As a business coach, one of the things that we work on with our clients is not only helping them find and retain top talent, but also help them coach their team to help increase productivity and growth within the business.

And one of the ways that we do that is we help them learn how to distinguish their employees into two different categories of workers.

And while neither one is good or bad, it does affect the way that you interact with, train and retain those team members. So today I wanted to talk a little bit more about role players vs growth players and how you can use that knowledge on your own team.

Role Player

So how do you spot a role player? The way that you're going to spot a role player is through their behavior.

A role player's behavior is going to be one that when you give them new, ambiguous situations to try something to expand, they're clearly uncomfortable with it and they don't like it. They're resistant to it.

You ask a role player to take on a brand new function and they might say, oh, really? Sure? You can just see they don't want to. Oftentimes they'll say, "if you need me to, I'll do it, but I'd rather not."

You can also spot a role player by how they respond to feedback. A role player avoids it, is uncomfortable with it, might get defensive about it and pushes it away. They do not want the feedback or struggle with the concept.

Growth Player

Growth players however like to take on new and ambiguous situations, and they're very comfortable with being uncomfortable.

They want to stretch themselves and expand. Or even if they don't like the feeling of discomfort that comes from growing, they value it. They want the challenge.

When it comes to feedback, they are hungry for it. They search it out. They're omnivorous about it. They just want to use it to get better. They embrace it. They lean into it. They take it to heart and use it to improve and grow. They take ownership of it.

When you give a growth person feedback like:

"When you did the Sandhurst project, you really did not lay out the expectations in the proper way and as a result, they expected that we were going to be able to get them that proposal within 48 hours when you and I both know that it takes generally somewhere between 5 and 7 business days to do a really good proposal. So in the future, please make sure you set really good expectations with them." 

A growth player will say "You know what your are right. I'll do better in the future. Thank you for the input."

A role player says, "Yeah, but this – you didn't understand this and that" and they start defending against it, as opposed to taking ownership, embracing, leaning into it and using it to improve and get better.

Embracing the Differences

Now, does that mean that you should only seek out and hire growth players? Absolutely not, there are plenty of positions within your business that need the dependability and structure that a role player provides.

While some other positions require growth players. So once you are able to distinguish between the two and you understand the role at hand, you can plan accordingly.

Inc

Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, has criticised Nigerians who keep their freezers and air conditioners on when they are not home.

Adelabu, while addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said Nigerians lack the culture of power consumption management due to its affordability.

“The bitter truth we all need to tell ourselves as Nigerians. A few people are just privileged to sit on the high table. We’re on the same level, we must be able to tell the truth to ourselves,” he said.

“We don’t have the culture of consumption management in this country in terms of power, just of the cheapness of the tariff we pay for power.

“A lot of people will come back from work, they want to have dinner, or they want to see their colleagues down the road, they switch on the AC for the room to be cooling before they come back.

“Some people will be going to work in the morning, a freezer that you left on for days, they will still leave it on when all the items in the freezer are frozen and 5, 6, 8 hours of their absence will not make it to defreeze, they will still leave it to be consuming power just because we are not paying enough.

“We have all been overseas before; we know how conscious the power consumers are about electricity consumption.”

On Wednesday, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A classifications.

The regulator said customers who receive 20 hours of electricity supply daily will pay N225 per kilowatt (kW) from April 3.

The new rate is about triple the previous rate of N66 per kilowatt (kW).

The Cable

President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo, has alleged that the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, was behind the establishment of the ethnic militia group, Kungiya Zaman Lafiya.

Bodejo, who is facing terrorism charges, accused the governor of pressurising him to form the militia group.

The Miyetti Allah leader was arrested by operatives of the Defence Intelligence Agency on January 23, 2024, at the group’s office in the Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State for allegedly unveiling a militia group and has been in custody since then.

He was arraigned before Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja on three counts of terrorism on March 22, 2024.

Bodejo was specifically accused of establishing the Kungiya Zaman Lafiya ethnic militia in Nasarawa State without authorisation.

The offence was said to be punishable under Section 29 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

However, in his confessional statement exclusively obtained by Sunday PUNCH, Bodejo alleged that the Nasarawa State governor was behind the formation of the militia group.

He stated that he received a call from the governor earlier in the year expressing his desire to establish a vigilante group different from those of his counterparts.

Bodejo said, “I was arrested because of the vigilantes I paraded in Nasarawa State. Sometime in early January 2024, Governor Sule called me and said that he wanted me to see him concerning a Fulani group called Kungiya Zaman Lafiya, which I told him I didn’t know about. The governor said what he called me for was because all the governors had agreed to form vigilante groups in their states like Katsina State had done, but he did not want to organise his like other state governors.

“He said he wanted to use all those who participated in the political rally before the election. And he intended to link them with the Army and they would work for him as vigilantes. The governor asked if I could work with Akajo, the leader of the group and I told him that I couldn’t come down to work with Akajo because I am from the national level. Later, I called Akajo to meet me and we discussed how to operate the Kungiya Zaman Lafiya in the state. I told the Emir of Lafia that people complained about the group and I didn’t like them.

“However, I asked Akajo about the number of his men. He said there were about 700 men. I demanded for their ID cards which he showed me; the ID cards were authorised and signed by the CSO to the Nasarawa State governor. About two weeks later, Governor Sule called me to come with Akajo.”

Bodejo stated that he met with Akajo and Sule at the Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.

He said despite informing the governor of the negative narratives about Akajo’s group, he insisted that he (Bodejo) worked with him.

Bodejo said, “So, I left Bauchi and sent for Akajo to meet me at the Governor’s Lodge. When I got to the lodge, I met Akajo with the governor. The governor enquired what was happening between Akajo and I. I told him that Akajo and his group were spoiling the good name of the governor by causing crises, stealing cattle, and killing people.

“They went and cleared the Toto LGA problem. When they got there, they gathered Fulani and harassed them. The Fulani ran away, leaving the cattle. Akajo and his group gathered the cattle and sold them. The governor insisted that I should work with him.”

The Miyetti Allah leader claimed that other people from the Nasarawa, Obi, and Kyana local government areas of the state who were meant to join Akajo’s group pulled out because Akajo failed to give them their share of the fund released by the governor.

He said, “I told the governor that I requested for the group’s list from Akajo so that I could join it with my people to make up the 2,000 and that he had not given me. The governor said we should have a meeting in Lafia. During the meeting, I told the Ardos what the governor wanted to do with the Kuniya Zaman Lafiya and they bought the idea. During the meeting, one member of the Kunya Zaman Lafiya complained that they were not benefiting from anything. I immediately called the governor to inform him.

“The governor affirmed that all funds were released to Akajo for the group, so it was Akajo who failed to settle them. On this revelation, the people were angered and the people from Nasarawa, Obi, and Kyana LGAs said they could not join Akajo’s group. The governor instructed that I should make do with the existing 700 members of the Akajo group and if possible I should make it up to 1,000.”

Bodejo added that after the meeting, he met with one of his friends, Captain Ahmed Chiroma (retd.), who advised him to make the establishment of the group legal.

According to him, Chiroma made a write-up, which they both presented to the governor.

Bodejo claimed that when the governor was presented with the write-up, he rejected it.

He said, “After the meeting, I met one of my friends, Captain Ahmed Chiroma (retd.), who is the deputy secretary of the Presidential Think Tank and explained everything to him. Captain advised that I make it legal; he said he would put a write-up for the governor, which he did, and the two of us went to present it to the governor. I don’t know what he wrote but after the governor read the paper, he said no that he wanted to run the state the way he wanted.”

Bodejo said the governor then instructed him to meet with the Secretary to the State Government to discuss the cost of procuring kits for 1,000 members of the group.

The Miyetti Allah leader said Chiroma advised him to be careful as the establishment of the group was illegal.

