In another sign of President Buhari of Nigeria’s ardent anti-Israel views he has remained the lone holdout to signing off on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to the ECOWAS summit in January. The Prime Minister was set to meet with the leaders of the 15 African states that make up the Economic Community of West African States and was in fact personally invited by the head of ECOWAS Marcel Alain de Souza during his visit last month to Israel.
Muhammadu Buhari has taken a blatent anti-Israel tone since his surprising election last year. He defeated Goodluck Jonathan Nigeria’s first pro-Israel President in a very shady election. Buhari has used his election to attack opponents, especially in the territory of Biafra by arming Islamic Fulani herdsman and encouraging them to raid Jewish and Christian communities in the South and South East.
Bibi’s want to use the ECOWAS summit to replay his successful visit to East Africa. Furthermore he is attempting to shore up a coalition of African nations that could hold off the onslaught of radical Islam. Given Buhari’s connections to Boko Haram it is doubtful he would follow suit. The question remains to see if ECOWAS can stand up to him. Afterall Buhari is supported by President Barak Hussein Obama.