Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt ~ Amos 9:13.

Introduction:

God didn’t plan for us to live just a normal, ordinary, natural life, but a supernatural life of harvests, full of relevance, significance, signs and wonders (John 10:10). Supernatural living is meant to be the norm for the children of God.

At a time the people of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, and for about 400 years, it was like a normal, natural life for them. They became used to slavery, so to say, with no significant miracles whatsoever.

However, a day came when God brought them out with His Mighty Hand. Thenceforth, a supernatural life of miracles, signs and wonders began for them by the Finger of God (Exodus 8:19).

Recall the series of supernatural interventions at the onset of the Exodus, and then the parting of the Red Sea, the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud, the supernatural angelic meal, manna, the supernatural victory at Jericho, and so on.

The above is the archetype of our new life in Christ Jesus. When we were born-again, a new order of life began for us, and we were plunged into a new depth of supernatural harvest (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Believe it, this is our time for mega-harvest! Our fields of soul-winning, heavy blessings and superlative wonders are already white for harvest (John 4:35b). Really, God’s original blessing to man in Genesis 1:28 is very instructive in this context.

Understanding the Broad Dimensions of Supernatural Harvest

Supernatural harvest brings blessings in three broad dimensions, and the first of these is supernatural wealth. God greatly delights in the prosperity of His people and, through the grace of God, believers are bound to prosper in all ramifications of wealth (Ecclesiastes 10:19; Zechariah 1:17; Psalm 35:27).

The second dimension is the harvest of miracles and supernatural interventions. This includes healing, deliverance and victory in spiritual conflicts, giving us liberty to run with our assignments and bringing fulfillment to our godly dreams and aspirations (Romans 5:17).

The third dimension, and by all means the most important harvest, is the harvest of souls! It is voluntarily compulsory for every Christian devotee to be involved and meaningfully engaged in winning lost souls to the Kingdom of God (Psalm 107:2).

I pray that these three dimensions of supernatural harvest will burst forth in all our camps this season, in Jesus Name. Amen.

Please note that supernatural wealth and other dimensions of divine intervention among God’s people are intended to showcase God’s power unto salvation, to spur the believers onward in their fields of soul-winning and to draw the attention of the unsaved to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Thus, the first two dimensions of harvests mentioned above are meaningful only when they contribute to the mission works of soul-winning.

The subject of soul-winning, with particular emphasis on fruitful evangelism, cannot be overemphasized. It is of paramount importance to all believers in Christ Jesus, who are genuine in their love for God.

No ranks, status, attainment or any grandiose title can confer on us the ignoble privilege of shunning the call to soul-winning. It is non-negotiable and cannot be ignored without some dire eternal consequences.

The truth is, no matter the opulence or grandeur attained, anyone who has not come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ is a lost soul. Perhaps, this is why every sincere and gainful engagement in soul-winning ventures is exceedingly gratifying to the Lord (Mark 10:28-31).

There is a beautiful future for the soul-winner. Contrarily, it is tantamount to spiritual recklessness for a believer not to strive to win souls for Christ. In fact, the Bible posits that such a man is neither wise nor winsome enough (Daniel 12:3).

We must engage in soul-winning because our Lord Jesus Christ commanded it to be so in His valedictory speeches (Mark 16:15-18; Matthew 28:19-20). Besides, He commended serious involvement in supernatural harvest of souls as a quickest pathway to supernatural rewards (John 4:34-36).

The Laws of Supernatural Harvest

When God created the universe, He put many laws into motion, one of which is the law of seedtime and harvest or the law of sowing and reaping: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest ..... and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22).

A law always works unless a higher law is introduced into the system, to override or temporarily stop the lesser law from working.

For example, in His extravagant love for man, God introduced a higher law, broadly categorized as the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, into our situation (Romans 8:2). This law came with a higher authority and power to override the laws connecting us to the kingdom of darkness.

