The Presidency, on Sunday, said only a handful of the 1,411 Nigerian delegates who registered to attend the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, were sponsored by the Federal Government.
Nigeria’s 1,411 delegates at the ongoing COP28 in Dubai are not all government-funded and include civil society actors, business persons and others who have different roles to play at the conference, a presidential aide has said.The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media &
Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, disclosed this in an article shared on Sunday
morning.
In the article titled ‘Nigeria at COP28: Separating the
facts from fiction,’ Mr Ajayi said the Nigerian delegation includes “business
leaders, environmentalists, climate activists and journalists.”
“In Nigeria like so many other countries, interested parties
comprising government officials from both the Federal and sub-national
governments, business leaders, environmentalists, climate activists and
journalists are present in Dubai. Also participating are agencies of government
such as the NNPC and its subsidiaries, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, NIMASA,
NDDC.
“Many youth organisations from Nigeria especially from the
Northern and Niger-Delta regions whose lives and livelihoods are most impacted
by desert encroachment and hydrocarbon activities are also represented. The
President of Ijaw Youth Council, Jonathan Lokpobiri, leads a pan-Ijaw
delegation of more than 15 people who registered as parties from Nigeria. Among
delegates from Nigeria are also over 20 journalists from various media houses,”
he wrote.
The presidential aide did not, however, state the exact
number of delegates being funded by the government amidst speculations that
about 600 are government-funded.
Many Nigerians have criticised the high number of Nigerian delegates, the third highest at COP28, amidst the economic suffering of millions of citizens due to government policies.
Read the full unedited article by Mr Ajayi below.
Nigeria at COP28: Separating the Facts from Fiction By Temitope Ajayi
The number of delegates from Nigeria attending the ongoing
Climate Summit in Dubai otherwise called COP28 has generated a lot of
controversies and strong social media conversations in the last 24 hours. It is
important to set the record straight and provide some clarity. To begin with,
the Summit is tagged COP which means Convention of Parties. The ongoing Summit
in Dubai with over 97,000 delegates from more than 100 countries around the
world is the 28th in the series since the issue of climate change and action
took preeminent stage in global affairs. COP27 took place at Sharm El-Sheikh in
Egypt last year.
When the world comes together to take actions on achieving a
common goal and proffer collective solutions to a nagging global concern, there
are parties involved from government, private sector, civil society, media and
multilateral institutions. The people coming together to advance their
different agenda and interests from governments, businesses and civil societies
are the parties to the convention who represent various shades of opinions and
pushing for various mitigating actions.
In Nigeria like so many other countries, interested parties
comprising government officials from both the Federal and sub-national
governments, business leaders, environmentalists, climate activists and
journalists are present in Dubai. Also participating are agencies of government
such as the NNPC and its subsidiaries, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, NIMASA,
NDDC. Many youth organisations from Nigeria especially from the Northern and
Niger-Delta regions whose lives and livelihoods are most impacted by desert
encroachment and hydrocarbon activities are also represented. The President of
Ijaw Youth Council, Jonathan Lokpobiri, leads a pan-Ijaw delegation of more
than 15 people who registered as parties from Nigeria. Among delegates from
Nigeria are also over 20 journalists from various media houses.
Their participation is very important. It is not for
jamboree as it is being mischievously represented on social media.
It is important to state here that delegates from all
countries whether from government, private sector, media and civil society
groups attend COP summits and conferences as parties and the number of
attendees are registered against their countries of origin. This does not mean
that they are sponsored or funded by the government. It must be said also that
the fact that people registered to attend a conference does not mean everyone
that registered is physically present.
As the biggest country in Africa, biggest economy and one
with a bigger stake on climate action as a country with huge extractive
economy, it is a no-brainer that delegates from Nigeria will be more than any
other country in Africa.
Among the delegates from Nigeria are UBA Chairman, Tony
Elumelu, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman of BUA group, and other billionaires whose
businesses are promoting sustainability and climate actions through their
philanthropies. These businessmen and women and their staff who came with them
to promote their own business interests are part of the 1,411 delegates from
Nigeria. Their trip to Dubai is not funded by the Federal Government.
United Nations Climate summit, by its very nature, commands
attendance of big names from across the world – statesmen and women,
politicians, lawmakers, corporate titans, journalists and activists, etc who
promote big global agenda. So, people attend the summit for many reasons. And
because climate issue is the biggest global issue of the moment, it is not
surprising that over 97,000 people including Prime Minister Narendra Modi of
India, King Charles of United Kingdom, Prime Minister of Netherlands, Mark Rutte,
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, US Special Envoy on Climate Change and
former Secretary of State, John Kerry, President Bola Tinubu, United Nations
Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, World Bank President, Ajay Banga,
International Monetary Fund President, Kristalina Georgieva, World Trade
Organisation Director General, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Africa Development Bank
President, Akinwumi Adesina, former US Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize
Winner, Al Gore and almost 100 Heads of States and Governments converged on
Dubai for COP28. It is the first of its kind in the history of the summit
because of the importance of climate change to global well-being.
After the opening and national statements by Heads of States
which began from November 30 when the summit opened and up until Saturday
December 2, 2023, the real work of COP28 which are the technical sessions and
negotiations, financing, etc will begin from Monday, December 4 till December
12 where agreements will be reached on many proposals for consideration and
ratification by the parties.
Those with sufficient understanding and knowledge on climate
matters know that issues around the subject have layers and multiplicity of
factors that require experts from various fields. There are lined-up technical
sessions on financing climate actions at sub-national levels, regions and local
governments. State Governors from Nigeria such as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu
of Lagos, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun, Umo Eno of Akwa-Ibom have been really busy with
their officials at COP28, making presentations, speaking at panel sessions and
pitching some of their sustainability projects to development partners and
investors.
Multifaceted stakeholders from different countries including
Nigeria are on ground in Dubai because they don’t want decisions that will
affect them to be taken without pushing their own agenda. It is the reason
delegates from China and Brazil are over 3000 respectively. China is one of the
world biggest polluters and Brazil is at the centre of global climate debate
with her Amazon rainforest. These two countries know important decisions that
will affect them will be taken and they have to move everything to be fully on
ground and ensure they are fully represented by their best brains at every
level of discussion and negotiation.
Like former President Muhammadu Buhari and other African
leaders who demanded fair deal and climate justice for Africa at previous UN
Climate summits, President Tinubu is leading the charge at COP28 on behalf of
Nigeria and the rest of the continent, demanding from the West that any climate
decision and action must be fair and just to Africa and Nigeria in particular,
especially the debate around energy transition. President Tinubu has been
unequivocal in his position that Africa that is battling problems of poverty,
security and struggling to provide education and healthcare to her people can
not be told to abandon its major source of income which is mostly from
extractive industries without the West providing the funding and investment in
alternative and clean energy sources. President Tinubu and other officials on
the Federal government delegation are in Dubai for serious business not
jamboree. Our President has been very busy representing our country well. Since
Thursday morning when he arrived Dubai, President Tinubu has spent not less
than 18hours daily in attending very important sessions, pushing our national
agenda whilst holding bilateral and business meetings on the sidelines.
-Ajayi is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media
& Publicity