Nigeria seems to be on the right path in its diplomatic efforts, with President Bola Tinubu’s administration working to leverage various opportunities to attract investment and strengthen key sectors of the economy.
Upon assuming office, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, has initiated diplomatic efforts to achieve the government’s foreign policy goals outlined in the 4Ds (Development, Diaspora, Demography, and Democracy) as part of the “Renewed Hope Agenda.”
One of those strong moves was a recent engagement with the State of Israel where both countries considered a joint commission that would boost bilateral ties as Israel expressed readiness to deepen relations in areas of trade, security, agriculture, health, education, film production, among others.
During the meeting with the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria and Permanent Representative to ECOWAS, Michael Freeman, at the Ministry in Abuja, the Minister stressed that people-to-people contacts make diplomacy effective and expressed hope of closer ties between both countries.
There was also the proposed high-level dialogue in Abuja between the two countries that requires absolute commitment of both parties to actualize, especially in strengthening ties against terrorism and enhancing the use of Israeli technology in the area of food security in Nigeria.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is working diligently to improve the life of the poorest of the poor. The target of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs is working to ensure that the poverty-stricken have access to food and other humanitarian services.
“So, we hope that we can learn more about drip irrigation technology. You know that rice is a staple food here, so we are open to embrace any technology that will make us have rice in large volumes,” Ojukwu said.
Nigeria contributes significantly to religious tourism in Israel, hence it will be apt that Nigerians who had stayed in the country for five years without criminal records be granted citizenship as Ambassador Ojukwu had requested.
There are bountiful opportunities for both countries as Israel has shown expertise on drip irrigation technology, which can be exploited to grow crops like rice all year round. Nigeria has the land and the youthful population which energies can be harnessed to grow crops and provide jobs for the growing number of young people in the country, to which the Israeli envoy has shown commitment.
Israel also has i-FAIR, the highly innovative entrepreneurship mentorship programme in Nigeria. This is a breeding ground for future business leaders and innovators and according to the envoy, so far Israeli experts have trained 2,000 persons but hope to double the number to boost knowledge transfer to Nigerians without necessarily going to Israel.
The Nigerian side has no excuse not to leverage these opportunities, which will further boost its trade volume with Israel which at the moment stands at not too encouraging $250 million.
In another development, Ojukwu has declared Nigeria’s resolve to secure a seat in the 15-member International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, with Dr. Olufemi Elias as Nigeria’s candidate for the November 2026 election.
The erudite Elias is seeking the ministry’s support to actualize his ambition at the Hague Court where his antecedents, massive experience and expertise in global jurisprudence could reflect Nigeria’s commitment to international justice, human rights and the international rule of law.
It is instructive to note that Nigeria just secured the African Union (AU) strategic seat of the commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security in which Nigeria’s Bankole Adeoye was reelected following the enormous efforts of the Nigerian Delegation led by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar.
Therefore as Nigeria prepares for the ICJ election, Elias’s deep legal expertise and experience to the ICJ could give him an edge especially as the government has thrown its weight behind the legal giant, whose father, the late Taslim Olawale Elias, was the first African to be appointed as President of the International Court of Justice (1982).
