Emma Emeozoremma_globecomm2yahoo.com

A drama played out in Nigeria recently, following the re-location of United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly queried the country’s ambassador to Israel after Aljazeera said that the Nigerian embassy in Tel Aviv was represented at the opening ceremony of the new US embassy. The ambassador denied the report and demanded proof of evidence from Aljazeera. Mixed reactions have since trailed the angry reaction of the Federal Government.

Some analysts have argued that government went to too far when it decided to query the ambassador, others said it was an act of cowardice aimed at pleasing the Arab League. Yet another group believes the Nigerian government’s reaction was a demonstration of the country’s neutrality in the brouhaha leading to the event.

Interestingly, Nigeria enjoys robust diplomatic relations with the US, Israel and members of the Arab League. Therefore, what stops Nigeria from playing a gentleman’s role by honouring an invitation from the US embassy to attend the ceremony like any other non-Arab country? In this report, Olusola Ojo, a professor of international relations and dean, College of Humanities, Mcpherson University, Seriki Sotayo, Ogun State, explains why President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration may have reacted the way it did to Aljazeera’s report.

He also explained why Israel insists on Jerusalem being its capital. Ojo believes the protests against Washington’s decision to re-locate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem were uncalled for as it was the right of any sovereign state to determine where to locate its embassy.

Ojo did not mince words when he said the Federal Government could not be faulted over its position. He buttressed his argument with an analysis of the nature of the ‘romance’ between Israel and Nigeria over the years.

He said: “Unfortunately, the issue of Israel-Nigeria diplomatic relations is very unlike that of any other African country. The issue of Israel has always been a very divisive internal political issue in Nigeria.”

Ojo asked Nigerians to cast their minds back to history “right from the beginning, the former northern region has been opposed to Nigeria having anything to do with Israel. Leaders of the region did not want Nigeria (at Independence) to recognise Israel as a sovereign state. On the other hand, the former western and eastern regions were ready to recognise Israel as a sovereign state.”

“Indeed, the western and eastern regions have been having engagements with Israel long before Nigeria attained independence. For example, the whole of southern Nigeria copied the agricultural and farm settlement policy of Israel,” he said.

But how did Israel became a ‘problem’ in the internal affairs of Nigeria? Ojo drew attention to the role of religion in the political affairs of Nigeria and how it is intertwined with the Middle East crisis because “religion has always been used as a political weapon in Nigeria.”

He noted that the first generation of northern leaders did not believe that the Middle East problem was sparked by “the struggle for land, how the people should share the little land available. Rather, they believe it was a religious war between the devotees of Islam and Judaism.”

Even in the face of strong opposition by northern leaders (at the time) to Nigeria having ties with Israel, Nigeria opened its embassy in that country. How did it happen? Ojo said it was achieved through a compromise reached by both southern and northern leaders: “The compromise was that Israel would open its embassy in Nigeria but Nigeria would not have a Mission in Tel Aviv.”

He said the situation changed after Nigeria broke solidarity with the Arabs after the 1973 war between Israel and the Arabs.

“During the period oil was used as weapon of war,” he observed, adding that “later, it became a domestic issue as to whether Nigeria should open an embassy in Israel or not.” Continuing, he said, “let me make it clear that it was not really an issue of whether Nigeria as a sovereign state should have a mission there, no, it was an issue that was to be explicitly determined by internal political factors.”

For Ojo, the politicisation of the Israeli issue within the Middle East in Nigeria has become an albatross around the neck of any administration in Nigeria, be it headed by a Christian or a Muslim. He explained thus: “No government in Nigeria would say, okay, let’s move our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem when the situation has become controversial as the Trump’s decision.”

While agreeing that it is a foreign policy issue, he was quick to say “it is a foreign policy issue that has become domesticated.”

When reminded that some countries have moved their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in line with Trump’s decision, he said “may be we do not have such a government that can do it. Of course, I don’t see that happening.”

Ojo highlighted how sensitive the issue of Israel is in the internal politics of Nigeria when he recalled the campaigns and elections that held in 1983. “In 1983, during the contest for the presidency between Chief Obafemi Awolowo and former President Shehu Shagari, Israel was a campaign issue.

