By AARE AFE BABALOLA
The recent unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia is a classic example of the popular saying “that when the strong does what he likes, the weak suffers what he must”.
How else can one describe the act of one of the most powerful countries in the world in invading a struggling state with numberless tanks, bombers and missiles from the sea, land and air, thereby destroying valuable properties and killing thousands of innocent people, including women, government officials and ministers with relish.
From time immemorial, the world had and are still producing leaders some of whom are instinctively pugnacious, combative, accusative, acquisitive, arrogant, assertive and merciless.
World War I: The First World War began in 1914 following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Archduke Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was shot to death along with his wife, Sophie, by a Serbian Nationalist, Gavirlo Princip on June 28, 1914. Princip and other nationalists had been agitating for the end to Austro-Hungarian rule over Bosnia Herzegovina. He saw the incident as one that might lead Austria-Hungary to start a war. The Serbian government, therefore, ordered the Serbian Army to mobilise and also appealed to Russia for assistance.
On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Serbia joined Austria, Hungary and Germany and the World War 1 began. The First World War which ended at 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 left nine million soldiers dead, 21 million wounded, while five million civilians died from disease, starvation or explosion. Yet the war was an avoidable one but for the combative instinct of the leaders.
World War II: This global war was again the handiwork of leaders who were instinctively combative and acquisitive. The war was sparked off by Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 and fuelled in large measure by the Japanese militarism. The global war did not come to an end until the newly discovered atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
The war led to the loss of about 60 to 80 million people, approximately three per cent of the world population who were mostly civilians. At the end of the World War II in 1945, the world leaders in their wisdom inaugurated United Nations and Security Councils. The United Nations Charter and the Statute of International Court of Justice were designed to prevent another world war. How effective the two organisations are is debatable, particularly in view of the provision in the Security Charter allowing the powerful countries to veto their decision.
1960: A Third World War was averted: In spiteof the establishment of United Nations Organisation and Security Council, the US and NATO on one hand and Russia with China on the other pursued different political ideological and economic strategies which brought about the cold war. The cold war almost melted into hot war in 1960 and the world would have witnessed a Third World War. In 1958, the United States of America had been over-flying the Soviet Union using U-2 flights to gather information. These missions were not detected by Russia.
However, on May 1, 1960, Francis Gary Powers departed a military airbase in Peshawar in Pakistan for a deeper intelligence mission into Russia. His U-2 Plane was brought down by an X-75 DVINA SA-2 guideline surface to air missile in Ukraine. Francis Powers, however, parachuted. He had taken oath to use a poison-laid injection pin if he was brought down. He was brought before Krushev, a highly intelligent leader of Soviet Union who jokingly asked him “why he did not use the poison laid injection pin”.
Before then, the US had denied that Francis Powers was flying over Russia on intelligence mission. Kruschev stoutly demanded an apology from US for over-flying his country. The US denied and refused to apologise. The other countries in the West supported US and the cold war was melting into hot and hotter war. I was a self-sponsored student, working and studying in London for the Bar Examination of Wales and England at that time. Britain which was one of the outspoken Western countries supported US against Russia. Krushev warned the Western world and, in particular, he told Britain that it was a small island and that he would sink Britain, a small island below the sea. Nigerian students whose parents had the means flew their children to Nigeria. However, those of us who had no means of paying for the flight back to Nigeria had no alternative but to resign to fate. We saw each minute as the end of life when Krushev would sink all of us into the sea through the use of atomic bomb. We were glued to our television and radio and nobody ventured out. Somehow and unexpectedly after about two weeks, Krushev changed his mind, he called Francis Powers and said to him: “My young man, I am a grandfather, I have children and grandchildren. I understand why you did not use the poisoned laden needle. It is because every living thing wants to live”. He spared the life of Francis Power.
On August 19, 1960, Powers was convicted of espionage, “a grave crime covered by Article 2 of the Soviet Union’s Law ‘On Criminality Responsibility for State Crimes’. His sentence consisted of 10 years confinement, three of which were to be in a prison, with the remainder in a labour camp. However, on February 10, 1962, Powers was exchanged, along with US student Frederic Pryor, for Soviet KGB Colonel William Fisher. Nigeria has more than 5,600 students and numberless Nigerians who are either studying of working in Ukraine. Having gone through the ordeal of 1960, I understand the agony, frustration and the suffering of Nigerians in Ukraine as the bombs, missiles and tanks are destroying properties, killing innocent people. Afterall, we must appreciate that all previous world wars, in spite of the carnage and destruction of lives and properties ended with one sort of peace agreement or the other but then, did these agreements bring back to life those who were killed?
Ethnicity problems: Ukraine is a relatively young state which became independent in 1991. It has a long history of dispute and partitioning between Poland and Soviet Union. It is inhabited by Ukrainians and Russians. There was and there is the ethnicity problem which has been the cause of several disputes, conflicts and even wars, including but not limited to the Crimea declaration for independence in 2014. On February 27 and 28, 2014 the Russians living in Crimea seized buildings in the Crimea and quickly organised a referendum which resulted in 97 per cent of 83 per cent who voted voting for integration into Russia Federation. Those who live in Western Ukraine see themselves as belonging to European Union, while those who live in the East want to be attached to Russia.
Immediate solution: The solution, to me, is immediate cease fire by Russia and Ukraine. The world should prevail on Russia to withdraw its troops to allow the United Nations and Security Council to organise a referendum among those states in the East. Secondly, the ceasefire will enable citizens of other countries, including Nigeria, to evacuate their citizens. The United Nations should organise a referendum in all the states with large population of Russia.
Inaction by the Nigeria government: Putin had given long notice to the whole world that he intended to invade Ukraine. Consequently, many countries, including the US, advised their citizens to leave Ukraine. Nigeria was visibly inactive. At the time when it dawned on Nigeria to evacuate Nigerians, including students from Ukraine, the airports had been disabled and missiles were flying day and night. The earlier we joined others to prevail on Russia to agree to ceasefire and withdraw from Ukraine, the better.
*Aare Babalola is founder/Chancellor, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti.
VANGUARD
