We wanted to hear some wild stories from former "rich kids," so we recently searched Reddit and asked adults in the BuzzFeed Community who grew up rich to share the moment they realized their lives were far from normal.

Here are their most surprising responses (some of these made my jaw drop)!

1. "I thought every family had staff. We had a chef, gardener, chauffeur, two nannies, a handyman/errand guy, and two maids. These were full-time, and several of us lived with them. We had a host of part-time staff as well. When I went to college, I was shocked by how everyone took care of themselves so well when I barely knew how to tie my own shoelaces."

—richdudethrow

2. "I remember my parents having a sit-down talk with me after a parent-teacher meeting and letting me know that there was one student in our class who was feeling insecure because his family was the only one that didn't have a lake cottage or mountain home."

—talkaboutitlater

3. "The moment I realized my parents were filthy rich was when I realized not every kid has their own house. Yes literally. My parents gave me my own personal house when I was 16. It was right next to their mansion. It wasn't too big, but when I realized that wasn't normal, that was the first time I figured out my parents were really wealthy."

—Vampyr
4. "So, I grew up rich and had no idea that it was not normal for people to rent out the whole Disney Land park for a child's 7th birthday."

—Anonymous 
5. "When I learned that no other kids got allowances of $5,000 a week to spend, I realized that my life might not be normal."

—Anonymous 
6. "Growing up, all of our dishes were made of fine china, Waterford glassware, etc. And I just thought that's what plates and stuff were made of because we didn't have anything else. Then, one time, I went to a friend's house for dinner, and we ate on colored plastic plates and non-matching plastic cups; I just thought that was the weirdest thing ever and asked why we were eating with 'camping dishes.'"

—halycon

7. "At 7 years old, I looked out the living room front windows over the blue Pacific Ocean, a clear view of Catalina Island off in the distance. On TV, Sally Struthers greeted me from Africa, surrounded by starving, desperate children. Until that moment, I thought all people lived along a coastline in beach houses."

—Anonymous 
8. "My father was a successful chemical engineer/manufacturer and private pilot. I spent my childhood in a gated fly-in community with a fully functioning airport. Not only did we have a garage full of your 'everyday' vehicles, but we also had an airplane hangar full of classic cars that my dad enjoyed restoring, World War II era 'warbirds,' as well as the modern twin-engine planes he used to fly to business meetings. We owned property in Nantucket and St. Maarten and were constantly taking extemporaneous vacations. John Travolta would walk over from time to time and shoot the shit with my dad in our hangar up until he made Pulp Fiction and was sling-shotted back into relevancy."

"When I was about 4 years old, I made a new friend at school and was invited to spend the afternoon over at his house. It was an eye-opening experience, to say the very least, and when I returned home, still very confused, I remember saying something along the lines of, 'Mommy, they live in a really small house, and they don't have an airplane hangar.'My mother was slightly horrified at the realization that this was my reality and had to explain to me that 'not everyone has the same things that we have.'"
—benadrylcumberbatch

9. "Playing around as a 9-year-old in my friend's dad's Ferrari F40 like it was a playhouse."

—Uppgreyyed
10. "As kids, we didn't realize that everyone didn't live how we did. I literally was in my 20s and living in a different part of the country when I learned that Coach bags and products were not products designed for children. I saw an adult client of mine carrying a Coach purse and thought, 'Huh, what an odd choice for an adult.' I thought adults carried bags from 'real designers' and that Coach was a training pants designer or something."

"This sounds wild, but where I grew up, Coach bags were what parents got their elementary-age girls as purses. Getting a Coach bag for a present as a kid was normal. Luckily, I didn't embarrass myself by saying anything to my client, but I still catch myself doing a double-take when I see an adult with a Coach purse."
—Anonymous 

11. "Everything is embroidered to a certain point. From zebras to toasters, everything appears to be embroidered when you don't know any better. I can't think of any reason why, but the patterns in the air just really mess with your perception. See, when you're rich and have all this extra money, there isn't any reason to not get personalized everything. So everything else seems like it was embroidered by someone or something."

—amazing_mouse
12. "My siblings and I have practiced equestrian show jumping since we were very young, and our parents initially never told us how expensive the horses (or anything for that matter) were. As we got older, we would overhear my parents talking about how much they paid for the horses and didn't really understand just how high these figures were until one day; I heard a family friend sharing that she had bought herself an apartment after saving for many years and that it cost her x much. I remember feeling paralyzed because I realized my horse was more expensive than her home."

—Anonymous 
13. "I was 23 the first time I had to figure out how to use a washing machine. To this day, I can remember how helpless I felt, staring at it like a dead fish. Had to call the family maid."

