Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate in the controversial February election has taken exception to the 1411-member delegation that accompanied President Bola Tinubu o the ongoing UN climate summit in Dubai.
Writing on his X handle on Sunday, the former Anambra governor said mockingly, “let me congratulate the giant of Africa, Nigeria, for matching the great China, with the same number of contingents at the ongoing COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Nigeria’s contingent to COP28 totaled 1411, the same number as the Chinese contingents.”
He noted that while China’s budget for 2024 is about $4 trillion, about $2,860 per head; Nigeria’s budget is about $33 billion, about $165 per head.
Obi also pointed out that China has a high Human Development Index, HDI, with a ranking of 79 out of 191 countries measured, and that Nigeria has a low HDI, with a ranking of 163 out of 191 countries measured.
“Most importantly, the vast majority of those in the Nigerian delegation to COP28 are either non-relevant civil servants or relations, friends and hangers-on of high government officials. Most of them hardly understand or have anything to do with Climate Change.
“This huge contingent is out at public expense at a time when most Nigerians can hardly afford food and basic needs as a result of economic hardship.
“I pray earnestly that a day will come soon enough when we can focus on competing with China on productivity and the miracle of migrating the highest number of its citizens out of poverty over a relatively short time.
“As we have kept emphasizing, we must stop waste as a a tradition of our government and nation. We urgently need to cut the cost of governance and invest in production.
