Three miners were shot dead on Friday at a mining site around Tanjol in Jol community of Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.

National Publicity Secretary of Berom Youth Movement (BYM), Rwang Tengwong, confirmed the incident to our correspondent yesterday, adding that other miners and farmers around have fled the area.

According to Tengwong, the incident occurred at about 11am when everyone around the area were going about their activities, adding that two other persons were injured.

The publicity secretary, who described the attack as one too many, called on the government and security agencies to intensify efforts towards the safety of lives and property in rural communities.

He said despite the deployment of mobile police officers in the area, the killings have continued unabated.

Public Relations Officer of the Police Command in Plateau, Alfred Alabo did not pick several calls to his line, but a top police officer who didn’t want to be mentioned confirmed the attack.

Daily Trust

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Wagner PMC ‘armed coup’ attempt in Russia: All the latest news

Evgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group private military company, has been accused by the government of staging an armed insurrection.

The charges were brought late Friday night after Prigozhin accused Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and General Valery Gerasimov, the chair of the Russian general staff, of serious crimes.

Prigozhin claimed to have ordered troops loyal to him to move towards Rostov-on-Don, a major city in southern Russia. Security measures were also reportedly beefed up in Moscow.

• 24 June 2023
  22:34 GMT
  Russia’s federal road agency, Rosavtodor, told TASS news agency that all restrictions on traveling on roads and highways have been lifted.
  The traffic on some roads was suspended on Saturday as the Wagner fighters were moving towards the capital.
• 22:16 GMT
  The regional governor, Vasily Golubev, said that the Wagner convoy has left Rostov-on-Don and is now heading back to the company’s field camps. 
• 21:46 GMT
  The Kremlin has revealed the details of the agreement with Wagner PMC. According to spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the criminal case against Prigozhin will be dropped and he will leave Russia for Belarus. Wagner troops will not be prosecuted, and those who did not take part in the insurrection will be permitted to sign on with the Russian Defense Ministry.
• 19:54 GMT
  A Wagner Group tank, which had been “stuck” in the gates of the Rostov-on-Don circus near the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District has left the location, footage from the scene shows.
• 19:40 GMT
  The Wagner Group PMC contractors have begun leaving the premises of the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don. Footage from the scene shows the fighters packing their belongings and weaponry, and boarding combat vehicles.
• 17:32 GMT
  Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has held negotiations with the leader of the mutinous Russian PMC Wagner Group, Evgeny Prigozhin, and found an “absolutely beneficial and acceptable” way to end the crisis. The development was announced by Lukashenko’s press service, with the breakthrough reached after tense “day-long” talks.
  The negotiations were conducted after speaking with and in coordination with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the press service noted. Prigozhin has accepted the offer to “stop advancements” of the PMC’s companies across Russia, it added.
• 16:38 GMT
  US President Joe Biden has discussed the ongoing insurrection in Russia with Washington’s closest allies. “President Biden spoke today with President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom. The leaders discussed the situation in Russia. They also affirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine,” the White House press service said in a statement.
• 16:24 GMT
  Multiple shots were fired outside of the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, RT correspondent Ilya Vasyuninn reports. Footage from the scene shows a Wagner Group PMC contractor firing an assault rifle at the entrance of a local office of Rostelecom, Russia’s biggest digital service provider, in an apparent attempt to break into the building.
• 15:42 GMT
  An anti-terrorism operation has been launched in Moscow, the city’s Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has announced, describing the ongoing situation as “difficult.” The upcoming Monday has been declared a non-working day in order to “minimize risks,” the mayor added. Sobyanin also called upon the city’s residents to reduce travel across the city, warning that road traffic in certain areas may be halted completely.
• 15:27 GMT
  A major bridge over the Oka River has been barricaded with heavy vehicles in the Russian city of Kolomna 114km southeast of Moscow. A large military column was spotted in the city heading to the southeast towards the city of Ryazan, unverified footage circulating online shows.
  14:24 GMT
  Tehran has called the ongoing insurrection an internal matter for Russia. “Iran supports the rule of law in the Russian Federation,” the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, said in a statement.
• 14:01 GMT
  Fighters of Akhmat, an elite National Guard unit from Russia’s Chechnya, have reached Rostov-on-Don, unverified footage circulating online shows. Multiple armored vehicles and trucks carrying personnel can be seen driving on the outskirts of the city, which has become the hotbed of the insurrection by the Wagner PMC.
• 13:54 GMT
  Wagner Group forces are moving through Lipetsk Region, located some 370km to the south of Moscow, local governor Igor Artamonov has said, urging civilians to stay at their homes and avoid unnecessary travel. “The situation remains under control,” the governor said, adding that the region’s critical infrastructure continues to operate without incident.
• 13:05 GMT
  Russia’s closest ally, Belarus, condemned the mutiny, with the country’s security council stating that Minsk remains committed to standing with Russia and fully supports the ongoing military operation in Ukraine. The council also branded the attempted coup a “gift to the collective West.”
• 12:45 GMT
  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin press service said.
  “The Russian President briefed [Erdogan] on the situation in the country amid the attempted armed insurrection. Türkiye’s President expressed his full support towards the steps taken by the Russian leadership,” the press service said in a statement.
• 12:32 GMT
  Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) chief Sergey Naryshkin denounced the ongoing coup as “treason,” branding it “the most terrible crime, which cannot be justified by any past merits.” Meanwhile, he said that the attempt to spark a “civil war” in the country has already failed, with Russian society demonstrating “civic maturity.”
• 11:43 GMT
  A loud explosion has been heard in the vicinity of the headquarters of the Russian southern military district in Rostov-on-Don, RT correspondent Roman Kosarev, covering the coup attempt, reported on Saturday.
  He posted a one-minute clip on social media showing a crowd of people running away from where the blast apparently occurred. There has been no immediate data on casualties, or whether the building sustained any damage.
• 11:11 GMT
  Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said, “the most important thing for defeating the external and internal enemy who is hungry to tear our Motherland into shreds… is to unite around the president and supreme commander of the armed forces.”
  “Split and betrayal lead to the greatest tragedy, to a universal disaster,” he warned in a post on Telegram, vowing that the Russian authorities will not let this happen.
• 10:40 GMT
  The head of Russia’s Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, called the insurrection by Wagner's chief a “hideous betrayal” adding that it should be quelled in order to protect the nation’s unity amid the conflict in Ukraine.
  Chechen members of the Defense Ministry and the National Guard have already headed out to the regions where tensions are high. “The insurrection must be quelled, and if harsh measures are required, we are ready for them!” he stated in a post on Telegram.
• 08:56 GMT
  Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev said the Russian military is “carrying out the necessary operational and combat measures” in the region as part of the ongoing counter-terrorism operation, without providing further details.
• 08:15 GMT
  St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said that the situation in the city, which is a home to the Wagner Center HQ, remains stable, with increased security measures put in place. He also noted that “lawful actions of law enforcement agents, including those in the Wagner Center building, have no impact on the ongoing activities in the city,” apparently referring to earlier reports that operatives were conducting searches there.
• 07:54 GMT
  The situation in Rostov-on-Don is tense but with no disorder, a Ria Novosti correspondent reports from the scene. Earlier in the day, several media outlets shared clips of tanks moving around the city, with unidentified soldiers patrolling the streets.
• 07:11 GMT
  All who consciously stick to the way of treason will receive imminent punishment, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his address to the nation. He added that the country’s armed forces have been given all necessary orders.
• 06:35 GMT
  Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has canceled all mass public events, while adding that there are no restrictions on movement around the capital.
• 06:26 GMT
