Opinion

Israel vs Iran: What is Nigeria’s foreign policy thrust?

Published

1 year ago

June 19, 2025

Nigeria’s foreign policy on the Israel Iran conflict is under scrutiny, prompting questions about national interest and the nation’s role in international affairs

“Countries have no permanent friends or enemies but permanent interests” – Lord Palmerston, 19th century British Prime Minister.

I was aghast when I read of Nigeria poking her nose into the scuffle between Israel and Iran. What is our own, as they say, in the long-standing enemity between Jews (Israelis) and Persians (Iranians)?

Is our beef ethnic, economic, political, religious, moral high ground or what? Are we being goaded by some interests around President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take the side of Iran for religious reasons? Or are we just playing busybody and meddlesome interloper?

What special interest(s) do we have in each of the countries trading missiles that will injure us irreparably, thus forcing us to come out with the statement issued by our government?

In other words, what special loss are we likely to suffer that other countries or peoples are not going to suffer, thus putting a heavy burden on us to speak out as forcefully as we have done while many other countries have maintained stoic silence or have sat on the fence; acting neither here nor there?

The statement by our government blamed Israel for its “preemptive strike” at about a hundred Iranian military facilities, killing top military officers and scientists, including civilians, and inflicting a huge damage whose actual extent is yet to be fully determined.

We also preached peace, urged restraint, advised negotiation and warned against escalation of hostilities that may spread beyond the theatres of conflict and consume the entire region as well as other parts of the world.

The beginning of the statement which condemned Israel for its “preemptive strike” should have been omitted. The other parts of the statement are passable.

Now, Israeli leaders will laugh at us as they read the opening part of our statement condemning their action. If I were to help them draft a response, it would be a terse: “Thank you very much, Mr. Busybody and Meddlesome Interloper!

We are not like you! You who opened your eyes and watched as Fulani terrorists came from all over the world to turn your entire territory into killer-fields, drenched in blood, before you woke up from your slumber!

You are now running from pillar to post when a preemptive strike by you, such as we have taken against Iran, would have saved you all the trouble and irreparable losses still ongoing.

Thank you for your advice on the need for restraint and peace. Ever heard the statement: ‘A stitch in time saves nine’ ? That is our own advice to you!”

There are many of our own people’s wisdom that preach preemptive strikes. One says to avoid that protruding branch of a tree from poking you in the eye, take notice of it (dodge it) from afar.

Another says if you know that your eye-balls are sunk deep inside their sockets, start to cry early so that enough tears can quickly well in your eyes for people to notice.

One more: You do not wait for the insect called “talubo” to enter your eyes before taking precautionary measures.

There is this other one that says you must begin to trim the branches of the “iroko” tree while it is still tame-able; otherwise, once it grows too tall for your reach, the task becomes herculean.

Delay is dangerous. Have you forgotten that nursery rhyme: Tick says the clock/Tick-tick/What you have to do/Do quick”!

Iran is unapologetically, unabashedly, and undeniably a sworn foe of the State of Israel – in the same league with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

They want the destruction of Israel and have sworn NEVER to recognise it; neither as a sovereign and independent state nor its right to exist.

And they have their justifications: The way and manner the State of Israel was created in 1948 by the Western Powers on a land the Palestinians believed was theirs and the fact that Israel was also favoured with a disproportionate portion of the land.

According to Google, “The Jewish State allocated to the Jews, who constituted a third of the population and owned 7% of the land, was to receive 56% of Mandatory Palestine, a slightly larger area to accommodate the increasing number of Jews who would immigrate there”.

The portion left for the Palestinians – West Bank and Gaza Strip – was also disjointed. Unable to stomach this “daylight injustce”, as someone had described it, the Palestinians, supported by some Arab/Middle East countries, have fought wars against Israel but with every war, won by Israel, they have lost more territories out of the measly ones they originally got.

Not only that, the other Arab/Middle East countries supporting them have also lost territories to Israel. These are called the “occupied territories”.

