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Israel net favorability world map, showing Nigeria as the sole investigated country in Africa having a net favorable view of Israel in December 2023

Source: Morning Consult Political Intelligence.

Image source

Why is net favorability for Israel so high in Nigeria even after the Gaza incursions? I was reading an article on how Israel's net favorability went down drastically around the world, but I noticed that Nigeria's net favorability for Israel maintained a high level still even after the Gaza incursions. Is there a political, cultural, historical reason for this high level of favorability among the populace in Nigeria?

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  • The source is in the image, but the guy who quoted the image is "my source".
    – user28660
    Commented Feb 28 at 15:30
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    The anwer(s) may be a bit obvious, but I see no prima facie reason to DV this into negative territory, so +1. Personally, I'd be curious how the other countries facing Islamist insurgencies in the same region view Israel. But we can see from your map Africa only has a few countries polled (at least by Morning Consult).
    – Make StackExchange GREAT 4ever
    Commented Feb 28 at 15:34
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    Somewhat interesting, but not so obvious/well-known story bbc.com/news/world-africa-58917825 ibid, even longer take: theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/26/…
    – Make StackExchange GREAT 4ever
    Commented Feb 28 at 15:40
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    The image seems to be originally from a paywalled report at morningconsult.com. On X, this post by Anatoly Karlin includes the image, which might be where the OP got it from. For what it's worth, Anatoly Karlin self-identifies as racist. None of that is particularly relevant for Nigeria-Israel relations.
    – gerrit
    Commented Feb 29 at 7:51
  • This question conflates general support for a country with support for some of its specific policies. These polices are not new and not unique to Israel. Friends often disagree. Nigeria has called for de-escalation and prioritization of civilian safety during the conflict.
    – Birkensox
    Commented Mar 2 at 1:33

1 Answer 1

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Nigeria and Israel have a surprisingly strong relationship

Since April 1993, Israel has maintained an embassy in Abuja and Nigeria has an embassy in Tel Aviv. Over fifty Israeli companies operate in Nigeria in the spheres of construction, infrastructure, hi-tech, communications and IT, agriculture and water management. In turn, there are over 5,000 Nigerian companies and organizations that operate in Israel. Trade and commerce are promoted by the Israeli Export and International Cooperation Institute, the Nigerian-Israeli Chamber of Commerce (NICC) and the Israel-Africa Chamber of Commerce.

Nigeria is also where Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls in 2014. Israel has been assisting Nigeria with that issue

On September 2, 2019, the Nigerian government announced it would partner with Israel to address security challenges, particularly the Boko Haram insurgence, facing Nigeria.

Remember that Hamas kidnapped some 230 people on October 7. It's likely the parallels there are not lost on the Nigerian people.

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  • And note that the Boko Haram conflict has been more deadly on both sides than the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Gaza has a higher peak fatality rate but nowhere near the highest total.
    – Loren Pechtel
    Commented Mar 1 at 21:17
  • Interestingly, there's a also a Muslim insurgency in Thailand, albeit not so well known. And they too [continue to] dig Israel according to the OP's map, although somewhat less than Nigeria.
    – Make StackExchange GREAT 4ever
    Commented 2 days ago

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