RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

NATO members have military personnel in Kiev – Stoltenberg

NATO member states have service members stationed at their respective embassies in Kiev, performing advisory functions, NATO Secretary General Jens Soltenberg told MSNBC News on Sunday.

In an interview, Stoltenberg was asked whether NATO was planning to send additional personnel to help Kiev in its fight against Russia. “There are no plans for any NATO combat presence in Ukraine. But, of course, several NATO allies have men and women in uniform at the embassies giving advice,”Stoltenberg said.

His comment came after Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told Politico magazine that the US is considering deploying more advisers to its embassy in Kiev. According to Politico, the additional advisers could be tasked with handling logistics and helping with the maintenance of US-supplied weapons systems.

Although French President Emmanuel Macron and several other European leaders are refusing to rule out some NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine in the future, the alliance has so far maintained that it is not a direct participant in the conflict.

The nearly $61 billion aid package passed by the US House of Representatives on Saturday was good news, however, “delay has had real consequences” on the battlefield, Stoltenberg said. “The Ukrainians have now for months been outgunned.”

The much-needed aid bill, which includes the money for the purchase of weapons for Ukraine, had remained stuck in the House for months due to political wrangling. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has complained that the petering out of American aid caused ammunition shortages on the front line, and warned that Kiev could lose if the delays continue. President Joe Biden directly blamed the fall of the Donbass stronghold of Avdeevka to Russia in February on “congressional inaction.”

Moscow has repeatedly warned that deliveries of Western arms and equipment to Ukraine will not stop it from reaching its military goals, including the abandonment of Kiev’s hopes to join NATO. Further arms deliveries from the West only “cause more Ukrainians to die because of the Kiev regime,” and de facto make Western states party to the conflict, the Kremlin has stated.

** Units of South battlegroup fully free Bogdanovka in Donetsk People’s Republic — top brass

Units of the South battlegroup have fully freed Bogdanovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), as well as repelled two counterattacks by the Ukrainian armed forces near Chasov Yar and Krasnoye, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"Units of the South battlegroup have fully freed the Bogdanovka settlement in the Donetsk People’s Republic, improved positions at the forefront and inflicted fire defeat to troops and equipment of the 53rd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces near the settlement of Krasnogorovka of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Moreover, two counterattacks by formations of the 93rd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces near the settlement of Chasov Yar and to the west of the settlement of Krasnoye of the Donetsk People’s Republic have been repelled," the ministry said.

The enemy lost up to 440 troops, three cars and an Osa-AKM air defense system, a 152mm D-20 weapon, a Grad multiple launch rocket system, two Nota electronic warfare stations, as well as five field ammunition depots, according to the report.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says it damaged Russian rescue ship in Crimea

Ukraine's military said on Sunday it had struck and damaged a long-serving Russian rescue vessel in Sevastopol, the headquarters in occupied Crimea of Moscow's Black Sea Fleet.

Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said the vessel, the Kommuna, had been hit in Sevastopol Bay on Sunday morning and it was "clear that the ship is no longer in a state to carry out assignments."

A post on the Ukrainian Armed Forces Telegram channel said the ship was one of the oldest operated by the Russian navy and had been launched in 1913.

News reports said the vessel had been dispatched as part of a rescue operation when Ukrainian forces sank the Russian Fleet's Moskva flagship in April 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has pointed to the military's success in attacking and containing Russia's Crimea-based fleet in the nearly 26-month-old war against Russia. Crimea was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014.

Pletenchuk said earlier this month that Ukrainian operations had taken out of action about a third of the Russian fleet since the start of the war.

Sevastopol's Russia-installed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said earlier that Russian forces had repelled an anti-ship missile attack on one of its vessels in the port.

Razvozhayev said fallen fragments caused a small fire, which was promptly extinguished.

RT/Tass/Reuters

Two days after I started taking the medication prescribed by Heba, I could lift myself out of the wheelchair and walk about. By the fifth day, I walked into the hospital, gingerly, but surely, and came face to face with DHeba, who was not even surprised to see me on my feet, on her way to buy a cappuccino, I guessed.

We went to the waiting area and waited to be called in to see her. She soon returned, holding a cup of her drink. She asked me certain questions and, after taking my vitals, sent me to go for a Spirometry Flow-Volume Test, known as Lung Function Test (LFT).

One interesting and commendable attribute of Saudi hospitals, not least the Saudi-German, is that you do not have to come the next day for your test results. Once they admit you, ask fundamental questions and register your vitals, they start conducting tests. It is test upon test because once a result comes out, then another test would be conducted based on that result until they narrow down and nail the ailment. Anytime they start, they can take 24 hours, each team handing your case over to the next shift. And if you got tired and ran off to return the next day, as I once did, they will begin with you from the very beginning, not from where you ran off – the syringe punches, cannula and bandages, x-rays and all! I asked why and I was told, “Anything could have happened in your system since you left that could render yesterday’s results no more tenable.”

Well, back to spirometry. After the result came out, Heba, who had earlier said she would be going for a quick break, decided to postpone it to attend to us. After studying the result, she recommended Pulmonary Rehabilitation which is physiotherapy and hydrotherapy. She decided to send me to the head of the unit whose schedule was full for the month but who decided to accept me nonetheless.

And so we met him. Small built with baldness setting in and a face full of smiles, Amjad Alqurtabi was a sportish, friendly and easy-going fellow who was ever willing to do his job.

One thing with the medical personnel at the Saudi-German Hospital is that, apart from being professional and willing to be of assistance, they are friendly, going a long way to make you feel comfortable, at home, and cared for. A man may be excused to think the female personnel have fallen for him.

