At Abuja School’s Grand Opening, Donor Pledges a Second for Lagos

When Avda Saar moved from Israel to Nigeria in the midst of war two years ago, she worried her daughter would grow up forgetting Shabbat. Then she walked into the Chabad preschool — and felt instantly at home.

The first woman she met in Abuja was Chaya Uzan, who, together with her husband, Rabbi Israel, leads Chabad in Nigeria’s capital. Chaya invited her to visit the small preschool they had been running for the local community. “I had kindergarten options in Israel,” Saar said, “but when I saw what Chaya created here, I fell in love immediately.” The walls were filled with Jewish symbols, children sang Hebrew songs, and every Friday the preschool held a pre-Shabbat party.

“For me, coming from Israel during a difficult time, it was so important that Anna wouldn’t lose her identity,” she said. “I didn’t want her to forget who she is — our holidays, our language, our traditions. When I saw the preschool, I knew this was where she needed to be.”

In Abuja, the Chabad House has long served as the center of Jewish life for the city’s roughly 350 Jews — most of them diplomats or businesspeople — and education quickly became one of the community’s most urgent needs.

“When we arrived fourteen years ago, we never imagined how much the community would grow,” Rabbi Uzan said. “But parents kept asking for a place where their children could be safely surrounded by Judaism. That became a key part of our mission.” They opened a small preschool nine years ago — moving several times as it grew. The pandemic nearly closed it permanently — but parents returned, and the Uzans knew it was time for the school to have a new space.

Last week, the community celebrated the opening of the new two-story Gan Hana building on the Chabad Nigeria campus, funded completely by donors Steve and Einat Elias — the first purpose-built Jewish educational center in the region. The facility includes a kindergarten level on the main floor and additional classrooms upstairs, along with bright, child-friendly spaces filled with Jewish imagery and hands-on learning materials.

At the event, Steve Elias announced that he would fund a second Jewish school — this time in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city. Lagos, with its estimated 350 Jews, has long needed a proper educational center of its own. Rabbi Mendy Sternbach, Chabad Rabbi in Lagos, had traveled to Abuja for the inauguration. “Rabbi Uzan told Steve we needed something like this in Lagos,” Rabbi Sternbach said. “Steve just said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

Plans are already underway. The Lagos center will combine a preschool, after-school programs, and a youth center — integrating the entire community’s educational needs under one roof. “This will change Jewish life in Lagos,” said Rabbi Sternbach.

For families like Saar’s, the expansion means their children can grow up with a strong connection to their heritage and Jewish pride — not only in Abuja, but soon across Nigeria.