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“Awolowo did not hide his intention to re-establish diplomatic relations with Israel. But Shagari reacted to Awolowo’s position during his campaign in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, telling his audience that if they voted for Awolowo, Saudi Arabia would not allow Nigerian Muslims to go on pilgrimage to Mecca again, so, they shouldn’t have anything to do with anybody who wants to deal with Israel.”

Ojo believes that Nigerian leaders are being hypocritical about the issue of Israel: “But what Shagari did not tell his audience was that all the military (and para-military) equipment that his government was using to harass the people, including the weapons the security officers protecting him at the campaign venue were carrying, were manufactured in Israel and bought with loan from the Israeli government.

“So, you can see that it is just an issue of political manipulation and that is because it has been domesticated. Therefore, no government in Nigeria, for now, would want to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.”

The professor disagrees with the school of thought that said it was an act of cowardice for Nigeria to have stayed away from the Jerusalem ceremony. He wants the public to understand the nature of foreign policy: “It is not an act of cowardice. Foreign policy in all countries is always a mixture of internal and external dynamics. No government can ignore its internal factors when determining its foreign policy. In our case, Nigeria cannot ignore the fact that it has a large population of Muslims. Already, the Israeli issue has been turned into a religious issue, just as it has been in previous governments.

“Perhaps, we should look at the issue from another angle. Who are sending pilgrims to Jerusalem . . . it is the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). One of the criticisms of the Buhari administration is that the President is favouring Islam, precisely, the allegation is that he is in the forefront of Islamising the country.”

Ojo queried Nigerian leaders whom he accused of gambling with the destiny of the country and its citizens. He said, “I don’t believe that any of these so-called leaders believe either in Allah or Jesus. All they do is to manipulate the people. Their actions are not in conformity with what the Koran or Bible preaches.
“Let me illustrate the situation. It is sufficient for me to claim to be a Christian, if my name is Joseph. Similarly, I can easily claim to be a Muslim if my name is Isa. This explains the extent to which religion has been politicised in the country.

“There is no government that can ignore this factor, especially as it concerns the issue of Israel. Otherwise, it can lead to a split of the country. This is the truth. And I don’t see any Nigerian leader who wants the country to break.”

When reminded that Nigeria joined the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the country did not break, Ojo chose to respond by reminding Nigerians of what took place at the time. “Let me remind you that there was never a public debate on the country’s entry into the OIC.

“Nigerians were not told that the country was going to join the organization. It was not even discussed by the military council at the time. Rather, the military administration just took Nigeria to the organisation even though Nigeria is not an Islamic state. The Constitution of the country is very clear on the status of Nigeria

“The country remains a secular state but allows the existence of many religions, with Christianity and Islam being the principal ones. The constitution does not exclusively recognise either as state religion”

He called for caution when he said “any government, be it headed by a Christian or a Muslim should learn to tread on the path of compromise on sensitive matters . . . but not to act to create the impression that he is supporting one group against the other. This is a problem Nigeria is grappling with.”

While commenting on the noise that trailed Trump’s action across the globe, Ojo wondered why critics should fault the American leader. He said Palestinians never had a state. He recalled that the United Nations resolution that created the state of Israel partitioned the territory called Palestine into two, “one part for the Jews and the other for the Arabs (the Palestinians).”

“It is the Arab states that were acting on behalf of the Palestinians after Israel declared its statehood in 1948. Even the other Arab states encouraged the Palestinians to migrate from the area at the time and they were not even allowed to integrate within the places they migrated to. They were put in refugee camps.

“And if you look at the whole movement of Zionism, it is about returning to Zion . . . and where is Zion? Mt. Zion is in Jerusalem, the seat of King David.”

The don insists that Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel for more than 3,000 years before Christ, “So, it is nothing new. Yet, Arabs, with their majority at the UN do not recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, rather they have continued to claim that it is the capital of Palestine. This has been the crux of the issue.”

He blamed the non-resolution of the crisis on the failure of the Palestinians to have a Nelson Mandela who was ready to take risks

“The Arabs, the Palestinians, don’t seem to have the right leadership, rather, they live on rhetoric . . . they want to destroy Israel, (but insist) Israel doesn’t exist,” he said.