JUST IN: BARR AWUKA ON STRAIT OF HORMUZ..

 BLOCKADE THE BLOCKADE: Who Really Owns the Strait of Hormuz?

The unfolding drama at the Strait of Hormuz is almost poetic, if not dangerous! A blockade met with a counter-blockade. Power confronting defiance. And the world, as always, caught in between the web.

The latest move by Donald Trump to impose what is effectively a naval chokehold on Iran’s maritime trade is not merely a military tactic. It is a statement. A declaration that in the hierarchy of nations, control of movement of oil, of ships, of economic lifelines, remains the ultimate currency of power.

But the defiant Iran is not a passive actor in this theatre. Far from it. Who knows what aces they have up their sleeves?

Tehran had long threatened to weaponize the Strait of Hormuz, that passage through which a significant portion of the world’s oil flows. In response, Washington has chosen a strategy that is as audacious as it is calculated: do not close the strait outright, but make it economically useless to Iran. Intercept its ships, isolate its exports, and squeeze its economy without firing the first shot. In simple terms: blockade the blockade.

I bet Iran never thought of this, or did they?

This is not war in the conventional sense. It is something more refined, and perhaps more dangerous. Economic warfare dressed in naval uniform. America is borrowing from the Nigeria - Baiafra conflict: block their food supply and let hunger kill them instead of bullets! In this case, strangulate the economy of Iran without throwing a bomb!

The implications are immediate and far-reaching. Oil prices tremble at the slightest hint of disruption in Hormuz. Markets react not just to action, but to anticipation. For countries already grappling with inflation and fragile currencies, the ripple effects are brutal. Nigeria, for instance, does not need to be geographically close to feel the heat. Petrol prices, foreign exchange pressures, and the cost of living all respond swiftly to distant tensions.

Yet beyond economics lies a deeper contest: one of legitimacy and law.

Iran has predictably labelled the U.S. action as piracy. And in strict legal terms, it is not an argument without merit. A blockade in international waters, without a declared war, sits uneasily with established norms. It has every element of piracy, although I am not an expert in international law. But since when has global power ever been restrained by legal niceties? The truth, uncomfortable as it may be, is that international law often follows power, it does not precede it. And power, in this instance, is asymmetrical.

The United States commands the seas. Iran, however, understands the waters. It does not need to defeat the U.S. Navy; it only needs to make the Strait of Hormuz unpredictable, risky, and expensive. Mines, fast boats, coastal missiles and perhaps more, are not instruments of dominance, but of disruption. And in a chokepoint like Hormuz, disruption can be just as effective as control.

So what we have is a stalemate of strategy.

America seeks control. Iran seeks denial. And the world gets volatile.

There is also a dangerous illusion at play, that this can be carefully managed, calibrated, or contained. History warns us otherwise. Strategic brinkmanship has a habit of slipping its leash. One miscalculation, one overreach, and a controlled blockade could spiral into open confrontation. This poses a palpable danger.

But perhaps the most important question is one we are reluctant to ask: Who truly owns the Strait of Hormuz?

Is it Iran, whose coastline hugs its edges? Is it the United States, whose navy patrols its waters? Or is it the global community, whose economic survival depends on its openness? Again, not being an international law expert my guess is the answer, unfortunately, is all and none.

What is clear, however, is that the Strait of Hormuz has once again become the fault line of global power: a place where geography, economics, and ambition collide. And in that collision, smaller nations, distant economies, and ordinary citizens bear consequences they neither created nor can control. And so we get a litre of fuel at one thousand, four hundred Naira.

“Blockade the blockade” may sound like a clever turn of phrase. In reality, it is a warning. A warning that in today’s world, wars need not be declared to be fought. Ships need not be sunk for economies to bleed. And power is no longer just about who holds territory, but who controls the flow of everything that sustains it.

That is the real battle in Hormuz. And it has only just begun.

 ~~~~ Kingsley Awuka ~~~