  The Russian Ministry of Defense has urged Wagner Group private military company soldiers to cease their armed insurrection, urging them to return to their bases. In a statement on Saturday, the ministry claimed that members of the PMC “have been tricked into taking part in [Wagner group chief Evgeny] Prigozhin’s criminal gamble,” adding that some Wagner fighters “have already understood their mistake” and have asked the authorities for help in safely returning to their permanent deployment areas.
• 06:03 GMT
  Russia’s National Antiterrorism Committee (NAK) has announced a “counter-terrorist operation regime” in Moscow and Moscow Region to prevent potential terrorist attacks.
• 05:50 GMT
  Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin would deliver an address soon.
• 05:49 GMT
  Lipetsk Governor Igor Artamonov said the decision to block traffic on the M-4 highway leading to Voronezh resulted in a traffic jam. However, he said that the authorities promptly organized the distribution of food and water in the area while notifying drivers about the restrictions in advance. As a result, the length of the traffic jam decreased by three times to just 1km, he added.
• 05:34 GMT
  Voronezh Governor Aleksandr Gusev announced that all local mass public gatherings in the near future have been canceled, while stressing that the overall situation remains stable.
• 05:04 GMT
  Russian security operatives have entered the PMC Wagner Center in St. Petersburg, indicative of imminent searches, local media reports. It added that two buses with riot police pulled over near the building. Earlier, TASS news agency reported that the situation in the area remained calm.
• 04:38 GMT
  Vasily Golubev, the governor of Rostov region, has announced that all public mass events in the city scheduled for the weekend have been cancelled. He noted that public transport was operating, but downtown routes have been altered, adding that some restrictions have been put in place on roads leading to the city of Taganrog, west of Rostov-on-Don, and to the north of the city.
• 03:59 GMT
  The governor of Moscow Region, Andrey Vorobyov, has announced that authorities in the territory surrounding the Russian capital have ramped up security. He added that as part of “counterterrorist measures” in place, law enforcement agencies may organize additional vehicle inspections to the south of the Russian capital. He also urged local residents to refrain from using personal transport.
• 03:23 GMT
  Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin has announced on Telegram that local authorities are implementing “counterterrorist measures” to maximise public security. He added that the steps could involve additional roadblocks and temporary restrictions on public events.
• 03:11 GMT
  Vasily Golubev, the governor of Rostov region, urged residents to avoid downtown Rostov-on-Don and, if possible, not to leave their homes. The statement comes amid videos circulating on social media appearing to show tanks and armored vehicles on the move in the city center.
• 02:28 GMT
  A military column is on the move on the M-4 highway connecting Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don, local authorities have announced on Telegram, asking local residents to temporarily refrain from using the road. The statement adds that law enforcement agencies in the region are “taking all necessary measures to ensure public safety.”
• 02:01 GMT
  A video purportedly filmed in Rostov-on-Don shows a tank and an armored personnel carrier (APC) driving past a group of police officers who are guarding a fuel station. More military hardware, including another tank, another APC, two armored cars and a truck, follow shortly afterwards.
• 01:56 GMT
  The road connecting the city of Rostov-on-Don with the Azov Sea port of Taganrog, some 60 km to the west, has been fully shut down for traffic, a TASS correspondent has reported. Similar restrictions have also been reported relating to north-bound traffic on the M4 highway, which leads to Moscow. Other exits from Rostov-on-Don remain available, according to the report.
• 01:36 GMT
  Igor Artamonov, the governor of Lipetsk Region, has announced increased security measures, with particular focus on protecting critical infrastructure. He called on residents to avoid traveling to southern parts of Russia, including the neighboring Voronezh Region.
  “The latest events have disturbed all of us. But I ask you all to keep calm,” he said on his Telegram account.
  Lipetsk is located some 370 km south of Moscow and 590 km north of Rostov-on-Don.
• 01:35 GMT
  The Rostov Region branch of the Emergencies Ministry has warned about a fake post issued in its name on social media. The message falsely claims that a curfew has been imposed in the region, adding that those spreading the message are apparently seeking to cause panic.
• 01:25 GMT
  The Russian social network VK has blocked one of the statements released by Prigozhin’s press service on the platform. The post now states that the message is not available in Russia, based on a decision by the Prosecutor General’s office.
  There are also claims that some news about Prigozhin’s latest steps are being blocked by Yandex, the Russian tech giant that runs an eponymous web search engine.
• 01:09 GMT
  Rostov Region Governor Vasily Golubev has urged residents via his Telegram channel to “keep calm and not leave home without need.” He added that law enforcement was doing everything necessary to ensure the safety of civilians.
• 00:54 GMT
  No unusual activity has been noted near the Wagner PMC headquarters in St. Petersburg, according to a TASS correspondent at the location. The news agency added that security guards have also denied reports that a search was underway in the building.
• 00:47 GMT
  Traffic camera video feed from Rostov-on-Don, which could have shown the alleged columns of Wagner military hardware moving through the streets, is presently unavailable. When trying to access the feed, users are greeted with a message saying ‘Access to the broadcast is temporarily limited’.
• 00:44 GMT
  The Russian Defense Ministry has warned on its Telegram channel that Ukrainian forces were preparing to use “Prigozhin’s provocation” to launch an assault in the vicinity of Artyomovsk. The Donbass city, which Ukraine calls Bakhmut, was the focal point of an intensive months-long battle, in which PMC Wagner played a significant role. The city was taken by Russian forces last month.
• 00:33 GMT
  TASS has reported increased security on the highway connecting Rostov-on-Don with central Russia, including Moscow. Police presence has been increased, and inbound traffic is kettled and subject to inspections. Vehicles are not allowed to travel from the city towards the capital at all, according to the news agency.
• 00:29 GMT
  The situation in Rostov-on-Don appears to be relatively calm, according to media reports from the city. Troops are deployed at the headquarters of the Russian Southern military district, but there are no signs that they are preparing to fight off an attack, according to Kommersant daily.
• 00:23 GMT
  Despite claims by Evgeny Prigozhin, there appears to be no video or photo evidence of any PMC forces moving through Russia. There are also no reports of any battles or skirmishes.
• 00:22 GMT
  The White House has said it is “monitoring the situation” in Russia. President Joe Biden has been informed about the developments, National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge told the media. US officials indicated that they consider the situation 'serious' and beyond Prigozhin's previous statements launched against the Russian military leadership in the past, according to CNN.
• 00:00 GMT
  Senior Russian military commanders, including Deputy commander of the Russian Joint Forces, Army General Sergey Surovikin and Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev have recorded public video addresses to Wagner troops. They denounced Prigozhin’s actions and called on the fighters to stand down.
  “This is a stab in the back to the nation and the president,” Alekseev said, warning that there was a risk of a civil war in Russia. Surovikin urged the soldiers to return to their positions and seek a peaceful resolution of the situation.
• 23 June 2023
  23:55 GMT
  Putin is being informed on all the latest developments regarding the ‘armed coup attempt’ by Wagner PMC and its boss Evgeniy Prigozhin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated, according to TASS news agency. Peskov said Russia’s Ministry of Defense, FSB and National Guard are feeding information after ‘receiving orders from the president’.
• 23:54 GMT
  Moscow’s police have increased their presence in the city, taking additional measures to protect the Russian capital’s ‘most important buildings, public authorities and transport infrastructure’, the news agency TASS has reported. Several pictures and videos of military hardware moving through the city's streets have appeared on the web.
• 23:53 GMT
  The Defense Ministry denied the claim. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) accused Prigozhin of staging an armed coup and called on Wagner fighters to apprehend him.
• 23:53 GMT
  Later in the day Prigozhin claimed that the Russian military had attacked Wagner reserve positions. Prigozhin announced that forces loyal to him were moving towards the city of Rostov-on-Don.
• 23:52 GMT
  On Friday, Evgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian private military company Wagner Group, claimed that senior Russian commanders were traitors and demanded the prosecution of Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and General Valery Gerasimov, the chair of the general staff.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Rebel Russian mercenaries halt advance on Moscow, Kremlin says fighters to face no action