He added, “The governor said I should meet the SSG and tell him the cost of procuring 1,000 uniforms and kits. Chiroma advised me to be careful with the governor because what he was doing was illegal. That is number one; the governor can’t just carry one tribe of Fulani as vigilantes, and secondly, he can’t carry one as security. He did not build schools for them, just this security vigilante group.”

Bodejo said the governor called him the following day to inquire about the arrangements put in place for the establishment of the group, adding he pleaded with Sule to give him two weeks.

Not knowing what to do, Bodejo said he contacted Chiroma who advised him to establish a nomad vigilante group and register it with the Corporate Affairs Commission.

He stated, “The following day, I was on my way to Bauchi and the governor called me. So I stopped to see him in Lafia and he inquired about the arrangements. I told him to give us two weeks. I informed Akajo and sent a text message to Captain Chiroma, who agreed that we should meet in Bauchi. While in Bauchi, Chiroma advised that I should inform the governor that we would not use the Kungiya Zaman Lafiya, rather we would use Miyetti Allah and register it as a nomadic vigilante group.

“The governor said he had released funds for the uniform that I should contact the SSG, and when I contacted him (SSG), he directed me to the state Deputy Commissioner of Police. He gave me N14,500,000, but I learned that the governor gave N15,000,000. I informed Captain Chiroma about the money and he advised that we should quickly register the nomadic vigilante group with the CAC to give us cover. We registered the group and were issued a certificate.”

Bodejo stated that after registering the group, he got the uniforms and presented them to the governor.

The Miyetti Allah leader said the governor was very angry and asked him to put Kungiya Zaman Lafiya on the badges of the uniforms.

He said, “We sewed the uniforms and put badges that showed the Nomadic Vigilante Group of Nigeria. When we took the sample to the governor, he asked us who told us that what he wanted was Kungiya Zaman Lafiya. He said I should remove the badges of the Nomadic Vigilante Group from the uniform and put Kungiya Zaman Lafiya. The governor was very angry with me and I left.”

He alleged that the governor directed him to come with the Commissioner of Police and Director of the Department of State Services to his office.

Although he noted that the meeting ended before he got to the governor’s office, Bodejo said Sule directed him to parade the group on January 17, 2024.

He added, “On January 12, 2024, the governor called me and I told him I was in Bauchi. He said I should come with the state Commissioner of Police and the Director of the DSS. However, before I could arrive from Bauchi, they had finished the meeting. I met the governor after the Jummat prayer and he said I should meet him in his office. He said he had directed that we should parade the Kungiya Zaman Lafiya with the uniform on January 17, 2024. He told me that he met the Commissioner of Police and the DSS Director.”

Bodejo said he met with the CP who was in support of the governor’s directive, but the DSS director advised him to apply wisdom.

He said, “I met the Commissioner of Police and asked him if he supported the governor’s idea and he said yes. When I met the Director of DSS, he said we all knew that what the governor was doing was wrong but that he was the governor; that if I said I couldn’t do it, he might tag me as an enemy of the state and sponsoring bandits. He advised me that I should be wise about it.”

The Miyetti Allah leader said he was given N7.5m out of the N15m released by the governor to convey members of the group and to book the hall for the unveiling.

He said, “The Deputy Commissioner of Police gave me N7,500,000 out of the N15,000,000 released by the governor for the transportation of the group members to Lafia and payment for the hall in Lafia.”

Bodejo said on the day of the unveiling, the governor, his SSG, and other officials were absent.

He stated, “On January 17, 2024, we assembled all the members in the hall in Lafia. On getting to the venue, I did not see the governor and the SSG. I called the governor and he told me he was in Abuja because the judgment on his case would come up on January 18, 2024, at the Supreme Court and that I should continue. I asked about the SSG or any governor’s representative. He gave different excuses for their absence. Then I sensed trouble.”

He said after the exercise, he realised that the governor planned to remove him from the equation to have full control of the group to “perform nefarious activities against the Fulani.”

Bodejo said, “The governor directed that I should march the group to the office of the Commissioner of Police after the ceremony. I did exactly that. However, it dawned on me after the whole exercise that the governor’s agenda was to extricate me from the state so that he could have his way to use the group to his advantage.

“I know that I am the only person who can stop the group from performing some nefarious activities against the Fulani. So now that I am arrested, his purpose has been accomplished because he knows that I never liked the group before he tactically involved me and backed out during the launch.”

Gov’s aide reacts

When contacted, an aide to the governor denied Sule’s involvement in the establishment of the Kungiya Zaman Lafiya.

Speaking on the matter on Friday, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Affairs, Peter Ahemba, urged members of the public to disregard any rumour linking his principal with the establishment of the militia as there was no iota of truth in it.

He said, “The Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, has no hand in the establishment of the Nomad Vigilante Group of Nigeria.

“The governor cannot authorise such an establishment when it has not been backed by the laws of the land.

“Governor Sule, being a man who believes in the rule of law, could not have just authorised or encouraged anyone to operate an illegal vigilante group.

“I am urging members of the public to disregard such misinformation and rumour because there is no truth in it. So, nobody or group of persons should drag him into a matter that he knows nothing about.”

Punch

At least six soldiers have lost their lives in an ambush along Biu-Buni Yadi road, Borno state.

The soldiers died exactly a week after the military personnel who were murdered while on a peace mission in Delta State were laid to rest at National Military Cemetery in Abuja.

Boko Haram insurgent ambushed the soldiers at Kamuya, a village close to Buratai, home town of former Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai.

A security source said the soldiers paid a supreme price on their way to Damaturu to buy fuel.

“It’s very sad; they were soldiers of 135 Special Force BN FOB in Buratai. They were ambushed on their way to Damaturu, Yobe state, to buy fuel.”

“Unfortunately, we lost an officer, a driver, gunner and four other escorts, while the wounded are in the hospital responding to treatment,” he said.

A local source, who escaped the incident by the whiskers, said while on his way to the neighboring Yadi town, hometown of Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, he ran into the scene.

“I can’t describe the kind of gun battle that ensued, the insurgents who were in large number overwhelmed the soldiers. It’s by God grace that I survived,” he said.

Daily Trust

ISREALI REPORTS

IDF: Targeted operations on terrorist infrastructure, discovering weapons and eliminating terrorists; Activity of the Givati ​​Brigade combat team in the Al-Amal area in Khan Yunis.

The Givati ​​Brigade combat team has been operating in the Al-Amal area in Khan Yunis. The soldiers operated on and destroyed terrorist infrastructure where they located and destroyed a weapons storage facility, more than 40 explosive devices and a ton of explosive materials.

Givati ​​Brigade soldiers encounter many terrorists in close quarters encounters; In one of the incidents, the soldiers identified four terrorists, who were eliminated.

Attached is related footage: https://bit.ly/3J6iQBz

Attached are photos of the soldiers operating: https://IDFANC.activetrail.biz/ANC0404242

Attached are photos of weapons discovered by the soldiers: https://IDFANC.activetrail.biz/ANC0404241

** Joint IDF and ISA announcement:

The IDF and ISA eliminated a senior terrorist operative of Hamas' Internal Security who promoted significant terror activities in the Gaza Strip and planned terror attacks in Israeli territory.

This week (Wednesday) in southern Gaza, based on IDF and ISA precise intelligence, IAF fighter jets struck and eliminated Akram Abd Al-Rahman Husein Salamah, a senior terrorist operative of Hamas' Internal Security.

Akram held several key positions in the terrorist organization, including Deputy Head of the Khan Yunis District.

Akram was responsible for planning and executing significant terror attacks in Israeli territory, as well as directing terror activities in the Gaza Strip designated to damage IDF counterterrorism activities.

