By Bashir Aliyu
President Bola Tinubu’s failure to speak at the COP28 Climate Change Summit podium may have raised eyebrows, but Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar has said Nigeria is done with “fancy speeches” and ready for concrete action.
“We’re tired of repeating pledges,” Tuggar told Premium Times on the sidelines of the conference. “Nigeria wants action. Enough is enough.”
This shift in focus, according to Tuggar, led to Tinubu’s strategic decision to skip the making of speech at the event. He listened, he waited, and opted out, prioritising “more productive engagements” behind the scenes.
Those engagements, Tuggar hints, revolve around holding developed nations responsible for their emissions accountable. Nigeria, he says, is spearheading negotiations to secure “loss and damage” compensation for developing countries bearing the brunt of climate change.
According to the minister, this focus on action aligns perfectly with Nigeria’s 4D foreign policy, which prioritises development and migration, both heavily impacted by climate change.