Today, through that law, anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour can enjoy forgiveness, healing, deliverance, victory, prosperity and a mega-harvest of God’s provisions in every area of life.

Similarly, the law of sowing and reaping overrides the tyrannies of sin, death, poverty and barrenness, which hitherto enable the devil to rule over lost humanity. Yes, abundant life is all ours, and we should begin to walk in it, right away!

Succinctly, the articles of the law of seedtime and harvest are as follows: (i) God is our Total Source (Philippians 4:19); (ii) God gives seed to those who sow (2 Corinthians 9:10a); (iii) God multiplies and brings the harvest of the seeds we sow (2 Corinthians 9:10b); (iv) The harvest always comes in due season (Galatians 6:9); (v) The harvest comes in proportion to the seed sown (Luke 6:38); (vi) What you sow is what you reap (Genesis 1:12; Galatians 6:7); and (vii) Plant in good soil for good results (Matthew 13:3-8).

Your Seed is Your Key to Supernatural Harvest

Supernatural harvest is a multiplied form of the seed sown. And, where due observance is given to the seed, both in quantity and quality, nothing should have a legal hold against our harvest. You cannot be committed to sowing and not reap the harvest.

Sowing is not just a religious act, to fulfill all righteousness; it is major law of life. If you expect a harvest, you must sow a seed. You must sow, even in seasons of famine, for God can turn your barren situation into your greatest blessing. Your seed may not be big enough for your sustenance, but it is good enough for sowing in expectation of supernatural harvest (1 Kings 17:10-15).

For the avoidance of doubt or misleading opinions, the seed forms we are referring to here include: the Word of God in prayers and preaching, sincere services to God and His Kingdom, money, and showing love, help and kindness to others.

Friends, I see the Almighty God exterminating all evil worms and every satanic arsenal aimed at displacing your seed or corrupting your harvest. I see God’s evergreen blessings of supernatural fruitfulness and mega-harvest loading up speedily in your life, this season, in Jesus Name. Amen.

In conclusion, please prepare to be envied! And, if you ever felt that your time has expired for harvests of souls and pure blessings, just remember that Abraham was very old when God gave him Isaac. Brethren, believe God for it, your season of laughter has just begun in Jesus Name. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Archbishop 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

Jesus used five loaves of bread to feed 5,000 people. He then used seven loaves to feed 4,000. Nevertheless, instead of reaching the conclusion that because of Him they would never again have to worry about bread, His disciples were still concerned when they forgot to bring bread with them on a trip.

He rebuked them, saying: “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?” (Mark 8:17-18).  

From Jesus’ questions, we can extract certain principles about trusting God.

Unreasonable trust

Jesus asks: “Why do you reason because you have no bread?” 

You don’t need to trust God just for what is reasonable. What is reasonable will come to pass because it is reasonable. But you need to trust God for what is unreasonable. Solomon says: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5).

God is not just the God of the possible: He is more pre-eminently the God of the impossible. Jesus says: “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27). God does not receive as much glory for the reasonable as He does for the unreasonable. Therefore, the more unreasonable the situation, the better it is to trust in God’s intervention.

This was the case with Abraham. God promised him an heir. However, he delayed fulfilling the promise until it was impossible. He waited until Abraham was 100 years old and, presumably, sexually inactive, and his wife, Sarah, had long reached her menopause. Then He renewed their bodies and gave them Isaac.

So doing, He stretched the faith of Abraham. “Against hope (Abraham) believed in hope.” (Romans 4:18). Thereby God was glorified.

Spiritual understanding

Jesus asks: “Do you not yet perceive nor understand?” 

How do you know anything? Do you know it by what someone tells you; by the books you read, or by what you see? That is not the source of true knowledge.

True knowledge comes by faith. It is by faith that we come to the knowledge of the impossible. It is by faith we are brought to the understanding of what God can do. What does it mean to know something by faith?  “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17). This means true knowledge comes from what God tells us.