Heavily armed Russian mercenaries who advanced most of the way to Moscow halted their approach, de-escalating a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin's grip on power, in a move that their leader said would avoid bloodshed.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former Putin ally and founder of the Wagner army, said his men reached within 125 miles (200 km) of the capital on Saturday. Earlier, Moscow deployed soldiers in preparation for their arrival and told residents to stay indoors.

The Wagner fighters captured the city of Rostov hundreds of miles to the south before racing north in convoy, transporting tanks and armoured trucks and smashing through barricades set up to stop them, video showed.

On Saturday night, they began withdrawing from the Rostov military headquarters they had seized, a Reuters witness said.

"In 24 hours we got to within 200 km of Moscow. In this time we did not spill a single drop of our fighters' blood," Prigozhin, dressed in full combat uniform at an undisclosed location, said in a video.

"Understanding ... that Russian blood will be spilled on one side, we are turning our columns around and going back to field camps as planned."

Reuters could not independently verify how far Prigozhin's mercenaries had reached. Video earlier showed convoys of Wagner vehicles less than 310 miles (500 km) from Moscow.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that under a deal brokered by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, the criminal case opened against Prigozhin for armed mutiny would be dropped, Prigozhin would move to Belarus, and Wagner fighters who joined his "march for justice" would face no action, in recognition of their previous service to Russia.

Peskov, who called the events of the day "tragic", said Lukashenko had offered to mediate, with Putin's approval, because he had known Prigozhin personally for around 20 years.

LITTLE PUSHBACK FROM ARMED FORCES

Wagner's lightning insurrection appeared to develop with little pushback from Russia's regular armed forces, raising questions about Putin's hold on power in the nuclear-armed nation even after the abrupt halt to Wagner's advance.

Earlier, Prigozhin said his "march" on Moscow was intended to remove corrupt and incompetent Russian commanders he blames for botching the war in Ukraine.

In a televised address, Putin said the rebellion put Russia's very existence under threat.

"We are fighting for the lives and security of our people, for our sovereignty and independence, for the right to remain Russia, a state with a thousand-year history," Putin said, vowing punishment for those behind "an armed insurrection".

In later outlining the deal brokered by Lukashenko, Peskov said the agreement had the "higher goal" of avoiding confrontation and bloodshed.

Peskov declined to say whether any concessions were made to Prigozhin, other than guarantees of safety for him - something he said Putin gave his word to vouch for - and for Prigozhin's men, to persuade him to withdraw all his forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the developments, which sparked a flurry of high-level calls between Western leaders, exposed turmoil at the heart of in Russia.

"Today the world can see that the masters of Russia control nothing. And that means nothing. Simply complete chaos. An absence of any predictability," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

EX-CONVICTS IN WAGNER RANKS

The fighters led by Prigozhin, a former convict, include thousands of ex-prisoners recruited from Russian jails.

His men fought the bloodiest battles of the 16-month Ukraine war, including for the eastern city of Bakhmut. He railed for months against the military's top brass, especially Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, accusing them of incompetence and of withholding ammunition from his fighters.

This month, he defied orders to sign a contract placing his troops under Defence Ministry command.

He launched the apparent mutiny on Friday after alleging that the military had killed many of his fighters in an air strike. The Defence Ministry denied this.

He said he had captured the headquarters of Russia's Southern Military District without firing a shot in Rostov, which serves as the main rear logistical hub for Russia's entire invasion force in Ukraine.

Residents of the city had milled about calmly, filming on mobile phones as Wagner fighters in armoured vehicles and battle tanks took up positions.

Western capitals were closely following the situation. U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with the leaders of France, Germany and Britain, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to G7 counterparts. The top U.S. military officer, Army General Mark Milley, canceled a scheduled trip to the Middle East.

UKRAINE ATTACKS NEAR BAKHMUT

The insurrection risked leaving Russia's invasion force in Ukraine in disarray, just as Kyiv is launching its strongest counteroffensive since the war began in February last year.

Some Ukrainians were gleeful at the prospect of a split in Russian ranks 16 months after the Kremlin's troops invaded their country.

Ukraine's military said on Saturday its forces made advances near Bakhmut, on the eastern front, and further south.

Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said an offensive was launched near a group of villages ringing Bakhmut, which was taken by Wagner forces in May after months of fighting.

Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, commander of the southern front, said Ukrainian forces had liberated an area near Krasnohorivka, west of the Russian-held regional centre of Donetsk.

Tarnavskiy said the area had been under Russian control since separatist forces backed by Moscow seized it in 2014.

RT/Reuters

For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake ~ 1 Thessalonians 1:5.

Introduction 

The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God actively working in His people today. Nothing moves except as He directs; nothing happens except as He permits; and nothing will be except as He allows.

Indeed, every day can be exciting for the Christian who intimately knows the reality of being filled with the Holy Spirit, lives constantly under His direction and operates absolutely under His unction. He is the Unfailing Enabler of our destinies.

The Holy Spirit is the Eternal Spirit of the Living God, and the Third Person of the Triune God. He’s ageless just like the Father and the Son (Genesis 1:2; Hebrews 9:14). He’s all powerful (Luke 1:35); He’s everywhere (Psalms 139:7); and He knows everything (1Corinthians 2:10,11)!

The Holy Spirit is not a mere experience, or just a latent force; neither is He another spook by fairytales. He is a Real Person, who may be grieved, and can lead, teach, guide etcetera (John 14:26).

He chooses people as He wills, and fills them with wisdom and strength for specific assignments (Judges 3:9-10; Exodus 35:30-35). Indeed, no one can serve God acceptably without His supernatural enablement (Psalms 110:3).

Understanding the Holy Ghost And His Ultimate Power

Jesus Christ made it abundantly clear that the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples would result in them being wrapped up with the power of God (Luke 24:49). Through His manifold operations over the ages, we can confirm that the Holy Ghost is synonymous with Ultimate Power in the spirit realm.

Even Jesus Christ ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:14-15). God anointed Him with the Holy Ghost to enable Him do the mighty works recorded about Him (Acts 10:38). If Jesus had to, I much more need to rely heavily upon the Holy Spirit. It is only in Him and through Him that we can find answers in the world and for the world today.

Understanding the Concept of the Power

Power depicts “might”; authority depicts “right”. Deploying brute “might” without authority makes you a common criminal; claiming “right” without power also makes you a foregone loser. Hence, power is always required to back up any essential authority, just like the police force backs the constituted authority of a sovereign state.