Israel has seized portions after portions of what was originally allocated to the Palestinians and has built “settlements” there for its citizens.

Resolution after resolution by the UN censoring Israel and ordering it back to its original UN boundaries have been spurned by the Jewish State.

Israel’s backbone is the United States, Britain and the other Western Powers that have given the Jewish State military, financial, diplomatic, and moral support.

The Achilles’ heel of the Palestinians and their backers is their lack of unity as well as military inferiority to their opponents.

With the backing of the superpowers, Israel has also developed into a military power of its own, able to go solo on occasions, even when its backers urge restraint.

So, if Israel would not heed the superpowers’ call for restraint, is it Nigeria’s tepid call that amounts to a mere irritation, at best, that it will heed?

Seeing the hopelessness of their situation, many Arab countries have negotiated peace with Israel; thereby recognising its right to exist as a sovereign and independent state.

Some others have not said so openly but have desisted from openly antagonising it.

The recent fall of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has further depleted the ranks of the countries vigorously opposed to Israel.

Iran, undeterred, has continued the struggle, reasoning that it must be militarily strong enough not only to withstand Israel but also to stand a chance of achieving her goal against it.

The only road to that objective is for it to become a nuclear-power nation.

Therefore, Iran has feverishly pursued its nuclear arms project, insisting that it is for peaceful purposes while those opposed to it believe it is not.

To Israel and its backers, therefore, to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is a task that must be done. To Iran on the other hand, to acquire the nuke is also a mission that must be accomplished!

But, of course, we cannot overlook the original injustice that has made the land of Palestine the theatre of horrendous wars and bloodshed since 1948 and the initial rejection of the UN two-state policy and the right of Israel to exist by the Palestinians and their backers.

We cannot but also note the ceaseless violation of international law by Israel and its backers.

Having said that, international relations are power relations in the real sense of the word. The strong and powerful have their way while the weak suffer what they must, until they, too, are strong enough to upturn the applecart.

As Rousseau admonished, “The strong is never strong enough to be always the master unless he transforms strength into right and obedience into duty”.

We have seen the rise and fall of empires and yesterday’s superpowers today do folow-follow and yes-sir to the new sheriffs in town.

Who says the balance of forces will not change in Palestine or the Middle East in years, decades or centuries to come?

Gone were the days when Nigeria commanded a powerful and influential voice in the international arena; when we were a very important member of the Non-Aligned Nations (which itself has gone into oblivion); and when we could ask a sitting US president to shut up and stop dictating to African leaders!

Gone were the days when Africa was the cornerstone of our foreign policy and we championed the decolonisation efforts in other parts of the continent; when we nationalised British-owned companies and led the fight against apartheid colonialism in southern Africa, earning us the distinguished position of a Frontline State in the battle!

Gone were the days when we almost single-handedly championed ECOMOG and brought peace to battle-ravaged Liberia and Sierra Leone!

Gone were the days of Pax Nigeriana! Gone were the days when African nations catch cold and the international community takes notice anytime we sneeze.

Today, minnows like Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso poke their fingers in the eye of the “Giant of Africa” A giant with the feet of clay!

Economic power feeds military power and, together, both translate into powerful nations with a voice in international affairs.

Run-down and decrepit countries like Nigeria are jokers if they jostle for attention or relevance when superpower nations are talking or doing their own thing.

The best we can do at the moment is put our head down, like China did, and work our way up without making any useless noise and flexing muscles that we do not possess, which can only draw unwarranted attention to us with dire consequences!!

By Bola BOLAWOLE, Chairman of Punch Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief

Opinion

Tributes to Dr. Segun Osoba and Abosede Oluwayemisi

Published

3 weeks ago

August 5, 2026

Mariam Balogun

By Bola BOLAWOLE,

Dr. Segun Osoba, Marxist scholar and historian, was one of my mentors and role models. Our paths crossed long before I came face-to-face with the enigma at the then University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, where he not only taught me courses in the History department, but was also our staff adviser and comrade.