Peter did not know he could walk on water until Jesus told him to do so. He believed Jesus, got out of the boat and walked on water. But even as faith comes by hearing, even so faith goes by not believing what we hear. When Peter took his eyes off Jesus and looked instead at the waves, he started to drown. He started drowning because he believed his lying eyes and stopped believing the truth of God’s word.

Fake news

Do you believe the truth, or are you a captive of CNN, BBC, Sky News, and Al Jazeera?

It was carried in the news that Jesus had been defeated by His adversaries. They had arrested Him and killed Him by nailing Him to a tree. This dashed the hope of those in Israel who thought He is the Messiah. Except that this factual report of His defeat was in actual fact a lie.

Isaiah asks: “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1). The arm of the Lord is revealed to those who believe the report of the Lord.

Jesus rebuked His disciples for failing to believe the report of His resurrection. He was angry because they believed the report of the “BBC” and not the report of the prophets. He said to them: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:25-26).

He was angry because He had told them beforehand that He would be killed but would rise from the dead on the third day. (Luke 18:31-33). Nevertheless, they still did not believe when what He predicted came to pass. Natural men say: “Seeing is believing.”  But Jesus stands this on its head by telling doubting Thomas: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29).

Hardened heart

Jesus asks: “Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see?”   

What do you see? Do you see God at work, or do you see the devil at work? Can you see what God is doing in spite of the hullabaloo around you? The hardened heart refuses to accept the truth of God. God’s truth does not change his philosophy.

Jesus says: “The miracles I do in My Father’s name speak for Me, but you do not believe because you are not My sheep.” (John 10:25-26). The hardened heart sees a miracle, denies it, rationalises it, or explains it away. The reason is simple, the human heart is not fashioned to receive the truth. It can only receive lies.

Jesus says: “This people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.” (Matthew 13:15).

Therefore, in order to trust God, we need a new heart. God says: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26).

Forgetful hearers

Jesus asks: “Having ears, do you not hear? Do you not remember?”

Do you know when it is God who is talking to you, even though he might be using the mouth of a friend to do so? Do you ask God a question and expect Him to answer? Jesus says: “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10: 27).

Do you remember what God has done? If He has done it before, He will do it again. He says: “I the Lord do not change.” (Malachi 3:6). Do you remember what God has said?  If He said it, He will do it. “God is not a son of man, that he should change his mind.” (Number 23:19).

God is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the beginning, as well as the ending. That means He will never begin what He does not intend to bring to completion. If you ever see Him move in your project, it means He is committed. “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6).

The enemy is a thief. Do not allow him to steal your dreams. Do not allow him to steal your testimonies. “He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:25). 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; www.femiaribisala.com 

Nigeria achieved a trade surplus of N3.42 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The country's exports totaled N20.01 trillion while imports stood at N16.59 trillion during this period.

Total trade for Q4 2024 reached N36.6 trillion, representing a 2.20 percent increase compared to the N35.8 trillion recorded in the third quarter. More significantly, this figure marks a substantial 68.32 percent increase compared to the N21.75 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.

Exports accounted for 54.68 percent of total trade value in Q4 2024. While this represents a significant 57.67 percent increase over the value recorded in Q4 2023, exports decreased slightly by 2.55 percent compared to Q3 2024.

Crude oil remained the dominant export commodity, valued at N13.78 trillion and representing 68.87 percent of total exports. Non-crude oil exports were valued at N6.23 trillion, accounting for 31.13 percent of total exports, while non-oil products contributed N2.84 trillion or 4.20 percent of total exports.

The Netherlands emerged as Nigeria's top export destination in Q4 2024, receiving goods valued at N2.09 trillion (10.44 percent of total exports). Other major export destinations included France (N1.91 trillion or 9.54 percent), Spain (N1.74 trillion or 8.68 percent), India (N1.60 trillion or 7.98 percent), and Indonesia (N1.41 trillion or 7.03 percent). These five countries collectively accounted for 43.67 percent of Nigeria's total export value during the quarter.

