Nigeria’s Empty Booth In Tokyo Is Reminder Of Tinubu Govt’s  Empty Promises At Home” – Peter Obi

By Adesina Soyooye

“Not true, our mission to Tokyo was for strategic engagements” – Presidency

Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 Election, has slammed the Nigerian Government  over the empty Nigerian booth at the ongoing Ninth Tokyo International Conference (TICAD9) in  Japan.

Not a few Nigerians have expressed shock after they watched a viral video of the event and saw that not a single person was at the Nigerian Stand even though Nigeria sent a delegation to Japan for the international event. Nothing was exhibited unlike the stands of other African countries.

In a post, Wednesday on his X account, Obi said nobody should be surprised because the empty stand represents President Bola Tinubu’s empty promises made to Nigerians during his campaign for the Presidential seat.

But Presidential Adviser on Media and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had, in response to the video of the empty stand and the anger which followed it, reeled out what the Nigerian delegation was in Tokyo for.  He explained that the the delegation was there for strategic engagements, not just exhibition.

In a statement, Onanuga said:

“The trending social media narrative about an empty booth labelled ‘NIGERIA’ at the ongoing 9th Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD9) in Yokohama, Japan, totally misrepresented our country’s mission and activities at the conference.

“While we understand the urge by many social media users to seek clicks with many incorrect posts, we also recognise that the author may have acted out of patriotic concern. But it is a concern inspired by ignorance about Nigeria’s mission at the triennial conference.

“The Nigerian delegation to the summit, led by President Bola Tinubu, is laser-focused on its core objectives of achieving tangible outcomes from the scheduled lineup of bilateral and multilateral engagements targeted at driving optimum performance in key sectors of the economy, especially in power, industry and agriculture.

“The Nigerian official delegation working with Corporate Nigeria, represented by some of our leading business leaders, didn’t come to Yokohama and Tokyo to attend any Trade Expo, designed as an open forum for participating nations.

“The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) is scheduled to host an investment forum on Thursday, August 21, 2025

“The Nigerian ministers are busy with bilateral sideline discussions. At the same time, President Tinubu will lead meetings with the executives of Toyota Corporation, CFAO, UN-Habitat, UNDP, and the International Finance Corporation. The delegation’s schedule does not include participation in an open forum trade exhibition.

“Specifically, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, is leading the pre-activation meeting to execute several power projects in Nigeria that are being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

“One of the projects is the Lagos-Ogun Power Transmission System Improvement, which is designed to improve the wheeling capacity and grid stability and enable the connection of industrial customers on the corridor.

“There is also the partnership between the National Power Training Institute (NAPTIN) and JICA to enhance Vocational Training Delivery for the power sector.

“The third power project is the Distributed Access Through Renewable Energy Scale-up, for which $190 million has been provided.

“The Minister of Power is scheduled to negotiate with notable Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) such as TOSHIBA and HITACHI.

“The Bank of Industry, led by its Managing Director/Chief Executive, Dr. Supo Olusi, is also in high-level discussions with the Japan International Cooperation Agency and other participating multilateral institutions for its annual global fund syndication.

“Social media posts are often sensational and do not tell complete stories, just as the trending video does not capture Nigeria’s participation at TICAD 9. Our country is fully and well represented and part of the essential conversations and negotiations that are going on at TICAD9.”

But Obi countered the Presidency’s explanation as

an attempt to cover the country’s shame on the international stage.  “Nigerians are tired of excuses from the government”, he added.

Obi: “The empty Nigerian booths in the ongoing Ninth Tokyo International Conference, TICAD9, in Japan do not just define the empty promises of this government for the past two years, they also reflect the consistent emptiness Nigerians have been fed at home by this government. Even the defence being put forward by the government, that they only wanted to have more ‘strategic engagements’ is the same tired excuse we have heard over and over again.

“This government has mastered the art of throwing around wrong statistics and misleading statements, not to provide real solutions, but to camouflage the emptiness of its performance and the suffering it has inflicted on Nigerians.

“The empty booths at TICAD are not just about a diplomatic embarrassment, they are a clear symbol of the hollow promises and empty governance that our citizens have endured.

“Just as those booths stood empty in Japan, so too have the lives of millions of Nigerians been left empty, with empty hope, empty relief and empty of the progress they were promised.

“The truth is unavoidable, the empty booths abroad are a physical reminder of the empty promises at home.

“We must do better as a nation.”