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Cerebral and unflinchingly principled, Osoba snubbed the usual hussle, if I may call it that, of many academics to attain to the professoral status, preferring to remain “Dr.” even though everyone knew he was not the mate of many a professor!

For me, Osoba’s fame travelled far ahead of him. Appointed by the Murtala Muhammed regime into the Constitution Drafting Committee in October 1975, Osoba, together with his ideological soulmate, Dr. Bala Usman of the History department of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, broke ranks with the other members of the CDC to author a people-oriented draft Constitution that made the Nigerian people’s interests, aspirations and well-being its focal point. It was termed the Minority Report.

Expectedly, the conservative Olusegun Obasanjo regime that succeeded Murtala Muhammed rejected the Osoba/Bala Usman report while accepting the report of the majority members of the CDC on September 14, 1976. The CDC was chaired by Chief FRA Williams.

The majority/minority report divide apart, the CDC was not without its controversies: The sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had declined to serve on the committee, thereby reducing its members from 50 to 49. There was also the debate as to what would have been the choice of a much more radical Murtala Muhammed had he not been assassinated on February 13, 1976.

Specifically because of Osoba and Bala Usman, I chose to study History in the university! And I was fortunate to drink from the fountain of knowledge at the feet of Dr. Osoba on and off the classroom. As comrades, our relationship did not end at Ife; usually, comradeship is a life-long endeavour.

In late December 2023, after a spell of ‘long-time-no-see’, four of us old students/comrades of Comrade Osoba decided to visit him at his Ijebu-Ode residence – Femi Falana, SAN; Ambassador Ayo Olukanni; Kayode Komolafe (K.K.) and my humble self.

Comrade was still his very sharp and humorous self. Despite his health challenges, he still “recognised” each and everyone of us by our voice. We discussed for hours and it was amazing that ill-health spared his intellect. He was his familiar self – analytical, even if caustic, going down memory lane and recalling facts and figures as if he was reading them from a book spread out before him.

We promised to return. Unfortunately, we procrastinated, despite Olukanni’s repeated prodding. But as individuals, we attended his 90th birthday celebration held at Ijebu-Ode on 9th January, 2025. His book, “Critical and Contentious Issues in the Modern and Contemporary History of Nigeria: Collected Writings of Samuel Olusegun Osoba”, which was unveiled at the occasion, adorns my Library. See also my “Tributes to Comrade (Dr.) Segun Osoba at 90”, published in this column in the Wednesday, 15 January, 2025 edition of the New Telegraph newspaper.

Dr. Osoba passed away peacefully at home in Ijebu-Ode on 14 May, 2026. A flurry of activities by comrades from all the nooks and crannies of this country as well as abroad celebrated his life, extolled his virtues, pledged to continue the struggle from where he stopped, and bid him farewell from this earthly plane. In this were the words of Che Guevara fulfilled: “Wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome, provided that this, our battle cry, may have reached some receptive ear and another hand may be extended to wield our weapons (Message to the Tricontinental, 1967).”

I was unable to participate fully in some of the activities because of the tragedy that fell at my doorsteps at about the same time.

First, my elder sister’s husband, Gabriel Alani Olusola Omiyale, died on June 11, 2026 at the age of 89 years. He was a mentor. Then came the bombshell: His daughter – and my sister’s second child, Abosede Oluwayemisi – died the same month on June 29th at the age of 54!

That was massive! To say we were devastated is an understatement. If the pains that attended Bose’s death remain indescribable, the ways and manners of her husband and his family immediately before and after her death remain a puzzle. They rubbed insults on our injury.

They desecrated our Yoruba customs and traditions. Bose had heroically battled the scourge of breast cancer; after undergoing an operation, we were all optimistic she was on the path to full recovery until tests showed she needed more medical attention.

Naturally, she was devastated but, gradually, she built up the confidence and strength required to see her through. No stone was left unturned by her extended family who did not leave the load for the husband and his family to carry. All hands were on deck.

The extended family had always been there for Bose. Her siblings had been wonderful; never allowing her husband’s unstable job situation to show or affect Bose’s treatment and other needs, including her children’s education and welfare. I also played my part. I am grateful to everyone who responded to our clarion call in many ways.

