My thoughts #001

On the Nigeria voting pattern in the United Nations General Assembly to condemn the invasion of Ukraine, I disagree with the views of many that Nigeria for example should have abstained so as not to be seen as condemning Russia in favour of the west.

The UNGA resolution was to condemn the invasion of Ukraine and demand all Russian offense in Ukraine stops. I don’t get where this suddenly becomes an east and west thing. We have to be careful not to be enamoured by Putin’s narratives and machinations.

For me it is simple: is it fair that Russia invades Ukraine without provocation (only on the whim that they might join NATO – NATO has never confirmed they will accept them anyway)?

Even if NATO is not going to accept Ukraine as a member, asking Ukraine to pledge to not join NATO should be repugnant to the sovereignty of any nation

This has nothing to do with taking sides at all and it is different from the position of Non-Aligned Movement Nations. Therefore, any argument that Nigeria as a member of NAM with the objective not to align with or against any world power is a non-issue.

There are Nigerians in Ukraine who Ukraine who have been displaced and under threats due to the invasion – is that not enough reason to condemn?

On the argument that we have economic ties with Russian and we should be mindful of economic reprimand from Russia, I believe this is a flawed argument as well. As we have economic ties with Russia, we have the same with America – if the logic that Nigeria will be considered as supporting America or the Wes against Russia is anything to go by, should we forsake the business ties we have with America as well?

We bought our fighter jets that are key in the war against insurgency from America. The single largest donor for humanitarian response in Nigeria is the USA with around $500m in the last 2 years. Are we just going to hinge on the fact that Russia is meant to complete the Ajaokuta project for us at the cost of $8billion as the reason not to say the killing of Ukrainians and invasion of a sovereign nation is bad?

We Nigerians are the first to write and petitioned international organizations when there is the slightest infraction in our country. Someone wins an election we don’t like, you petitioning the UN, extrajudicial killing you are tweeting @UN and the Hague. If America invades Nigeria, would you all be happy if every country stays neutral to say it is bad?

The equation of potential humanitarian crisis and the possibility of a failed Ukrainian state should trump any pecuniary interest. No one is asking any other country to arm up against Russian –  God! No, but we have to call these heinous acts out and condemn these acts without cherry-picking the motives of other nations or their benefits.

May God save Ukraine

NB:

None of these excuses what’s happening in Yemen, Syria, and Palestine, they are equally terrible.