Attached is the profile of Akram Abd Al-Rahman Husein Salamah, a senior terrorist operative of Hamas' Internal Security: https://idfanc.activetrail.biz/ANC06042024842908420894

** Joint IDF and ISA announcement:

The body of the abductee Elad Katzir, who according to intelligence was murdered in captivity by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, was rescued overnight from Khan Yunis and returned to Israeli territory. His body was located based on precise IDF and ISA intelligence, and an accurate identification of IDF ground troops.

Following an identification procedure carried out overnight by medical officials at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, IDF and ISA representatives informed Elad Katzir's family that his body had been rescued.

The IDF and ISA express their deepest condolences to the family.

During the October 7th massacre, Elad Katzir was abducted by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization from Kibbutz Nir Oz. His mother, Hanna, was also abducted by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization and released on November 24 as part of the agreement for the release of abductees, and his father, Avraham, was murdered in the kibbutz.

Our mission is to locate and return the abductees home. The IDF and the ISA are working in full coordination with the relevant national and security bodies and will continue until the task is complete.

** IDF: Overnight, five launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into the area of Shtula in northern Israel. Additionally, numerous launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into numerous areas in northern Israel over the past few hours. No injuries were reported. IDF soldiers struck the source of the launches.

Throughout the day, IDF fighter jets struck a number of Hezbollah terror infrastructures in the areas of Ayta ash Shab, Arnoun, and Tayr Harfa in southern Lebanon. Additionally, IDF artillery fired in order to remove threats in the areas of Aalma El Chaeb and Souaneh in southern Lebanon overnight.

Attached is a video of the strikes: https://bit.ly/49tK5k6

** IDF: 3 terror tunnels destroyed in the area of the Khan Yunis Brigade: the IDF continues to destroy the underground infrastructure in the Gaza Strip

Since the beginning of the "Swords of Iron" war, the IDF has been operating against the underground infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. In recent months, IDF soldiers led by the 98th Division and the Yahalom Unit have been operating to locate, map and destroy the tunnels of Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade. During the activity, 3 offensive terror tunnels, that were under intelligence and technological surveillance by the IDF over recent years, were located. Following preliminary ground activity they were mapped and destroyed. The operation was carried out by the Southern Command's Engineering Array, the Gaza Division, the 98th Division and the Yahalom Unit.

One of the tunnels was uncovered about a decade ago, and in 2021 during the "Guardian of the Walls" operation it was struck from the air, resulting in the elimination of several Hamas terrorists. At the beginning of the current war it was struck at several points to prevent offensive activity, and over the last weeks it was destroyed by engineering forces.

Another tunnel was uncovered in 2014 as a terror tunnel crossing into Israeli territory and was destroyed. The Hamas terrorist organization did not restore the tunnel since then, and in recent weeks another section of the tunnel deep inside the Gaza Strip, was destroyed.

The third tunnel that was destroyed in the last few weeks, was uncovered in 2019, before the construction of the underground barrier, when one branch of the tunnel crossed a few hundred meters into Israeli territory. It has since been under full operational and intelligence control by the IDF. In this branch of the tunnel, IDF soldiers placed traps and sensors for the IDF to use if needed, as part of the IDF's activity against the Hamas terrorist organization’s underground network of tunnels. Since the beginning of the war, the tunnel has been struck numerous times, along with several other actions that neutralized the branch of the tunnel that crossed into Israeli territory. The tunnel was not utilized for the brutal massacre of October 7th and has been controlled with surveillance and fire throughout the war.

The IDF will continue to work to destroy all the tunnels in the Gaza Strip and destroy the capabilities of all the terrorist organizations, with Hamas at their head, to harm the civilians of the State of Israel.

Attached is footage of the destruction of the tunnels: https://bit.ly/4aFZA9N

** IDF: A short while ago, a surface-to-air missile was launched toward an IAF UAV operating in Lebanese airspace. As a result, the UAV was hit and fell in Lebanese territory. The incident is under review.

HAMAS’ REPORTS

Israeli special forces surround a house in Balata Camp in Nablus in the West Bank

Armed clashes in the Hashshashin neighborhood inside Balata camp.

** Al-Quds Brigades:

After our Mujahideen returned from the fighting nodes east of Deir al-Balah, they confirmed the detonation of a Zionist Merkava 4 tank with a “piercing-barrel” device.

** The Qassam Mujahideen were able to target 3 Zionist Merkvah tanks with “Al-Yassin 105” shells, and as soon as the rescue forces advanced to the place and reached the middle of a pre-prepared minefield, they were targeted by detonating 3 anti-personnel devices. Our Mujahideen confirmed that 6 Zionist soldiers were killed and turned into pieces, and a number of others were killed and wounded. The event is still ongoing in the Al-Zana area, east of the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

** After their return from the battle lines, our Mujahideen confirmed that they had targeted a Zionist “Merkvah” tank with an “Al-Yassin 105” missile, and that a Zionist foot force was targeted with an anti-personnel device, killing and wounding its members, and that helicopters had landed to evacuate them in the Al-Amal neighborhood area in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

** After their return from the battle lines, our mujahideen confirmed the destruction of a Zionist “Merkvah” tank with a guerrilla action device in the Al-Amal neighborhood, west of the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

** Hamas leader, Osama Hamdan:

We have presented criteria for the prisoners to be liberated, but we have not negotiated the names yet

The Israeli occupation intentionally bombed the vehicles of the Central Kitchen organization with the aim of intimidating relief workers

- There is an agreement between “Israel” and the American administration regarding the liquidation of the Palestinian issue, and the disagreement is only in the means

We will support any government whose reference is the Palestinian factions, regardless of our participation in it.

** Additional planes landed to transport the bodies and wounded of occupation soldiers in Khan Yunis ambushes

Today is the day of the epic, there is no mercy or mercy for the soldiers.

** Gaza swamp!!!

14 killed in Khan Yunis, 10 in Al-Maghazi, 9 in Al-Shuja’iyya, 5 in Beit Hanoun, 7 in Al-Wusta, 4 in Al-Zaytoun, 6 in Jabalia, and a tank was destroyed here and a bulldozer there, wow.

This is the true meaning of the war of attrition.

This is what they call the Gaza quagmire....

** Hezbollah: The armed drone belonging to the occupation army that was shot down by the resistance Mujahideen is a “Hormuz 900”.

IDF/Hamas Brigade al-Qassam

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine's Zelenskiy warns of dwindling air defence missiles

Ukraine could run out of air defence missiles if Russia keeps up its intense long-range bombing campaign, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned in remarks aired on Saturday.

The Ukrainian leader's starkest warning to date of the deteriorating situation faced by his country's air defences follows weeks of Russian strikes on the energy system, towns and cities using a broad arsenal of missiles and drones.

"If they keep hitting (Ukraine) every day the way they have for the last month, we might run out of missiles, and the partners know it," he said in an interview that aired on Ukrainian television.

Zelenskiy, who has been appealing to allies for weeks to rush in more air defences, said that Ukraine had enough stockpiles to cope for the moment, but that it was already having to make difficult choices about what to protect.

He singled out in particular the need for Patriot air defence systems and said Ukraine needed 25 of them.

The sophisticated U.S. air defence system has been vital during Russian attacks with ballistic and hypersonic missiles which can hit targets within a matter of minutes.

His remarks followed a fresh spate of attacks that Ukrainian officials said killed civilians.

Two Russian missile and drone strikes, one in the early hours of Saturday and a second in the afternoon, killed eight people and wounded at least 10 more people in northeastern Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city.

In the eastern region of Donetsk, artillery shelling killed four people in the village of Kurakhivka including a 38-year-old woman and her 16-year-old daughter, and a 25-year-old man in the village of Krasnohorivka was killed, while in Odesa in the south, a missile strike killed one civilian.

Ukraine's largest private power company DTEK says the strikes had hit 80% of its generating capacity and the grid has introduced rolling blackouts to stabilise the system.

