2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has reacted to the empty Nigerian booth at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) ongoing in Japan.
The former Governor of Anambra State described it as a “diplomatic embarrassment”.
Obi further described it as a “clear symbol” of the “hollow promises and empty governance” that Nigerians have suffered.
He said, the “defence” to the emptiness at the Nigerian booth presented by the government is the “same tired excuse” Nigerians have heard countless times.
At TICAD 9, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said, Nigeria is at the event not as a “bystander” but at the table to make decisions for the progress of Nigeria and Africa.
The President also welcomed a $5.5 billion commitment from Japan.
In his reaction on X, Peter Obi said: “What Empty Nigeria booths in TICAD9 mean
“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.
“A New Nigeria is POssible.”
