Nigeria was left embarrased at the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) after its booth was found completely unmanned, despite President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s attendance at the summit.
The embarrassing oversight was brought to light by social entrepreneur Idris Ayodeji Bello, who took to social media to express his dismay.
“It is sad that Nigeria is the only unmanned booth at TICAD9 in Japan,” Bello wrote on X (formerly Twitter), noting that he had unofficially taken over the booth to engage visitors who were curious about his traditional attire.
“So ashamed I have now designated myself as Honorary Consul and taken over the booth,” he added, implying that while officials may have received estacode for the trip, none were present to represent the country at its designated space.
Dr. Ola Brown, founder of the Flying Doctors Healthcare Investment Company, also confirmed the incident, revealing that she joined Bello in manning the abandoned booth.
“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,” she said.
TICAD9, a major global platform co-hosted by the Japanese government, the United Nations, the African Union Commission, and the World Bank, is designed to foster development partnerships between Japan and African countries.
The absence of official Nigerian delegates at the booth, despite the presence of the country’s president at the summit, has sparked outrage and raised questions about the coordination and accountability of Nigeria’s international representation.