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 with PREMIUM TIMES 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.
