By Mike Kebonkwu
Europe is in turmoil as Ukraine is turned into rubble under siege by Russian missiles and tanks. The world is watching helplessly as death and destruction has turned the country to a waste land. The world has completely lost its moral compass as the United Nations has lost its bite in regulating behaviour of nations. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated that in the new world order, might is right. There is no morality left with humankind except perversion of natural orders.
Under the United Nations charter, member states operate under the doctrine of respect and equality of nations. This doctrine of sovereign equality of states is at best a theoretical concept that is surreal as some countries are clearly more powerful than others. A country’s power and global rating is proportional to its economic and military power. Therefore, global superpower is defined by economic and military might and less in geographical landmass and demographic spread. According to the redoubtable professor of international law and jurisprudence, and a jury consult, formerly of Obafemi Awolowo University, of blessed memory, David Ijalaye, the principle of sovereign equality of nations under international law is a myth. This remains immutable truth for all time. Apart from theorizing, can anyone truly say that Nigeria or a Mali operate on equal basis with France, America or Britain in global power play in decision making in international politics or even under the United Nations?
The truth as it stands today is that we sit on a unipolar world with Russia at the tip of the pyramid since the poor leadership in America has diminished its sphere of influence, hitherto policeman of the world.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin unarguably is the ultimate authoritarian tyrant, a super brat and an incarnate of Adolf Hitler. He is the ultimate nemesis of Europe. Putin appears to have the psychology of a troubled and bitter childhood with limitless capacity to unleash violence. He is like a vampire from outer space and an angry god whose appetite can only be appeased by blood and human suffering.
Russia has continued to lay siege to Ukraine in a typical scotched earth fashion in all its might in error of judgment that she could overrun the entire country in matter of days. How dead wrong it has turned out as the Ukrainians’ resilience, determination and raw courage has shown that technology and weapons alone cannot win a war. The war in Ukraine resonates across the globe politically and economically but it remains European war. Even if Russia were to wake up in frustration and decides to use the tactical nuclear warhead and the whole world is consumed, it is not going to change the meter of the war to become a world War, even if the whole world comes to an end from the impact of the war. It is still what it is – European war.
The NATO may never wake up with the appetite to confront Russia militarily were Ukraine to be granted NATO membership for fear and unpredictability of the Czar in charge of Russia who would not care a hoot to blow up the whole world to soothe his ego and belligerent spirit. The Ukrainians are fighting their war. They are not looking for mercenaries; yes they have support coming in the forms of military and non-military aids with no boots on the ground. This is a great lesson for Africa, especially Nigeria who feels that the insecurity that is almost consuming us can only be solved with support from Europe and America, or engaging mercenaries. If mercenaries win wars, NATO would have procured all the mercenaries in the world to confront Russia; let’s face it.
Every political crisis in any country of the world today will have a global impact; that is because the world has indeed become a global village. The whole world fought the first and second world wars because there was strong international structure and global synergy under the League of Nations and later the United Nations with unifying bonds by great world leaders, charismatic men of conscience and strength of character.
Today, there is no inspiring global leadership north or south of the hemisphere with the capacity to mobilize and galvanize every nation of the world to a common cause. The war in Ukraine should be of concern to us as a nation and the continent of Africa has a great deal of lesson to learn from it. We have deliberately refused to develop our continent and build capacity to become world players. The entire continent will soon become indenture slaves to China with Nigeria leading the pack in the event of default of payment of the suffocating loans we are piling up. China has the capacity to swoop on us and fry the entire continent with its population and military strength without any fear of global repercussion. As a people, the black man and Africa has remained divided with religious bigots and ethnic irredentists driving the affairs of state through sectarian prism with no sense of patriotism.
Europe and America have destroyed great civilizations in their blind drive to control the global economies and expropriate the wealth of nations that have no technology to harness their resources. The world did not hesitate to organize and invade Iraq when they accused Saddam Hussein of having weapons of mass destruction. America and France not too long ago led the invasion of Libya leading to the senseless killing of Muammar Gaddafi and left that great African leading light in the hands of warlords and Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP) and other foreign terrorist organizations. Libya per capita income was higher than most countries in Europe and America. Today, Europe and America are not able to rein in the tyrant in their backyard. Democratic Republic of Congo has been a story of pathos in the last six decades. The United Nations have been there where it supervises the expropriation of its rich flora and fauna and mineral resources. Our hearts go out to the Ukraine which has the misfortune of being a pun on the Chessboard of Euro-America power game.
Ukraine is standing today because of the exemplary courage and display of patriotism and unyielding spirit of its people, men and women alike.
The doctrine of sovereign equality of states under the United Nations charter and international law has been exposed as fanciful legal theory in intellectual castle. There is no sovereignty anywhere except it is backed up by military and economic powers of a state. The sovereign countries in the world today are probably the five permanent members of the United Nations with advanced technologies, strong economies and strong armies.
In the preamble to the charter of the United Nations, it states among other things that – “We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our life time has brought untold sorrow to mankind…” The world is indeed faced with a scourge of war in Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia; wars against insurgencies in Nigeria, Mali, and Congo just to mention a few. I think it was the music maestro, Tracy Chapman, the woman with the baritone voice that says that mankind should put an end to wars or wars will put an end to mankind. There is every indication that war is truly going to put an end to mankind from all the wars cross the globe.
Today, the technological advancement of the human race is catastrophically focused on competition for manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction with North Korea and Iran leading the pack. Ukraine may have been weaned from the breast of Soviet Union but it is now an independent democratic sovereign nation or so it should be. For this reason it has the right absolutely to enter into any alliance, bilateral or multi-lateral including joining any power bloc for the advancement of its own interest. The face-off and the subsequent invasion of Ukraine by Russia has been a subject of intense debates and analyses with experts giving reasons that Russia is opposed to the admission of Ukraine into the NATO bloc and alliance.
The strongest point in this debate is that Russia would not want the deployment of missiles on its corridor that would make enemy countries spy and breathe on its neck. The argument went further that America did the same in the 1960s when it protested the stationing of defence system on Cuban soil by Soviet Union. If this is true, it questions fundamentally the sovereignty of states to negotiate and enter alliances of its choice. The defence of one sovereign state should not be tied to the denial of another sovereign state its right to enter into alliance of its choice for the benefit of its interests; economic or defence.
The world has missed the point in its response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine; a response that is grossly inadequate as it ends with economic sanctions on targeted individual Russian officials. America may never confront Russia openly in a war and cannot afford the risk and consequences. The military strength of Russia is not by any means exaggerated just as the resilience and doggedness of the Ukrainians defence and resistance has been unprecedented. If Russia expected a walk over believing that Ukraine will not have the appetite to face it in a long drawn war, it was a sad miscalculation and the consequences have been dire for the Russian defence forces and Vladimir Putin himself. Without a doubt, Russia will win the battle but will never win the war. Whatever the outcome of the war, Ukraine has recorded historical victory when it sank the Russia’s flagship, Black sea missile cruiser at the Black Sea. The big lesson to us as a nation is to first resolve the issue of identity of unity to be able to come together and face a common foe threatening our unity. We must have confidence in ourselves and be prepared to build capacity to make our country and the Continent of Africa relevant global players.
Kebonkwu Esq is an Abuja-based attorney.