'WE WILL AGREE TO ANY OPTIONS'

The battlefield momentum has moved against Ukraine in recent months as Kyiv grappled with a slowdown in military assistance from the West and in particular from the United States.

"The situation is difficult, but nevertheless stabilized. The enemy does not advance: when it takes steps forward, ours repel (them), and it retreats. On the contrary, our guys are taking some steps forward," he said.

Zelenskiy said he still believed that a major aid package would be approved by Congress where it has been stuck in deliberations since late last year facing determined Republican opposition.

"I still believe that we can get a positive vote in the United States Congress," he said.

Asked by the interviewer about the possibility of Ukraine receiving the package in the form of a loan, he said: "We will agree to any options."

He added that some artillery shells were being supplied to Ukraine under foreign initiatives that he did not name and that they were being used for defensive operations.

"We don't have shells for counteroffensive actions, as for the defence - there are several initiatives, and we're receiving weapons," he said.

The interview was recorded next to a military fortification in northeastern Chernihiv region, which borders Russia.

It was not clear exactly which day the interview was recorded, but Zelenskiy met with a bipartisan group of members of Congress in the region on Friday.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian Armed Forces occupy more advantageous positions in Donetsk direction

Units of the Southern Group of the Russian Armed Forces occupied more advantageous positions in the Donetsk direction. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, two counterattacks by the mountain assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were repelled during the day.

Here are the details of this and other combat actions that happened over the past week, according to the bulletin.

Donetsk area

"Units of the Southern Group of Forces occupied more advantageous positions in the Donetsk direction and inflicted fire on formations of the 5th assault, 79th air assault, 81st airmobile, 24th, 28th, 53rd mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas settlements of Antonovka, Krasnogorovka, Krasnoe, and Novoe in the Donetsk People's Republic and Belogorovka in the Lugansk People's Republic," the statement said.

At the same time, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine per day in the Donetsk direction amounted to over 470 military personnel, the Ministry said. "The Armed Forces of Ukraine lost over 470 military personnel, 2 armored combat vehicles, 8 cars, a 155-mm M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery mount, a US-made 155-mm M777 howitzer, 4 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mounts, a 100-mm Rapier anti-tank gun, as well as a field ammunition depot," the ministry said.

South Donetsk area

"Units of the Vostok group of troops improved the situation along the front line in the South Donetsk direction and defeated the manpower and equipment of the 72nd motorized infantry, 58th mechanized brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the 128th terrestrial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Urozhaynoye and Staromayorskoye of the Donetsk People’s Republic," the ministry said.

Avdeyevka area

"The enemy lost more than 280 military personnel, 3 tanks, 2 armored combat vehicles and 6 vehicles," the ministry said.

Units of the Center Group of the Russian Armed Forces improved their tactical position in the Avdeyevka direction and repelled 12 counterattacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ministry noted.

"In the Avdeyevka direction, units of the Center group of troops through active actions improved the tactical situation and repelled 12 counterattacks by assault groups of the 25th Airborne, 68th, 71st Infantry, 24th, 47th, 115th Mechanized Brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of the settlements of Novogorodskoye, Novokalinovo, Pervomaiskoye, and Berdychi of the Donetsk People's Republic," the ministry said.

Zaporozhye region and Kherson area

Units of the Dnepr group of forces inflicted fire damage on the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Rabotina district in the Zaporozhye region and the Ivanovka district in the Kherson region.

"In the Kherson direction, units of the Dnepr group of forces inflicted fire on the formations of the 65th mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the 35th Marine Brigade in the areas of the settlements of Rabotino, Zaporozhye region and Ivanovka, Kherson region. The enemy lost up to 35 military personnel, 7 vehicles, French-made 155-mm Caesar self-propelled artillery mount, a US-made 155-mm M777 howitzer, and two 122-mm D-30 howitzers," the ministry said.

Kharkov area

The Russian military destroyed two launchers of the French-Italian SAMP-T anti-aircraft missile system in the Kharkov area.

"Operational-tactical aviation, missile forces and artillery of groupings of troops of the Russian Armed Forces in the area of the city of Kharkov destroyed two launchers of French-Italian SAMP-T anti-aircraft missile system and also defeated the personnel and military equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 133 areas," the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

"In the Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces inflicted fire on the personnel and equipment of the 57th motorized infantry brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the 103rd military defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Sinkovka and Berestovoe, Kharkov region. The losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces amounted to up to 35 military personnel, a tank, two cars, 122-mm self-propelled artillery mount Gvozdika, as well as a US counter-battery radar station AN/TPQ-50," the ministry said.

Air Force and air defenses

"Air defense systems shot down 205 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, a Hammer guided aerial bomb made in France, as well as 6 HIMARS and Uragan missiles," the ministry said in a statement.

At the same time, the Russian military carried out a group strike at night on enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine, military airfields, and temporary deployment points for mercenaries - the objectives of the strike were achieved.

"Tonight, the Russian Armed Forces launched a group strike with high-precision long-range sea-and air-based weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles on enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine that produced and repaired armored and automotive equipment, UAVs, military airfields, and temporary deployment points of foreign mercenaries. The objectives of the strike were achieved. All designated targets were hit," according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Reuters/Tass

President Bola Tinubu is so inordinately inebriated by his IMF-motivated decision to remove subsidies on petrol that at every opportunity he has he brags about it in giddily superlative terms.

For example, during a meeting with the Nigerian community in France on June 24, 2023, he couched his decision to impose the Tinubu fuel tax (to borrow from his 2012 characterization of Goodluck Jonathan’s subsidy removal) on Nigerians in epiphanic, providential, and inspirational terms.

He told Nigerians in France that during his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, he was suddenly overcome by a mysterious force of unusual courage, which propelled him to veer off his prepared speech to announce the removal of fuel subsidies. “When I got to the podium, I was possessed with courage, and I said, ‘subsidy is gone!’” he said with a smug glow of perverse, meanspirited self-satisfaction.

Again on November 22, 2023, Tinubu boasted to investors at the 10th German-Nigerian Business Forum that his courage to remove petrol subsidies and visit unheard-of economic violence on poor, luckless Nigerians was a gargantuan feat of derring-do worthy of acknowledgement in the Guinness World Records.

“Nigeria voted for me for reforms, and from day one of my inauguration, I started the reforms,” he said. “To me, if you didn’t mention me in the Guinness Book of Records, I’d strive to find a way to insert myself because I did it without expectation.”

Well, the IMF, whose approval he desperately seeks and on whose behalf he is harming Nigerians, has approbated his policies, which should be more important to him than an entry in the Guiness World Records for sadistic governance.

“The new [Tinubu] administration has made a strong start, tackling deep-rooted structural issues in challenging circumstances,” the IMF said on February 14. “Immediately, it adopted two policy reforms that its predecessors had shied away from: fuel subsidy removal and the unification of the official exchange rates.”

The IMF then instructed that “electricity subsidies are costly, do not reach those that most need government support and should be phased out completely.”

On February 16, that is, exactly two days after this IMF directive,  Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu announced that the government would withdraw electricity subsidies. That’s precisely why the government has approved a more than 200 percent hike in electricity tariffs last week. As I’ve repeatedly said, the IMF is the de factor ruler of Nigeria. Tinubu and his henchmen are mere cushy neo-imperialist surrogates.

Well, I don’t know of any halfway rational human being in the world who will see courage in choosing to hurt the dispossessed who can’t fight back. There is no courage in trampling on the poor, the weak, and the defenseless.

There is no courage in kicking people who are already down, people who are down on their luck, and people who are down in the dumps as a consequence of being serial victims of a steady succession of cruel and self-serving governments who are servile errand boys of the racist sadists at the IMF.

