ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR: 2 states creation key to conflict resolution, says Prof Akinyemi

A Professor of Political Science, Bolaji Akinyemi, says the 1948 United Nations Resolution creating two states is key to the resolution of the long conflict between Palestine and Israel.

He also said Nigeria should not take sides in the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas.

“We should not take sides and we don’t need to take sides,” an octogenarian Akinyemi said in a live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

According to Prof Akinyemi, a former Minister of External Affairs, the call for peace in the Middle East by the Federal Government of Nigeria is the best position to take.

At a time when the war between Russia and Ukraine was yet to subside, Hamas militants from Gaza stormed across the border into Israel on October 7, launching a raid that killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death on the first day, according to Israeli officials.

They also seized more than 200 hostages in the worst-ever attack in Israel’s history.

Israel has hit back with a relentless bombing campaign which has so far killed more than 4,600 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Hours after the war commenced, the Nigerian Government called for de-escalation and ceasefire between both warring parties.

Speaking on Sunday, Prof Akinyemi, also a former Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), said Nigeria should be neutral.

He said, “We should be neutral. I congratulate President Tinubu for the position he’s taken. We should be for peace, we should be calling for a ceasefire, we should be calling for humanitarian corridors that allow water, medicine, food to be going in.

“We should also be suggesting the way forward, ultimate way forward: 1948 United Nations Resolution creating two states – the Palestinian State and an Israeli State; those are the things that are key to a resolution of the conflict in that place.

“We should not take sides and we don’t need to take sides. And in any case, the problem in that place is so complex. There are no good guys and there are no bad guys. So, there is no need for us to be righteous in our position.”

The don said there are religious implications to the war even though it is not a religious issue, adding that Nigerian leaders looking at the issue from religious perspective are wrong because “there are more Christians among the Palestinians”.

Prof Akinyemi said urban terrorism is likely if the war is not brought under quick control as there are terrorists on both sides who are dominant in all cities of the world.

The ex-minister also said that the war is already having economic impact around the world and Nigeria won’t be spared from the ripple effect.

According to him, the price of crude will continue to go up as long as the war continues and Nigeria will pay higher prices for petroleum products and lesser prices for the crude and this will have a negative effect on Nigeria’s economy.