Ukraine

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A parent simply identified as Amstel20111 on Twitter has commended the effort of the Federal Government of Nigeria, FGN, for the safe evacuation of his daughter from war-torn Ukraine.

He twitted a picture of himself backing his grown-up daughter on Saturday, March 19, 2022, while commending the Nigerian government.

“When my daughter got back home from Ukraine, I am grateful to God and the FGN, through all the agencies of government used for this reunion. None of you will mourn or sorrow over any of your children in Jesus name. Thank you. I am grateful, ” he twitted.

The post, initially made on Twitter, has been screenshot and shared on different social media platforms and has generated several pleasant reactions. Many people said amen and thanked God for his daughter’s safe return.

By Usama Abdullahi

I didn’t want to talk about this. But my mind is sick of it and wants me to spell it out. My piece centres on racism today. It’s something that most of us are barely familiar with. Yes, most of us, who haven’t travelled to the white world, know next to nothing about it. Some of us might not know that this ill-treatment against black people exists. While others, like me, do hear and read about it either on television or in newspapers. 

As a kid, I knew nothing about racism. Neither did I ever acknowledge its existence. It is because I was too young to understand what that meant. I used to think that the whites were superior humans that accord us, the blacks, some respect. But, contrary to my little kiddish thoughts about the whites, a vile or an irresponsible white man loathes this glowing dark skin. This blessed skin that wrestles all sorts of skin threats or irritation, someone from the other part of the world has aversions for it. 

This skin that withstands the sun’s heat, someone who’s driven by hatred for the faultless black men, considers it hell. I came across the word Ku Klux Klan at 12. At the time, I had Longman Dictionary with me. I would carry it wherever I go. So when I first took a glimpse at the then unfamiliar word, I paused for a while. Afterwards, I proceeded to read its meaning till the end. I couldn’t believe it at first. 

True. I couldn’t believe that there used to be a secret society during the 20th century which supported white supremacy in the Americas. This outlawed secret society fights the blacks and drives them out of the United States despite being legal citizens. I’m glad that this fraternal group is now defunct. But the problem is that racism is feathering again. It is fast dominating the white world. Some of them, the racists who have no respect for individual differences, honour its stay. They see nothing wrong when a black person gets badly treated because of his skin.

Sadly, we are entangled in a world that supports baseless animosities toward the people we share different views, faith or race with. The world we dwell in is a respecter of evil. We live to dine at the expense of our oppressed brothers from other parts of the universe. We see skin colour as a barrier to our unity and coexistence. Hence we look at each other with intense disgust. Unknowingly, this racism kills our hope to live a meaningful life.

Last year, we were hit by the tragic news of an African-American man who had his fate crushed in the hands of a cruel white policeman. The news filled up the media until it captured public attention. Concerned black folks, particularly the deceased’s bereaved family, went through hell as a result. As a result, many people took their outrages to the streets, protesting against racism with the hashtag, “Black lives matter”. And they were assured of drastic measures to prevent such by the American government.

Considering America’s quick intervention on the matter, we thought the issue of racism was laid to eternal rest, but it, like Lazarus, has been resurrected. We saw the uproar and slighting comments which trailed the media over the failure of Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho to score during the penalty kick of the Euro 2020 final. We also saw the unusual treatment against Zouma over a minor offence on his cat, costing him millions of dollars. And, unfortunately, Poland is at it again.

It’s sad to watch how the blacks were denied entry into the train conveying people from the war-ravaged Ukraine to Poland. Despite the threats they face, the racial prejudice in these racist morons prevails and has got to the point of favouring the Ukrainians over Africans or blacks – as if they aren’t all humans in need of urgent aid. Racism is a disease that bites deep into our hearts. It is also a barricade that holds back our progress as humans. So, It’s high time we stopped promoting racial discrimination.

Usama Abdullahi wrote from Abuja, Nigeria. He can be reached via usamagayyi@gmail.com.

By Sulaiman Badamasi (Mahir)

Russia of today is not the same as Russia yesterday. Russia used to be the Soviet Union, a superpower that sometimes acted with the West. The war of 1973, when the Zionists wanted both sides of the conflict taken to a draw and in 1954when Russia (Soviet Union) transferred the Crimean Oblast to Ukraine have said it all. Now, it is a post-Soviet Union Russia who toiled when the Soviet Union sagged, but within the breath-span of twenty-something years has grown now to a grandeur position.