There is no courage in oppressing the oppressed. That's cowardice. That’s callousness. It’s unrelieved maliciousness. And it’s not something to be proud of, not something to make a song and dance about. On the contrary, it’s something to be mortally ashamed of.

Real courage comes from standing up to bullies, which the World Bank and the IMF are, and from defending the defenseless against oppressors. Courage comes from shielding the weak from the untoward designs of the strong and the unjust. It comes from protecting the underdog from the unprovoked aggression of the top dog.

Since Tinubu came to power nearly a year ago, he has never implemented any policy that gives even an ounce of solace to the poor. Instead, like Muhammadu Buhari before him, he is a proud reverse Robin Hood who takes from the poor to enrich the already rich, with the recent IMF-directed astronomical increase in electricity tariffs—which makes electricity in Nigeria more expensive for “Band A” users than I pay in the United States—the latest example.

The only people who will benefit from the latest tariff hikes are Tinubu’s friends who own power generation and distribution companies. As a Tinubu-supporting friend pointed out to me on Friday, “This is a government of the elite, for the elite, and by the elite.”

In the United States where the IMF is headquartered, there are electricity subsidies for low-income households, yet it wants none for anybody in Nigeria. The primary federally funded electricity subsidy program here is called the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

LIHEAP provides eligible households with financial assistance for energy bills, emergency energy services to prevent disconnection, and low-cost home improvements, known as weatherization, to help make homes more energy efficient.

LIHEAP is funded by the federal government, but the program is administered at the state level, which means eligibility requirements and the form of assistance offered can vary from one state to another.

Generally, to qualify for LIHEAP, a household's income must fall below a certain threshold, which is typically set at a percentage of the federal poverty level or a percentage of the state's median income level.

In addition to LIHEAP, some states, utilities, and non-profit organizations offer additional assistance programs or subsidies to help low-income households with their energy needs. These programs may provide direct bill assistance, energy-efficient home improvements, or emergency aid for utility shutoff prevention.

Yet, the IMF has bludgeoned the Nigerian government into removing subsidies for electricity that isn’t even constant and reliable. And being the slavish lackeys that they are, they obeyed like dutiful, well-trained poodle dogs. Of course, it’s because it doesn’t hurt them, their immediate families, or their associates.

The IMF never tells Third Word leaders to increase the minimum wages of workers. Maybe that’s why Tinubu’s Guinness-World-Records-size courage is absent when it comes to approving a minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

The 30,000 naira minimum wage that the Muhammadu Buhari regime approved for workers expired in March. The Tinubu government had promised that a new minimum wage would start on April 1. That has turned out to be a cruel April Fools’ joke on Nigerians.

The last we heard of this issue is that the minimum wage committee would “reconvene mid-April to continue further negotiations and consultations on the new minimum wage expected to be announced by President Bola Tinubu on May 1, 2024.”

This is the same committee that requested 1.8 billion naira (which it later scaled back to 1 billion naira) just to sit in comfort and decide how much the least remunerated government worker will receive. “Start with N500 million first,” Tinubu wrote in a leaked memo.

As Shehu Sani quipped on Twitter, “The minimum wage committee… allocated the maximum wage for themselves.” What exactly does the 37-member committee—made up of governors who don’t pay the current 30,000-naira minimum wage even when money realized from petrol subsidy removal has tripled their monthly allocations— want to use a billion naira (later reduced to 500 million naira) to do?

There was no committee when petrol subsidies were removed. There was no committee for the removal of electricity subsidies, which will now ensure that Nigeria descends into total darkness. But when it comes time to increase the minimum wage of workers, an expensive committee is needed.

In other words, where the welfare of everyday folks is concerned, Tinubu loses his magisterial, self-affirming courage. He transforms from a lion to a chicken. His courage only emerges when he oppresses the poor and recedes when he is required to help the poor. May God save Nigerians from Tinubu’s courage.

In the 19th century and even before, Bobriskys were lynched like common criminals. Their sin was their considered unusual sexuality. Until then, homosexual activities were classified as "unnatural crime against nature" while sodomy got punished with, sometimes death. In comparison, Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju, famously known as Bobrisky, has suffered one of the mildest fates. Between 1877 and 1950, over 4,000 of such lynching occurred. As recent as April 2017, Kenne McFadden, a black transgender woman who didn’t have experience of swimming, got drowned when she was pushed into the San Antonio River in Texas on account of her “nauseating” sexuality. That much was said in 2020 by Emily Lenning, Sara 

Brightman and Carrie Buist in their “The Trifecta of Violence: A Socio‑Historical Comparison of Lynching and Violence Against Transgender Women.” Writing for Critical Criminology, they said five months after the McFadden case, specifically in September, 2017, Ally Lee Steinfeld, a white 17-year-old transgender teen, also got brutally murdered. Her cruel fate was brought about by three teenagers. She was stabbed in the genitals, her eyes gouged out, her body set alight and her remains dumped “in a chicken coop near a mobile home park in Missouri.”

Two months later, in the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, Sherrell Faulkner, a forty-five-year-old Black transgender woman, got cruelly beaten and then dumped behind a dumpster. Days after, the injuries she suffered led to her death in the hospital. Till today, Faulkner’s murderers have not been identified. The three cases, according to Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF) 2018, represented a tiny strand of at least 29 murders of transgenders that the United States recorded in 2017, ranked as the deadliest year for the Bobriskys in recent history. HRCF also reported that between 2013 and 2019, it tracked 157 cases of fatal anti-transgender incidents.

Perhaps this was what weird but hugely talented Nigerian singer, rapper and songwriter, Habeeb Okikiola, a.k.a. Portable, was referencing in Brotherhood, a short musical he did attacking Bobrisky recently? In the song, Portable condemned Bobrisky for morphing from “brotherhood to sisterhood.” While body-shaming the embattled cross-dresser as “a disgrace to brotherhood” and having ameoeba-shaped buttocks that looked like a clay pot worth only a pound – e wo idi e bi koko ponun kan – Portable asked that Bobrisky be stoned to death – “e le l’oko pa!”

Like Portable, from ancient times, the world has never hidden its hostility against people who profess sexual orientation different from its. Like, it says, can only be compared to likes – ohun t’o ba jo’hun l’a fi nwe’hun. The world even gave its anger towards homosexuality religious validation. Following this route, Italian priest, philosopher and theologian, Thomas Aquinas, condemned homosexuality as "unnatural." The biblical book of Leviticus 18: 22; 20:13 is often cited: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination," as well as Romans 1: 26 where biblical Paul hoisted up lesbianism for condemnation: "For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature."  

The Bobriskys come in various names and appellations. They are either bisexual, in which case, they are attracted to persons of both sexes; Butch, male and female who dress in stereotyped male ways; “In the closet,” because they do not disclose their gender identity; Femme, due to their acting and dressing in feminine ways; gays, for their attraction to persons of same sex and as LGBTQ, a sweeping categorization of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgenders and Questionings. Bobrisky is Nigeria’s own daughter of the historical Greek woman, Sappho, an Archaic Greek poet, who hailed from Eresos on the Island of Lesbos. Sappho was the first known woman "accused by some of being irregular in her ways and a woman-lover." She is venerated by lesbians as the foremother, the near mythical prototype of people with queer sexual cravings. Lesbianism, the community of same sex women, was forged from Lesbos, the name of the island Sappho lived. Bobrisky patterns her life towards Sappho and has become a controversial self-confessed transgender, LGBTQ personality and campaigner.

According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (2015, 47), the umbrella term used to describe the Bobriskys of this world, called transgender, refers to “… people whose gender identity and expression does not conform to the norms and expectations traditionally associated with their sex at birth. Transgender people include individuals who have received gender reassignment surgery, individuals who have received gender-related medical interventions other than surgery (e.g. hormone therapy) and individuals who identify as having no gender, multiple genders or alternative genders. Transgender individuals may self-identify as transgender, female, male, transwoman or transman, transsexual, hijra, kathoey, waria or one of many other transgender identities, and they may express their genders in a variety of masculine, feminine and/or androgynous ways.”

