Just years ago, Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and the continent’s most populous country, was being looked unto to assume the role of Africa’s diplomatic leader on the international scene often played by South Africa, which at the time was fast losing its place. The country was therefore advised to forge close ties with major players on the continent such as Morocco, but it never did.

Fast forward months later to the past week, a diplomatic row between the two countries had erupted over a truthfulness of phone conversation between President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and  King Mohammed VI of Morocco. Both camps had completely different versions of events; Nigeria said at the time there was a phone call made to King Mohammed, while the Moroccan embassy rebuffed claims that its King spoke to President Jonathan. The issue might have been cooled off late last night when President Jonathan released a statement that confirmed there wasn’t a phone call, but this unfolding is just the latest in a growing strain in the relationship between both countries.

Why is a phone call such a big deal?

There are phone calls daily between world leaders and no one hears about them. But when there is an allegation that a president lied about a conversation he had with another leader, it becomes important. When one country recalls its ambassador, it gets more interesting. While Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry insisted that President Goodluck Jonathan spoke with King Mohammed VI of Morocco, its counterpart in the North African state claimed the monarch never acceded to the request for a phone conversation.

According to a communique by the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Morocco, the Nigerian authorities had requested for a telephone conversation and the sending of an envoy to the kingdom which were denied by the king.

However, the Nigerian government stated that there was a discussion on the forthcoming election of the African Development Bank (AfDB) for which the country is lobbying for its Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina, as president of the bank. The Foreign Ministry said that both leaders spoke extensively over matters of mutual interest and concern.

The Kingdom of Morocco hit back in another communique that there was no truth in what authorities in Nigeria conveyed to the Moroccan ambassador and the media. “[…]there has never been a telephone conversation between His Majesty the King Mohammed VI, May God Assist Him, and the President of this country.”

“The Kingdom of Morocco expresses its astonishment and condemnation of these practices which are against ethics and the spirit of responsibility, which should govern relations between States.”

The kingdom had since recalled its ambassador to Nigeria “for consultations.”

Morocco’s reason for not talking to President Jonathan

In a series of communique released by the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Morocco since the diplomatic row between the kingdom and Nigeria began recently, the Arab nation explained why its king refused to talk to the Nigerian leader as it claimed.

According to a statement, King Mohammed VI decided not to grant the request by the Nigerian authorities for a conversation between the two leaders as it seemed related to the crucial Nigerian elections coming up on March 28 and April 11. It claimed that the request from Nigeria appeared more like “an act for getting back the Muslim electorate of this country than a normal diplomatic initiative.” However, with Morocco not known to wield any significant influence over the Nigerian Muslim population, there is apparently more to this than the kingdom avoiding to meddle in Nigeria’s political issues. The kingdom hinted this in its statements on the situation.

The real issue

“His Majesty the King declined, in fact, the request of the Nigerian authorities, as it comes under the framework of internal electoral manoeuvring and due to the extremely hostile positions of this country vis-à-vis the Kingdom’s territorial integrity,” one of the statements released by the Moroccan Foreign Affairs read in part. The later part of the sentence may be the real reason why the king declined a conversation with Nigeria’s president.

Last Saturday, Nigeria’s ambassador to Morocco, B.B. Hammam was at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Rabat where the reasons behind the kingdom’s action was explained. As if he knew why this would happen, a statement by the ministry said that Hammam was ‘reminded’ of the reasons of this decision, “which are related to the current electoral context in Nigeria and the repetitive unfriendly and hostile positions of the Nigerian Government, regarding the issue of the Moroccan Sahara and the sacred Arab – Muslim causes, particularly that of the brotherly Palestinian people.”

Nigeria has maintained a diplomatic relationship with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), which declared independence in 1976 and claims sovereignty over Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony later occupied by Morocco and Mauritania. The government-in-exile currently controls about 20 – 25 percent of the territory, east of the Moroccan Wall. Administered by the Polisario Front, its national liberation movement, SADR also administers the Sahrawi refugee camps at Tindouf, Algeria, where its headquarters are. Morocco wants the territory it annexed in 1975 back. To ensure this, it had at several times frustrated efforts to convene a referendum despite efforts by UN special envoys to find a common ground for both parties. The Polisario Front had also erred on several occasions. However, it is believed that King Mohammed VI opposes any referendum on independence. The kingdom believes refugees in Tindouf will one day return and has built several empty towns in Western Sahara in anticipation of this.

For being an ally of the SADR, Morocco does not see Nigeria as a friend. The kingdom sees Nigeria’s position on the issue as “extremely hostile”. A Sahrawi embassy was opened in Abuja in late 2000 when Olusegun Obasanjo was president, 16 years after Nigeria recognized the country.

The Mahgreb kingdom is also not happy with Nigeria over its stance on “Arab – Muslim causes, particularly that of the brotherly Palestinian people.” The West African nation had stayed out of a crucial vote on the UN draft resolution calling for Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories by late 2017, at the UN Security Council last December. In order to pass, a resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes from the council’s five permanent members. While the United States might have vetoed the resolution, abstention by Nigeria and Rwanda, both SADR allies hurt Morocco. Chad voted in favour of the resolution.

No doubt the situation is embarrassing for Nigeria. The President of Nigeria has promised to investigate the matter and take necessary actions against those found culpable.

Africa’s impressive economic growth in recent times have been impressive, with the continent described as the next growth frontier, but if it will continue to build its strength, there is a need for closer ties between its major players.