Nigeria, which has failed to focus on implementing the United Nations
Millenium Development Goals, is sending a record 600-man delegation to
the 68th General Assembly in New York which will focus on a follow-up
plan, SaharaReporters investigations reveal.
The delegation is led by President Goodluck Jonathan, who will speak
at the plenary debate on Tuesday. It includes two state governors and
the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan.
Most members of the delegation are 547 civil servants drawn from
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as advance team
members who arrived in New York earlier to make preparations for the
trip of the President.
The Nigerian delegation is by far the largest of any nation at this
year's UN event, the theme of which is: “Post-2015 Development Agenda:
Setting the Stage.”
SaharaReporters findings show that President Jonathan’s inner
entourage comprises 26 people, including security aides, his wife,
doctor and political associates.
The Nigeria leader, who has been much-criticized for squandering
resources and for failing to lead by example, arrived in New York Sunday
and is staying at the lavish The Pierre Hotel across from New York’s
Central Park in a presidential suite that will cost Nigeria at least
$10,000 per night. This means his tab for accommodation alone, for one
room, will hit at least $50,000.
According to the hotel’s documentation, the 39th floor presidential
suite, which features an expansive living room and two bedrooms, among
others, may be combined with other rooms and suites to provide up to 6
bedrooms and a private floor, an opulent option Mr. Jonathan is likely
to have jumped at. According to the hotel’s itinerary which was seen by
Saharareporters, he is booked for five nights.
Several other members of the Nigerian delegations are booked in
hotels around the city by the Nigerian consulate and staff members of
some of the ministries that arrived in advance.
Nigeria has become internationally-known for wasting valuable
development funds on lavish foreign trips. It would be recalled that
during last year’s United Nations General Assembly, for instance, the
Minister for Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, booked into
two rooms in two different expensive hotels. One of them was a $5,000
per night suite at the Four Seasons Hotel at 57 East 57th Street, and
the other a 28th floor room at the Pierre for $3,000 per night. It was
unclear how she slept in two different hotels at the same time.
In addition, Ms. Alison Madueke’s delegation of seven from her
Ministry also rented 10 limousines, at a cost of $1,800 per day, some of
which were never used.
As SaharaReporters reported last year, the profligacy of the Nigerian
delegation attracted the attention of America’s National Broadcasting
Corporation in New York, which reported on how African delegates from
the poorest countries stayed in some of the most expensive hotels during
the UN General Assembly and shopped in high-priced retail stores.
Mr. Jonathan will commence his official duties in New York this
afternoon by engaging in an all-expenses paid lunch date with Nigerian
professionals selected by Nigerian diplomats in the US.
The invitation-only event was chosen after the President and his
inner circle abandoned a Town Hall plan for fear of protesters in the
New York area.
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