Homosexuality, cross-dressing or lesbianism is as old as humanity. The holy writs seem to abet the cruelty and violence that humanity has inflicted on these creations of God. While some antiquities tolerated their sexual fates, others visited their wraths on the offspring of Sappho. Well-known lesbian Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at San Diego State University, Christine Downing, in her Lesbian Mythology, suggests that lesbianism is a grueling life of isolation, confusion and terror. This was her conclusion while re-casting Roman poet, Publius Ovidius Naso’s myth. Naso, simply known as Ovid, had told a story which has almost become a global lesbian epistemology. Heroine of the story, Iphis, born female, desired to be male. Her mother had hidden her gender from her father, a poor Cretan peasant who badly wanted a male child. Iphis’ mother was in despair in her pregnancy until the goddess, Isis advised her to deceive her husband about the child’s gender.  At age 13, Iphis fell in love with the most beautiful girl on the island called lanthe. Raised as a male, there was confusion, making her mother to cry to the god, Isis. As Iphis and Ianthe walk home one day, Iphis’ features suddenly change to a man’s and "the boy Iphis gained his own Ianthe." Downing apparently retold this story to reduce the tension of horrific encounters of the children of Sappho.

Bobrisky leapt into the news again recently. He/she had been named winner in the ‘Best Dressed’ Female Category of popular Yoruba actress, during the premiere of Eniola Ajao’s Beast of Two Worlds, Ajakaju movie premiere. Scalding criticisms erupted on the social media. Bobrisky’s choice sparked uncomplimentary reactions. Not even Eniola’s immediate apologies on her social media handles and reversal of what she declared was a stunt gone sour were enough appeasements. A few days after, the EFCC arrested Bobrisky, charging her to court for mutilation of Nigeria’s currency totaling N490,000. He/she was immediately convicted, ranking it as one of the Concorde supersonic airliner -speed convictions ever given by the Nigerian judiciary. We hope the Nigerian judiciary and the EFCC will give the Kano State government-filed criminal charges against the immediate past governor and APC chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, same expeditious trial. Kano had resorted to try Ganduje over alleged $413,000, N1.38bn bribery during his governorship and has assembled 15 witnesses to testify against Ganduje.

In a country where mutilation of the national currency is an off-the-cuff weekend pastime of the elite and the political class in Nigeria, it was obvious that a deeply religious, conservative, African-centric animosity against unusual sexuality was fighting back. When stunned about how odd events fit into one another to form a mesmerizing wonder, Yoruba will say Ó jọ gáté, kò jọ gàté, ó fi ẹsẹ̀ méjèèjì tiro. It is similar to the case of a limping masquerade (atiro) who enters the “Igbale”, where masquerades remove their mask regalia –ago. If an agbada-clad, limping person now walks out of the Igbale immediately, it shouldn’t be difficult to situate who the atiro was. No one needed to be told that the masquerader, like the nightingale – the beautiful Awoko bird – had shed its quills. Such is the wonderment and clinical precision of Bobrisky’s lynching. A highly religious Nigeria was obviously taking vengeance for Bobrisky’s sexuality audacity.

Some scholars have said that, until about half a century ago, lesbianism or gay relationship was a nonexistent phenomenon in Africa. According to them, per adventure it even ever did exist, it was an aberration imported from the West. Anthropological researches have however proved that the existence of same-sex sexual practices predates the now in Africa into before, during, and after colonialism. The practice was however disparaged. Dobrota Pucherova said this much in her “What Is African Woman? Transgressive Sexuality in 21st-Century African Anglophone Lesbian Fiction as a Redefinition of African Feminism.” Africans saw lesbianism as an example of a woman’s corruption, moral depravity and even madness. Pucherova uses the Kenyan Rebeka Njau’s novel, Ripples in the Pool (1975) and Ghanaian Ama Ata Aidoo’s Our Sister Killjoy (1977) as affirmation of this thesis. In Njau’s novel, the protagonist, Selina, gets infatuated with her husband’s younger sister. She was cast as exhibiting “predatory sexual desire” toward the two siblings. The book consigns Selina’s behavior into the trash basket of egomania and a damaged personality. It also suggests that Selina makes use of witchcraft to control her victims. No wonder she ends up murdering the young girl and her male lover. Aidoo’s Our Sister Killjoy sees same-sex as less predatory. In it, a German housewife becomes obsessed with Sissie, the Ghanaian protagonist. Marija’s obsession is painted as a measure of moral degeneration reminiscent of post-Holocaust German society. All these and other African literature openly thematized lesbian desire, showing however that black women are victimized through patriarchal control of their sexuality. An example is Monica Arac de Nyeko’s short story, Jambula Tree, which is the first East African text to so do.

Last week was Easter, a sacred day in the annals of world Christianity. Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service’s (FIRS) communication agency would not allow the day go by without marketing its tax portfolio. So it put out the brilliant, catchy and arresting phrase “Jesus paid your debts, not your taxes.” This brilliance and mental ingenuity should earn any student of PR a Distinction. Not Nigeria’s churchpreneurs. They saw it as a reckless audacity operating on same dangerous Fahrenheit as Bobrisky’s. I haven’t heard the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) lament the danger in the current obnoxious hike in electricity tariff. That won’t make Bola Tinubu know that CAN is a combine of Christian principalities. On FIRS, CAN reached for its ancient pouch immediately. It brought out those archaic, boring refrains of “offensive” “derogatory” and “religious harmony.” I have been struggling to find a difference between CAN’s obvious intolerance and a similar one that happened in Kaduna in November, 2002. Twenty one year old Isioma Daniel, who worked for the Thisday, had written on a Miss World contest Nigeria was to host. She off-handedly and harmlessly suggested that Prophet Mohammed might have approved of the contest and probably wished to marry one of the beauty queens. Hell was let loose. The newspaper’s Kaduna office was burned down. Hundreds of people were reportedly killed. The ensuing riots lasted for several days, prompting the organizers of the Miss World contest to relocate it to London to protect further lives from being lost.

One thread links our Bobrisky demonization, CAN’s hypocritical anger and Islam’s pesky religiosity. It is called intolerance. I referred to the witch-hunting of same sex people as “our" because, if today, Bobrisky offers his/her hand to me for a handshake, I will shudder. I am almost too sure I will refuse it. My refusal will not be strictly me in action. Rather, it will be centuries of culture, religion and our collective aversion to change which have bored deep roots in me. These three hate change. Their mantra is, as it was in the beginning, so shall it be. Static as statue.

Take for instance our cultural and religious perception of child-bearing and polygamy. For centuries now, Africa venerated procreation almost to a point of deity. Whoever brings forth a child owns this world – “Olomo l’o l’aye” – our mothers proudly sang. In Africa, barren women were stigmatized because women were seen as procreation vehicles called motherhood. In the bible, Peninnah scorned Hannah’s barrenness. Our mothers, who, due to no fault of theirs, couldn’t bring forth children, were witches. In earlier centuries, some cultures abetted barren women being stoned to death by scorners. Today, the world has re-interrogated the whole corpus of child-bearing. Couples willingly decide they don’t want to be encumbered by it. Is it really true that Olomo l’o l’aye? Great men and women have traversed this world without bearing children. Their corpses were not fed to the swine. Nor are we told that child-bearing is a passport to the hereafter. We have had parents who gave birth to children but died miserably, due to their abandonment by their children.

