Nigeria’s booth stands empty at TICAD9 opening day in Japan

Nigeria’s booth at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) was left unattended for hours on the summit’s opening day, sparking embarrassment among delegates.

The three-day conference, which runs from August 20 to 22 at the Pacifico Yokohama in Japan, brings together African governments, investors, and development partners.

While other African countries had officials actively engaging visitors and distributing materials, Nigeria’s section remained vacant.

The lapse was first highlighted by Idris Ayodeji Bello, a Nigerian participant, who shared photos and videos of the empty stall on X.

Bello said Japanese attendees repeatedly approached him with questions about Nigeria’s booth.

“I hate to show negative things about Nigeria, but it is sad that Nigeria is the only unmanned booth at TICAD9 in Japan,” he wrote.

“Upon all the folks who probably got estacode for coming to Japan, only God knows how many Japanese folks have asked me about the unmanned booth seeing my dressing. So ashamed, I have now designated myself as Honorary Consul and taken over the booth to engage visitors.”

Bello posted images of the booth, emblazoned with Nigeria’s colours and insignia, alongside a photo of himself posing with an Asian attendee.

A video also showed lively interactions at the stands of Cameroon, Togo, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, in contrast to Nigeria’s empty space.

Later, Ola Brown, founder of HealthCap Africa, revealed that she had joined Bello in the informal task of representing Nigeria.

“Had an interesting time manning the Nigeria booth today with Idris,” Brown noted.

“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 who asked great questions.”

Amid growing criticism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs defended the situation, insisting that the booth had “not yet been opened” and would be formally inaugurated on Thursday.

The ministry added that it would then become “fully operational and serve the delegates of TICAD.”