On the import side, China maintained its position as Nigeria's leading trading partner, supplying goods worth N4.61 trillion (27.80 percent of total imports). Other significant import sources included India (N1.89 trillion or 11.43 percent), Belgium (N1.38 trillion or 8.35 percent), the United States (N1.05 billion or 6.33 percent), and France (N501 billion or 3.62 percent).​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Nigeria's telecommunications sector achieved remarkable growth in 2024, with mobile service revenue reaching $7.6 billion according to a new PwC report. The Nigerian market is projected to grow at an impressive 8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2023 and 2028, positioning it among the world's fastest-expanding telecom markets.

This growth stands in contrast to the broader global telecommunications industry, which faces headwinds despite PwC forecasting total revenue to reach $1.3 trillion by 2028. Worldwide telecom service revenue across fixed and mobile networks increased by 4.3% in 2023 to $1.14 trillion, but future growth is expected to slow to a CAGR of just 2.9% through 2028—below projected inflation rates.

Nigeria's telecom expansion is primarily subscription-driven rather than through increased average revenue per user (ARPU). "In Nigeria, fixed-line ARPU is projected to decline at a CAGR of –1.4%, while subscriber numbers rise at a CAGR of 9.8%," the report notes.

The PwC Global Telecom Outlook highlights a fundamental industry challenge: increasing commoditization of core products and services, making price increases difficult despite ongoing infrastructure investment requirements. Nevertheless, the report identifies an additional $200 billion in potential incremental revenue growth across the global sector by 2028.

Regional performance varies significantly, with emerging markets including Nigeria, India, Egypt, and Kenya showing above-average growth, while mature markets like Japan and Switzerland experience stagnation or decline. Colombia leads mobile revenue growth at a 10.5% CAGR, followed by India and Argentina.

Fixed broadband and mobile subscriptions are expected to grow steadily worldwide at CAGRs of 3.8% and 4.3% respectively through 2028, while fixed voice subscriptions are projected to decline at a CAGR of -1.8%.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Following a violent attack by Nigerian Air Force (NAF) personnel on Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (DisCo) last Thursday, 15 employees were hospitalized with injuries, while the company’s office remained deserted yesterday. Power has yet to be restored at the NAF base, and the incident has drawn widespread condemnation, including from the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA).

A senior Ikeja DisCo official, speaking anonymously for security reasons, confirmed that over 15 staff members were receiving treatment at undisclosed hospitals. He added that operations were partially halted, with the union advising employees to stay away if they felt unsafe. “Business is not fully operational. The union has asked members to stay home if they feel uncomfortable or unsafe,” he said.

Ikeja DisCo’s Chairman, Kola Adesina, revealed that the NAF’s N4 billion debt has severely impacted the company’s operations. Despite seven years of negotiations, the debt remains unpaid. “We are owed about N4 billion, and this has created significant liabilities on our balance sheet, pushing us to the brink of bankruptcy,” Adesina stated. He emphasized that as a distribution company, Ikeja DisCo is responsible for remitting funds to gas suppliers, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, and other stakeholders, making the unpaid debt a critical issue.

The attack, triggered by a two-week power outage at the NAF base, left Ikeja DisCo’s headquarters in Alausa, Lagos, eerily quiet. Only a handful of staff reported for duty, with many still traumatized by the invasion. Employees recounted being brutalized, with laptops, phones, and installation equipment stolen during the chaos. One female staff member, who requested anonymity, described the invasion as terrifying. “I thought we were under attack by armed thugs. I fell and sustained bruises, and some colleagues sprained their ankles. The physical and emotional pain is still fresh,” she said.

Ikeja DisCo’s Public Relations Officer, Kingsley Okotie, confirmed that he and many colleagues were still recovering from injuries. “I’m limping and receiving medical treatment. The office is nearly empty because people are scared and traumatized. We’ve advised those affected to seek medical help rather than force themselves to return to an unsafe environment,” he said. Okotie also confirmed that power had not been restored to the NAF base, as critical equipment was stolen during the attack.

