Nigerian President Arrives in Israel on Pilgrimage
President Goodluck Jonathan will attend an interdenominational church service with the theme 'A day with Jesus for Nigeria in Israel.'
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan arrived in Israel on Saturday for a two-day pilgrimage to Jerusalem and other Christian sites, the News Agency of Nigeria reported.
According to the president’s itinerary, he will begin Saturday at the Western Wall, where he will pray privately, before going to Mount Tabor and Mount Carmel.
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Jonathan will also be guest of honor at an interdenominational church service with the theme “A day with Jesus for Nigeria in Israel’’.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Israel, Davi Obasa, received the president on his arrival at Ben-Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv.
Jonathan is being accompanied on the pilgrimage, his second in just over a year, by a large entourage of Nigerian religious and political leaders.
During his previous visit in October 2013, Jonathan met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-president Shimon Peres.
His aides said that his current trip was entirely spiritual and did not disclose who, if anyone, he would be meeting with in Israel.
The president is likely to be standing for re-election in four months, though he has not yet formally announced his candidacy for another term.