And you do not feel any obligation or indebtedness to them. For the first time in my interactions with health workers, all the rest being back in Nigeria, of course, I never felt they were doing me a favour or there was the need to dip my hands into my pockets to “appreciate” a health caregiver.

Amjad, I learnt, is a descendant of the author of a book on fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Qurtabi, written in poetic form. It is one of those primary books studied to deepen knowledge of jurisprudence and also to learn the Arabic language. I got to know this because, out of curiosity, I told him that the name Qurtabi rang a bell, to which he opened up on his relationship with the famed author.

For those who might have read it, the book, Qurtabi, named after the town of the author, Shaykh Allama Yahya bn Ishaq bn Yahya al-Laisi, started with “Yaqulu Yahyal Qurtabiyyud dari; Almurtaji mathubatal ghaffari; Bi’ismil ilaHi abda’ul maqala; Faminhu arjul afwa wal ifdhaala,” which when translated means: “Says Yahya who lives (domiciled) in Qurtabi; A man expecting (desirous of) reward and forgiveness (from Allah); in the name of Allah, I am starting this discussion; From Him, I am expecting sympathy and greatness.”

Qurtabi was the name of Cordoba in Spain, called Andalusia at the time when the country was an Islamic nation.

Alqurtabi went through the process of physically breaking the mucus that filled my lungs so that they could get expectorated and give relief to my lungs and chest. That would also allow me to breathe easily, which will reduce the Shortness of Breath (SoB) I struggled with due to insufficient oxygen.

My ailment, found out to be Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), is a non-communicable, irreversible chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes airflow blockage, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. And so one has to imbibe a lifetime habit of pulmonary rehabilitation. And that was what Amjad Alqurtabi set out to put me through.

After massaging my chest to loosen the mucus, he handed me over to Coach Khalid, the man in charge of both therapies. Even though he is more fluent in Arabic, we hit it off instantly as friends because I saw in him a man enthusiastic to nurse me back to health. I could see happiness in his eyes at my progress and pride all over his face that he was part of it.

The first set of physiotherapy consisted of sessions on the treadmill, spinner bike and exercises on deep breathing. Next was hydrotherapy, where I was made to undergo various sessions and exercises in a heated swimming pool with a Jacuzzi, leading to full swimming and holding my breath for a time underwater.

After about ten days at it, I became strong enough to perform the Umrah and after two weeks, when Heba called for another LFT, it was found out that my lung function had improved by over thirty per cent. No wonder the physiotherapy department of the Makkah Saudi-German is the best in the Saudi-German chain.

I still believe we can have hospitals with the standard of the Saudi-German. And what can hinder us from achieving such a feat? Three things make the Makkah Saudi-German great: adequate infrastructure, modern equipment for service delivery and wonderful, well-trained human resources, with the right attitude in tow.

I believe our states can build at least one great hospital and invite the Saudi-German to equip and manage them for a certain period. While doing that, our citizens will receive the best on-the-job training after graduation and may further benefit from exchange programmes with the franchise.

All these will allow them to internalise the concept of global best practices in health care delivery. That will be a win-win situation for us and will in no small measure galvanise our development individually and as a nation because a healthy nation is a wealthy one.

** Hassan Gimba is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Neptune Prime.

To start a company and keep it growing, leaders must get and keep customers. As I will share with students this fall in my Babson College course, Scaling Strategy: Mastering the Four Stages from Idea to $10 Billion, achieving that simple-sounding goal is challenging.

This comes to mind in considering the journey of Saviynt, a privately held El Segundo, Calif.-based provider of identity and access management products.

Founded in 2010, the 545-employee company generated $72 million in revenue, according to Zippia. Savyint defied the current venture capital winter – raising $205 million in growth financing in January 2023, VentureBeat reported.

In a March 3 interview, CEO Sachim Nayyar explained how Saviynt has been able to win and keep customers during its 13-year existence.

Founders must pick the right problem to solve – one that causes considerable pain for customers and that incumbents are not addressing. 

Saviynt aimed to solve such a problem back in 2010.

As Nayyar told me, "In 2010, there was no comprehensive solution to identity and access management. While vendors such as Oracle, SailPoint, IBM, SAP and CyberArk supplied individual pieces of the solution, customers were paying multiple times for these different products. We thought customers were looking for something more efficient; more secure and better integrated."

2. Build the industry's best solution to that problem

To win customers, a vendor must build the industry's best solution to the right problem.

Saviynt says its product and service offerings lead the industry.

"Customers perceive us as providing a world-class product with the most innovation. We offer potential customers access to the accumulated best practices of our user groups, advisory groups and customer learning. We have a deep ecosystem of over 1,000 partners certified in Saviynt which customers can access through a single marketplace."

3. Persuade potential customers to buy your product

It is not enough to build the best product; you must also convince customers to buy it.

Saviynt says that its product wins in competitive bids.

"We win 70 percent to 75 percent of the time. While Okta is a competitor, it provides light identity governance for customers who are smaller than the ones we target. We win because our product better meets the needs of our customers who want to move to the cloud, lower their total costs and reduce risk. Enterprises choose after doing a bakeoff among potential suppliers and then check references," he said.

4. Invent new products that help customers adapt to changing headwinds and tailwinds

Over time, a company's initial products mature. To keep growing, founders must track changes in the external forces creating opportunities and threats for their customers.

In so doing, startups can sustain their growth by investing in new products that will help their customers keep growing.

Saviynt's portfolio consists of some mature and some fast-growing products.

As Nayyar explained, "65 percent of our revenue is from mature products; 35 percent of our revenue is from products that are growing at over 100 percent a year. These include our privileged access management (PAM) and third-party access management products."

