An Islamic cleric and foreign policy analyst Raufu Olakunle has called on the international community to embrace a rule-based international order while decrying uniteralism which he said is the source of most global conflict.
Olakunke who spoke with Blueprint in his office in Abuja believes that war is generally anti-human as it reduces humanity to its lowest form of living. He maintains that even animals are very cautious to destroy themselves unreasonably.
Citing Q2 verse 10 of the Quran he stated that – when they are told not to cause destruction on earth they say we are only peacemakers.
He said children, women vulnerable people and the innocent are the ones who bear the brunt of wars and urges the international community to think of the widows, orphans, physically challenged people, mentally drained individuals and the rest that are affected during wars and insurgency.
He said one of the things that God hates is unlawful shedding of innocent blood, which he attributed to the abandonment of a rule based international order in favour of uniteralism. “the global community must return to a rule based international order to end the current anarchy” he said.
He recalled several treaties put in place in the past to end wars and conflict.
“These treaties signed declaring war as illegal in the settlement of disputes like the covenant of the League of Nations (1920), the General Treaty for the Renunciation of War (1928) and the Charter of United Nations (signed on 26th June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, which came into force on 24th October 1945), have failed. Despite these conventions, there have been wars and the world have not seen the peace, which was intended and agreed by the nation’s signatory to these conventions as a result of unilateralism by some powerful nations who control these global organizations,” he said.
He sited the ongoing Russia and Ukraine war as an example of the fact that the world is still fighting wars and far from peace.
He also observed that the world policy of non-interference in the affairs of sovereign nations is one of the fundamental measures to prevent friction and wars that has been abused by some nations that usually lead to wars.
“The breach of the policy, particularly by the United States of America in the Arab world and the Muslim nations as a result of its unilateral policy has provided a ground for the outbreak of wars in the Arab world, noting that the motivation for such interferences are economical. This he said is evident in the realisation that the less endowed countries equally face little or no interference when they know there is nothing to gain,” he said.
He also questioned the stand of America as the world police dictating to other nations what is right and what is not.
He believed strongly that there is an imbalance in the composition of the United nations membership particularly, a situation where some highly powerful nations could veto the resolutions of the rest members for selfish desires an indication that the world is not ready to uphold the principle of sovereignty and is at best half hearted in pursuit of international peace and security.
He quoted ex-American president Jimmy Carter of saying that- any attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interest of the USA and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force to safeguard I interest. “America’s only interest in the gulf is oil”
He however decried the persistent urge by Africans to attach themselves to America, siting Liberia, where every young male child wants to go to America.
He based this unusual love on America’s free visa regime in the past.
He also said foreign transactions in Dollars have also helped to booster American love in Africa.