Voice of Emancipation: Are Ukrainians Being Abandoned?

By Kayode Emola

Nearly three years since Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine, we are still nowhere near a reasonable solution to the conflict. The breadth between Russia and Ukraine’s red lines seems to be widening with each passing day with no sign of convergence, yet, as innocent people die every day, the world merely watches.

The only hint of a meaningful resolution is the shaky promise of the US President-elect, Donald Trump, that he will end the war in one day. How this is to be achieved remains as yet undisclosed, whilst countless numbers of lives continue to be wasted, and critical infrastructures destroyed.

Who is going to pay for the rebuilding of Ukraine? The country is in disarray today compared to when the war first started. Ukraine was urged on by their Western allies to fight the Russians, despite no assurances that they would be able to win the battle. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people were conscripted on the hope that Ukraine would succeed in pushing the Russians out of their territory.

This failed to materialise, leaving Ukraine worse off, despite the picture painted by Western media of their success on the battlefield. A recent opinion poll by Gallup suggests that public opinion in Ukraine has, for the first time, shown a slight majority in favour of ending the war, even if it means ceding territory currently held by Russian troops. This must therefore raise the question, why did they trust their Western allies who encouraged them to pursue conflict? When in the end, every country has got their own problems to solve.

One may wonder if the plethora of promises from countries such as the UK, France, Germany, etc., are enough to bring Ukraine back from the brink. Does “as long as it takes” hold any water, or is it just more sloganeering to assuage the politicians’ consciences?

Military battle is not just an issue of mere rhetoric, it is hard graft requiring skills, patience, perseverance, and a lot of money. Ukraine lacks some, if not much, of these and that is why they are paying a high price for it.

In our own homeland, the situation for the Yoruba nation is not dissimilar. Many of our people are disillusioned as to what the future holds for them. They feel the government has abandoned them, and as a result they have resigned themselves to their fate. For millions of our people, hope is a word that no longer has meaning for them. They don’t know if there is light at the end of the tunnel, or just an endless circle of illusion.

Life in the country is becoming harder by the day, yet the government looks the other way with apparent unconcern as if nothing is happening. How can the political class rule the people without a conscience? Where has their humanity gone? And where is the compassion? These are some of the questions begging for answers.

We Yoruba must learn from the mistakes of the Ukrainians, understanding that we need to choose our own path for ourselves. For far too long, we have allowed other nationalities to decide our future. It is time to correct such aberrations.

We need to understand that our self-determination struggle is no-one else’s fight but is ours alone to bear. We must approach it tactfully, but maintaining the sheer determination and resilience that it requires and deserves. We cannot afford to rely on the benevolence of other countries or individual peoples to get us out of the trap in which we find ourselves.

Nigeria is irredeemable, and those of our people still hoping that one day things will change for the better have well and truly buried their faces in the sand. Nigeria is a forgone conclusion, the extant question no longer being one of whether, but rather of when. Knowing this, anyone still borrowing money in the name of “the people” will one day be forced to answer to the innocent children they fail to educate.

We must now stand together as a united people devoid of any external influence, forging our own national destiny rather than allowing the direction of our journey to be dictated to us by other nations. We are a people endowed with rich culture and tradition, one which we must protect and not allow to die with Nigeria.

Let us be brave in rejecting the suffering inflicted on our people by those who should know better. We must ensure that we do not place our reliance on any other nation to free us from the shackles of neo-colonial slavery in which we find ourselves but that we stand firm on our own strength and resilience as a people. We must rise up like the brave warriors we can be, and fight for that which rightfully belongs to us. By God’s grace, we will win the battle.