Saviynt started developing a PAM offering about three years ago.

As he said, "We began developing a lower-priced, agentless, cloud-based PAM product that protects Internet of Things devices. Our product works better and is less costly than CyberArk's PAM product. Our price is 70 percent of the nearest competitor's. Because of the macroeconomic pressure to do more with less, we will benefit. By 2024, we expect that the balance of our mature and fast-growing products will be 50/50."

5. Empower talent to achieve ambitious goals

Nayyar has learned important lessons about winning and keeping customers since he became a CEO.

"When I was a first-time CEO, I tried to solve everything myself. Now I know that a CEO must bring the right people to the table, give them the information they need, remove obstacles and making sure everyone understands a few key goals."

To hire that talent – winning is essential. "Winners attract winners and we grow through innovation and quality – not by cutting our price below our costs. We never cut corners with customers no matter how small they are. We want customers to refer us so we won't be penny wise and pound foolish," he said. 

Do these five things to help your company get and keep customers.

Inc

Dangote Industries Limited's management has refuted claims questioning the quality of its diesel, labeling such allegations as false and mischievous.

The company asserts that its refinery is engineered to produce top-tier petroleum products that adhere to rigorous international standards. Anthony Chiejina, the company's spokesperson, emphasized that recent reports suggesting substandard diesel production led to the price reductions are unfounded. Chiejina clarified that the refinery's diesel output contains significantly lower levels of Sulphur compared to previous imports, debunking claims of inferior quality.

He further dismissed assertions that the reduced price is indicative of lower quality, citing market dynamics and the company's commitment to national interest as primary reasons for the adjustment.

With a production capacity exceeding domestic demand, Dangote's refinery aims to contribute to Nigeria's energy independence while maintaining global quality standards.

Adesola Adeduntan, the Managing Director of First Bank Nigeria Limited, has announced his resignation after leading the institution for eight years.

In a letter addressed to the Chairman of First Bank, Tunde Hassan-Odukale, titled ‘Notice of Retirement,’ Adeduntan, whose tenure was set to end on December 31, 2024, has voluntarily stepped down, commencing his pre-retirement leave immediately.

Adeduntan, who took on the role of CEO on January 1, 2016, cited his desire to pursue other interests as the reason for his departure.

The boards of FBN Holdings Plc and First Bank respectively accepted his resignation and expressed gratitude for his service to the financial institution.

Adeduntan's resignation comes after a tenure marked by significant transformations and achievements, positioning First Bank as a leading financial institution in Nigeria.

Despite challenges, he leaves with appreciation for the support received and wishes the institution continued success in its evolution.

Adeduntan's career in banking and finance, spanning over three decades, has been distinguished by various recognitions and awards.

Reports have it that a tragic ambush occurred on Friday in Niger State, where bandits attacked soldiers and civilians in the communities of Roro, Karaga, and Rumace in Shiroro Local Government Area of the State.

The ambush resulted in the loss of six soldiers, with an army captain reportedly abducted. Additionally, a hunter and two farmers were killed, and several properties were destroyed.

The incident occurred as the soldiers responded to a distress call, with the bandits launching their attack near Roro village. Despite attempts to reach military and police authorities for comment, there has been no official response.

However, the Commissioner for Homeland Security in Niger State, Bello Abdullahi Mohammed, confirmed the incident, pledging vigorous efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice and support the affected communities.

ISRAEL’S REPORTS

Erdogan meets Hamas leader in Istanbul, discusses efforts to reach Gaza ceasefire

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid there with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh during a meeting in Istanbul, state broadcaster TRT said on Saturday.

It was the first meeting between Erdogan and a Hamas delegation headed by Haniyeh since Israel began its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh's visit to Turkey took place three days after he met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Doha.

The visit took place amid escalating regional tensions following Israel's reported attack on Iran this week.

Israel's Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz commented on the meeting between the two leaders in Turkish. 

** IDF: IDF troops struck a launching pit in the area of Beit Hanoun shortly after launches were identified from the area toward the city of Sderot on Friday

On Friday, IDF troops in cooperation with IAF aircraft struck terror targets including a launching pit in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, shortly after a launch was identified and intercepted, crossing from the area into the city of Sderot.

Over the past day, IAF fighter jets and additional aircraft struck dozens of terror targets, assisting IDF ground troops. Among the targets were military infrastructures, compounds, and armed terrorists.

IDF troops are continuing to conduct counterterrorism activities in central Gaza. During one of the incidents, the troops identified a terrorist who posed a threat to them and eliminated him.

Attached is a video of the IDF strikes in the Gaza Strip: https://bit.ly/3wb1ikN

Attached are photos of the IDF activities in the Gaza Strip: https://idfanc.activetrail.biz/ANC200424505

** IDF: Close-quarters encounters, closing the combat circle on terrorists and targeted raids by the Nahal Brigade combat team in the central Gaza Strip;

On Friday, a situational assessment led by the Commanding Officer of the Southern Command was held in the area

The Nahal Brigade combat team continues to operate in the area of ​​the Karni Corridor, from where the soldiers carry out dozens of targeted raids on terrorists and terrorist infrastructure.

The forces eliminated terrorists in close-quarters encounters and, with the cooperation of the Brigade’s Fire Control Center, direct the IAF forces to destroy terrorist infrastructure in the area.

On Friday, the Commanding Officer of the Southern Command, MG Yaron Finkelman and the Commanding Officer of the 162nd Division, BG Itzik Cohen, held a situational assessment in the area together with the forces. As part of the situational assessment, they discussed the further operating of the IDF forces in the area.

