June 3, 2010
Saudi authorities last Tuesday canceled plans by Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan to visit King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia on a "thank you” mission. A source close to Jonathan revealed that the royal house of Saud canceled the meeting for undisclosed reasons.
Saudi authorities last Tuesday canceled plans by Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan to visit King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia on a "thank you” mission. A source close to Jonathan revealed that the royal house of Saud canceled the meeting for undisclosed reasons.
However, a Saudi diplomat told Saharareporters that the visit was aborted because the Saudi King had to scrap most engagements in order to attend to the international crisis precipitated by Israel’s attack on a flotilla of ships taking relief goods to Palestinians in blockaded Gaza. Nine people, most of them from Turkey, died in the Israeli attack that sparked outrage around the world.
Jonathan had planned on making a brief stop in Jeddah on his way back to Nigeria from a brief visit to Paris, France. The choice of Jeddah, rather than Riyadh, as the site of the aborted meeting was deemed symbolic. The deceased former Nigerian leader, Umaru Yar'adua, spent three months in a Saudi hospital in Jeddah where he was treated for Churg Strauss disease and other ailments.
Saharareporters learnt that Jonathan was about to depart France when the Nigerian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mr. Abdullahi Minchi, got in touch with him on the hotline to communicate the cancellation of the trip.
Prior to his evacuation to Jeddah last November, Yar’adua had received previous treatments in Saudi hospitals. However, when pressure was mounted on the Saudi authorities to disclose the state of Yar’adua’s health, the kingdom eased out the ailing Nigerian ruler by providing his wife with an air ambulance to fly him back to Nigeria in the middle of the night. Yar’adua’s sudden and secretive return brought Nigeria to the edge of political chaos.
Despite Saudi Arabia’s explanation for the botched visit, a source in Abuja speculated that the cancellation of Jonathan's trip could be “a case of Saudi authorities giving the cold shoulder to President Jonathan in retaliation for the way politicians loyal to Jonathan vilified Saudi Arabia for refusing to disclose Yar’adua’s exact medical condition.”
However, a Saudi diplomat told Saharareporters that the visit was aborted because the Saudi King had to scrap most engagements in order to attend to the international crisis precipitated by Israel’s attack on a flotilla of ships taking relief goods to Palestinians in blockaded Gaza. Nine people, most of them from Turkey, died in the Israeli attack that sparked outrage around the world.
Jonathan had planned on making a brief stop in Jeddah on his way back to Nigeria from a brief visit to Paris, France. The choice of Jeddah, rather than Riyadh, as the site of the aborted meeting was deemed symbolic. The deceased former Nigerian leader, Umaru Yar'adua, spent three months in a Saudi hospital in Jeddah where he was treated for Churg Strauss disease and other ailments.
Saharareporters learnt that Jonathan was about to depart France when the Nigerian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mr. Abdullahi Minchi, got in touch with him on the hotline to communicate the cancellation of the trip.
Prior to his evacuation to Jeddah last November, Yar’adua had received previous treatments in Saudi hospitals. However, when pressure was mounted on the Saudi authorities to disclose the state of Yar’adua’s health, the kingdom eased out the ailing Nigerian ruler by providing his wife with an air ambulance to fly him back to Nigeria in the middle of the night. Yar’adua’s sudden and secretive return brought Nigeria to the edge of political chaos.
Despite Saudi Arabia’s explanation for the botched visit, a source in Abuja speculated that the cancellation of Jonathan's trip could be “a case of Saudi authorities giving the cold shoulder to President Jonathan in retaliation for the way politicians loyal to Jonathan vilified Saudi Arabia for refusing to disclose Yar’adua’s exact medical condition.”
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