I must admit. I live in a west, specifically in Canada, which’s a big chunk of citizens with Ukrainian bloodline. Thus, what’s happening in Ukraine directly affect Canada. Though I’m African, my kids have daily been asking me many questions about the conflict. Apart from them, I’ve received many messages from my university about the same.
I usually have some casual conversations with my white neighbours. We mainly talk about weather and other things like being asked where I came from and if the country of Africa will soon enjoy peace and prosperity. However, this time around after Russia invaded Ukraine, the types of questions I’m asked changed from my personal experience and home to Ukraine as if I’m a Ukrainian.
There’s this neighbour of mine who doesn’t hate or love me. He doesn’t even greet me sometimes, which is normal forget about talking to me quite often. Because of the centrality of Europe and Ukraine being one of its countries, he recently asked me as to why’s Russia doing this to Ukraine? Guess what. I simply replied that this is how colonialism works. For us victims, no colonisation is decent or justifiable. It is but criminality. He’d not get it. He wanted to know what I meant. I told him that this wasn’t the first time a sovereign country had been invaded by another. I cited an example of Libya that’s invaded by the west in 2011 and its president, Muamar Gaddafi killed and nobody in Canada was concerned. I reminded him that we’ve been neighbours since 2009 and he didn’t come to ask me why the west invaded Libya and killed its president. He didn’t say anything. Mind you. This neighbour used to be afraid of me because of Covid-19 isolation. Just like the west did, soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, Covid-19 was pushed under the lag. If this didn’t happen, some western rulers like Boris Johnson–––who faced the scandal of flouting Covid-19 rules–––would have been already in the cold.
More on my neighbour, I told him that Libya’s GDP was twice as bigger than that of Ukraine and life’s better than Ukraine’s but internationally Libya’s plight wasn’t anything to consider since it wasn’t a European country. Who’d believe that today Libyans who used to be looked after the government are begging for charcoals and eggs in the paradise they used to enjoy and take for granted? Those who used to be given stipends for marriage and apartments, most of them are now scavengers. Again, they’re neither European nor white. Despite being pushed to go to the dogs, Libya’s GDP per capital is still as twice as bigger as that of Ukraine today.
Another friend asked me if Russia’s going to win this war. He wanted to know my views of the conflict and what can be done to save Ukraine and its people. I openly told him that there won’t be any winner since the war’s destructive not only between the two but globally. We all have already borne the blunt of it. Gas price is increasing like crazy, and this directly affects everything be it goods or our livelihoods globally. I told him that the only winner is colonialism since after the war, new laws and rules will be enacted to compensate the loss and poor countries will bear the blunt.
The topic seemed to be exhaustive and thorny. Thus, my other friend to whom I repeated the nuggets of wisdom I offered other friends asked for the solidarity with Ukraine. I promised him that that it’s a good thing to do. However, I asked him why didn’t we apply the same to Libya and other African victims? He’d not get it. He replied that Libya’s plight happened a long time ago and that Ukraine’s a civilised, white and European country. I responded that, to me, what transpired in Libya did just yesterday and not necessarily that only European and white countries deserve to enjoy peace as opposed to non-European ones that’d endure the scabs of colonialism and egoism.
Knowing I am a Peace and Conflict Scholar, another friend of mine who entertained the dialogue about Russia-Ukraine conflict said that Putin’s evil because he invaded Ukraine. Again, I asked him why this rationale didn’t apply anywhere when the west minus Russia invaded Libya, it did not become bad or evil. He couldn’t answer. I asked him why and decided to answer my own question by giving two reasons. First, Libya is an African country. Secondly, Libya isn’t a civilised country apart from being a Muslim country. So, too, it wasn’t invaded by Putin. This means that if Putin invaded an African country––––just like the west has done on many occasions, he’d have not shaken the world. Nor would he have been bad and evil. Neither would he become dangerous and evil to the world as he’s after invading a European country. Thirdly, the west toppled Patrice Lumumba, the founder of the Congo, later Zaire and now the DRC, Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) and installed stinking dictators. Again, this wasn’t an international issue since the duo didn’t go to the communists, then led by the defunct USSR. So, too, the DRC, like Libya, is neither a European country nor its habitants are white. Thus, the wars that have been ongoing since the first day of freedom isn’t and won’t be a big deal internationally.
In sum, looking at the concern shown, and questions asked about Ukraine, it’s easy to know why, for example, Europe’s shunned Russia apart from opening its borders to Ukrainian refugees to enter while the same has refused non-European refugees the entry. They’re neither European nor white. The ongoing war in Ukraine’s shown how the west has lost it so as to openly show and support racism. What difference does this make from colonialism, which made do with criminality against others and created the capital for Europe we see today? Again, poor Africans still believe their saviour is the west while in actual fact it is but a coloniser and racist to the bone. Essentially, the biggest lesson is that all catfish have barbels.
