Religion and Nigeria-Israeli diplomatic strains and rapprochement, 1973-1992

Abstract

ABSTRACT A long-surviving tradition in Nigeria’s foreign policy has to do with observing neutrality in the Arab-Israeli conflict. This neutrality, however, was tested between 1973 and 1992 when Nigeria had a sustained break in diplomatic ties with Israel. At no point did successive Nigerian governments use religion to justify either the sustained severance or eventual restoration of ties. However, religion is a non-material factor in international relations that can play out in multidimensional ways without being seen as a catalyst for an action or inaction. It is against this background that within the analytical purview of Rosenau’s linkage politics theory and the bottom up theoretical approach to public opinion in foreign policy, the essay investigates the extent to which religion determined Nigeria’s severed relations with Israel and its eventual restoration of ties with the Jewish nation. The essay is historical and employs the use of primary sources including materials sourced from Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There were also personal communications with veteran diplomats, including two of the foreign affair ministers who served during the period. The essay concludes that while religion was neither the justification for the severance of relations with Israel nor the restoration of ties with the Jewish nation, religion played a role in the manner successive governments dealt with the matter.