NECA condemned the incident, calling it a threat to Nigeria’s democratic governance and investment climate. In a statement, NECA’s Director General, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, urged the federal government to establish a committee to review electricity debt profiles across military bases and ensure prompt payment. “This attack is unlawful and undermines the progress made in democratic governance. It sends a wrong signal to domestic and foreign investors,” the statement read.

NECA also called for immediate government intervention to settle the NAF’s debt and restore power to the base. “Ikeja Electric is a private entity with over 2,600 employees. It has the right to demand payment for services rendered and suspend services for non-payment. The federal government must act swiftly to prevent such incidents from recurring,” the statement added.

The attack has raised concerns about the safety of private businesses and their employees, as well as the broader implications for Nigeria’s investment environment. Stakeholders are urging the government to address the underlying issues to prevent future occurrences.

Yemen's Houthis give Israel four-day deadline to lift Gaza aid blockage

The leader of Yemen's Houthis said on Friday the group would resume its naval operations against Israel if Israel did not lift a blockage of aid into Gaza within four days, signaling a possible escalation from the Houthis after their assaults tailed off in January following a ceasefire in the enclave.

The Iran-aligned movement launched more than 100 attacks targeting shipping from November 2023, saying they were in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza.

During that period, it sank two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers in an offensive that disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.

"We will give a deadline for four days. This deadline is for the (Gaza ceasefire) mediators for their efforts," al-Houthi said.

"If the Israeli enemy after four days continues to prevent the humanitarian aid into Gaza and continues to completely close the crossings, we will resume our naval operations against the Israeli enemy."

On March 2, Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza as a standoff over the truce escalated, with Hamas calling on Egyptian and Qatari mediators to intervene.

Hamas welcomed the Houthis' announcement on Friday.

"The brave decision ... is an extension of the positions of support and assistance that they (the Houthis) provided over the course of 15 months of war ... in Gaza", Hamas said.

The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, also said in February that they will take military action if the U.S. and Israel try to displace Palestinians from Gaza forcibly.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian forces fighting inside Russia are almost surrounded, open source maps show

Thousands of Ukrainian troops who stormed into Russia's Kursk region last summer in a shock incursion are nearly surrounded by Russian forces there, in a major blow to Kyiv which hoped to use its presence there as leverage over Moscow in any peace talks.

Ukraine's situation in Kursk has deteriorated sharply in the last three days, open source maps show, after Russian forces retook territory as part of a gathering counteroffensive that has nearly cut the Ukrainian force in two and separated the main group from its principal supply lines.

The precarious situation for Ukraine comes after Washington suspended its intelligence sharing with Kyiv and raises the possibility that its forces may be forced into a politically awkward and psychologically difficult retreat back into Ukraine, or risk being captured or killed.

The battlefield reversal comes at a time when Kyiv is under mounting U.S. pressure to agree a ceasefire with Moscow and as Russian forces continue to advance along parts of the front line inside Ukraine, even as Ukrainian forces stage a fightback in one area.

"The situation (for Ukraine in Kursk) is very bad," Pasi Paroinen, a military analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group, told Reuters.

"Now there is not much left until Ukrainian forces will either be encircled or forced to withdraw. And withdrawal would mean running a dangerous gauntlet, where the forces would be constantly threatened by Russian drones and artillery," he said.

"If Ukrainian forces are not able to restore the situation quickly, this could be the moment where the Kursk salient begins to finally close into an encircled pocket."

There was no official confirmation of the Russian thrust from the Russian Defence Ministry or the Ukrainian military, both of which tend to report battlefield changes with a delay.

Yan Matveev, another military analyst, said on Telegram that Ukraine had a difficult choice to make.

"The only argument in favour of holding the bridgehead is political. To use the remnants of the bridgehead for bargaining. And also a little morale - after all, a retreat is a retreat...," he said.

