Delegates held the fort at Nigeria’s booth during the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) on Wednesday — pending the arrival of government officials.
The conference will run from August 20 to 22 at the Pacifico
Yokohama, Japan.
Idris Bello, one of the delegates, said he felt compelled to
act after repeated questions from Japanese attendees who identified him as a
Nigerian thanks to his outfit.
“I hate to show negative things about Nigeria but it is sad
that Nigeria is the only unmanned booth at TICAD9 in Japan,” he tweeted.
“Upon all the folks who probably got estacode for coming to
Japan, only God knows how many Japanese folks have asked me about the unmanned
booth seeing my dressing.
“So ashamed I have now designated myself as Honorary Consul
and taken over the booth to engage visitors.”
Bello’s post was accompanied by photos showing the vacant
stall emblazoned with Nigeria’s colours and insignia, as well as a picture of
him posing with an Asian attendee.
In a video, he showed how booths from other countries
including Cameroon, Togo, Senegal, and Sierra Leone buzzed with attraction
while Nigeria’s stood forlorn.
Later, Ola Brown, HealthCap Africa founder, noted that she
joined Idris in the task of unofficially representing the country.
Bello with Japanese-Nigerians at the booth
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| Bello engaging a delegate making enquiry on Nigeria |
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| Bello with more delegates who came to the booth to make enquiries about investing in Nigeria |
Bello with some members of the Nigerian Union in Japan
“Had an interesting time manning the Nigeria booth today
with Idris. Unfortunately, the booth was left unstaffed by the Nigerian public
sector team, but we still had engaging conversations with academics, private
business owners, and NGOs who asked great questions,” Brown noted.
‘BOOTH NOT OFFICIALLY OPEN’
When TheCable contacted Kimiebi Ebienfa, spokesperson of the
ministry of foreign affairs, he baulked at reports that the Nigerian booth had
been abandoned.
“The booth will be officially inaugurated on Thursday the
21st of August after which it will become fully operational and serve the
delegates of TICAD,” Ebienfa noted.
Asked reason for the delay given the summit’s opening on
Wednesday and closing on Friday, Ebienfa said countries at such conferences
often inaugurate their stands on different days.
He cited the Dubai Expo and Doha Expo as examples of such
events.
“Just like how we do when we’re declaring something open in
Nigeria, that is what they do in those types of conferences — you invite your
friends to come and witness when you’re inaugurating your stand then you
designate a senior official that will address people, conduct rounds, then
after that other middle level officers will be there to explain to people
whatever is being displayed there,” he said.
“But because people discovered that it’s not occupied yet
they just want to tag that it’s empty and that’s wrong.”
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