The Holy Ghost’s superpower bestowed upon the Christians is very essential in this world, or else we won’t be able to enforce the Lordship of Christ on earth, nor will we be able to truly enjoy our sonship authority in Christ Jesus (Luke 10:19).

The Greek word, “dunamis” is commonly translated “power”. “Dunamis” is also the root word for “dynamite”, an explosive of great energy. Hence, Acts 1:8 connotes a sense that an explosive spiritual power or force comes upon the believer at the instance of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

However, the Holy Spirit’s empowerment is not only in terms of signs, wonders and explosive spiritual gifts. In fact, the word translated “power” also means “ability”, which applies in practical ways to everyday life (Acts 1:7-8, MSG).

The Holy Spirit supplies the ability, whatever it takes, to help Christians accomplish whatever they need to accomplish. See, that’s all we really need in life —whatever it takes!

Vital Purpose of the Holy Spirit Infilling

The main purpose of the Holy Spirit baptism is for effective witnessing, that is, influencing the world for Christ and manifesting as sons of God in our generation.

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled the disciples, and the grand consequence was the spread of the gospel, region by region, throughout the entire world (Acts 1:8; 2:1-4).

The religious oppositions admitted that Jerusalem was promptly reached (Acts 5:28) and soon thereafter, Judea was touched (Acts 8:1; 8:4). Next, the “Jesus’ message” entered Samaria (Acts 8:5-6) and, finally, the gospel percolated the then known world in very quick succession (Colossians 1:5-6).

Moreover, even Peter who had hitherto been very timid was able to preach the gospel boldly after he was baptized in the Holy Ghost. Of a truth, the Holy Spirit enables ordinary people to do extraordinary things, particularly helping us to witness for Christ in the Holy Ghost power and with full conviction (1 Thessalonians 1:5; Acts 4:29).

Unfortunately, however, many people equate being a witness merely with speech, or what we commonly term, “witnessing.” But effectiveness in reaching the spiritually lost requires witnessing beyond words.

This is the age of the Holy Spirit! Our witness is comprised of what we say, how we say it and who we are. The Spirit moves us in our witness with a sincere and compelling passion, and He enables our character to become what God has called us to be.

The Holy Spirit Then And Now!

Pursuing and performing in the power of the Holy Ghost is not an option but a command: “As ye go, preach …. Heal ….” (Matthew 10:7-8). It is imperative for us, Christians, to use our position well to glorify God, and to rescue the oppressed and the perishing (Mark 16:15-18; Ephesians 6:10-12).

As part of the regular works of the Holy Ghost on earth, He enables desirable changes in the lives of men (Jeremiah 13:23; 1 Samuel 10:6; John 1:12). He convicts men of sin (John 16:7-14). He also incubates power for inexplicable miracles (Luke 1:35; Genesis 1:1-5).

Again, the Holy Spirit imparts grace, strange power and boldness to make Christians valuable, vocal, vital and valid witnesses of the power of God (Zechariah 4:6; John 7:37-38; Romans 8:26). This He does in order to reveal the love of Jesus in the hearts of men.

Now, recall that the Holy Spirit is eternal; hence, there is nothing He has done before that He cannot do again and again, if only He finds Christians who would maintain a real close touch with Him.

Maintaining A Close Touch With The Holy Spirit

After our initial experience of Holy Spirit baptism, we need regular recharge for renewed vigour and boldness in the work of the Great Commission. The outstanding impacts that the disciples made in Acts 4:13-31 in spite of their generally unimpressive human credentials are very noteworthy.

What made the huge difference was that the men had spent time with Jesus, had been impacted by Him, and were now walking in the strength of His Spirit!

Where the Holy Spirit is present, He influences and controls every destiny connected with Him (Romans 8:14). The influence of the Spirit would lead any man to glorious destinations, but when neglected, rejected or despised, the man goes down to a hell of aborted destiny (1 John 2:20).

Beloved brethren, the Holy Spirit is still at work here on earth, enlightening, quickening, strengthening and guiding true disciples of Christ who are born of His Spirit. Only that He’s waiting for them to readily pay the price for renewed experiences of the Pentecostal infilling.

Friends, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might (Ephesians 6:10-12). Swing to a lifestyle of accord with the Holy Spirit. Be at one with Him, yield fully and He will suddenly enable you for enhanced performances upon the earth. You won’t miss it, in Jesus name. Amen. Happy Sunday!

** Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Twitter: www.twitter.com/bishopakinola

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

The Bible says: “Of (God) and through (God) and to (God) are all things, to (God) be glory forever.” (Romans 11:36). Therefore, everything in this world must be ungodly. Everything in the world is man-made and gives glory to man. So, everything in this world must be counterfeit and not of God. 

Accordingly, John tells us: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17).  

This means we must not love houses. Do not love cars. Do not love cell phones. Do not love jewelry. Do not love money. Do not love fame. Do not love women. Do not love power. Do not love life. Do not be deceived by the vainglories of the world. “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

If they tell you about the famous Burj Khalifa building in Dubai, know it is hogwash. It is to the glory of men and not of God. If they tell you about the majestic Eiffel Tower in Paris, know it is claptrap. If they wax lyrical about the ancient pyramids of Egypt, know it is codswallop. If they want to entice you with the Coliseum in Rome, tell them: “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offence to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:23).

The Bible says: “Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’” (Matthew 24:1-2).

The disciples were foolish to expect Jesus to be impressed by a man-made building. Jesus Himself is the Word of God that says: “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain who build it.” (Psalm 127:1).

Thus, the 110-storey twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York came down according to prophecy: “In the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.” (Isaiah 30:25).

Love of God

Since all things must be of God, the only true love is the love of God. The only genuine love must be the love that God gives. God only gives His unique love to His spiritual children. So, the Bible says: “God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” (Romans 5:5).

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love. (Galatians 5:22). Therefore, genuine love only comes from the Holy Spirit. If a man is not born of God, he cannot have the Holy Spirit. If he does not have the Holy Spirit, he cannot have the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is love.

Whatever love unbelievers claim to have cannot be genuine because it is not of God. Their love is counterfeit. It is the kind that shipwrecks marriages in divorce. It is the kind that is simultaneously full of hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, and selfishness. (Galatians 5:20). 

We cannot truly love unless and until we have received and internalised the love of God. It is the love of God that teaches us to love. It ensures that we do not love like unbelievers, or with the love of so-called Christians that is full of quarrels and often ends in divorce.

Instead, it ensures that we love with the love of God, which never fails. The love that: “suffers long and is kind; (that) does not envy; (that) does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

One Love

The first and greatest commandment says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37).

This is tautological. It implies that the love of God permits no other love but the love of God. If we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, there can be no room for any other love. Only the love of God is acceptable.

Thus, Jesus says: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26).

It is only out of our love for God that we can love anyone else, for of God and through God and to God are all things, that all the glory may be to God forever. (Romans 11:36).

Thus, the Bible does not just tell husbands to love their wives, full stop! Instead, it says: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.” (Ephesians 5:25). In every way, and always, the foundation and yardstick of genuine love must be exclusively the love of God.

Jesus says: “Without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). This is because through Jesus are all things, to Him be the glory. When Jesus says we can do nothing without Him, He is saying something much more comprehensive and all-encompassing than even Christians imagine.

We can do absolutely nothing without Jesus. We can do nothing righteous without Him. Without Jesus, we cannot bear fruit. Without Jesus: “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6).

Can a man love his wife without Jesus? Absolutely not! Without Jesus, He can do nothing. Before a man can love his wife, he must first love God. Before a man can love his wife, He must first love the Lord his God.

The love we approve in an unbeliever is abomination to God. If the love does not come from the love for God, it is shallow. It is temporal. It is hypocritical. It is sentimental and emotional. This kind of love, which is celebrated in Hollywood and Nollywood, is abominable to God.

Jesus says: “What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15).

Works of Men

Since all things are of God, through God, and to God, all the works of men must be useless and worthless, for they are not of God. That is why salvation is by the grace of God and not by the works of men.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

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

Trees hold a special place in our hearts, as they possess a longevity that surpasses most other creatures. These remarkable organisms can live for thousands upon thousands of years.1 In fact, the oldest recorded tree boasted an incredible age of over five thousand years! Its roots reached back to a time when Rome stood at the peak of its glory-an inspiring testament to the longevity of trees, making them some of the oldest living beings on our planet.

We acknowledge that trees are alive, for they harness energy to sustain their existence. Though they lack the organs found in mammals, trees possess their own unique set of structures that enable their survival. But being alive, do they possess a heartbeat?

Mystery of the Heartbeat

While trees do not possess a heart in the same way humans do, the idea of them having their own rhythm and pulsation is not as far-fetched as it might seem. A recent study conducted by András Zlinszky, Bence Molnár, and Anders S. Barfod from Hungary and Denmark has shed light on an extraordinary aspect of trees-they possess a special type of pulsation akin to a heartbeat.

Using advanced monitoring techniques called “terrestrial laser scanning,” the researchers carefully observed the movements of over twenty different tree species. The investigation revealed something stunning: while trees slumber through the night, their bodies pulse in rhythm, akin to a heartbeat.

These pulses are responsible for moving water throughout the tree’s structure, much like the heart’s role in pumping blood through our bodies. This groundbreaking discovery challenges the long-held assumption that trees solely rely on osmosis for water distribution. Truly an amazing finding! These tree heartbeats occur at an incredibly slow pace, with some pulses taking hours to repeat. Their gentle nature renders them invisible to the human eye. Nature never ceases to amaze!

The study also shed light on another fact-trees engage in more movement than previously believed. Numerous tree species were observed to lower their branches by up to 10cm after sunset, a phenomenon that occurs during their sleep and is referred to as “circadian leaf movements.”

While this study provided scientists with valuable insights, there are still many questions that need to be answered. The precise workings of the tree’s heartbeat and water distribution mechanisms remain elusive, meaning we need further research to fully understand these processes. Who knows what other wonders we may uncover in the realm of trees and plant life? Recent research has even shown that plants and trees possess the ability to feel pain and emit distress signals when harmed, completely changing our prior beliefs. It is clear there is still much yet to learn and how nature continually surprises us with its workings.

The Hidden Movement of Trees

Contrary to their seemingly static nature, trees exhibit a remarkable amount of motion, as recent research has shown. While not all trees in the study showed a defined sleep cycle with lowered branches at night, the researchers observed that all trees exhibited minute and periodic pulsations. These findings suggest that trees actively pump water, acting as natural hydraulic systems.

Due to the gradual nature of these movements, these movements often go unnoticed by the naked eye. However, this surprising revelation showed that different types of trees engage in periodic movements, regardless of sleep patterns. The researchers detected previously unknown movements of up to 1cm, occurring in cycles lasting two to six hours. These movements are believed to be linked to changes in water pressure within the plants, meaning a pumping system is at work inside.

It was also noted that while all trees showed minute branch movements, only seven species demonstrated distinct sleep motions. Additionally, the length of sleep periods varied, with some trees exhibiting shorter or longer cycles. Some trees showed slow and constant movements in one direction. Factors such as disease and environmental conditions likely contribute to the motions seen.

Among the various tree species studied, the Magnolia tree exhibited the most striking movement, undergoing three complete up-and-down cycles in a single night. These short-term movements of trees correspond to changes in water pressure within their structures.

The researchers concluded that the barely seen movements of trees and other plants could serve as crucial indicators of their health. Detecting changes in overnight movements may prove to be an effective tool for noting crop stress or disease, making it easier to help earlier and use more environmentally friendly solutions.

Furthermore, trees exhibit a range of oscillating cycles similar to circadian rhythms. Many processes within trees follow distinct cycles, often lasting 24 hours, such as the opening and closing of stomata.3 Some oscillations occur annually, such as the shedding of leaves. These cycles are primarily driven by light and atmospheric conditions. Trees respond to environmental changes by adjusting their transpiration rates throughout the day, increasing water loss in the morning and decreasing it during the afternoon and night. Accompanying these changes is the slow, rhythmic pulse observed in the diameter of the tree’s stem.

The Origin of A Tree’s Heartbeat

Nearly a century ago, reports of a tree’s pulse surfaced during experiments conducted by forest scientists to measure stem growth. In 1932, Lester Henry Reineke invented the first precision dendrometer, a device used to measure the girth of a tree’s stem. Using this instrument, researchers discovered that tree stems contract during the day and expand at night due to fluctuations in water stored within their tissues.

Recent research has found that the pulse primarily originates from diameter fluctuations in the bark, a surprising revelation considering the traditional belief that bark is separate from the tree’s transpiration stream. To unravel this mystery, scientists have delved into the composition and function of the bark.

The bark comprises a dead outer layer and a living inner section housing a transport system called the phloem. The phloem transports sugars produced during photosynthesis in the leaves to other tissues in need of energy. This transportation process leads to a downward flow of sugar-rich sap toward the roots. Water serves as the transport medium for these sugars, and under specific conditions, water can be drawn out of the phloem and into the tree’s transpiration stream.

Thus, despite lacking a traditional heart, trees possess their unique pulse. To truly experience this phenomenon, one must sit next to a tree, observing its movements over an extended period-a remarkable reminder of the hidden wonders surrounding us in the natural world.

The Premier Daily

An Ecuadorian woman has died in hospital just days after she stunned mourners at her wake by knocking from the inside of her coffin after she had been mistakenly declared as deceased by a doctor.

Bella Montoya, 76, died last week in the Ecuadorian city of Babahoyo – or so doctors thought – before she made it clear to guests at her wake that reports of her death had been very much premature.

Montoya was swiftly removed from what was intended to be her eternal resting place and rushed back to hospital where her condition was upgraded to ‘alive.’ But after seven days of treatment she died – for good, this time – on Friday of an ischemic stroke, Ecuador’s health ministry confirmed in a statement.

Health officials added that Montoya was kept under “permanent surveillance” while in hospital. “This time my mother really did die,” her son Gilbert Barbera told local media. “My life will not be the same.”

On her actual death, Montoya was returned to the same funeral home where she first alerted mourners that her death had been declared a little too hastily. She will be buried at a public cemetery, according to reports in Ecuadorian media.

It was also reported in the country’s press that Montoya had a condition called catalepsy, the symptoms of which include seizures, a loss of consciousness and rigidity in the body – ailments which were apparently confused by a doctor for rigor mortis.

Montoya was first declared deceased on June 9. After almost five hours with her inside her coffin, mourners heard noises emanating from inside it and opened it up to discover her very much alive .

She was returned to hospital by emergency services but doctors were unable to prolong her life very much longer before she succumbed to stroke.

Montoya’s apparent Lazarus-like return to life follows a similar incident in New York State earlier this year in which an 82-year-old woman was found to be breathing while awaiting funeral proceedings. She had been declared dead three hours earlier.

Russia Today

“Out of relative obscurity, every generation must discover its mission and either fulfill or betray it.” – Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth

“This generation will not pass away before all these things take place”. – Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew 24/34.

What we are doing today is a momentous event in the history of the Nigerian Left. Although it is the launching, not of a richly endowed foundation, not the opening of a magnificent physical edifice of the Left but a (mere) online website, it is still an occasion of great historical significance. This is because this online website will be a window on what will be the only SOCIALIST LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES on the African continent. As an online window, the website will open out to both an online library and archive that is accessible to the whole world and a physical library and archival documents and other materials on the ground in Calabar. The epochal nature of this project can be gauged by the fact that while we know of socialist booksellers, socialist book distributors, socialist publishers and even socialist institutions for the production and training of cadres, a socialist library and archive is a very uncommon thing. As a matter of fact, only in post-revolutionary societies do we find socialist libraries that double as depositories for archives. How did this come into being, what will it add to resources available to the Nigerian Left and what new relationships between the past, the present and the future will it entail – these are the issues that I hope to address in this talk. But first, a word or two on the ground on which I stand as I give the talk.

I speak today as the Chair of the Board of Advisers and of the Board of Trustees of SOLAR, not as “Professor Emeritus” as I was introduced. I speak also as a former President of ASUU, indeed the foundation president of ASUU. I speak also as a former member of the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) representing ASUU in that body. And I speak as a former member of the Socialist Forum Collective (SFC) of Ife that, for more than two decades, met unfailingly every week to dispassionately review what we had done right or wrong and where we were going. I also speak as one of a small band of revolutionaries that formed a commune at Ode-Omu whose purpose was ultimately to foment a mass uprising of peasants and workers in many parts of the country. Finally, I speak as a leftist newspaper columnist who wrote continuously for major mainstream Nigerian newspapers – Sketch, Guardian, The Nation – for more than half a century. I mention these facts and points of reference because it was within the contexts they provided that I met the outstanding leftist revolutionaries, activists and thinkers of my generation and the generation that came after mine. As will become evident in the course of my talk, this is the main backdrop of the talk. It is also the central experience of my life. I do not of course under-value the scholarly and professional work indicated in my emeritus professorship; indeed, I wish to place on the record here that I am immensely proud of all the younger scholars that I joined others to produce at Ibadan, Ife, Cornell and Harvard, nearly all of them very prominent academics and intellectuals in their own right. But as all of them know, the life I have had in the Nigerian Left has been at the center of my existence in the last halfcentury. And it is from this fount of invaluable experience that I draw the substance of this talk.

SOLAR’s online and on-the-ground library and archives both have their antecedents in two projects of Edwin and Bene Madunagu that are almost without duplication or comparison in the Nigerian Left: a socialist free public library that opened in 1995 and closed partially in 2018; and a passionate and dedicated archiving of the lives, struggles (and quarrels) of individuals and generations of Nigerian revolutionaries and activists from the colonial period to more or less the present period. Edwin Madunagu was/is of course not the only one in the Nigerian Left who kept an archive, but he was the most dedicated and what he colllected is numerically vastly superior to what anyone else collected. He was/is not like a collector of stamps or heritage coins; as the greatest historian and archivist of our generation, he collected documents and memorabilia on the lives and times and struggles of generations of the Nigerian Left assiduously. When it became widely known that he was “collecting”, many sought him out to donate to his ever-expanding trove. In one case – that of Pa Curtis Joseph – the tranche of papers and memorabilia that he gave to Eddie was more than a thousand pages! The free public library also has all the marks of an uncommon revolutionary project about it because, at precisely the time when government-funded public libraries were folding up in Nigeria, Eddie and Bene were running a free library in Calabar where working people and young people could come in, read newspapers, check out books, and for a small, token fee have photocopies of newspapers and documents made for them. Is there a connection between the free socialist public library and the vast archival collection of the Madunagus? Yes, there is and it is this: of all the comrades that I encountered in the Nigerian Left, none appreciated the significance of documentation and information as intellectual and cultural aspects of our struggles as did Eddie, especially with regard to relations between past and present generations of the Nigerian Left. I recall here the countless number of conversations between Eddie and myself that were sparked by some particular items in the archives, just as the free public library dedicated specifically to socialism made Calabar one of my favorite cities in Nigeria, quite apart from its own great political and historical significance in the making of Nigeria. It is these two currents, the free public library and Eddie’s vast archival collection, that are coming together in the creation of SOLAR.

Digitalisation of the archives has started in earnest, thanks to assistance from one of our collaborators, IFRA. Meanwhile, thanks to another collaborator, GPI, the books, documents and other items of the archives have been moved into a building complex that is more commodious than the physical space they had occupied in the last three decades. Indeed, we have been given a parcel of land by a senior comrade and a member of the BOT. In the fullness of time, we shall erect the permanent home of SOLAR on this piece of land. Our hope is that it will be a testament to SOLAR’s vitality to the posterity of the Nigerian Left.

It is all very promising and exciting, the movement of part of the library to the GPI building complex and the digitalisation of the lives and works of generations of the Nigerian Left. Some comrades whose lives and works are being digitalized have an abundance of written works by themselves or about them. Others do not have such rich written documentation. I think here of Comrade Tony Engurube, of cherished and imperishable memory. Fortunately, he is not forgotten and there is a surfeit of oral and written accounts and testimonies produced by other comrades about his life, his exceptional revolutionary passion and activism. Like all archival collections, in this one the dominance of written sources will be alleviated by recourse to oral materials.

The digitalised archives of SOLAR will be, first and foremost, about individuals. But ultimately, it is in generational cohorts or groupings that the archives will achieve their greatest impact. This is because as crucial as class, gender, race, nationality, ethnicity, locality and individuality are as vectors of social identity and struggles for justice and equality, generations are the wheels around which revolutionary outbreaks and social transformation turn. As Fanon famously said, “out of relative obscurity, every generation must discover its mission and either fulfill or betray it”. Generation is not destiny, but it is the greatest bearer of possibility when it comes to the need and the will for revolutionary change.

For starters, we began the digitalization process around and about three particular generational cohorts of the Nigerian Left. These are the 1940s-1960s generation; the 1970s—1990s; and the Post-SAP, Post-Neoliberalim generation. Here are some names – only a small, partial list – of each of these groups. The 40s-60s group: The Zikists; Labour Leader No 1; Dapo Fatogun; Eskor Toyo; Wahab Goodluck; Kolagbodi; Baba Omojola; Ola Oni; Chimere Ikoku; Tunji Otegbeye; Chinua Achebe; Wole Soyinka; Segun Osoba; Eno Edet Traore; Ken Saro-Wiwa; Fela Kuti; Alao Aka-Basorun and Mokwugo and Ifeoma Okoye. In Group 2: Gani Fawehinmi; Omafume Onoge; Bade Onimode; Seinde and Dunni Arigbede; Yusuf Bala Usman; Omotoye Olorode; Bene and Edwin Madunagu; Femi Osofisan; Dipo Fasina; Raufu Mustafa; Ntien Kungwai; Tar Ukoh; Jibo Ibrahim; Mahmud Tukur; Atahiru Jega; Festus Iyayi; Assisi Asobie; Niyi Osundare; Esiaba Irobi; Ayesha Imam; and G.G. Darah. Group 3: Femi Falana; Ngozi Iwere (née Ojidoh); Kunle Ajibade; Chido Onumah; Akin Adesokan; Uzor Maxim Uzoatu; Chima Ubani; Owei Lakemfa; Baba Aye; Austine Amanze Akpuda; Kayode Komolafe; Wumi Raji; Offiong Offiong Aqua; Femi Taiwo; Dapo Olorunyomi; Sola Olorunyomi, Tony Iyare and Biodun Ogunyemi. As these are only partial lists, we can see that in generations of the Nigerian Left we have an impressive numerical consolidation. As a matter of fact, it is also qualitatively impressive. This goes against the grain of the received “wisdom” about national formations of the Left on the African continent. By the light of this “wisdom”, countries like Sudan, South Africa, Tanzania, Egypt and Ghana have formations and generations of the Left that are deemed much bigger, stronger and accomplished national left formations than what historically obtained in Nigeria. One of the things that the digitalization project of SOLAR will hopefully accomplish is debunk this myth, this fallacy. For the fact is that though no politically strong or viable Communist or Socialist Party has emerged in Nigeria, and the control and guidance of labour unions by the “hard left” has never been anything close to what it has been in countries like South Africa, Nasser’s Egypt and Nimery’s Sudan, the Nigerian Left has penetrated deeper and wider into three domains of national, public affairs than any other national formation of the Left in Africa: curriculum and pedagogy in the tertiary educational sector; the penetration of Leftist writers, critics, artists and performers into the arts, theatre, popular music and street art of the country; and the ideological and political alliance of intellectual and manual labour signified, for instance, in ASUU’s membership of the NLC. Though Babangida ejected ASUU from membership of the NLC, the links have remained intact. On this note, I come to the closing thoughts of this talk.

In the title of the talk, I mention two terms hinting that I am counterposing one to the other. The terms are “history” and “historicity”. By “history” I have in mind the connection between periods or generations across aeons of time, like a chain of being. In contrast, in “historicity” I have in mind the distinct and unique set of conditions or, more pertinently, contradictions that make each age, each generation like no other. On this account, “history” and “historicity” are respectively like the terms “syntagm” and “paradigm” in linguistics and/or semiotics. In the syntagm or syntagmatic structures, the syntax, the links between words, phrases or signs are so clearly established that they are regulative. In contrast, the paradigm or paradigmatic structures require absolutely no nearness or resemblance between the words, phrases or signs compared. What is the relevance of this excursus on “history” and “historicity” and “syntagm” and “paradigm” to the subject of this talk, SOLAR’s digitalization of the lives, works and struggles of generations of the Nigerian Left? Well, it seems to me that in our project, analog and digital technologies will combine to abolish the gap or divide between “history” and “historicity”, “syntagm” and “paradigm” so that both connected and unconnected comparisons can be made across the board. This seems rather like the words of the second epigraph to this talk attributed to Jesus the revolutionary Nazarene: “Before this generation shall pass away, these things will take place“. In this particular conception of “generation”, five or six bio-sociological generations are all members of one mega-generation, from new-born babies to the oldest “Methuselahs”. When it is completed, the digitalized archives of SOLAR will make available to us, instantly and simultaneously, archival materials on generations of the Nigerian Left as far apart as hundreds of years, the oldest materials going back to a time when our intellectual and ideological forebears did not refer to themselves as “Nigerians” but as “Africans”.

SOLAR’s ultramodern alchemy of post-analog digitality will not abolish the divides and gaps between and within generations of the Nigerian Left. At best it will make available to us the means of productively negotiating the most problematic divides, especially those that in the last six to eight decades have widened or deepened to chasms. I have two particular sets of such generational chasms in mind. One pertains to the unbridgeable chasm between, on the one hand, generations that continue to think of themselves as universalists and internationalists and, on the other hand, generations of leftists who are beginning to espouse ethno-nationalism and “restructurenista” irredentism. In some instances, this schism exists within the same generation. The second is the chasm between generations for whom anti-imperialism and anti-capitalism are fundamental points of departure and much younger generational cohorts for whom the effective ideological and strategic context for their struggles for justice and equality stops at our shorelines and land borders, barely extending to our contiguous neighbors like Cameroon, Niger and Benin Republic. Consistent with this stance, they completely subsume their anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism under a “patriotic”, nation-state polity in which the be-all and end-all of revolutionary or democratic subjectivity are captured by “governance”, “state capture”, “stomach infrastructure”,“insecurity” and “corruption”. Indeed, there are among the younger generations many for whom figures like Fanon, Nkrumah, Walter Rodney, Cabral and even Sankara evoke absolutely nothing, not even the shadow of mere name recognition! The shudder that this gives me is both literal and symbolic!

Does this make me sound like one of the “old Methuselahs” of Jesus’ conception of the mega-generation that contains a multiplicity of generations? I hope not! Like the entirety of the “generations” that listened to Christ’s sermon, all Nigerians, from the youngest to the oldest that are past the hundredth year mark, hope that “something” is coming that will deliver us all from the terrible suffering and darkness that envelope the land. Other than this “metaphysical” hope, SOLAR’s online digitalized archive of generations of the Nigerian Left will not pretend that all the multitudes, all the generations of the living and the departed speak with or in one voice. But neither will we project a cacophony, a Tower of Babel, a Day of Pentecost in which a riot of tongues locked the peoples – the generations – in the prison houses of their mutually incomprehensible languages and discourses. Ha, if only the universalists and internationalists could or would make common cause with the irredentist ethno-nationalists! But that is not the goal. When our online-accessible archives become available, a new renaissance will follow closely in its wake – studies, readers, anthologies, booklets, full-length books all derived from the great harvest of SOLAR’s digitalized archives will be published in waves and cycles. In this respect, SOLAR is not without antecedents and precursors in the distant and recent past of the Nigerian Left. But fundamentally, it is, or will be a synthesis of institutional bodies of the Nigerian Left that were half-formed or stuck in a limbo of neither viable nor unfeasible projects: “abiku” socialist bookshops that just barely managed to survive from one month, one year to the next; socialist book distributors who, in good conscience, never paid proceeds from books they sold to the comrades who wrote and published the books, converting the monies to their own use just to keep body and soul together; and socialist book publishers in varying degrees of precarious individual-cum-collective forms of proprietorship and authorship. SOLAR will surpass these relics of our past and present attempts at institution building and financial independence and self-reliance – but we will make haste slowly! ** Biodun Jeyifo is professor emeritus and research professor in Comparative Literature in Harvard University, USA. He is a radical critic, scholar and public intellectual. He has also taught at Cornell University, Ithaca, U.S.A and the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria.

This is the full text of remarks orally presented  at the formal launching of the website of SOLAR on Friday, 16 June, 2023.

PT

A glut of unsold Nigerian oil has built up again with as much as half of output due to be loaded next month still searching for buyers.