Attached is footage from the situational assessment: https://bit.ly/3JsjWrn

Attached is footage of the activity of the Nahal Brigade combat team in the area of ​​the Karni Corridor: https://bit.ly/4aHHuol

Attached are related photos: https://IDFANC.activetrail.biz/ANC987653

** IDF: Earlier today, IDF soldiers identified a terrorist entering a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Ayta ash Shab. IAF aircraft struck the compound and the terrorist operating from it.

Additionally, IAF aircraft struck a terrorist who operated in Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the area of Kfarkela in southern Lebanon.

Attached is a video of the strike in Ayta ash Shab: https://bit.ly/3w2ZAlG

Attached is a video of the strike in Kfarkela: https://bit.ly/3UnFifQ

HAMAS’ REPORTS

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Press Statement

We strongly condemn the brutal aggression on Saturday morning against the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces at the Kalsu military base in Babil Governorate, which caused material losses and a number of injuries. We consider it an assault and violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and security, and an embodiment of Zionist barbarism, which is constantly expanding its aggression throughout the region.

We also hold the administration of US President Biden responsible for the escalation in the region, through its supply and support for the Nazi war of genocide against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and we renew our affirmation that the region will not witness stability or peace except by ending the Zionist occupation of our occupied Palestinian and Arab lands.

Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas

Saturday: Shawwal 11, 1445 AH

Corresponding to: April 20, 2024 AD

** Targeting the occupation forces with a homemade explosive device at the entrance to Tulkarm camp.

** Al-Quds Brigades, West Bank

Within the battle of #Al-Aqsa_Flood

Al-Quds Brigades - Tulkarm Brigade: Our mujahideen continue with all strength and ability to confront and target the occupation forces with heavy volleys of bullets and explosive devices.

#Al-Aqsa Flood

** Continuing clashes with heavy weapons between resistance men and the occupation army in the Al-Mughraqa and Al-Zahraa areas, north of the Central Governorate

Prayers for the resistance

** Al-Quds Brigades: We bombed a gathering of Zionist enemy soldiers and vehicles in the “Netzarim” axis of advance, south of Gaza, with a barrage of heavy-caliber mortar shells.

#Al-Aqsa Flood

** Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades: We bombed the concentrations of Zionist enemy soldiers located in the “Netzarim” axis with heavy caliber mortar shells.

** Hezbollah: In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance, and in response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks on the steadfast southern villages and civilian homes, most recently in Aita al-Shaab, Kafr Kila and al-Jabayn, we targeted two buildings used by enemy soldiers in the “Shlomi” settlement with weapons. Occasion

** Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades - Tulkarm:

With God's help and strength, our fighters are engaged in fierce clashes with the Zionist enemy soldiers in several areas in the Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps with machine guns and explosive devices, causing direct casualties among the enemy's ranks.

** Hamas:

We mobilize the members of our Palestinian people stationed to ignite confrontations with the criminal Zionist occupation in all areas of the confrontations in the West Bank and Jerusalem in response to the criminal massacre in the Nour Shams camp in Tulkarm.

- The honorable martyrs of Tulkarm, who faced the occupation forces with all defiance and determination, bled. We affirm that the Zionist crime will not bring security to the occupation, and that the resistance of our people will continue, generation after generation, until victory and liberation, God willing.

We call on our people in the West Bank to commit to the general strike tomorrow, Sunday, and to turn all squares and points of confrontation into a bloc of flames in the face of the occupation, and to aim all the guns of the liberals at this occupation and its criminal settlers.

** Lions' den:

Over the past period, the Lions' Den groups have carried out dozens of shooting operations in the West Bank without announcement, and we are still insisting that the statements be silent and that the talking should be left to the guns.

And to the delusional delusional ones, we say to you, delusional, then delusional, who thinks that the resistance in the West Bank will end, delusional, then delusional, that he can end the Jenin Brigade, Tulkarm Brigade, or any of the brigades or groups that launched in the West Bank, and delusional is the one who plans, meets, conspires, communicates, threatens, carries out, and vows to end the lions’ den groups.

- The Lions' Den groups mourn the heroic martyrs of Tulkarm, their martyrs who rose, undefeated, in the battle of honor and pride, the Battle of Nour Shams.

- We call on our people in the West Bank, Jerusalem, the interior and the diaspora to go out and shout “Allahu Akbar” from the rooftops and in any square at exactly 3500 AM today. Hear the enemy that our people are alive and that our people, old and young, are with the resistance and with the martyrs, and listen to your “Allahu Akbar” to the thousands of mujahideen in Gaza who are holding onto Triggers who defended the honor of an entire nation.

- We call for a general mobilization from today in every city and village and at every point of contact. By God, we will be eaten on the day Gaza is eaten, God forbid. Leave the speeches and let the words be only the words of the guns.

Jerusalem Post/Israel Defense Forces/Hamas Brigade al-Qassam

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Zelenskiy says he is grateful for US House approval of Ukraine aid

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed gratitude on Saturday for the passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of a military aid bill for his country and said the assistance would save lives and "bring a just end" to the war with Russia.

"I am grateful to the United States House of Representatives, both parties, and personally Speaker Mike Johnson for the decision that keeps history on the right track," Zelenskiy wrote on X.

The president said the bill "will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger".

Minutes later, in his nightly video address, the president said the assistance "will be felt by our soldiers on the front lines" and praised the role of "American leadership" in preserving a rules-based international order.

"We will certainly use American support to strengthen both our nations and bring a just end to this war. A war that Putin must lose."

The bills making up the legislative package provide $60.84 billion to Ukraine, including $23 billion to replenish U.S. weapons, stocks and facilities.

