RENO IS JUST A CLOUT CHASER ON THE ISSUE OF UKRAINE & RUSSIA

This is not the typical kind of piece that grace my blog but for posterity, I want it to be clear that evil is evil, no matter who is supporting it. My non-Nigerian readers may not be very conversant with the flow of this writing because I may be citing events or names you may not be familiar with. But of course, you must have come across Biafra, but perhaps, not Mr Reno Omokri, a former aide to the former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan whose presidency was short-lived by Muhammadu Buhari’s emergence as Nigeria’s president.

Reno Omokri claims that during the Nigerian Civil war, no one prayed for Biafra and as a result, he is oppugning the relevance of Nigerians praying for Ukraine. He also disparaged the Federal Government for standing with the West and Ukraine in condemning Russia’s full-scale invasion of a sovereign independent nation.

One would expect someone as exposed and educated as Reno (as he claims) to know, do and say better about the current situation in Ukraine. He strides himself like a fountain of knowledge. He is living the life, that’s cool but he is also living the lie, that’s strange.

Reno’s method is simple but it works all the time. As long as he tickles the chord of some section of Nigerians where it pleases them, they will hail him, call him wiser than Solomon and share his post. Why am I concerned? I am only concerned about the misinformation that flies around as a result.

Reno understands the gullibility of Nigerians who mostly do not read but lean on what is convenient. So everything he says will go well as long as his premeditated propaganda to draw traffic to himself and his YouTube channel is masked with eloquence and some touch of authority. This is why Reno can authoritatively claim to know the history of every ethnic group in Nigeria more than the people themselves and the ignorant ones agree.

Agreed, the Nigerian Civil war was fierce, brutal and had much more casualties. No one would expect the Russia-Ukraine war to last 3 years as the Biafra war did but there is legitimate global interest. Ukraine is a sovereign independent country that has the right to determine its future and its alliance. One may argue that it is like Biafra, a secessionist but While Nigeria didn’t recognize Biafra’s independence, Russia recognized Ukraine’s independence in 1991.

Does he mean that France, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Rhodesia, South Africa and Vatican City were nobody? They provided support and assistance to Biafra and that was huge for a secessionist nation that wasn’t being supported by the superpowers. Nigeria too had her own support which I wouldn’t want to list out.

Does he also mean that Gabon, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, and Zambia that gave Biafra official recognition are nobody? Biafra also received aid and support from non-state actors like Joint Church Aid, foreign mercenaries, Holy Ghost Fathers of Ireland, and under their direction Caritas International, and U.S. Catholic Relief Services. Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors withut borders) also originated in response to the suffering.

I am not sure you read that well. Doctors Without Borders was formed as a result of the Biafran War and has continued to operate to this day. And after all of these sacrifices by people especially in the Western world, Mr Reno would boldly assert that people did nothing about the Biafran war.

Is Bruce Mayrock a nobody? The young student of Colombia University set himself ablaze in protest against Nigeria for the massacre of Biafrans and he died afterwards. Reno knows all of this but chose to turn history upside down.

Ukraine has more “legitimacy” as a sovereign nation than Biafra. This is never in any way to undermine the Biafran struggle and what people went through during the war.

After the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine was among several other countries that chose to be independent. Ukraine inherited thousands of nuclear weapons from the former Soviet Union but destroyed its nuclear weapons after Russia agreed that they weren’t going to interfere or invade Ukraine. Russia guaranteed Ukraine of its safety.

You folks claim to know what you are talking about but have you heard of the Budapest Memorandum? On December 5, 1994, the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Britain and the United States signed a memorandum to provide Ukraine with security assurances in connection with its accession to the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state. Go online and read about this yourself. Ukraine is not a troublesome state even though it was the second most powerful country in the Soviet Union and the sole reason why there is no hope for the formation of the USSR after the majority of them opted for independence.

Let’s dwell on the Budapest Memorandum a bit longer. It contains the following:

1. The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine.

Russia failed in its commitment here, they betrayed Ukraine after getting Ukraine to destroy its thousands of nuclear warheads. Was Russia respecting the independence, sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine? The answer is NO! And people pretend like this is not happening? And people like Reno, Jihadists, IPOB terrorists and other pathetic adherents of Russian propaganda believes nothing is wrong with Russia’s failure to keep up with its promise?

Let’s see the second one

1. The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America reaffirm their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine, and that none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except in self-defence or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

Will Russia say it was defending itself when it annexed Crimea? By annexing Crimea, they already breached the first agreement. Russia is the one invading Ukraine. They may claim they are defending themselves against NATO. How? Why not fight NATO and leave Ukraine alone. Of course, NATO has shown no aggression towards Russia. Do you see why Russia is deserving of all the sanctions and more?

For more on the Budapest Memorandum, read on Memorandum on Security Assurances in Connection with Ukraine’s Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

After Russia got Ukraine to destroy its nuclear weapons out of trust and yet invaded it, how do you expect Ukraine not to seek NATO membership? How else do you want Ukraine to protect its sovereignty against an overrated superpower cum bully like Russia? Unfortunately, the same evil we applaud Russia for is the same evil we fight against coming towards us.

I don’t believe in Karma, yet, I believe that posterity will not be kind to those who are evil and those who support evil no matter who is involved in that evil.

My name is George Onyedikachukwu Nnadozie, I stand for peace and I stand with Ukraine as they pass through this heavy phase where there strength and unity is put to a great test.