—bontem
14. "My roommate in college would order a catered meal for every dinner. He'd have a restaurant bring so much takeout that they'd bring it in those aluminum trays and heaters underneath, and a server would stick around to dish out the food and clean up afterward. It took us a couple of months to realize that he thought this was totally normal behavior and was confused as to why we made such a big deal about it."

—joeb1kenobi

15. When I started working full time, I realized the yearly tuition at my private middle and high school was more than my whole salary. Then I did the math, and my entire education cost over $1 million with no loans. I am very grateful."

—Anonymous 
16. "In high school, I moved from private to public school (by choice). I realized that it's not normal to have multiple vacation homes in and out of the country, to own more cars than people to drive them, or to have an elevator, golf simulator, and walk-in wine cellar in our main house."

—Anonymous 
17. "Honestly, it was the little things. I knew we had nicer cars than average, a bigger house, went on more trips, etc. But I thought everyone's refrigerators had wood-paneled cabinet doors, for example. The first time I saw a metal fridge, I thought it was weird, and I thought it was even weirder that the fridge and freezer were combined."

"I also thought everyone had a central vacuum system where you can sweep dirt into a little hole under the cabinets by the floor, and it sucks it up. We had these little holes all over, in every room."
—Thighmaster220

18. "There was a windstorm by our summer house that resulted in fallen trees between our house and our neighbors. It was nice because we could see more of the lake, but my parents weren't pleased that we now had to see our neighbors' house. It was a small chartreuse square from the '60s, neatly kept and didn't obstruct our view, but it was not the most picturesque."

"Well, my parents ended up buying the house and tearing it down so that we wouldn't have to look at it. At the time, I didn't think this was odd (I was actually kind of peeved because my sister and I wanted to play in the house), but looking back on it, it's a pretty wild level of privilege to be able to buy a house and tear it down just to improve your view." 
—Anonymous 
And finally...

19. "One day I was visiting family friends on the way to Lake Tahoe, and they asked what I’d been up to lately. I replied that I had just been doing the usual, waterskiing on my friend's boat and riding their yacht, which they even let me drive, sailing, and hanging out at the yacht club, and told them we’d also recently arrived home from a trip to Japan and another to Fiji."

"I then informed them that we were soon leaving for the French Riviera and Monaco, which I was excited about. The look they gave me completely shocked me, and all I could think was, 'It’s not like I’ve done anything crazy lately!' That’s when it hit me that most of the country wouldn’t just talk about those activities as casual everyday ones."
—Anonymous 

Buzzfeed

The Debt Management Office (DMO) says Nigeria’s total public debt has reached N121.67 trillion within three months.

This figure represents an increase of N24.33 trillion or 24.99 percent from the N97.34 trillion as of December 2023.

Nigeria’s public debt profile consists of domestic and external debt stocks of the federal and subnational governments — the 36 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

According to the DMO, the increase was primarily due to new domestic borrowing by the federal government to partly fund the deficit in the 2024 budget as well as disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.

“Total domestic debt was N65.65 trillion (USD46.29 billion) while total external debt was N56.02 trillion (USD42.12 billion).

“Excluding naira exchange rate movements in Q1 2024, only the domestic debt component of total public debt grew from N59.12 trillion on December 31, 2023, to N65.65 trillion on March 31, 2024.

“The increase was from new borrowing to part-finance the 2024 Budget deficit and securitization of a portion of the N7.3 trillion Ways and Means Advances at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“Whilst borrowing, as provided in the 2024 Appropriation Act, will continue, we expect improvements in the government’s revenue to enhance debt sustainability.”

On June 13, Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, announced the approval of two major “financial support packages” by the World Bank — valued at $2.25 billion.

In May, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said the federal government has secured a $500m World Bank loan to boost electricity distribution in the country.

Prior to this, the federal government had received $750 million from the World Bank for humanitarian and social reforms and $1.5 billion for its economic stabilisation plan.

 

The Cable

Indian steel maker, Aarti, is exiting the Nigerian manufacturing sector, joining a long list of companies leaving the country on account of economic woes.

The Ota, Ogun State-based steel maker, has already been put up for sale and big players have submitted unconfirmed bids ranging between $50 million and $100 million.

The steel maker’s exit is attributed to a combination of factors, notably high rate of indebtedness, challenging economy, fluffing currency, surging inflation and high energy cost, a source who spoke on condition of anonymity told BusinessDay.

“We are aware that Aarti Steel Nigeria has been put up for sale but we are yet to make our bid,” a reliable source from one of the bidding companies, who is not authorised to speak on the issue, said.

According to the source, African Industries and Bharti are bidding to buy the Indian-owned steel manufacturer for $50 million to $100 million. The process is expected to be completed in a few months.

The company is asking investors to submit their profiles, another source noted, saying that the management of the company wants to hand over Aarti to a credible investor.