The Western world has been ruling over humankind for the past 300 years or more, changing regimes worldwide, especially in the south and central America, which the famous Monroe Doctrine described as “America’s Backyard”. The West has been changing regimes after regimes all over the region. But have we ever asked why they have never changed the regime in Venezuela? America has done everything it could to change the Venezuelan government but to no avail because this can only be achieved through military intervention, and any move of such would mean facing Russia. They do not want to confront Russia. NOBODY WANT TO FACE RUSSIA because Russia is not Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Palestine, and of course, not Iraq.

What seemed to have convinced the world further to accept Russia’s predatory position was the tremendously dangerous step it took to intervene in Syria. This could have led to a nuclear war. Russia also took the world by surprise in 2014 when it took over or took back(?) Crimea in just two weeks. It seems like Russia is defeating the West in silence and stylishly repositioning itself back to the Soviet Union’s throne.

For the West to reduce the margin, it swiftly paid back with a regime change in Ukraine in 2014 in what was termed as “The Revolution of Dignity”, which saw the impeachment/replacement of the then Ukrainian (of course Russian loyalist) elected president, Viktor Yanukovych, and Petro Poroshenko (pro-West) became the president, who immediately began with leading the Russo-Ukrainian war in February 2014.

After three months, he forbade any cooperation with Russia in the military sphere and later signed the “Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement in June 2014.” Five months later, in president Poroshenko’s speech to the new parliament in November 2014, Poroshenko stated, “we’ve decided to return to the course of NATO integration” because “the nonalignment status of Ukraine proclaimed in 2010 couldn’t guarantee our security and territorial integrity”. Russia perceived all these, coupled with the ouster of Viktor Yanukovych, as a series of threats right at its closest border.  

Why does Russia detest/is against/is afraid of Ukraine’s alignment with NATO?

If Ukraine becomes a NATO member state, then Russia would have NATO on its very border, which means it will have its military bases a few distances away from Russian borders, where missiles could hit Moscow in minutes. Hence Russia does not seem to accept this security option. It could be said that Russia does not want to invade Ukraine because a full invasion MIGHT provoke a military response from the West (only time could tell, though). But certainly, all parties involved (Russia, Ukraine, and the West) hope the chaos ends through diplomatic means rather than war. Maybe Russia has a military strike as the only option for now?

Territorial control and elimination of perceived possible dangers around borders have become a norm or a widely practised approach by states nations. Let us digest in the following to shade more light:

Cuban Missile Crisis/Missile Scare: when the Soviet Union started installing nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1961 after reaching an agreement with Fidel Castro of Cuba, the Kennedy administration decided that this was too big a security threat to be contained. They put a “quarantine” (a station where weaponry logistics were searched) so that no nuclear missile could be shipped and demanded that all missiles in Cuba be taken back to the Soviet Union.

Syria and Israel: with Russia and Iran as Syrian friends and Israel sitting just 569.17 kilometres away from the Syrian border, it is not a surprise if Israel and her friends (America, Saudi, and Turkey) feel threatened or expect that the worst happens from Israel’s neighbourhood. The military campaign that aimed at toppling the Russia and Iran backed Assad’s government by the Saudi, Turkish and American backed rebel group, which began in March 2011 as an anti-government protest and later escalated to a full-scale war, could be understood as an effort to eliminate an enemy’s friend whose territory can be used to attack an immediate neighbour. Could America and Saudi afford to lose Israel?

Muslim Brotherhood and Israel: when Mohammed Morsi (may Allah have mercy on him) was sworn in as the first democratically elected president of Egypt on 30^th June 2012, he expressed dissatisfaction with the country’s 1979 policy which declared that it stands as a mediator between Israel and Palestine and determined to reset his country’s orientation to one of active support, not for a ‘self-governing authority and ‘autonomy’ in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but the attainment of an independent sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and the right of the Palestinian refugees to return.

In Morsi’s one year in office before his removal through a coup d’etat, he ordered the Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah Crossing, the only gateway that connects Palestinians to the outside world. This means Palestinians can travel any time without really passing through strict measures imposed on them by the Israeli government, and different kinds of support could reach them without obstacles. Trade began to flourish between Palestine and Egypt. The Israeli siege on the Palestinian land was eased. He became the first Egyptian president to declare rejection of Israel’s assault on Palestine since 1979. Israel and her friends felt threatened by the closest neighbour, and the result was his forceful ouster, imprisonment, the unjust killing of his supporters. The coup that ended Morsi’s regime has not been justified yet. Why was it done then? To eliminate a nearby perceived enemy.

Saudi and Houthi: the Houthi rebel group, which champions Yemen’s Zaidi Shia followers, took over Sana’a in 2014 and forced the then Yemeni president, Abdurrabbu Mansur Hadi, in March 2015, to flee the country. To many people, “a rebel group has taken over Yemen,” yet to Saudi and her allies, “Iran has succeeded in extending its proxy-war/proxy influence to the Saudi border.” There is no need to emphasise that implication on Saudi, thanks to the firing of ballistic missiles to Saudi Arabia and UAE. Swiftly came a fierce joint reaction from Saudi-led coalition of eight(?) countries with logistics and intelligence support from America and France with Iran backing the Houthi rebels leading to the ongoing multilateral civil war.

Turkey and ISIS in Iraq: another interesting episode in the quest to defy near-border threats is having Turkey, a NATO member-state, fighting ISIS in Syria while ignoring the danger that the same ISIS poses in Iraq. Turkey has so far chosen to sit out the war to allow ISIS to fight the Kurdish militia group in Iraq. Turkey considers the Kurdish militia who craves a breakup to carve out its own country, Kurdistan, a more harmful enemy. Kurdistan encompasses southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan), northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan), and northern Syria (Western Kurdistan). Some definitions also include parts of southern Transcaucasia. Certain Kurdish nationalist organisations seek to create an independent nation-state consisting of some or all of these areas with a Kurdish majority, while others campaign for greater autonomy within the existing national boundaries. Do you see? The same struggle to protect territorial integrity is seen at its peak here.

Iraq invasion and Iran: this is the same reason that encouraged Iran’s interest in Iraq after the US and its allies removed and killed Saddam Hussein. Despite having a not-so-friendly relationship with the West, Iran was in total support of the strike against Iraq (Saddam) in March 2003 when the US, under Gorge W. Bush, led a coalition of the UK, Poland, and Australia to invade Iraq.

This has remained part of history for centuries and means that Russia is not necessarily fighting Ukraine as Ukraine but trying to send a clear signal to whoever wants to near her border in any form of disguise.

Will the war be taken further? I do not think Russia could be smart enough to launch a full-scale war yet. However, if it continues, there is a slim chance of having NATO respond militarily, which could further lead to an unimaginable end. It is to the world’s knowledge that if external forces intervene to support Ukraine, it could mean facing Russia, China, North Korea, Serbia, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Belarus, etc.

Are we about to witness another World War? We pray for the best.

Sulaiman Badamasi (Mahir) sent this article via sulaimanmahir@gmail.com.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved $8.5m dollars for the evacuation of Nigerians stranded in Ukraine.

This was disclosed by the Minister of State for Foreign affairs, Zubairu Dada on Wednesday, March 2 shortly after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osibanjo at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Addressing State House correspondents after the meeting, he said the president approved $8.5 million for the evacuation exercise.

” The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs wrote a memo to the president seeking funding to enable us conduct this exercise. The memo was to the tune of $8.5 million which Mr President has graciously approved. That Provision entails an arrangement to evacuate no less than 5,000 Nigerians” he said.

According to him, the pickup flights would be headed to four countries, which are : Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.

By Muhammad Sabiu

As Russian troops entered Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, street violence erupted.

According to Synehubov, the head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, residents of the eastern city should stay in shelters and avoid travelling as Russian vehicles invaded Kharkiv on Sunday.

He was quoted as saying, “The Russian enemy’s vehicles advanced into the city of Kharkiv. Including the central part of the city. Warning! Do not leave your shelters!” Governor Synyehubov said in a Facebook post Sunday.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are eliminating the enemy. Civilians are asked not to go out in the streets.”

For the previous three days, Ukrainian forces have been able to keep Russian troops out of the city, but Synehubov claims that this has suddenly changed, with the battle taking place in the city’s core.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Roman Abramovic, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, had relinquished control of the club. Skynews reported this development on Saturday, February 26.

“During my nearly 20-year ownership of Chelsea FC, I have always viewed my role as a custodian of the Club, whose it is ensuring that we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future , while also playing a positive role in our communities. I have always taken decisions with the Club’s best interest at heart. I remain committed to this values. That is why I am today giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC ” He said.

“I believe that currently they are in the best position to look after the interests of the Club, players, staff and fans” He added

Abramovic decision is coming amidst the Russian-Ukraine crises and the call for the UK government to take over Chelsea Football Club and other Russian establishments in the country.

By Salisu Uba Kofar-Wambai

Nigeria’s foreign policy of nonalignment is on the right track. Thus, I commend how we keep mute and only call for peace in this ongoing face-off and altercation between Ukraine (backed by Western powers) and almighty Russia under President Putin.

Nevertheless, any attempt to side with one of the warring parties can be a big blow to the international relations prowess we have been displaying over decades. History had it that Russia supported Nigeria during the Biafra civil war. Reportedly, Malam Aminu Kano served as a bridge and intermediary embodiment between the Nigerian government and Russia in arms purchase, which positively impacted winning that war.

Aminu Kano’s Communist stance captivated Russia. Therefore, he successfully had that bilateral thing with them. It was a critical moment for Nigeria when France was solidly behind Biafrans.

However, even our much-talked-about project expected to shoot Nigeria into the league of technologically oriented countries – Ajakuota Steel project – was Russian technology. As a result, many of our technocrats were and continue to be trained in Russia.

Despite the shift in our foreign policy from the East to the West and now to Asia, Russia still maintains fantastic and fine bilateral relations with Nigeria. So supporting Ukraine to please Western powers will not do us better.

We better keep to our callings for peace and leverage primarily on this soaring of oil prices in the international oil market, evacuate Nigerians caught up there. We shall continue to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.

Salisu Kofar-Wambai wrote from Kano. He can be reached via salisunews@gmail.com.

By Aliyu Nuhu

Ukraine without US military intervention is somewhat like a sacrificial lamb in the hands of Russia. Putin is not Hitler. He has already outlined his objective; to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO. On this, it seems Russia has a valid reason. If Ukraine joined NATO it will jeopardize Russia’s access to the black sea. It is a war of survival as Ukraine failed to balance its act and be friends to both EU, NATO and Russia.

Unfortunately for Ukraine, America will not fight Russia on its behalf for many reasons, not that America does not have the strength to face Russia. President Putin had done his calculations very well.

America is a democracy and unfortunately for Ukraine, the party in power in America is not a war monger like the Republicans who are neither in control of the White House today, nor in control of the Congress. Under Donald Trump, Putin would never have invaded Ukraine despite the cordial relationship that existed between him and Trump. The second reason why America will not be involved is that, America has no obligation to defend Ukraine because there is no any treaty making it obligatory to do so. Ukraine is not Latvia or Poland who are members of NATO. And Putin knows all these. The third reason is that, the United Nations has not passed resolution asking for the world to stop Russian invasion by military force. The UN resolution also needs the endorsement of China, a Russia’s ally that is unlikely to allow the resolution to fly. Furthermore, Russia has a veto power and can shoot down the resolution.

The truth is Ukraine is under unprovoked and unjustified attack on its democracy by a dictator that does not know the value of human lives. Already 46 people, most of them civilians have been killed. But Russia is also careful with Ukraine because Ukraine was the second most powerful state to emerge from Soviet Union after Russia itself. The two countries have been at war since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea. They are officially at a full stage war today. Ukraine is a nuclear power. Russia must tread with caution. The country has 130 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) with six nuclear warheads each. It also has 46 RT-23 Molodets ICBMs with ten warheads apiece, as well as 33 heavy bombers, totaling approximately 1,700 warheads. In retrospect Ukraine is not a meatloaf that can be eaten without Russia itself committing suicide.

President Putin said he only wanted to demilitarize Ukraine and de-Nazify it. He has no intention of occupying it. A task that would have been impossible with Western powers meddling in the crisis.

Aliyu Nuhu writes from Abuja, Nigeria.

By Muhammad Sabiu

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is a “catastrophe” for Europe, according to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has asked for an emergency summit of the NATO military alliance led by the United States.

He was quoted as saying on Twitter: “This is a catastrophe for our continent.”

Mr. Johnson added that he would make a national address on the developments.

“I will also speak to fellow G7 leaders and I am calling for an urgent meeting of all NATO leaders as soon as possible,” he said.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls on citizens to fight

Zelenskyy has appealed to all civilians who are willing to protect Ukraine against Russian soldiers to come forward, stressing that Kyiv will provide firearms to anyone who requests them.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko also urged Russians to resist Moscow’s plan to invade their country’s neighbour.

Recall that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the launch of attacks on parts of Ukraine as part of the move to support intending breakaway regions in the Eastern part of the country.

The attack has caused outrage and condemnations from world powers as citizens flee Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital city, although Putin stated that the attacks were not targeted at unarmed civilians.

Ukraine claimed that it had shot down fighter jets belonging to the Russian forces stationed in the unresting part of the country.