On Dec 7 2017 President Donald Trump of the United States declared Jerusalem the Capital of Israel, saying the U.S will move its Embassy to Jerusalem, the declaration was met with violent protest in Palatine and across the Muslim Countries.
An Emergency United Nations meeting was held, 128 Countries voted against the move by the United State which Nigeria was among those against the move, leaving only 9 countries which voted in favour of the United States.
As measure to get more votes for those that stand in favour of the U.S, Trump threatened to cut down aid for countries that will vote against the U.S. Unfortunately Nigeria was one of the countries that voted against the move by the U.S.
At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump was quoted by the UK’s The Guardian newspaper as saying, “Let them (Nigeria and other countries benefitting from the US financial aids) vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care.
“But this isn’t like it used to be where they could vote against you (the US) and then you pay them hundreds of millions of dollars. We’re not going to be taken advantage of any longer.”
When contacted on whether the US would stop providing financial aid to Nigeria for not supporting its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a US Department of State official, Julia Mason, told our correspondent, “As President Trump said on December 20, it is a factor in the process of making our assistance decisions. The president’s foreign policy team has been empowered to explore various options going forward; however, no decisions have been made.”
In July, Trump had promised $639m in aid to assist people facing famine in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.
Among the quartet, only South Sudan did not vote against the US.
Nigeria was one of the 10 nations in the world to receive the most foreign aid spent in 2016 by the US government, receiving $607.5m
In 2015, the United States Agency for International Development put its total fiscal year spending in Nigeria at $355,728,911.
Asked if the Trump administration felt disappointed that Nigeria and other African countries that depend on US financial aids and other supports did not throw their weight behind the US, an official of the US agency, stated, “The outcome was not unexpected. It is a non-binding resolution that does nothing to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or advance the cause of peace.”
Reacting to the UN resolution, the US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, had said, “Unlike some UN member countries, the United States government is answerable to its people; as such, we have an obligation to acknowledge when our political and financial capital is being poorly spent.
“We have an obligation to demand more for our investment, and if our investment fails, we have an obligation to spend our resources in more productive ways. Those are the thoughts that come to mind when we consider the resolution before us today.”
Vgng
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