By Kayode Emola
Today marks exactly two years since Russia invaded Ukraine seeking to turn the country into their vassal state. In a situation seemingly analogous to David facing Goliath, everyone thought that within days Ukraine would have given up and submitted to Russia. However, till today there is still no victor, and the war seems to be at a stalemate.
With the western support and sophisticated weaponry Ukraine has received, one would have thought that this would have tipped the balance of the war in their favour. However, even that appears to have just stalled the war, rather than afford Ukraine the ability to push the Russians out of their territory.
It may be that the Western countries’ intent was never for Ukraine to win the war, but rather to use the war to degrade Russia armoury. If so, they are achieving this remarkably well; but Ukraine will be the one to bear the cost, laden with crippling debts that they will be paying for many generations to come.
Just yesterday, the American President Joe Biden imposed another round of injunctions on Russia, in response to the war reaching the two year mark. Over 500 new sanctions were imposed on Russian businesses, people and interests around the world, in a bid to force Putin to throw in the towel. But in truth, do these sanctions really work?
The short answer is no. Sanctions don’t really work, and in reality, they are never intended to. These embargos are little more than tokenism, imposed to give the impression that the Western countries are not sitting idly by, without having any true effect in practical terms.
For example, the ban on exporting goods from the UK to Russia, implemented since the beginning of the war. And it is true that no UK-manufactured goods have been exported to Russia directly. However, large quantities of British-made products are being exported to countries like Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Armenia, from whence they are then transported to Russia. This indirect exportation helps Russia’s economy minimise the adverse effects of Western sanctions, whilst undoubtedly also benefitting the UK economy .
This shows why the imposition of sanctions is ineffective, merely a façade to maintain public belief in the government’s narrative. Truthfully, these sanctions serve only to realign the beneficiaries of the transactions: the countries that have become the proxy buyers of these products will surely one way or another benefit from the transactions being conducted.
With all the sanctions imposed on Russia, one would have expected their economy to be badly affected, yet in reality we see that the reverse is the case. The Russian economy far outstripping that of the G7 nations, thanks to China and India continuing to buy their crude oil and other resources. The UK, on the other hand, has recently entered recession – and their economic situation would have been even worse had they not been manufacturing and exporting the heavy machinery that ultimately ended up in Russia.
If sanctions don’t work, then why bother with them? The truth is that they are necessary: despite nations being able to exploit loopholes to avoid the harsher consequences of being sanctioned, it nonetheless makes things more difficult for the sanctioned entity to obtain the raw materials or resources that they need.
Ever wonder why Sani Abacha wasn’t moved when the Commonwealth imposed sanctions upon Nigeria in 1995? Had the sanctions involved the export of crude oil, it would have crippled our economy and forced Abacha into releasing MKO Abiola, the rightfully elected President at the time of his incarceration. However, the exclusion of crude oil enabled Abacha to continue eliminating his political opponents, until he himself paid the ultimate price in 1998.
All of this demonstrates that no country will love our Yoruba nation more than ourselves. We must understand that the actions of Western nations are not motivated by the love they have for us, but rather solely for propaganda and the benefit of their own economies.
Therefore, the onus is on us to create policies that will benefit our economy; we cannot merely sit and wait for the international community to come to our aid. We need to start creating alliances with nations that matter, that will stand with us in our dark and difficult days, supporting us against any external aggression directed toward our economy and people.
We should never make the mistake of thinking that sanctions imposed against those who want to harm us are done for our benefit; it may be mere lip service, as we have seen in the case of the sanctions against Russia. We also must learn as individuals and communities to act in the best interest of our country and economy, rather than seeking selfish aggrandisement. We must protect the interests of the Yoruba nation, as that is the only way we can build a sustainable environment for our people and a future for the generations to come.