The U.S. Senate, which passed a similar measure two months ago, is expected to approve the current bills next week and pass them on to President Joe Biden to sign.

Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko pointed to the legislation's provision of $7.8 billion for budget support.

"This is the extraordinary support we need to maintain financial stability and prevail," he wrote in English on X.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, writing on Telegram, said passage of the bill was evidence that the United States showed "leadership and resolve" in fighting for peace and security.

Shmyhal expressed thanks for approval of provisions that would help set the stage for the United States to confiscate Russian assets and hand them over to Ukraine for rebuilding after the destruction of the war.

"We will receive an important resource for victory and reconstruction," he wrote on Telegram. "I call on other countries where Russian assets are held to follow this example."

** Ukrainian drones strike Russian fuel depot, substations in major attack

Ukraine attacked eight Russian regions with dozens of long-range strike drones, setting ablaze a fuel depot and hitting three power substations in a major attack early on Saturday, an intelligence source in Kyiv told Reuters.

The overnight attack, which was confirmed by the defence ministry in Moscow, comes amid a Russian airstrike campaign that has battered Ukraine's energy system and pounded its cities in recent weeks.

Facing mounting pressure on the battlefield more than two years since Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has tried to find a pressure point against the Kremlin by targeting oil refineries and energy facilities inside Russia using drones.

"At least three electrical substations and a fuel storage base were hit, where fires ignited," the Ukrainian source said, citing social media videos showing fires raging at different locations.

The source said the facilities were targeted for supporting Russian military industrial production.

Russia's defence ministry said it shot down 50 Ukrainian drones, including 26 in the Belgorod region, 10 in the Bryansk region, eight in Kursk region, two in Tula region as well as one in each of the regions of Smolensk, Ryazan, Kaluga and Moscow.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region which borders Ukraine, said two civilians were killed as a result of the attack.

The strike targeted a fuel energy facility in the western Smolensk region's Kardym district, hitting a reservoir with fuel and oil lubricants, the local governor confirmed.

"As a result of the work of air defence forces, the aircraft were shot down. However, as a result of falling debris, a tank with fuel and oil lubricants caught fire," he said, adding that firefighters were battling to put out the blaze.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ex-Russian president slams ‘US bastards’

The military aid bill recently passed by the US House of Representatives will not stop the Russian army in Ukraine, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said.

After months of delays and political wrangling, the House approved the much-needed $61 billion for Ukraine, whose forces have been suffering setbacks on the battlefield due to ammunition shortages. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky thanked American legislators for their support.

Medvedev, who serves as the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, argued, however, that “the vote of gleeful American bastards”will only prolong the fighting and “increase the number of victims of this war.”

“Obviously, we will win, regardless of the bloody dollars shoved down the throat of the insatiable [American] defense industry. The strength and the truth are on our side,”Medevdev wrote on Telegram, branding the US “a despicable empire of evil of the 21th century.” 

House Republicans previously refused to back the Ukraine aid bill, while hoping to pressure the White House to crack down on the influx of illegal migration across the border with Mexico. Some legislators also accused President Joe Biden of lacking a clear strategy for ending the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Zelensky, meanwhile, has warned that Ukraine would lose if Congress fails to approve additional aid. Following criticism from Kiev and America’s allies in Europe, House Speaker Mike Johnson decided to put the bill to the vote this week, stating that Russia is part of a new “axis of evil.”

Reuters/RT

Native Brazilians arrest monkeys with what is called Cumbuca. They make a hole in a gourd that is big enough to accommodate the hand of a monkey. The gourd is then affixed to the ground of the place monkeys infest. Placed inside the gourd is usually a banana for the attraction of the monkey. The monkey then hops down the tree and aims to grab the banana. Expectedly, the monkey will foolishly hold on tight to the banana, his hand closed. With this, the monkey cannot take the banana out and will not leave his place of imprisonment. He will be there until he is made into a delectable barbecue. I will relate this presently.

Habeeb Okikiola, a.k.a. Portable, the weird head housing a huge cerebrum, proposed a thesis which I want us to examine together. In a viral video, Portable pleaded with the EFCC not to get him arrested. In the last three weeks or so, the EFCC has upped its proficiency in arresting those it labeled mutilators of the Nigerian currency. Last week, Pascal Okechukwu, famous socialite, popularly known as Cubana Chief Priest, got his full comeuppance. He was arrested by the EFCC and dragged before a Lagos Federal High Court which granted him a bail of N10 million.

Before then, in January, Nigerians were treated to the salacious broth prepared by Betta Edu. Edu is the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. The 37-year old Edu had been enmeshed in allegations of fraud involving the sum of N585.189m. As we speak, Betta and her accomplices walk the streets free. There are strong allegations that the Edu you see is a butterfly, a mere façade covering a roiling colony of maggots in the Nigerian presidency. And that the EFCC’s dilemma in not replicating the clinical accuracy and Concorde-speed conviction it attained with Bobrisky in Edu, can be likened to a chemistry which the Yoruba forged between the shrub and the forest. It is their own simple law of gravity, their Archimedes Principle, if you like. So, they say, if you pull too hard on the shrub, it will pull the forest (Ti a ba fa gburu, gburu a fa’gbo). And trees will fall over trees.

