SPOTTED: Delegates man ’empty’ Nigerian booth at TICAD9 in Japan

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.

“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.”