Russian Embassy Kicks Against ‘Azu’s’ Article On Putin

The Embassy of the Russian Federation to the Federal Republic of Nigeria has faulted a back-page article in LEADERSHIP publication, describing it as a “sarcastic” assessment of President Vladimir Putin.

The article published on Friday, January 23, entitled “We Owe Putin An Unreserved Apology,” was a reflection on recent geopolitical events. The author, Azu Ishiekwene (fondly called Azu), captured the power play, primarily the recent actions of US President Donald Trump, saying they paled in comparison to Putin’s nationalism.

The authors said the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and Trump’s demand for Greenland because he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, look like misdemeanours compared with Putin’s annexation of Crimea and the four-year all-out war in Ukraine, asking the world to “spare a thought for Putin.”

In a statement on Facebook and Telegram, the Russian Embassy described the publication as a rather curious one, “that offers a sarcastic assessment of Russia’s actions against the backdrop of the shifting course of the U.S. administration.

“We are convinced that such commentators, still trapped in Western stereotypes and inclined to label the leaders of sovereign states as “dictators” and “sinners”, will soon face a far harsher reality – one shaped by the actions of their own patrons and political suzerains.”

The Embassy then attached a cache of speeches by Putin at the Munich Security Conference in 2007, seven years before Russia seized Crimea, a move that the United Nations condemned.

Azu, the Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP, is a Fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, a former Chair of the CNN Multi-Choice African Journalists of the Year Judging Panel, an author, a former executive member of the World Editors’ Forum and the World Policy Journal, and a founding member of the Global Editors’ Network.

He has a Master’s degree in Politics and International Affairs, and is one of Africa’s most syndicated columnists.

“Perhaps then this will finally compel such authors to acknowledge that President Putin was right.

“In this regard, we invite the author of the article, Mr Azu Ishiekwene, as well as all reasonable and thoughtful readers, to recall Vladimir Putin’s landmark address at the Munich Security Conference in 2007.