Quote from Ndubuisi Ekekwe on February 26, 2022, 10:50 AM

Those positing that President Buhari and his foreign affairs minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, to take a position on the current Russia-Ukraine are not helping Nigeria.  The President has been extremely cautious, on this possibly because he understands the limits of “promises”. In the official statement, they used the word “surprise” upon the invasion.

When Cameroon came and harassed Nigerians in Bakassi, some army generals asked Obasanjo to send troops to overrun Cameroon (they reasoned). But Obasanjo showed maturity, and pursued diplomacy. At the end, Nigeria “lost” that portion.

Despite the prevailing rhetoric informed by Russia’s bellicosity around Ukraine’s borders, President Putin has insisted that Russia’s actions were informed by their national security concerns. Essentially, Russia is uncomfortable with NATO’s expansion and military deployments in Eastern Europe. For context, NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was set up after world war two, with a core objective of presenting an integrated front against possible expansionism by the then Soviet Union. The political and military strength of NATO is enshrined in the principle of collective defense, as article five of its treaty stipulates that an attack against one NATO ally is considered as an attack against all allies. Back to Russia, the former Soviet nation has for long resisted the continuous expansion of NATO, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. Yet, NATO has continued to grow its members, accommodating Eastern European countries, some of which are former Soviet Union members.

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For NATO, Russia is believed to still have an expansionary orientation, a process that it hopes to achieve with utter disregard for international laws. Hence, the requests by the former Soviet nation for NATO to reverse its open-door policy and withdraw military presence in Central and Eastern Europe have been unwelcome. Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine is being frowned upon by the West and its allies, as it could potentially disrupt the global economy, and also increase an already elevated toll of both military and civilian casualties that have ensued from the eight-year-long Russian-backed rebellion in Eastern Ukraine.

When Nigeria signed that Greentree Agreement which marked the formal transfer of authority in the region to Cameroon, that was the zenith of responsibility displayed by Nigeria. Understand that as we write, there could still be war there, just to appease possibly foreign countries which will sell weapons and siphon the oil for nothing.

Mr. Buhari and Mr. Onyeama are not babies. The world has been built on false expectations that those sending press statements will come and defend you once you are attacked. Cameroon was extremely irresponsible on how it acted against Nigeria and was possibly promised by one country that once Nigeria attacks, they would be supported. Thank goodness that Nigeria allowed all to go.

Unfortunately, not all nations can show the maturity Nigeria has shown to smaller neighbours. This is an extremely complicated matter and Nigeria can just vote PRESENT.