A line from Sudanese novelist, Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North also interests me. Salih’s is a classic postcolonial Arabic novel published in 1966. The line is, "I am no Othello, Othello was a lie…I am a lie." The book revolves round a man called the “traveled man,” an African who just returned from schooling abroad in the 1950s. He came back to his Sudanese village of Wad Hamid, located on the Nile. He had just finished writing his doctoral thesis themed ‘the life of an obscure English poet.’ I found this ‘lie’ line the most profound of Salih’s conversations. What gave life to that conversation? When he arrived home, the unnamed narrator meets a villager named Musrafa Sa’eed, the main protagonist of the novel. Sa’eed is described as “a monstrous product of his time.” One drunken evening, the narrator encounters Sa’eed in his real self. So he asked him of his past. Sa’eed gave that curt reply of “I am a lie”.

“I am a lie” is almost synonymous with the life of a butterfly which my people call the “labalaba.” The butterfly is Janus, the double-faced god. When you think it is attempting to perch, that is when the poor fly is on the verge of taking off. In painting an ample picture of the ephemeral nature of the butterfly, my people conjured an incantation to explain its fleeting life. “Yio ba’le, yio ba’le ni labalaba fi nwo’gbo” they say. The life of labalaba is like a joke. A lie.

Like Sa’eed, Nigeria’s season of migration to the double life of a butterfly – the season of lies – seems to have come. Such seasons come and go like the ever changing colours of a chameleon and unfold like the rainbow. Beginning with the drama of power in Abuja last week which involved ex-Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello and the Nigerian state; the clowns in Ibadan who attempted to take over the Nigerian state; to the EFCC’s most recent tickling fancy in arresting “currency mutilators”, Nigeria has entered a full plumule of its season of migration to lies.

Last Friday in Ibadan, I sat beside former Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics) of the University of Ibadan, Adigun Agbaje. It was at a reading and review session of Cyber Politics, a book authored by Omoniyi Ibietan, a man trying to cultivate a forest of a thousand – and one – grey hairs that could rival Wole Soyinka’s! And Agbaje propounded a thesis which seems to explain some of the labalaba stories that erupted in Nigeria in the last one week. He began by asserting that the politics of meaning is changing rapidly, not only in Nigeria but all over the world. In other words, the meanings we ascribe to political issues are fast changing their frontiers.

The politics of meaning was put in context by Michael Lerner in his 1997-published book, The Politics of Meaning: Restoring Hope and Possibility In An Age Of Cynicism. Lerner drew on ideas presented in the Bible, Jewish teachings, and his experience as a psychotherapist to examine the roots of discontent of many Americans about their political system. He also describes how values get lost in broken politics. Agbaje took on Max Weber’s classical definition of the state. The German sociologist had submitted, in what is widely regarded as a defining characteristic of the modern state, that the state alone has a monopoly of violence. In political science and sociology, the Weber definition of the state has influenced several theses of the state being the only one in possession of the right to authorize the use of physical force.

In what appears very elementary reading of Lerner and Werber, Portable, last week, explained the shifting sand of meaning and the power of the state. While begging EFCC not to arrest him, the weird musician had said that, “after God, na government; forgive me if you have videos of me spraying money.” The EFCC has over the years indeed shifted in meaning. Whenever he was to be vilified, opponents to the politics of Nigeria’s first president, Nnamdi Azikiwe, a.k.a. Zik, mocked him as having fallen from an Olympian height of Zik of Africa to Owelle of Onitsha. In 2003 when President Olusegun Obasanjo established the EFCC, criminal elements among the political class, like roaches at the sight of a hen, scampered for safety. The fate of the ones caught by the dragnet of the then no-smiling Nuhu Ribadu was akin to that of a man who carries a faggot laden with a thousand bees – “o ru’gi oyin!”. Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, became jelly when rounded up by Ribadu boys.

Ribadu’s adulterous romance with politicians can be explained. One by one, he unwittingly renounced all his lofty crime-fighting credentials. Today, Ribadu sits at table with same persons who dreaded his dragnet and takes orders from a man he almost hounded into jail. The lion is castrated and the sons of impala tug at the King of the Jungle’s naked “blokos”. From running after Yahoo Yahoo boys on university campuses, to pursuing social nuisances who defile the Naira, the EFCC’s season of shifting meaning, a migration to hubris, has come full throttle. I think the assignment given the anti-graft agency by the law is too monstrous for this fleeting role it casts for itself.

Gradually, the EFCC was struck by the nuke of a shifting politics of meaning. Ribadu himself became the proverbial fetus inside a cobra that kills the snake. I remember the saying that, the moment you thrust your hand forth for a handshake, your head will bow. Yoruba stretch this saying further, exploiting the alliteration in plantain – dodo – and truth, ododo – to say that the moment you eat the dodo, you can no longer be found in the comfort of ododo. Ribadu’s head became bowed the moment he coveted the sweet pancake in the hands of the political class. It was the case of the squirrel comfortably seated on a deathly trap to enjoy a dinner of banana that he loves so much. How was the squirrel to know that sweet things are most times expressway to death? Politicians seem to have discovered the EFCC's price-tag. So, Ribadu joined politics. The moment he did this, he literally got for himself a belt made of “yangan” – corns, which becomes his waistband. By so doing, the well-respected ex-cop became a fawning piece (alawada) for hens to play with. He also becomes the monkey that native Brazilians arrest with the Cumbuca.

Then came the melodrama starring ex-Governor Bello and the EFCC. Last week, after obtaining a court warrant for his arrest on the allegation of an N82 billion fraud, viral videos showed the commission’s futile efforts to arrest Bello at his Wuse Zone 4, Abuja home. The world watched the circus of our national shame. When Bello-installed incumbent governor of the state, Usman Ododo, made a serpentine sneak into his godfather’s Abuja house in his official convoy and allegedly whisked Bello away, the world was aghast. Rather than provoke laughter, the circus induced hot streams of tears. The EFCC has since declared the former governor wanted.