We were hopeful we would all pull through it and that Bose’s case would be another testimony that cancer can be beaten. All she needed – as much as medicare – were words of encouragement and support. That, however, became the weakest link!

Act one: Against the best advice of her mother, my niece was made to consume a concoction that turned the tide. According to her husband, the concoction was procured by his own brother in Akure, Ondo state, taken to a church for prayers after which it was dispatched through a motorpark! Bose drank this concoction and started vomiting. In his own testimonies, Bose’s husband took her to a hospital where she was given drips, which gave her some strength, but because the doctor was late in coming, he took her back home despite the fact that the test they ran indicated that she had a blood infection! That night at home, she started vomiting again and, according to the husband’s testimony, he took her again to the hospital by 1.30am. She was left unattended until late afternoon when she fell into a coma! Bose’s blood infection was never treated until she passed away!

Act Two: Our standard practice had been to always double-check whatever a doctor said or prescribed, but on this fatal day, Bose’s husband kept all of us in the dark. We were not told of the blood infection. We were not alerted when she started vomiting again in the night. We were not informed when he took her again to the hospital. According to him, Bose walked with her own legs into the hospital, climbing the row of stairs all by herself.

Act Three: At the hospital, the husband took Bose’s phone and locked it in the car parked downstairs. So she had no access to her phone – to call out or receive in-coming calls. She was held incommunicado. And there was no one else there with the husband and wife. He called noone; he also snubbed repeated incoming calls into his own phone, including from my elder sister, who is Bose’s mother.

Act four: Later that afternoon, the husband called me to say Bose was not responding to treatment and that I should start interceding for her. I was aghast! I had been waiting all day for them to link up with me for a scheduled appointment. Later, a female voice using the husband’s phone called me to quickly come to the hospital. I was on my way there when Bose’s second child, a girl writing exams at the Obafemi Awolowo University, called me, sobbing! “Daddy, what is happening to my Mom? My Daddy called me and said my Mummy is in coma” Coma! “Yes, sir”, the girl replied, “and my Daddy said my Mummy is dead!” I almost lost control of the wheel because I was driving.

Act Five: On getting to the hospital, they had already started embalming Bose! I screamed at the husband, but the hospital staff restrained me. Why the haste? Without any of her family members present! A thousand thoughts ran riot in my head. At 6.28 pm, Bose’s mortal remains were deposited in the morgue and we left.

Act Six: While we were agonizing about how to break the sad news to Bose’s mother, her husband and his family had posted Bose’s death on every conceivable social media platform, breaking the news to her young children, the oldest of whom is just a little over 20 years while the youngest is 14!

Act seven: We the siblings of Bose’s mother wanted a decent burial for her. We wanted her dreams and visions for her children respected. Bose’s husband and his family spurned all of that! They weaponized Bose’s young children against us. They threw their so-called customs and traditions in our face at every turn – as if the Yoruba have no customs and traditions. They employed deceit and subterfuge and hurriedly committed Bose to mother earth without any of her family members present! We warned! They ignored and played games!

Google says Edema is a name answered by both the Urhobo and Itsekiri people of Delta state. Does their culture permit the trumping of Yoruba customs and traditions? Should a husband boast to his children – while their mother was still battling cancer – that, if she dies, he will remarry? So, expect his wedding invitation!

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Had Bose died of cancer, our pains would have been less insufferable; but she did not! Were they tired of the stress and wanted closure so they could move on with their own life? Hastened to her death! Hurried to the grave! This is to put the records straight. Our immediate attention, however, is the good health of Bose’s mother – and Daddy Omiyale’s burial slated for 29th and 30th of October this year.

Let Dr. Segun Osoba rest in power! And eternal rest grant Abosede Oluwayemisi Edema (nee Omiyale), O Lord!

(Published in the TREASURES column on the back page of the Wednesday, 5 August, 2026 edition of the New Telegraph newspaper).