Poor Bilateral Relations With Israel Costs Nigeria $7 Billion Annually – Foreign Affairs Expert

Former Director General of the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs (NIIA), Prof. Bola Akinterinwa, on Thursday said Nigeria loses approximately $7 billion annually as a result of poor bilateral relations with the Israeli government.

Akinterinwa, who spoke at a one-day symposium geared towards promoting partnership on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) between the two nations., explained that Nigeria’s relation with the Jewish nation was categorised into political, economy and religion and it has suffered severely due to the non-committal posturing of Nigeria.

While arguing that Nigeria-Israeli diplomatic relations remained lopsided, with only the religious angle flourishing, Akinterinwa added that a more robust diplomatic relations could have yielded more positive results in both the political and economic fronts, such as grants, low interest loans and knowledge exchange to support Nigeria.

The symposium was organised by the Citizens Centre for International Relations Research (RICC) and the Israeli Embassy with the theme: ‘Nigeria-Israeli Relations: Focus on SMEs, Agriculture and Solid Minerals.’

Akinterinwa harped on the need for Nigeria to review her relationship with Israel, saying that, “we have not been taking good advantage of many opportunities taking place in Israel,” he stated.

Minister of State for Industry Trade and Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar, in her submission at the event, stated the federal government will continue to put in place initiatives to promote Mirco, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) especially among unemployed youths.