A fairly decent Igbo novel – Uwadiegwu – reminded readers to borrow from kinsmen because if the loan goes bad, and they lock you up, the same people will be responsible for your family care. Unoka, Okonkwo’s father in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, while responding to Okoye, clearly demonstrated that the debts were to clansmen, and that he was safe! As Okoye was reminded that his debt was even small, Unoka knew that the debt was home and within Umuofia. Yes, debts are better when localized.
As a new theater of war opens in the Middle East, the wisdom in the axiom becomes a palpable one. That takes me to Ukraine where it seems the world has moved on, and magically, their president has to confront new realities. Indeed, after Israel and Hamas, would they return and pay attention? Assume, they do not return, what happens? Losing 20% of your country?
Good People, when the whisperer comes, telling you never to find a way to broker peace with your neighbour, do not fall for it. At the peak of Obasanjo’s presidency, when Cameroon came, and was messing up, many asked Obasanjo to take Nigeria to war over the oil-rich Bakassi. Despite being a military man, Obasanjo showed wisdom, and allowed sleeping dogs to just be. Yes, in trying to keep Bakassi oil, Nigeria could have LOST all of its oil wells, afterall, it was another war that even triggered the loss of Bakassi to start with, as promises were made to global dealers.
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I wrote on Feb 27, 2022: “As bombs drop in Ukraine, it is time for the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to open a channel and speak directly with his Russian counterpart, Putin. When a war is fought on your land, you are losing despite whatever anyone tells you! Speaking with Putin is not a sign of weakness; it is understanding asymmetric capabilities and saving the lives of citizens.”
I do hope he does that despite whatever any consultant is telling him because Russia will remain a neighbour, and debts are better closer home, irrespective of whatever anyone tells you!
Zelenskyy has no choice but to make this call. In the Igbo axiom, friends come and go, but you live with brothers and kinsmen. America has watch, Putin has time in Ukraine.
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There are many ways of seeing it, and each argument will have its merits and demerits.
Do Ukrainians prefer a war to artificial peace? It’s a very valid question, because a graveyard silence does not constitute peace. The world is not filled with virtuous and righteous people who are capable of showing great restraints, even when they have power to obliterate you. Rather you have people who are ready to wipe you out, if only they have their way.
Another thing is, sometimes you do not go into a war because you stand any chance of winning, ideological wars are never about might or capacity, they are about convictions, about belief; and conviction can take you where raw power cannot.
Again, losing part of your land through war is not same as losing same without a fight, to do the latter can be considered treacherous and disgraceful. Life is only meaningful when you live for something, and die for your convictions. It is not about sleeping and waking up, without ever demonstrating faith in the face of evil. To die fighting is to win, that is why you have martyrs.
The first three points are fundamental, they did not focus on whether the war should have started in the first place, and on whose interests the war is. So much to say.