We have a Lebanese community here in Nigeria. Don't bank on this, but I think they're even more in Ibadan than what you see in Lagos. Kano is not doing badly.
I have personally had a lot of dealings with the Lebanese community and can write a book on them.
What is most important to them is *trust* rather than *how much* like my Indian friends🤣.
You will find this strange!
There are more Lebanese outside Lebanon than in Lebanon. They're a people on the move due to both economics, and I believe, history of religious conflicts back in those days.
Unlike in Nigeria we can't really trace our collective history beyond say 200 years ago, Lebanese history is more than 7,000 years.
*A typical Lebanese can buy a typical Nigerian 5 times over and keep change*🤣
"No be for mouth". Check out their GDP per capita.
Guess what?
They have better schools and better hospitals in Lebanon as reflected in their *human capital index*. Unknown to Nigerians, as people line up to India on medical tourism, *few but well informed Nigerians actually head to Lebanon noiselessly*
*Meet Lebanon*
Officially known as the Lebanese Republic is a country in Western Asia. *It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus is west across the Mediterranean Sea.* Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland facilitated its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity. At just 10,452 km2 (4,036 sq. mi.), it is the smallest recognized sovereign state on the mainland Asian continent.
*The earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than seven thousand years, predating recorded history.* Lebanon was the home of the Canaanites/Phoenicians and their kingdoms, a maritime culture that flourished for over a thousand years (c. 1550–539 BC). *In 64 BC, the region came under the rule of the Roman Empire, and eventually became one of the Empire's leading centers of Christianity.* In the Mount Lebanon range a monastic tradition known as the Maronite Church was established. *As the Arab Muslims conquered the region, the Maronites held onto their religion and identity. However, a new religious group, the Druze, established themselves in Mount Lebanon as well, generating a religious divide that has lasted for centuries.* During the Crusades, the Maronites re-established contact with the Roman Catholic Church and asserted their communion with Rome. The ties they established with the Latins have influenced the region into the modern era.
The region eventually was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1918. Following the collapse of the empire after World War I, the five provinces that constitute modern Lebanon came under the French Mandate of Lebanon. The French expanded the borders of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, which was mostly populated by Maronites and Druze, to include more Muslims. *Lebanon gained independence in 1943, establishing confessionalism, a unique, Consociationalism-type of political system with a power-sharing mechanism based on religious communities.* Foreign troops withdrew completely from Lebanon on 31 December 1946. Lebanon has been a member of the United Nations since its founding in 1945 as well as of the Arab League (1945), the Non-Aligned Movement (1961), Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (1969) and the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (1973).
Despite its small size, the country has developed a well-known culture and has been highly influential in the Arab world, powered by *its large diaspora.* Before the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), the country experienced a period of relative calm and renowned prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture, commerce, and banking. Because of its financial power and diversity in its heyday, *Lebanon was referred to as the "Switzerland of the East" during the 1960s, and its capital, Beirut, attracted so many tourists that it was known as "the Paris of the Middle East".* At the end of the war, there were extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild national infrastructure. *In spite of these troubles, Lebanon has the highest Human Development Index and GDP per capita in the Arab world, with the exception of the oil-rich economies of the Persian Gulf.*
Population and migration:
The *Lebanese diaspora* consists of approximately 8.6- 14 million, both Lebanese-born living abroad and those born-abroad of Lebanese descent. *The majority of the Lebanese in the diaspora are Christians, disproportionately so in the Americas where the vast majority reside. An estimate figure show that they represent about 75% of the Lebanese in total. Lebanese abroad are considered "rich, educated and influential and over the course of time immigration has yielded Lebanese "commercial networks" throughout the world.*
*Notes:*
*Lebanese Christians of all denominations constitute the majority of all Lebanese worldwide, but represent only a large minority within Lebanon.
*Lebanese Muslims of all denominations represent a majority within Lebanon, but add up to only a large minority of all Lebanese worldwide.