In the Kogi melodrama, you will find jutting out same 

labalaba story. It describes the politics of meaning and how that Weber definition of the modern state has suffered some shifts. With the helplessness that the EFCC showed in bringing Yahaya Bello to book, does the Nigerian state still possess the monopoly of violence? Where is the state? Where is the violence? What can explain an alleged felon outwitting the full complement of the arsenal of the state,? The only explanation I can readily find is in science. In human-animal relationship, (HAR) scientists found out that when you domesticate even a dreadful animal like the lion, a familiarity creeps in. Yahaya Bello must have fully understood this symbiosis between the political class and the anti-graft agency and was hell bent on exploiting it. So, he called on his lickspittle, Ododo, to come denigrate the power of violence of the Nigerian state. The EFCC looked on, helpless.

Now, a set of people who ex-Lagos Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, aptly described as high on cheap drugs, attempted to take over the Oyo State government last Saturday. It was another low layer in the confrontation against the Nigerian state. While Weber talked about the awesome omnipotence of the modern state, which Portable’s “after God, na government” statement corroborates, there is massive resistance against the state in Nigeria. It is almost useless in the lives of the people. It is perceived as aloof, unrepresentative, effete, distant and which only flexes its muscles against people at the lowest rung of the ladder. When it comes to exhibition of raw brunt, the Nigerian state is in a hyper mode.

Take for instance, the Gestapo-like arrest and detention for 14 days of FirstNews editor, Segun Olatunji. He was clamped in a dark-tunnel military detention reminiscent of Frank Omenka’s Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) during the Sani Abacha years. In a supposed democratic government! Omenka was Abacha’s Director of Military Intelligence who inflicted gruesome mental and physical torture on journalists and pro-democracy activists. Olatunji claimed his arrest was in connection with a story written by his medium on alleged shady deals in the Tinubu presidency. He also alleged that his detention was at the behest of Tinubu’s mis-chief of serfs. As we speak, the government of a Tinubu who came to the democratic platform due to his recognition as fighter for the rights of the people, has said nothing about Olatunji’s detention.

People tend to locate the silence from the Villa in that profound allegory of obligations put together by the Yoruba. You can liken it to what lawyers call the responsibilities of the delegatee, delegator and the obligor. Yoruba tell it as an allegory. There was once an assembly of some poisonous and powerful reptiles. The cobra – Oka – was cooking the broth for all to eat; the python (Ojola) was washing the dishes where the food would be served. When Scorpion, the Akeeke, was sent on an errand and he began to worry that he could be stung by a poisonous animal on the road, Yoruba wonder whether a shield greater than the python and cobra exists anywhere for the scorpion. (“Oka nda’na, Ere nfo awo; won ni ki akeeke lo ra nkan wa l’oja, o ni kinikan a ta ohun”). Who dare lights a lamp to look the face of a leopard? In law, it is represented as three parties who are concerned with an act. The three of them form a whole. It can be likened to the impression out here that, in this Omenka-lization of the Nigerian presidency, the mis-chief of serfs apparently has the full backing of the lord of the Villa.

Postscript: Last week, a close ally of Olabode George called to make representations on my piece, The Lagos Boy’s coastal highway. He stated as follows: George was Military Governor of Ondo State for four years and not the two years I stated. Yes, an African Concord magazine report accused his regime of presenting refurbished canoes as new but it was part of a gang-up against George by those who couldn’t stand him. MKO Abiola’s personal intervention halted actions George was prepared to take against the magazine. The slap story between Mrs. George and the then Ondo State Permanent Secretary never took place. It was part of undying concoctions to disparage the Georges. Mrs. Feyi George was an urbane character, from a very respected family, who helped the cause of women as First Lady. She was responsible for bringing women into the military cabinet of Bode George. She was far from being the arrogant and garrulous character painted in recordings of her time as Ondo’s First Lady, said the George ally.

Tolu: The Nigerian who won a game of greed

When a few Nigerians bring disrepute the way of Nigeria abroad, some others uplift it. Tolu, daughter of Grace and Gbenga Ekundare, is in the latter category. Born in 1996, Tolu is an American celebrity in the entertainment industry accorded for her brain and passion. She was one of the cast of Netflix’s The Trust: A game of greed. In this game, total strangers to one another are handed $250k to divide among themselves. Miss Ekundare, Houston-based model and marketing manager, whose father hails from Ilesa in Osun State, strategized in that reality competition to take out the first player. While doing this, she exhibited the consistency that is the hallmark of a Nigerian and left the show as one of the five winners, going home with the sum of $73,600 as winner of the second-largest prize out of the group.

When the Nigerian Channels television interviewed Ekundare a few months back, she evidenced a spirit that borders cannot limit. The reality show didn’t go without her encountering that undying ghost of race in America. She confronted a huge pall of tokenization and racism which every Black person doing the exemplary encounters in America. A memorable scene in the show exemplifies what she went through. It was a tear-provoking conversation between Jake and Ekundare. Perhaps egged on by the Osomaalo spirit of industry and resistance that is said to be genetically woven into the constitution of every Ijesa, she did not hide how uncomfortable she was at being typecast as the “African queen sister” of the house.

“I think I did amazing, especially considering how even with the whole house gone, I clawed my way out of the corner,” Ekundare told a magazine, Vulture. “I think my gameplay was on point. It was just who I was aligned with that was the issue.” Asked about the financials of the win, Ekundare said, “I can’t speak for everyone else, but the premise was so crystal clear to me, Winnie, and Julie. Mind you, $250,000 … if it was one person, that’s life-changing amounts of money. But divided by 11, pre-tax, we are at $22,000 [each], and then Uncle Sam is going to take his cut. I can’t even buy me a little Toyota Corolla with that.”