Today, there is a huge traffic back to where we were before the advent of colonialism. Soon after Britain and its Middle East allies came with their Bible, Quran and guns, we abandoned our centuries-old medicine, dressing and culture. Now, Africans are going back to those same abandoned roots, apologies to Lucky Dube. One of such is polygamy. Last week, Bassirou Diomaye Faye was inaugurated as the fifth Senegalese President, flaunting his two wives – Marie Khone and Absa. I could see the west squeeze its face like excreta beaten by rain. The hypocritical west flushes monogamy and homosexuality down the throat of the world while abhorring our ancient practice of polygamy. Reproached in high places as Faye just did, monogamy and its icing of hypocrisy are getting perforated. The truth is that, the stringent rules of monogamy have destroyed more homes than they built.

We must interrogate every teaching and dogma of religion, culture and society and hold on to those that will assist us live quality lives. That is what existentialist philosophy teaches. Today, churchgoers are asking questions about the stupendous wealth of the Daddy G.Os and the poverty of the congregants. We must not be slaves to them, nor be their mannequins. While upholding values that will strengthen humanity, we must also show respect for otherness and recognize individual human rights. What is Jesus’ business with FIRS’ quest to bring more people into its tax net? Parodying Isioma, if Jesus were here today, He would recommend a national honour for the fellow whose brilliant idea birthed that FIRS line. Why drag Jesus and Mohammed into this needless pettiness? What should infuriate a sensible human being about Mohammed enjoying Miss World? Why should we be captives of dogmas? Why should we allow the bigotry of CAN and zealotry of Islamic fundamentalists drive our thinking? Religious charlatans and their naïve accomplices merely make their enemies the enemies of God. If CAN has been slumbering and needed to talk by all means, couldn’t it dig a hole like that old Yoruba fable of Alade’s friend, who couldn’t stomach the confided secret of Alade growing a horn on his head, who then dug a hole, inside which he shouted, “Alade has horn on his head!” –  Alade hu’wo? From that same hole grew a tree and whenever anyone brought a flute beside it, the rhythm sprouting off the flute was, “Alade hu’wo.”

Earlier, it was society’s view that people like Bobrisky were suffering from psychological disorder. Or that homosexuality was an abnormal condition. Science has since discovered that many atimes, the Bobriskys may be prisoners of their biology and psychology. Researches have shown that you do not choose to be gay, bisexual, or straight. And that homosexuality is a natural and normal sexual orientation, expressions of human sexuality. The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its radius in 1973, and with it the stigma of mental illness that had long been associated with the children of Sappho. Why do we demonize those who, like accidents of birth, have no say in the kind of sexuality they are imposed upon by nature?

Do I agree with Bobrisky’s open flaunt of his/her sexuality? No. I think one’s sexual orientation should be a private affair. I also advocate that children of Sappho deserve pity from society and should be clinically lured out of their natural affliction. I also think that, if dug deeper, Bobrisky’s untapped major infraction against the law may just be that she has turned her cross-dressing into commodity. EFCC should openly admit that it is acting the script of a vindictive, homosexual-hostile Nigerian society in lynching Bobrisky. Singling him/her to face the wrath of the law is akin to the lynching treatment given homosexuals in the early centuries. Currency mutilation is a fad which very few Nigerians are not guilty of as charged, from Bola Tinubu, to the lowest Nigerian. An orgy of celebration on the social media has since followed Bobrisky’s lynching by the law. It reminds me of a hunter who proudly hoists the decapitated head of a buffalo as symbol of his masculinity.

Ondo’s pigeon and dove certificate war

When it was time to play denigrating politics, SLA Akintola, Premier of the Western Region, was not one to shy away from it. The Ondo Province of the Region once came under his lacerating tongue. When it was time to take a swipe at the likes of renowned economist, Sam Aluko, who hailed from Ekiti part of the Province, Akintola had the right innuendo to singe his flesh. The Province was busy producing all manner of birds, in the name of academics, said the Premier; the likes of Aluko, Atiala and Atioro. The three were names of birds in Yorubaland and the economist’s name was similar to one of them. While Aluko bird was the carinal, the Atiala and Atioro were allied hornbill birds. Akintola was deliberately spinning innuendoes.

It goes without saying that the Province, which had Ondo as a major component, was home to intellectuals. Though arguments abound as to which, between current Ekiti and Ondo states, produces the highest harvest of professors and academics, the fact remains that certificates are ten a dime on the streets of both states. So when the possession or non-possession of certificates became the issue in the current race to Alagbaka, seat of the government of Ondo State, it becomes both off-putting and a dispiriting game.

Jimoh Ibrahim, Senator representing Ondo South and one of those vying for the governorship election in the state in November, has been flaunting his nine certificates wherever he goes. Those who should know, know that, like Akintola, Ibrahim is embroiled in a game of innuendoes. What he is doing is reminiscent of an unspoken tango between two birds, the pigeon (Eyele) and the Dove (Adaba). While Adaba chants his incantations, the Eyele pretends that he couldn’t access them. Those who know the brilliance of the Pigeon however know it is mere pretence. Yoruba express this tango as “Àdàbà ńpa ògèdè bí ẹni pé ẹyẹlé ò gbọ́, ẹyẹlé gbọ́, tí tiri ló ńtiri.”

Goveernor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, is the ẹyẹlé to whom Ibrahim, the Àdàbà, is directing his incantations. This ẹyẹlé knows. Allegations are rife that Aiyedatiwa, who is also in the race, does not possess genuine certificates. Ibrahim’s advertisement of his suffusion of certificates is a direct innuendo on the certificate tango. Between Aiyedatiwa and Ibrahim’s certificates, or lack thereof, none should be qualification for Ondo governorship. While Ondo, which is reputed, a la SLA Akintola, as pinnacle of academic certificates, should not have a governor who forges his certificate, the state, hitherto administered by Michael Ajasin, the renowned Principal of famous Imade College; school principal, Adebayo Adefarati; Geologist, Olusegun Agagu and medical doctor, Olusegun Mimiko, shouldn’t relapse to such base level of being administered by a certificate forger. So, Aiyedatiwa’s certificates should be top on his qualification index. In the same vein, Ondo electors shouldn’t base their consideration of Ibrahim’s candidacy on merely his plethora of certificates. We have to look at his person and pedigree. Why have virtually all the businesses Ibrahim laid his hands on been dead, comatose or gasping for breath? Why is his name a serial occurrence on AMCON’s notorious list? Does this point at his spirit?

Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for He it is that shall tread down our enemies ~ Psalms 108:12-13.

Introduction

Man cannot do any piece of useful work, small or great, without energy. Energy is the ability required to get works done. The potential energy stored within us is what produces the outward kinetic energy we see in all our functional operations on earth.

However, times come in life when it appears as if all hope is gone, and the situations in which we find ourselves look so suddenly disappointing and egregiously discouraging. Naturally, such scenarios are energy-sapping, and can dangerously erode our inner strength and zest.

Albeit, at such times, we must still remember that God is always there for us, and that He really cares. When our hopes dim, and we feel as if nobody understands or empathizes with us, we must be encouraged that God is ever closer to us to assist us.

Never doubt it: to gain momentum in life, we need the higher force of divine help to propel us forward. Divine help confers special advantages on us to accentuate the volumes of our turnovers and the spate of our positive results. Certainly, divine help is a quintessential necessity for progress in life.

“Help” is any assistance or succour from a gracious benefactor that brings empowerment to comfort, uplift and generate dynamic catalysts in the pursuit of our life’s assignments. Meanwhile, most times, human help is characteristically limited in scope, reliability and durability. Indeed, vain is the help of man if God is not in it (Psalm 108:12-13).

We all need divine help to deliver excellently on earth. From biblical history and our contemporary times, everyone who received help gained momentum, made progress and did extraordinary things. None ever received divine help and remained on the same spot.