*Shias and Sunnis account for 54% of Lebanon's population together, even split in half (27%).
*In Lebanon, the Druze quasi-Muslim sect is officially categorized as a Muslim denomination by the Lebanese government.
*Economy*
GDP Per capita PPP
$19,128[4] (66th)
GDP Per capita Nominal
$11,615[4] (71st) *Wikipedia*
*As a banker then, a bank or two where I worked enjoyed Letters of credit confirmation lines from Lebanese Banks, at a time when I did not know of any Nigerian Bank that had such for even the poorest African countries. That's economic sophistication*
Surprised?
I remain Sam
CC: *See how the Bible supports Wikipedia on Lebanon as a beauty to behold in those days*
*Isaiah 29:17 ESV*
Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
*Psalm 104:16 ESV*
The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
*Hosea 14:5-7 ESV*
I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
*Psalm 92:12 ESV*
The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
*Jeremiah 18:14 ESV*
Does the snow of Lebanon leave the crags of Sirion? Do the mountain waters run dry, the cold flowing streams?
*Isaiah 2:13 ESV*
Against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up; and against all the oaks of Bashan;
*2 Kings 19:23 ESV*
By your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon; I felled its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses; I entered its farthest lodging place, its most fruitful forest.
*Jeremiah 22:6 ESV*
For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah: “‘You are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, yet surely I will make you a desert, an uninhabited city.
*Isaiah 14:8 ESV*
The cypresses rejoice at you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, ‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’
*Judges 9:15 ESV*
And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’
*Song of Solomon 4:15 ESV*
A garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon.
*Song of Solomon 5:15 ESV*
His legs are alabaster columns, set on bases of gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.
*2 Chronicles 2:8 ESV*
Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And my servants will be with your servants,
*Ezekiel 27:5 ESV*
They made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
*Isaiah 60:13 ESV*
The *glory of Lebanon* shall come to you, the cypress, the plane, and the pine, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
*Isaiah 35:2 ESV*
It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. *The glory of Lebanon* shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.
*Psalm 72:16 ESV*
May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field!
*Nahum 1:4 ESV*
He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; *the bloom of Lebanon* withers.
*2 Chronicles 2:16 ESV*
And we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem.”
*1 Kings 7:2 ESV*
He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.
*Ezekiel 17:3 ESV*
Say, Thus says the Lord God: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar.
*Song of Solomon 4:8 ESV*
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards.
*Ezra 3:7 ESV*
So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.
*2 Chronicles 9:20 ESV*
All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon.
*1 Kings 9:19 ESV*
And all the store cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
*Song of Solomon 7:4 ESV*
Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is *like a tower of Lebanon*, which looks toward Damascus.
*Song of Solomon 4:11 ESV*
Your lips drip nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the fragrance of your garments is like *the fragrance of Lebanon.*
*Deuteronomy 3:25 ESV*
Please let me go over and see the *good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’*
*1 Kings 10:21 ESV*
All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon.
*Isaiah 35:1-10 ESV*
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. *The glory of Lebanon* shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; ...
*2 Chronicles 9:16 ESV*
And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; 300 shekels of gold went into each shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
*1 Kings 10:17 ESV*
And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
*1 Kings 7:2-5 ESV*
He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. And it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers. All the doorways and windows had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers.
*1 Kings 7:1-51 ESV*
Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house. He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. And it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers. All the doorways and windows had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers. ...
*1 Kings 5:14 ESV*
And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the draft.
*1 Kings 5:9 ESV*
My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes by providing food for my household.”
*1 Kings 5:6 ESV*
Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
*1 Kings 4:33 ESV*
He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish.
*Hosea 14:7 ESV*
They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like *the wine of Lebanon.*
*Hosea 14:6 ESV*
His shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and *his fragrance like Lebanon.*
*Song of Solomon 3:9 ESV*
King Solomon made himself a carriage from the wood of Lebanon.
*Evidently, every good thing came from and was happening in Lebanon in those days*
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