Congratulations to Tolu, daughter of my childhood friend, Gbenga, with whom, in the company of our late friend, Adeyoju Peter Aiku, I walked the length and breadth of Ilesa, Osun State in the late 1980s and 1990s.

The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men ~ Joel 1:12.

Introduction

Real life experiences show that one’s attitude to life is  paramount to his/her accomplishments on earth. This is so because the way we think will, by and large, determine the way we perform.

Your attitude defines your general outlook: how you see things around you, how you feel about what you experience, how you deal with the situations you face, and what you think about life in general.

A positive attitude of gratitude, thankfulness, optimism and joy in the Holy Ghost works like a magnet in attracting supernatural help to you, and positioning you to experience the wholeness you are frantically looking for, regardless of the situation you presently find yourself.

I am aware that you may not always be able to instantly control all the issues around you, but you can receive grace to control your attitude while they last and give thanks to God in everything.

What Is Gratitude?

From the perspective of men’s mental health, a popular  magazine, “MensLine Australia”, recently made the following basic observations on this subject, saying:

“Gratitude is pausing to notice and appreciate the things that we often take for granted, like having a place to live, food, clean water, friends and family. It's taking a moment to reflect on how fortunate we are. Being grateful for all that we have in life is one of the keys to true happiness”.

Gratitude is an attitude in acknowledgement of a benefit that you have received from God, or hope to receive by faith. It is a deliberate and sincere appreciation for the blessings or help we have received or will receive from the Lord.

No doubt, the El-Shaddai God is the Selfless Giver of all good things, and our gratitude is an acknowledgement of this divine generosity (James 1:17). A clear understanding of this should shape our thoughts and actions at all times.

Gratitude is a basic Christian attitude and an essential part of true worship. It is at the heart of the gospel; Christians are therefore strongly encouraged to constantly express gratitude to God as their Creator and Redeemer.

We must acknowledge Him for Who He is, and for all He does for us, especially in Christ Jesus. You cannot truly or spiritually worship the God, whose peculiar goodness or matchless assistance you don’t acknowledge to start with.

Gratitude is a powerful force that opens the door to God’s greater blessings of grace, favour and supernatural empowerment. It should be a part of our everyday lives.

Constant gratitude also showcases real humility. When you walk with the spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving, you cannot walk with arrogance, self-conceit and egotism at the same time.

Understanding The Mystery of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is always good and highly commendable (Psalm 92:1). More so, giving thanks to God is the will of God for us in Christ Jesus (1Thessalonians 5:18).

Irrespective of our circumstances, class or social standing, we must recognize that God is pleased to demand of us to give Him thanks in all situations. “In everything give thanks” is a clear command from God, not a piece of advice or a suggestion.

Please understand that God has no special relish for praise singing, neither does He savour, enjoy or take undue pleasure in the praises of men. But, being our Creator, He certainly knows best what is crucial to our total wellbeing (Proverbs 17:22).

He knows that the grateful heart is akin to godliness. The command to be grateful and thankful to God is like His command for us to be holy, godly, spiritual and genuine in our walk with Him, to activate His supernatural provisions in our lives.

You can never give thanks to God in error, and your thanksgiving can never be too much. Gratitude supernaturally takes you into higher altitude, and establishes you in supernatural platitudes in life. The more you give thanks to God, the more of His glory you access and the better your destiny becomes.

We Must Embrace a Lifestyle of Constant Gratitude

As mentioned earlier, we are unequivocally and expressly commanded to “give thanks unto the Lord” (1Chronicles 16:34). Why? The command came with the answer: “for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever”!

No matter what may be happening in the world around you, you can always find something good to thank God for. Please, search out and think deeply about that (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

Moreover, constant gratitude proves your faith in God. Not only should you thank Him for what He has done in the past, including the gift of eternal life, you should also thank Him for what He will do in the future. And, it’s that kind of faith that pleases God.

Again, the attribute of gratitude makes whole. The ten lepers were cleansed by Jesus, but it was the only one that returned with thanksgiving that was made whole (Luke 17:11-19). Obedience may attract the power of God, but it’s our grateful hearts that attract wholesome interventions.

Whatever we duly thank God for is what He protects, prospers and multiplies. Jesus gave thanks for seven loaves of bread and small pieces of fish. Thereafter, He comfortably fed a great multitude of hungry people, and they still had several baskets full of leftovers (Mark 8:1-9).

He also gave thanks for His privileged access and powers with God in prayers, and none of His prayers ever lacked potent answers (John 11:41-42).

Yes indeed, God vigorously intervenes in the affairs of those who demonstrate the attribute of gratitude: “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Psalms 22:3).

Friends, as you choose the attitude of constant gratitude, you’ll experience His mercy and loving-kindness in greater ways. You’ll also be filled with His peace, joy and such other benefits of abundant life He has prepared for you!

Please always keep in mind that ingratitude comes with immense dangers. It is the reason behind the sorrow and dryness of many people. Everything around them is dried up, having been cut off from the Source (Joel 1:12).

Most times, God wants to step into our situations, but it is our attitudes of gratitude and thanksgiving that will create that necessary atmosphere for His intervention. Besides, whatever is done grudgingly attracts no return because it is totally unacceptable to God.

Be ever grateful and thankful, cheerfully. Don't wait any longer; start thanking God for His goodness and mercies, right now! Start praising the Lord with great joy in the Holy Ghost.

Soon and very soon, the outstretched arms of the Almighty God will appear for you in all dimensions of your destiny. You won’t miss it, and you shall not fail, in Jesus Name. Amen. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

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