Chabad Lubavitch of Nigeria
Chabad-Lubavitch in Nigeria: the Uzans' Abuja centre (since 2011 or 2012) and the Sternbachs' Lagos centre (since 2020), serving an expatriate community of Israeli and other Jewish business people, under Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa
| Chabad Lubavitch of Nigeria
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Chabad-Lubavitch emissary operation |
| Founded | 2011 or 2012 (Abuja); 2020 (Lagos) |
| Founder(s) | Israel Uzan and Haya Uzan |
| Headquarters | Jabi, Abuja |
| Area served | Nigeria: Abuja and Lagos, with visits to Ibadan and other cities |
| Key people | Israel Uzan and Haya Uzan (Abuja); Mendy Sternbach and Mazal Sternbach (Lagos, Victoria Island) |
| Remarks | Affiliations: Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa (Kinshasa). Website JewishNigeria.com; humanitarian arm ChabadAid |
Chabad-Lubavitch in Nigeria consists of two centres. The first is in Abuja, run by Rabbi Israel Uzan and his wife Haya (Chaya), who moved to Nigeria in 2011 (or 2012; Chabad's own accounts differ). The second, in Lagos, was opened in 2020 by Rabbi Mendy Sternbach and his wife Mazal.[1][2] Both work under Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa, headed from Kinshasa by Rabbi Shlomo Bentolila.[2] The community they serve is almost entirely expatriate. Uzan wrote in 2026 that it grew up "from the 1960s onward around Israelis and other Jewish entrepreneurs involved in construction, infrastructure, agriculture, security and other key sectors of the country's development".[3] Chabad does not treat the Igbo groups who claim Israelite descent as Jewish.[3]
Emissaries and centres
- Israel Uzan and Haya Uzan (Abuja). Uzan first came to Nigeria as a visiting rabbinical student.[1] Chabad.org gave the couple's start date as 2012 in a 2020 article and as 2011 in a 2026 article.[2][1] In December 2025 Uzan said they had arrived "fourteen years ago".[4] The Abuja centre, at Jabi, includes a synagogue, a mikvah, a Jewish preschool (Little Gems) and a kosher supermarket stocked with products imported from Israel and the United States.[5][2]
- Gan Hana building. In December 2025 a new two-storey building for the preschool, Gan Hana, opened on the Abuja campus. It was "funded completely by donors Steve and Einat Elias", and Chabad describes it as "the first purpose-built Jewish educational center in the region".[4]
- Mendy Sternbach and Mazal Sternbach (Lagos). Sternbach first came to Nigeria in 2014 as a 21-year-old student for the High Holidays and kept returning to help the Uzans. Mazal Sternbach had earlier run educational programmes in Abuja. Their Lagos centre, announced in November 2020, was described as Chabad's "11th permanent presence in sub-Saharan Africa".[2] It is on Victoria Island.[6] At the Gan Hana opening, Elias pledged to fund a second school in Lagos.[4] In 2026 Uzan wrote of "a new community center currently under construction" in Lagos.[3]
- ChabadAid. Chabad of Nigeria runs a humanitarian programme, ChabadAid. Uzan says it was set up to do something "for all people of Nigeria, not only Jews", and that it works on clean water, food, education and medical support.[3][5]
The Jewish community and the Igbo question
Chabad.org describes the Jewish population as "mainly ... businesspeople and expatriates working for international corporations and aid organizations, primarily in the cities of Abuja, Lagos and Ibadan".[2] There is no older, organised Nigerian Jewish community body with which Chabad shares the field. In Ibadan, an Israeli businessman told Chabad.org that only five Jews remained after an infrastructure project run by the Israeli firm Solel Boneh (RCC) wound down.[2]
Many Igbo people identify as descendants of Israelites. Uzan wrote in 2026: "from a halachic and historical standpoint, we have not been able to trace the sources needed to establish those claims with certainty. But that does not diminish the respect we have for them."[3]
Relations with the state, business and Israel
- Israeli business. Chabad.org notes that "dozens of Israeli companies in the spheres of construction, infrastructure, high-tech, communications and information technology, agriculture and water management operate in the country", naming Solel Boneh (RCC), which "has been carrying out major infrastructure projects in Nigeria and other African countries for decades".[2] Uzan lists "security" among the sectors in which the community's Israelis and other Jewish entrepreneurs work.[3]
- Diplomats. Lubavitch.com says most of Abuja's roughly 350 Jews are "diplomats or businesspeople".[4]
- Interfaith. Uzan says that "leading Muslim dignitaries came to the synagogue" for iftars and other events.[3] Sternbach told Chabad.org in 2020: "Anti-Semitism does not exist ... The locals love Jews."[2]
- Israel. Uzan wrote of local "deep respect for Jewish values, Jewish tradition, and very often, for Israel and its security as well".[3]
Funding and donors
- Steve and Einat Elias paid for the Gan Hana building in Abuja (2025) and pledged a school in Lagos.[4]
- The Abuja centre runs a kosher shop that imports goods from Israel and the US.[2]
Controversies
None found.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2011 or 2012 | Israel and Haya Uzan settle in Abuja |
| 2014 | Mendy Sternbach's first visit as a rabbinical student |
| c. 2016 | Abuja preschool opens ("nine years ago", per Uzan in 2025) |
| 2017 | A Tanya printing in Nigeria, hosted by the Ibadan-based businessman Yair Serrano |
| Nov 2020 | Mendy and Mazal Sternbach announced for Lagos |
| Dec 2025 | Gan Hana building opens in Abuja; second school pledged for Lagos |
| 2026 | Lagos community centre under construction |
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Nigeria
- Chabad Lubavitch of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Chabad Lubavitch of Ghana
- Chabad Lubavitch of Ivory Coast
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Shloimy Galperin, "Getting Central Africa's Rabbis Into One Room Isn't Easy", Chabad.org, 10 June 2026. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Yehuda Mayteles, "Largest City in Africa Gets Its First Rabbi", Chabad.org, 16 November 2020. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Rabbi Israel Uzan, "Deconstructing misconceptions about Nigeria and life in Africa", JNS, 19 May 2026 (opinion). Chabad-side.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Leibel Kahan, "At Abuja School's Grand Opening, Donor Pledges a Second for Lagos", Lubavitch.com, 22 December 2025. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chabad Lubavitch of Nigeria, JewishNigeria.com (home page), accessed 20 October 2026. Chabad-side.
- ↑ Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, "Victoria Island – Centers", Lubavitch.com, accessed 20 October 2026. Chabad-side directory.