economic sanctions

Here is the strange part. Sanctions are often called a peaceful weapon, yet the countries that impose them and the countries that receive them almost always insist they are the ones being hurt more. Both sides are usually right.

An economic sanction is when one country, or a group of countries, decides to squeeze another country's economy on purpose. It could mean refusing to trade with them, freezing their government's foreign bank accounts, banning certain exports like oil equipment or aircraft parts, or cutting their banks off from international payment systems. The point is not to invade with soldiers. The point is to make life expensive and difficult enough that the sanctioned government changes its behaviour.

Nigeria has felt both sides of this. During the military years under General Abacha, several Western countries placed sanctions on Nigeria over human rights concerns, restricting visas, arms sales and some financial dealings with top officials. It did not collapse the economy, but it made Nigeria's government more isolated and made everyday transactions with the outside world harder for a while.

Russia gives a bigger, more recent consider. After sanctions from the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States following the invasion of Ukraine, Russian banks were cut off from SWIFT, the international messaging system banks use to move money. Russians abroad, including students and workers, suddenly found their cards declined and their transfers stuck, a reminder that sanctions travel through ordinary bank accounts, more than government treasuries.

For a Nigerian sending money to a relative in a sanctioned country, or doing business with a partner there, the pain is very direct. Banks become nervous, transfers get delayed or rejected, and shipping companies avoid the route entirely, all because nobody wants to be caught helping to dodge the rules.