Traders of the nation’s oil said the surplus has been caused in part by a request for back taxes from shipping companies, which caused a wariness among some of the firms about sending their vessels to collect the west African nation’s barrels.

While the government subsequently clarified that there would be a six-month grace period to comply with the tax request, traders said the lack of sales demonstrated that Nigeria needs to do more to resolve the issue.

The surplus is a sign that global reductions in oil supply from leading producer nations is yet to tighten every market. There are between 20 and 22 cargoes that remain unsold for July, about half the total, according to the traders of West African crude. Shipments are typically about one million barrels.

Earlier this month, some shipowners were said to be avoiding the West African nation after a series of multi-million dollar tax bills were sent out, seeking to claw back unpaid duties from 2010-2019. The country’s tax authorities have given shipping companies the grace period to reconcile the tax backlog through a committee involving shippers and regulators. 

The cost of shipping oil from Nigeria was $53,463 a day as of Thursday, above the year-to-date average, according to data from the Baltic Exchange. Freight for ships hauling about 1 million barrels of crude from Nigeria to Europe surged the most in more than a year last week because of the tax issue. 

Nigeria’s slow sales contrast with a more bullish picture in Angola, where crude supplies are sold out for July and differentials are inching higher, the people said. Supplies from Gabon and Chad are also mostly sold for July. 

Much of Angola’s output is of a heavy-sweet variety that is popular with refiners in China, where demand remains healthy. 

Angola’s Cabinda grade traded at a 60-to-70 cents a barrel premium to Dated Brent for July loading earlier this week, increasing from a premium of 30 cents for June barrels. 

Bloomberg

Nigeria has accumulated up to $3 billion in debts to trading houses such as Vitol and oil majors such as BP for fuel supplies and is trailing four to six months behind schedule in repaying them with cargoes of crude, four traders and executives told Reuters.

Nigeria will likely take months to clear the debt, which will complicate reforms by new President Bola Tinubu aimed at weaning Africa's largest economy and most populous nation off costly fuel subsidies that have contributed to growing debt and foreign exchange shortages.

In his first two weeks in office, Tinubu removed petrol price caps and restrictions on the naira currency – liberalisation changes that investors have been awaiting for more than a decade.

As part of those reforms, Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer, plans to scrap an old scheme by which it swaps its crude for gasoline imports. Nigeria for years sold the gasoline, bought at the open market price, to its population at a discount, and the government paid the difference.

The subsidy costs about $10 billion last year. The last time the government tried to end the scheme, the move led to protests. Nigeria needs imports because it lacks the refinery capacity necessary to meet domestic demand.

Head of Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC, Mele Kyari, said earlier this month it was ending the swaps - known as Direct Purchase Direct Sale (DSDP) - after years of criticism by civil society groups including the Nigerian Extractive Transparency Initiative for a lack of transparency and corruption.

Kyari said payments would be now made in cash but traders say NNPC is still importing gasoline via swaps for July delivery and has to pay for those cargoes in crude as well as the pending payments for previous months of swaps.

The arrangement has for years involved more than a dozen foreign and local trading consortia and backpayments are expected to continue until at least October 2023, according to the four traders involved in business with NNPC.

NPPC, which claims the government owes it $6 billion for subsidised fuel sales, declined to comment. The government declined to comment. Swaps participants including Vitol, Mercuria, BP and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) also declined to comment.

"Swaps will ultimately stop but not yet. We are getting our swaps crude cargo in October at the earliest," one major player said.

NNPC had made a rare cash payment in May to some partners of around $200 million, two trading sources said, but no further payment has taken place since amid the government's cash struggles.

Nigeria's falling oil production has exacerbated the country's fiscal problems, because it reduces the revenue that could be used to repay debt.

Nigeria used to produce 1.8 million barrels per day of crude but output has fallen in recent years to as little as 1.1 million during due to lack of investment and massive theft.

PRIVATE IMPORTERS

Paying for fuel deliveries with crude cargoes means there is less crude for Nigeria and NNPC's to export, and so less revenue.

NNPC's contribution to state coffers went from a peak of more than $30 billion a year in 2011 to zero in 2022 as it retained revenues to cover gasoline sale losses.

International monetary experts have long suggested Nigeria remove fuel subsidies and liberalise its foreign exchange to address its fiscal crisis.

In recent years, Nigeria's central bank kept the naira fixed at an artificially high rate that gradually rose from 200 to 450 naira to the dollar that only a few players, including the NNPC, could access. That shut out potential private petrol importers from the market.

President Tinubu allowed the naira to fall steeply in recent weeks, and eliminated preferential naira rates, a move that means all potential importers get the same forex costs and could compete in fuel imports.

But the naira volatility, which makes it tough to calculate potential profits, and uncertainty over whether firms will be able to get money out of the country due to continued dollar shortages, has for now deterred private firms from importing fuel.

Besides private importers, Nigeria will also depend on businessman Aliko Dangote's refinery to cover fuel demand in the future. Nigeria's first major oil plant is unlikely to start full-scale operations before next year.

Reuters

Nigeria’s naira bonds and treasury bills, priced in the local currency, are turning out to be something investors from abroad want to stay away from as the country’s high inflation makes the yields on those assets unattractive for them.

At 22.4 per cent, price levels in Africa’s biggest economy increased to their highest levels in nearly two decades last month, outrunning rates at which such securities are priced so much that returns on them will have been much eroded by the time they fall due.

That has made their real yields negative, and foreign investors want notes to be priced higher to make up for inflation’s adverse impact.

Bloomberg cited a London-based institutional investor on Thursday as saying only rates in the 15-20 per cent band could tempt it to plough money into naira-denominated securities. An analyst at another told the news outlet that treasury bills’ yields need to really reflect the monetary policy rate to encourage foreigners to invest in the local debt market.

The circumstances are being complicated by Nigeria’s ongoing currency overhaul, which has collapsed its numerous exchange rates into a single reference rate and helped bridge the gulf between the parallel and official rates.

Removing that spread, which was as wide as 60 per cent before the new reforms, implies foreign investors looking to invest in naira bonds and T-Bills have to pay that percentage more to do so since they have to convert their capital into the local currency to make that happen.

Yet, the trend is a departure from Nigeria’s Eurobonds, which this month quickened to a 5-month high, after considerable interest from investors excited about the foreign exchange revamp.

“We’ve benefited from a big rally on the Eurobonds as spreads have declined by over 200 basis points,” Kevin Daly of London’s Abrdn Investments Limited told Bloomberg.

“We expect spreads to compress further.”

His firm offloaded its investment in Nigeria’s T-bills three years ago following policies pegging the exchange rate and introducing capital controls.

Daly said Abrdn will be willing to reinvest when rates reach between 15-20 per cent and the local currency steady in the neighbourhood of 750 to a dollar.

“T-bill yields may have to rise to re-establish the policy rate as the anchor for interest rates before foreign portfolio investors can be confident to reengage with Nigeria,” Ayo Salami, chief investment officer of an asset management company in London, told the news outlet.

His company, Emerging Markets Investment Management Limited, controls around $40 million in investment in Nigeria’s bonds and stocks.

Unless Salami “sees a genuine willing buyer, willing seller foreign currency market,” he is not prepared to invest in Nigeria, his company having been forced to cut back its activities in Nigeria after the previous government introduced foreign exchange curbs.

PT