Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Nigeria’s participation at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, TICAD9, in Yokohama, Japan, has taken a strong energy-sector focus, with the Federal Government negotiating a pipeline of projects worth $190 million, despite controversy over an empty Nigerian exhibition booth at the conference.
This follows a trending viral video showing an empty Nigerian booth at the ongoing TICAD9 with no Nigerian personnel manning the booth nor exhibiting any investment opportunities, goods, or services like other participating African countries, despite the huge number of government officials who traveled with President Bola Tinubu for the conference.
While opposition voices criticized the optics as a symbol of “empty promises,” government officials insist the real focus is on securing energy and power sector investments through high-level bilateral engagements, and not exhibition.
Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, in a strongly worded statement, described Nigeria’s empty booth in Japan as “a clear symbol of hollow promises.”
He said, “The empty Nigerian booths 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. Just as those booths stood empty in Japan, so too have the lives of millions of Nigerians been left empty of the progress they were promised.”
The viral images drew widespread reactions, with many Nigerians online describing it as a diplomatic embarrassment. Some commentators likened the vacant booths to a missed opportunity for Nigeria to showcase its investment potential on the global stage.
But the Presidency countered this criticism, stressing that Nigeria deliberately chose not to participate in the trade exhibition, instead prioritizing energy sector financing, power infrastructure negotiations, and multilateral partnerships.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, explained, “The Nigerian delegation to the summit, led by President Bola Tinubu, is laser-focused on achieving tangible outcomes from bilateral and multilateral engagements. The schedule does not include participation in an open forum trade exhibition.”
According to Onanuga, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, is leading technical and financing discussions on three major energy initiatives supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA.
These, he said includes “Lagos-Ogun Power Transmission System Improvement Project, aimed at expanding wheeling capacity and strengthening grid stability for industrial consumers.
“NAPTIN-JICA Vocational Training Partnership, designed to enhance human capacity in Nigeria’s electricity sector.
“Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up, with $190 million in financing already earmarked to expand off-grid solutions.”
Onanuga also said Adelabu is also scheduled to meet with Original Equipment Manufacturers, OEMs, such as Toshiba and Hitachi to negotiate supply chain, technology transfer, and equipment financing.
Similarly, the Bank of Industry, BoI, represented by its Managing Director/CEO, Dr. Supo Olusi, is holding high-level discussions with JICA and other multilateral financiers to secure additional syndication funds for industrial and energy projects.
Onanuga emphasized that these efforts demonstrate Nigeria’s strategic approach to TICAD9: “Our ministers are busy with bilateral sideline discussions. President Tinubu will lead meetings with Toyota Corporation, CFAO, UN-Habitat, UNDP, and the IFC. Nigeria is fully represented and focused on concrete outcomes.”
While social media criticism has focused on Nigeria’s absence at the TICAD9 trade fair booths, the government insisted that the real value of TICAD9 lies in boardroom deals, not trade expo appearances.
Still, the incident has highlighted the stark divide between optics and substance in Nigeria’s foreign policy engagements, raising questions about whether the government underestimated the importance of symbolic representation.
