Ministry of Foreign Affairs sources today said, "Robi Shapira was a man of honor, and that is probably what killed him."
Israeli businessman Shapira, who was the owner of the Hapoel Haifa Football Club, and who had business interests in Nigeria, shot himself in his apartment in Lagos on Friday night.
The ministry sources believe that Shapira, as a man of honor, could not cope with his business situation, "which apparently did not allow him to look at himself in the mirror. He therefore decided to end his life." At the same time, the sources emphasize that they do not know what made him commit suicide, and whether the deed was caused by the plight of his business in Nigeria.
The sources said the Israeli business community in Nigeria numbers several hundred, and the embassy is not aware of the specific situation of every person. They said that the complex security situation and the absence of basic services in Nigeria had created a tightly linked Israeli business community that spent most of its free time with each other. Nevertheless, it was hard to know the situation of each person, even from gossip.
In response to the question of whether the security-political situation in Nigeria made it hard to conduct normal business, the ministry said the country had ethnic divisions, 200 languages, (English is the official language), and a huge gap between rich and poor. In such a country, the most corrupt in the world, according to international surveys, conducting business was no simple matter.
Nigeria is known for its abundant natural resources: coal, natural gas, and particularly oil. These resources attract businessmen from Israel and around the world. Israeli businessmen are involved mostly in infrastructure deals: construction, water, roads, agriculture, and telecommunications.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on December 16, 2001