I usually have some casual conversations with my white neighbours. We mainly talk about weather and other things like being asked where I came from and if the country of Africa will soon enjoy peace and prosperity. However, this time around after Russia invaded Ukraine, the types of questions I’m asked changed from my personal experience and home to Ukraine as if I’m a Ukrainian.
There’s this neighbour of mine who doesn’t hate or love me. He doesn’t even greet me sometimes, which is normal forget about talking to me quite often. Because of the centrality of Europe and Ukraine being one of its countries, he recently asked me as to why’s Russia doing this to Ukraine? Guess what. I simply replied that this is how colonialism works. For us victims, no colonisation is decent or justifiable. It is but criminality. He’d not get it. He wanted to know what I meant. I told him that this wasn’t the first time a sovereign country had been invaded by another. I cited an example of Libya that’s invaded by the west in 2011 and its president, Muamar Gaddafi killed and nobody in Canada was concerned. I reminded him that we’ve been neighbours since 2009 and he didn’t come to ask me why the west invaded Libya and killed its president. He didn’t say anything. Mind you. This neighbour used to be afraid of me because of Covid-19 isolation. Just like the west did, soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, Covid-19 was pushed under the lag. If this didn’t happen, some western rulers like Boris Johnson–––who faced the scandal of flouting Covid-19 rules–––would have been already in the cold.
More on my neighbour, I told him that Libya’s GDP was twice as bigger than that of Ukraine and life’s better than Ukraine’s but internationally Libya’s plight wasn’t anything to consider since it wasn’t a European country. Who’d believe that today Libyans who used to be looked after the government are begging for charcoals and eggs in the paradise they used to enjoy and take for granted? Those who used to be given stipends for marriage and apartments, most of them are now scavengers. Again, they’re neither European nor white. Despite being pushed to go to the dogs, Libya’s GDP per capital is still as twice as bigger as that of Ukraine today.
Another friend asked me if Russia’s going to win this war. He wanted to know my views of the conflict and what can be done to save Ukraine and its people. I openly told him that there won’t be any winner since the war’s destructive not only between the two but globally. We all have already borne the blunt of it. Gas price is increasing like crazy, and this directly affects everything be it goods or our livelihoods globally. I told him that the only winner is colonialism since after the war, new laws and rules will be enacted to compensate the loss and poor countries will bear the blunt.
The topic seemed to be exhaustive and thorny. Thus, my other friend to whom I repeated the nuggets of wisdom I offered other friends asked for the solidarity with Ukraine. I promised him that that it’s a good thing to do. However, I asked him why didn’t we apply the same to Libya and other African victims? He’d not get it. He replied that Libya’s plight happened a long time ago and that Ukraine’s a civilised, white and European country. I responded that, to me, what transpired in Libya did just yesterday and not necessarily that only European and white countries deserve to enjoy peace as opposed to non-European ones that’d endure the scabs of colonialism and egoism.
Knowing I am a Peace and Conflict Scholar, another friend of mine who entertained the dialogue about Russia-Ukraine conflict said that Putin’s evil because he invaded Ukraine. Again, I asked him why this rationale didn’t apply anywhere when the west minus Russia invaded Libya, it did not become bad or evil. He couldn’t answer. I asked him why and decided to answer my own question by giving two reasons. First, Libya is an African country. Secondly, Libya isn’t a civilised country apart from being a Muslim country. So, too, it wasn’t invaded by Putin. This means that if Putin invaded an African country––––just like the west has done on many occasions, he’d have not shaken the world. Nor would he have been bad and evil. Neither would he become dangerous and evil to the world as he’s after invading a European country. Thirdly, the west toppled Patrice Lumumba, the founder of the Congo, later Zaire and now the DRC, Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) and installed stinking dictators. Again, this wasn’t an international issue since the duo didn’t go to the communists, then led by the defunct USSR. So, too, the DRC, like Libya, is neither a European country nor its habitants are white. Thus, the wars that have been ongoing since the first day of freedom isn’t and won’t be a big deal internationally.
In sum, looking at the concern shown, and questions asked about Ukraine, it’s easy to know why, for example, Europe’s shunned Russia apart from opening its borders to Ukrainian refugees to enter while the same has refused non-European refugees the entry. They’re neither European nor white. The ongoing war in Ukraine’s shown how the west has lost it so as to openly show and support racism. What difference does this make from colonialism, which made do with criminality against others and created the capital for Europe we see today? Again, poor Africans still believe their saviour is the west while in actual fact it is but a coloniser and racist to the bone. Essentially, the biggest lesson is that all catfish have barbels.
Source: African Executive Magazine tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment