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