose to support Britain’s former international trade secretary Liam Fox. When Fox failed to make the final shortlist as the number of candidates was whittled down from five to two, the President Trump administration refused to back Dr Okonjo-Iweala, their citizen and went for South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee. The excuse of the US government was that the WTO needed reforms. Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s campaign promised reforms while Yoo Myung-hee was more of a “status quo” candidate. Eventually, after Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy gained momentum and international support, the US government (now under the President Biden administration) reversed its stance and eventually supported her emergence as DG. If Dr Okonjo-Iweala had burned her roots (her Nigerian citizenship), she wouldn’t have emerged as DG cos the US wouldn’t have sponsored her candidacy to begin with.