Ukraine-Nigeria: Reign of the Great Illusionists, by Owei Lakemfa

President Volodymir Zelensky of Ukraine

Does Ambassador Ayalogu expect Russia to vote on its own expulsion?… This is of course not the only outlandish proposition on this issue. There is another who claims that when the Charter was drafted in 1945, there was no Russian Federation; that what existed was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR. Thus, with the disintegration of the USSR, Russia automatically lost its membership in the UN. So he should just go home and apply for membership. Welcome to the world of the great illusionists.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Washington, where, in a speech to the US Congress on December 21, he repeated some of his daily speeches at home. A common thread I chose was his assertions that the war with Russia is a matter of democracy and that its outcome will determine whether humanity lives in a "democracy" world or not.

He said US spending on the Ukraine war was not charity, but an "investment in global security and democracy." The deception that the war is about democracy has been echoed on social media, where we are urged to side with Ukraine because its war with Russia is “a global struggle for democracy”. In reality, the Ukrainian crisis, which escalated into the Russian-Ukrainian war, was precipitated by the Ukrainian far right, which repeatedly rejected the ballot box, resulting in two bloody coups and Ukraine's subsequent decision to secede.

Ukraine was an integral part of Russia which, by a 92.3% majority, approved the declaration of independence on August 24, 1991. It decided that the ballot box would decide who would preside over its affairs. The turning point came in the 2004 elections, when pro-Russian candidate from eastern Ukraine and former governor of Donetsk, Viktor Yanukovych, won the re-run on December 26, beating his rival, Viktor Yushchenko. . He was later declared the winner.

However, some forces that preferred a pro-Western leader, rejected him and mobilized protests in the capital, Kyiv, which is in the north-central region. The President-elect was unable to counter these protests effectively as his support base was in the eastern regions of Ukraine in Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk. These protests, dubbed the "Orange Revolution", led to the cancellation of the election. In the new election, the former loser, Yushchenko, was declared the winner.

Yanukovych ran again in the 2010 elections, sweeping the polls. This time he was sworn. Three years into his presidency, his government rejected a European Union deal. On the contrary, he chose closer ties with Russia. Again, pro-Western elements staged series of protests in Kyiv, dubbing it “Euromaidan.” There were counter-protests in other parts of the country, especially in the east.

Let me first clarify that he has the right to support Ukraine. I also don't blame him for insisting that there are no peace talks until Russia fully withdraws from Ukraine. However, what I take issue with is that he has misinformed and misled the Nigerian public that although difficult, Russia can be expelled from the United Nations and the Security Council of the United Nations. UN for engaging in a war with its neighbour.

On February 21, 2014, President Yanukovych, who claimed there had been an assassination attempt, fled kyiv for exile in Russia. It was the second coup, but Eastern Ukrainians rejected this coup and opted for armed secession. There were two international peace agreements in Minsk to end the conflict, but the new authorities in kyiv refused to implement them. Instead, they preferred to continue their assault on the eastern Ukrainians and join NATO to ensure that Russia will not intervene militarily to help its supporters in eastern Ukraine. Given these facts, how can the Ukrainian war be sold as a war for global democracy?

However, it is the nature of Western propaganda that is forced down the throats of many countries. Nigeria is on...