The role of the doctor must attract attention: by taking part in such an operation, the practitioner was certainly failing in his Hippocratic oath. A well-respected doctor in his field, he defended himself by saying that he believed he was committing an act of patriotism by rendering service to his country. This could be seen as a quasi-confession of the Jewish state's participation in the affair through the actions of its famous secret service.
Although it is likely that Mossad did act in this capacity, why did they do it? The Israelis had already intervened and helped out other foreign services before: they had played a role in the Ben Barka Affair, the Moroccan politician who had led an organisation of Third World countries that was not favourable to Israel.They had also collaborated with South African agencies and their contribution in the Iran-Contra affair was essential. However, on each of these occasions they only acted if they felt it was in their own interests to do so. If Mossad saw fit to give a helping hand to the Nigerians, it was so that Israel could benefit from one way or another.
In which case, the first assumption must be that it had something to do with oil. Indeed, Nigeria was one of Israel's major suppliers of the black gold. Israel could legitimately believe that the change of regime in Nigeria would have negative consequences on existing oil agreements between the two countries. When Israeli leaders learned that Lagos intended to recover Dikko and his fortune by whatever means, they could have been tempted to offer their services and experience. It must be remembered that one of Mossad's most spectacular operations was the capture of Adolf Eichmann and his extradition to Israel. In return for their help, they might easily have asked Nigeria to continue to provide them with oil.
However, it is unlikely that oil was Israel's primary motivation: if Mossad had indeed been involved in such an important case - nothing less than maintaining the oil supply to the country - then the operation would have been carried out much more professionally. Its agents would have made sure they did not commit as many mistakes, as well as making sure that their partners did likewise. The hiring of the canary yellow van in particular, was not a decision made by the Israelis, but by the Nigerians. If Mossad were involved then their agents were not in charge of the operation. This was because the secret service chiefs believed that Israel's main interests should not be put at risk.
The reality is much more trivial. There were numerous Israeli companies doing business in Nigeria and a number of them were unable to recover the money they had committed to the country or loaned to the Nigerian state. Hence the idea of helping Lagos get its hands on Dikko, and his especially on his stolen money, in the hope that these entrepreneurs would be compensated through Dikko's fortune.
Among the companies in question was a major construction firm that depended on Israel's main trade organisation, Histadrut. There was also a Swiss consortium led by a Jewish capitalist who was very close to the Israeli Right, so close in fact that he had funded a conservative ally of Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and therefore a man whom the Israeli leadership owed a great deal. This shipping magnate also had personal reasons to resent Dikko: he owned a large portion of the rice market and it was his business that channelled this essential nutrient into Nigeria. He had therefore been in business with Dikko over its import, and after having received the large shipments, Dikko had failed to pay him for its transportation. The bills amounted to millions of dollars and it would not have been hard for this friend of the Israeli authorities to convince Prime Minister Begin to lend him a small Mossad unit. However, we cannot exclude the idea that the Mossad agents, reluctant at the idea of working for private interests, did not take their mission seriously, thus explaining the clumsiness, if not the blunders.
Among those wanted by Scotland Yard for their involvement in the Dikko affair was the London director of the national air carrier, Nigerian Airways, who had been in hiding for several days. He would eventually leave Britain - also by hiding in a box - thus proving that such a means of transportation was not as unique as it might have first seemed.
Le Monde
110
Since the coup of 31 December which put an end to the ‘democratic’ civil regime of Mr Shagari, the authorities in Lagos have repeatedly asserted that it was the rampant general corruption under the previous administration which was the main cause of the current crisis.
Mr Dikko has been designated as the symbol of this corruption and the Nigerian military have sworn to obtain his extradition. A billionaire, the former Transport Minister was certainly able to enrich himself by fraudulent means as a result of his responsibilities. Like several hundred personalities from the former regime who are now in Nigerian prisons awaiting trial for embezzlement, he was able to take advantage of a system that was set up to be abused. He had never hidden his intention to use ‘every means and every weapon’ to overthrow the government of General Buhari.
Beyond the personality of Mr Dikko, the affair also illustrates the headstrong policies that seem to dominate Nigeria. The trials taking place in Lagos only exist to divert public
opinion away from the difficulties facing the government