TAKING WAR TO RUSSIA

Ukraine's incursion into Kursk last August was the most serious attack on Russian territory since the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 and was designed to bring the war to ordinary Russians, whom the Kremlin had tried to shield from the fallout from the fighting raging inside Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it was also aimed at trying to ease pressure on Ukrainian troops defending their own country from Russian forces in the east by forcing Moscow to divert resources to defend its own territory, and at giving Kyiv a potential bargaining chip in future peace talks.

The incursion was embarrassing for Moscow and raised uncomfortable questions about its ability to protect its own borders. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said his forces would regain full control of Kursk by force and rejected any idea of making it part of wider future talks.

Open source mapping from Deep State, an authoritative Ukrainian military blogging resource, showed on Friday that around three-quarters of the Ukrainian force inside Russia had now been almost completely encircled.

It showed they were joined to the remaining Ukrainian force located closer to the Russian border by a land corridor around 1 km long and less than 500 metres wide at its narrowest point as Russian forces move to cut that off too.

Deep State said late on Thursday that Russian forces had advanced near the nearby settlement of Kuryilovka. In an update released on Friday it also said that Russian forces were pressuring Ukraine's positions in the border area with Sumy region as part of the same operation and moving to try to block supplies to Ukrainian forces inside Kursk.

"It is worth noting that the enemy has an advantage in UAVs (drones), both reconnaissance and strike. The most commonly used is the FPV drone. They are mainly responsible for fire control of everything that moves ‘in’ or ‘out’ of Kursk region," Deep State said in its note.

Yuri Podolyak, an influential Russian war blogger, said Russian forces had broken through south of Sudzha, a Russian town located inside the nearly surrounded pocket.

"The Russian Armed Forces have driven a deep wedge (up to 4 kilometres deep) and actually reached the alternative supply route to Sudzha (which the enemy was using because the main road could not be used)," Podolyak wrote on his Telegram channel.

Ukraine's General Staff said on Friday that its armed forces had repelled 32 Russian attacks in the Kursk region over the past day.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russia hits Ukrainian energy sites

Russian forces have carried out a series of strikes on Ukrainian energy sites on Friday, the Defense Ministry has said in its daily briefing. 

According to the MOD, a “group strike” targeted “gas and energy infrastructure that powers the military-industrial complex of Ukraine.” Long-range missiles and drones were used in the barrage. 

Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on Facebook that “the energy and gas infrastructure in different Ukrainian regions has been hit by massive missiles and drone strikes.” 

The authorities were responding with “necessary measures to stabilize the energy and gas supply.”

Ukraine’s national gas and oil company Naftogaz said in a short statement that its gas-extracting facilities have been damaged. Officials in the northern Chernigov Region and the western regions of Ternopol and Ivano-Frankovsk reported local power outages from strikes on “critical industrial sites.”

The local authorities in the eastern Poltava Region said that “the fragments of an enemy projectile” fell on a house, injuring three people. 

Russia first ramped up strikes on energy infrastructure in response to the Ukrainian bombing of the long bridge that connects Crimea with mainland Russia in October 2022.

In April 2024, President Vladimir Putin said that Russian forces were hitting energy facilities in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil. “We have seen a series of strikes on our energy sites and were forced to retaliate,” he said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that the strikes were directed at “sites linked to the production of weapons in Ukraine.”

Reuters/RT

Rates of obesity and overweight are spiralling due to a "monumental societal failure" to tackle the problem, with more than half of adults and almost a third of children and young people set to be affected by 2050, according to a new study.

That represents more than 3.8 billion adults and 746 million children and adolescents, research published in The Lancet said.

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of serious health problems like diabetes, some cancers, and heart disease.

"The unprecedented global epidemic of overweight and obesity is a profound tragedy and a monumental social failure," said lead author Professor Emmanuela Gakidou from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in the U.S.

