In a joint project involving the Israeli Embassy in Nigeria, the Chabad movement, the local Jewish community, and local officials, hundreds of packages containing food items and hygiene products were distributed to needy families in Nigeria over the course of the past few days.
The project was initiated in honor of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr which falls at the end of this week and concludes the month-long Ramadan fast, and was entitled, “Love your neighbor as yourself – from the Jewish community to the Muslims of Nigeria.”
The distribution was carried out at two main locations: at an orphanage, and at the central mosque of Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
The project also marks 60 years since Israel and Nigeria opened diplomatic relations, and for the first time ever, Israel’s ambassador to Nigeria, Shimon Ben-Shushan, was permitted to make a historic visit to the central mosque where the packages were being distributed.
Ben-Shushan, Israeli consul Yotam Kreiman, and Chabad Rabbi Yisrael Ozen, were warmly welcomed by the head imam, Sheikh Dr. Kabir Muhammad Adam, who thanked them from the bottom of his heart for the donations to needy families. The ambassador, the rabbi, and the imam then discussed the relations between the two countries and the special relationship between the three Abrahamic religions.