FG denies sponsoring 1,400 delegates to COP28, says some individuals financed their trip there but had to register as Nigerian delegates
The federal government has denied media reports claiming it sponsored the travel of 1,400 delegates to the ongoing COP28 climate conference in Dubai.
In a released statement, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said some people attended the conference on their own but registered as Nigerian delegates. Ajayi said Tony Elumelu, chairman of BUA, Ijaw Youth Council, media and others attended the conference and were registered as delegates from Nigeria.
His statement titled “Nigeria at COP28: Separating fact from fiction” says;
''The number of delegates from Nigeria who participated in the Dubai Climate Summit, also called COP28, generated a lot of controversies and strong conversations on social media in the last 24 hours. It's important to set the record straight and provide some clarity. For starters, the Summit is labeled COP, which stands for Convention of the Parties. The ongoing Summit in Dubai, with more than 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 center stage in global affairs. COP27 took place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, last year.
When the world comes together to take action to achieve a common goal and offer collective solutions to a vexing global concern, there are involved parties from government, the private sector, civil society, the media and multilateral institutions. The people who come together to promote their different agendas and interests of governments, business and civil society are the parties to the convention who represent various shades of opinion and press for various mitigation actions.
In Nigeria, as in so many other countries, stakeholders comprising government officials from federal and subnational governments, business leaders, environmentalists, climate activists and journalists are present in Dubai. Government agencies such as NNPC and its subsidiaries, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, NIMASA, NDDC also participate. Many youth organizations from Nigeria, especially from the Northern and Niger Delta regions, whose lives and livelihoods are most affected by desert encroachment and hydrocarbon activities, are also represented. The Chairman of the Ijaw Youth Council, Jonathan Lokpobiri, is leading a pan-Ijaw delegation of over 15 people who have registered as Nigerian parties. Among the delegates from Nigeria are also more than 20 journalists from various media outlets.
Their participation is very important. It is not for a jamboree as it is being mischievously represented on social media.
It is important to state here that delegates from all countries, whether from government, the private sector, the media and civil society groups, participate in COP summits and conferences as parties and the number of participants is recorded in relation to the their countries of origin. This does not mean they are sponsored or funded by the government. It should also be said that the fact that people sign up to participate in a conference does not mean that everyone registered is physically present.
Being the largest country in Africa, the largest economy and with a greater interest in climate action, being a country with a huge extractive economy, it is obvious that Nigeria will have more delegates than any other country in Africa.
Nigeria's delegates include UBA President Tony Elumelu, BUA Group Chairman Abdul Samad Rabiu and other billionaires whose businesses are promoting sustainability and climate action through their philanthropies. These businessmen and women and their employees who accompanied them to promote their own business interests are part of Nigeria's 1,411 delegates. The trip to Dubai is not financed by the Federal Government.
The United Nations Climate Summit, by its very nature, is attended by big names from around the world – statesmen and women, politicians, legislators, business titans, journalists and activists, etc., who promote a major global agenda . Therefore, people attend the summit for a variety of reasons. And because the climate issue is the biggest global issue of the moment, it is not surprising that more than 97,000 people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, King Charles of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, US Vice President Kamala Harris, US Vice President Kamala Harris, Special Envoy for Climate Change and former Secretary of State John Kerry, President Bola Tinubu, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the President of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, the President of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, the Director General of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, the president of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, the former vice president US President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore and almost 100 Heads of State and Government converged on Dubai for COP28. It is the first of its kind in the summit's history due to the importance of climate change for global well-being.
After the opening and national statements by the Heads of State that began on November 30, when the summit opened, and until Saturday, December 2, 2023, the real work of COP28, which is the technical sessions and negotiations, financing, etc., will start from Monday, December. 4 until December 12, where agreements will be reached on many proposals for consideration and ratification by the parties.
Those with sufficient understanding and knowledge about climate issues know that the issues surrounding the subject have layers and multiplicity of factors that require experts from different areas. There are technical sessions scheduled on financing climate actions at subnational levels, regions and local governments. Nigerian state governors such as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun, Umo Eno of Akwa-Ibom have been very busy with their staff at COP28, making presentations, speaking at panel sessions and introducing some of its sustainability projects to development partners and investors.
Multifaceted stakeholders from different countries, including Nigeria, are present in Dubai because they do not want decisions that affect them to be taken without imposing their own agenda. It is the reason why delegates from China and Brazil are over 3,000 respectively. China is one of the biggest polluters in the world and Brazil is at the center of the global climate debate with its Amazon rainforest. These two countries know that important decisions will be made that will affect them and they must do everything they can to be fully on the ground and ensure that they are fully represented by their best minds at all levels of discussion and negotiation.
Like former President Muhammadu Buhari and other African leaders who demanded a 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 West that any climate decision and action must be fair and equitable for Africa and Nigeria in particular, especially the debate around the energy transition. President Tinubu has been unequivocal in his stance that Africa, which struggles with problems of poverty, security and struggles to provide education and healthcare to its people, cannot be told to abandon its main source of income, which mainly comes from of extractive industries, without the West providing financing and investment in alternative and clean energy sources. President Tinubu and other officials in the federal government delegation are in Dubai for serious business and not for a party. Our President has been very busy representing our country well. Since Thursday morning when he arrived in Dubai, President Tinubu has spent at least 18 hours a day participating in very important sessions, promoting our national agenda while holding bilateral and business meetings on the sidelines.
-Ajayi is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity''
Source: www.lindaikejisblog.com