The team, part of the Global Burden of Disease Study BMI Collaborators, used data from 204 countries and territories to come up with their estimates and project what could happen in future without action.

Rates of overweight and obesity have already more than doubled over the past three decades, with more than 2.1 billion adults and 493 million young people aged 5-24 years affected as of 2021, they said.

While the reasons for obesity were complex, governments should use the estimates to focus in on how to help populations most at risk, researchers said, particularly around improving access to healthy diets.

The study, funded by the Gates Foundation, had limitations, including data gaps and the use of body mass index as a marker. It also did not take into account the potential impact of obesity drugs, which have seen huge demand in richer countries where they are available, the researchers said.

The picture varies globally, but the researchers said an accelerated rise in obesity among young people and the rise in low- and middle-income countries where health systems cannot cope with the coming disease burden were particularly worrying.

That includes a projected 250% increase in rates of overweight and obesity in sub-Saharan Africa. The rise, to 522 million adults and 200 million children and young people, is driven partly by population growth.

A separate study published on Monday, the World Obesity Atlas from the World Obesity Federation, also raised this issue.

"The most affected regions are developing countries," said Simon Barquera, president of the Federation.

The Obesity Atlas suggested that 79% of adults and 88% of children with obesity and overweight will be living in low- and middle-income countries by 2035, and only 7% of all countries have adequate health systems in place to deal with this.

"It's really one of the main public health challenges around the world," Barquera added.

Reuters

Nigeria has launched comprehensive standards and guidelines for organ and tissue transplants, aiming to regulate a sector plagued by ethical concerns and exploitation. The move comes amid heightened scrutiny of organ trafficking, particularly in light of the high-profile case of former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who is currently serving a jail term in the UK for his involvement in a human organ harvesting scheme.

The new guidelines, unveiled on Thursday by Minister of State for Health Iziaq Salako, seek to establish transparency and adherence to international best practices in Africa's most populous country. They explicitly prohibit the sale of organs and aim to address the systemic issues that have made Nigeria vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking.

Despite having significant medical expertise, Nigeria's organ transplant system has long been hampered by donor shortages, cultural barriers, and weak legal frameworks. These challenges have fueled ethical concerns and created opportunities for criminal cartels to prey on vulnerable populations, particularly those from poor backgrounds.

Jimoh Salaudeen, director of hospital services at the health ministry, highlighted the troubling incidents that have marred the sector. "In recent times, we have witnessed troubling incidents and other excesses with organ transplantation," he said. "These usually involve Nigerian victims from poor backgrounds who are targeted by criminal cartels, luring them with money or false promises of a better life."

The new framework encompasses kidney, liver, bone marrow, cornea, gamete, and embryo donation, storage, and surrogacy. It aims to build a system based on voluntary donation and transparent allocation, safeguarding vulnerable populations from exploitation. Salako emphasized that the guidelines are designed to align Nigeria's practices with global standards, ensuring ethical conduct and accountability in organ transplantation.

The launch of these guidelines comes as Nigeria continues to grapple with the fallout from the Ekweremadu case, which exposed the dark underbelly of organ trafficking. In 2023, Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were convicted in the UK for conspiring to exploit a young Nigerian man for his kidney, which they intended to use for their ailing daughter. The case shocked the nation and underscored the urgent need for stronger regulations to prevent such abuses.

The Ekweremadu scandal has served as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities within Nigeria's healthcare system and the lengths to which individuals might go to circumvent ethical and legal boundaries. The new guidelines are seen as a critical step toward addressing these issues and restoring public trust in the organ transplant process.

As Nigeria moves to implement these standards, stakeholders hope that the country can turn a corner in its fight against organ trafficking and exploitation. The guidelines represent not only a regulatory framework but also a moral commitment to protecting the dignity and rights of all Nigerians, particularly the most vulnerable. The shadow of the Ekweremadu case looms large, serving as both a cautionary tale and a catalyst for change in a sector that has long operated in the shadows.