King Uzziah, a teenager king of Israel, sought God for help and became a global phenomenon with much prosperity and scientific warfare prowess because God helped him (2 Chronicles 26:15). Apostle Paul also revealed that the secret of his outstanding ministry was in the help he obtained from God (Acts 26:22).

No matter your present status in life, divine help will grant you more victories, successes, triumphs and extraordinary accomplishments. Happily, God has promised, and He’s ever eager to help us (Isaiah 41: 10-20).

Harnessing Divine Help At Desperate Times

When the time came for Jesus Christ to taste death for humanity, He experienced the greatest turmoils from every direction and His stress level was so severely unimaginable, both physically and emotionally. He suffered, and sweated blood from a rare medical condition, perhaps “hematidrosis”, in which capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands rupture, causing them to discharge blood.

It is expected that Jesus’ disciples would consider it crucial to stand with Him at that moment, but everybody fled to their own tents, leaving Him to face the enemies alone. Judas had accepted a bribe to betray Him. The scribes and the Pharisees were closing in on Him, fully prepared to kill Him. Yet, here was Peter, one of His closest confidants, warming up to vehemently deny Him.

Surprisingly, during those toughest and most critical moments in His life, Jesus still found a quiet place where He prayed alone and shared His concerns with God (Luke 22:41-43). He also wholeheartedly accepted and implicitly obeyed God’s Will. Consequently, the Lord sent an angel to help Him through it, and He excelled all the way through. Brethren, that is the finest example to follow at all times, and the best access to God’s assistance at our moments of despair!

Occasionally, rather than taking away our troubles outright, God chooses to use them to 

strengthen or to discipline us. Whichever, one thing is certain: God will always help us (Romans 5:3-5). We all can actually accomplish much more, if we deliberately reach out in faith and pay the price required to harness God’s supernatural help as Jesus did.

By virtue of his living union with Christ, Paul copiously testified that he had strength for all things through Christ who gave him power (Philippians 4:13; Galatians 2:20; 1 Timothy 1:12). David also alluded to the veracity of this principle when he encouraged himself in the Lord at a time when, though greatly distressed yet, nobody was ready to do it for him (1 Samuel 30:6).

Surprises are inevitable in life, but we must live prepared for them. Your preparations will determine the outcomes. Training your spirit is very essential to enabling you sustain your faith in the days of infirmity (Proverbs 18:14). Develop your spirit to handle the exigencies of life, training vigorously on the principles of the sovereignty of God.

Always put your trust absolutely in God, and allow His plan for you to unfold, even in the most difficult circumstances. Jesus did, knowing pretty well that God would never leave Him alone (Hebrews 13:5; Jeremiah 29:11). Likewise, the woman with the issue of blood knew within herself that if she didn’t give up, no matter what she was going through, her bloody flux wouldn’t last forever (Matthew 9:21).

Deliberately desire and ask for God’s supernatural help in all your life’s endeavours, on a daily basis. Boldly declare that your help comes from the Maker of heaven and earth. Receive it by faith for the fulfillment of your dreams, visions, expectations, goals, targets, projects and aspirations.

Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit is the Ever-Present Helper in times of trouble (Psalms 46:1; John 14:16). Let Him be obvious and conspicuous in your life. Little can become great when He is the One helping you. Trust Him for it — whatever — He can do it. He won’t fail you. Receive God’s marvelous help, right now, and begin to deliver excellently on your kingdom assignments on earth, in Jesus Name. Amen. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

SMS/WhatsApp: +234 802 318 4987

My oldest brother, Bayo, left Nigeria without telling anyone where he was going. He did not tell our aged parents, his wife, or his children. And he did not tell Biodun and I, his brothers.

Moreover, he communicated with no one thereafter, so we did not know his whereabouts. When our parents passed away, one after the other, we had no way of reaching him. His safety became a matter of great concern. All we could do was commit him to God in prayer, which was more than enough.

A Wasted Trip

Some six years later, we got word that he was sighted in The Gambia. I had to attend the funeral of a member of our church in Sierra Leone, so I decided to take the opportunity to go to The Gambia to see if I could find him.

The person who told us about him gave us the address of a street corner shop in Serrekunda, The Gambia. It was not difficult to find, and I was directed to a barbershop where I met a Nigerian man.

He told me my brother had been living with him for years. But several months before my arrival, he left Serrekunda for a place called Basse. I thought The Gambia was a small country, but he assured me Basse was nine hours from Serrekunda by road.

I told him that since I had come from Nigeria, I would have no choice but to go and see him there. But the man said that would not be possible. My brother left no forwarding address. “So where would you look?” he asked.

I concluded that my trip to The Gambia was in vain. I checked into a hotel and told the Lord: “It looks like You brought me to The Gambia so that I can spend a quiet time with You.” 

Kingdom Dynamics

But the next day, the Lord woke me up early in the morning. Out of the blue, He said: “Femi, let me tell you about the kingdom of God.” Then He started another session teaching me about kingdom dynamics.

I was an intellectual who came to believe in God because of a miracle healing from gunshot wounds. As a result, I was afraid that one day my intellect would confound my faith. I did not stop being intellectual because Christ came into my life, and in so many ways my faith had confounded my intellect.

However, I was afraid that one day I would read something or see something that would contradict my intellect and my faith would be shattered. I was afraid, for example, that I would discover intellectually that some parts of the Bible are false or contradictory. How then would I handle it?

One of those things I questioned was Jesus’ statement to His disciples that many of them would not die until they saw the kingdom of God. But, I thought, all His disciples are dead. According to church history, all but one was martyred. And yet, the kingdom of God has still not arrived.

Today, the church is still following the prayer guide of the Lord, which says: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10).

Who was Jesus referring to? Who among His disciples did not taste death until they saw the coming of God’s kingdom? Could Jesus have gotten it wrong? How could He have gotten it wrong? Jesus is not merely truthful; He is the truth. Moreover, He deliberately prefaced his statement by saying: “I tell you the truth.” (Luke 9:27).

That morning in The Gambia, the Lord brought up this little question of my fears. He said:

“Femi, you have been wondering what I meant in Luke 9:27. You have been asking who among My disciples did not die until he saw the coming of the kingdom of God. You said all the disciples are dead and the kingdom of God has still not arrived. So, what could I have meant? Let Me answer your question now.” 

“Those who were alive after My death and resurrection, and who became born again at, or after, the Pentecost, saw the kingdom of God in their lifetime. Look at what I said to Nicodemus: ‘Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ 

“Once a man is born again, he can see the kingdom of God. The disciples were born again, so they saw the kingdom of God. What I want to do this morning is to show you the kingdom of God, since you also are born again.”

Miracle of Miracles

And so, the Lord said to me: “Femi, let me show you the kingdom of God.” 

And just then, the telephone in my hotel room rang.

The Lord said: “Answer the phone.” 

When I picked up the phone, the concierge said: “Dr. Aribisala, your brother would like to talk to you.” 

I asked incredulously: “My brother? Where is he speaking from?” 

The man replied: “He is right here in the lobby.” 

I told him: “I am coming right down.”

I put down the phone and could not believe my eyes. What just happened here? I saw it, as clear as daylight. The Lord had supernaturally moved my brother from Basse, nine hours away, to come down to Serrekunda to meet me.

Bayo never knew I was coming. As I said, I had not heard from him in over six years. He had simply decided to come down to Serrekunda to see his friends. Little did he know that that decision was part of the Lord’s plan to bring him to Serrekunda to meet me.

When he got to the barbershop, the gentleman I had spoken to the night before quickly informed him that I had come to The Gambia to see him. Then he gave him my hotel address.

That is how God works. That is the kingdom of God on the move; in the quiet. The natural man might call it a coincidence, not knowing that it is God who is at work. God is at work, and he is at work spiritually. His kingdom is spiritual, nevertheless The Most High reigns and rules in the affairs of his children.

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