This will make it the sixth company to exit Nigeria in the first half of 2024 after Microsoft Nigeria, Total Energies Nigeria, PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC, Kimberly-Clark Nigeria and Diageo PLC left the shores of Africa’s most populous nation.

The exit of Aarti will further dent the country’s perception as an investment destination and its $1 trillion gross domestic product (GDP) target, experts weigh in.

“The continuous exiting of multinationals from the economy is a serious cause for concern and this is because of the implication that it has,” said Muda Yusuf, chief executive officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise.

“It has a negative implication for employment and the country’s perception as an investment destination,” Yusuf added.

In 2017, Aaarti spent $20 million to $30 million to establish a 120,000-capacity cold-rolled mill in Ota, Ogun State, to serve Nigeria’s downstream players using the steel to produce home appliances, roofing sheets, metal furniture and filing cabinets, tables and chairs, among others.

But the investment does not seem to matter much now.

 

Businessday

Nigerian energy firm Aiteo has shut down all oil production at its Nembe Creek facility, nearly 50,000 barrels per day of output, after detecting a leak, the company said on Wednesday.

Aiteo Eastern E&P said the leak was reported on Monday during routine operations in the Nembe area of Nigeria's oil-rich Bayelsa state. It is one of the most polluted places on Earth after decades of spills that have hurt farming and fishing.

The Nembe Creek facility is the largest of 11 fields under an oil mining lease operated by Aiteo, which also produces significant natural gas volumes that supply the Nigeria LNG plant at Bonny Island.

The leak's cause was undetermined, Aiteo said, adding that the shutdown was precautionary while it contained the spill.

Aiteo said it has notified regulators.

"While we regret the production losses ... and the potential environmental impact, our current priority is to expedite an efficient spill-management process in line with regulatory standards and collaborate with all stakeholders to restore production and mitigate associated risks," said Aiteo Managing Director Victor Okoronkwo.

Solomon Ukponevi, head of the country's oil-spill detection and response agency NOSDRA, said an investigation was underway.

In Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, oil spills have had a catastrophic impact on communities where people have no other water supply than creeks and rely on farming and fishing.

Oil spills, sometimes due to vandalism or corrosion, are common in the Niger Delta, a vast maze of creeks and mangrove swamps crisscrossed by pipelines and blighted by poverty, pollution, oil-fuelled corruption and violence.

 

Reuters

The wave of multinational companies exiting Nigeria continues to swell, presenting a grim reflection of the nation's current economic climate. The latest casualty, Aarti Steel, a prominent Indian steel maker, is set to leave the Nigerian manufacturing sector, further deepening concerns about the country’s investment environment. This trend starkly contrasts with the Nigerian government’s professed commitment to attract foreign investment through orthodox economic policies championed by international financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank.

President Bola Tinubu’s administration has embarked on a series of reforms intended to liberalize the economy and create a conducive environment for business. These measures include the withdrawal of subsidies, devaluation of the naira, and increased taxation. Ironically, instead of bolstering investor confidence, these policies seem to be exacerbating the economic woes, leading to a spate of high-profile corporate departures.

The challenges plaguing Nigeria’s economy are multifaceted. Aarti Steel’s decision to exit is attributed to a combination of high indebtedness, a volatile economic environment, a depreciating currency, surging inflation, and exorbitant energy costs. These factors collectively create a hostile business environment, making it difficult for companies to operate profitably.

The departure of Aarti Steel is not an isolated incident. It joins a growing list of multinational corporations that have exited Nigeria in recent times, including Microsoft Nigeria, Total Energies Nigeria, PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC, Kimberly-Clark Nigeria, and Diageo PLC. The exodus of these firms not only disrupts the local job market but also tarnishes Nigeria’s image as a viable investment destination, undermining efforts to achieve a $1 trillion GDP target.

This troubling trend calls for a re-evaluation of the current economic policies. While the withdrawal of subsidies and devaluation might align with IMF and World Bank prescriptions, the adverse impacts on the local economy suggest that a more nuanced approach is necessary. Here are several strategies that could help reverse this tide and create a more stable and attractive environment for both local and foreign investors:

1. Stable Macroeconomic Policies: The government must focus on stabilizing the macroeconomic environment. This includes controlling inflation, stabilizing the currency, and ensuring a consistent regulatory framework that supports long-term business planning.

2. Improving Infrastructure: High operational costs, particularly in energy, significantly hinder manufacturing. Investing in reliable and affordable infrastructure, especially in energy, transport, and communication, can reduce these costs and make the business environment more attractive.

3. Incentives for Local Manufacturing: Providing tax incentives, subsidies for key inputs, and facilitating access to finance for local manufacturers can help boost domestic production and reduce reliance on imports.

4. Enhancing Security: The pervasive security challenges in Nigeria deter investment. Strengthening law enforcement and ensuring a safer environment for businesses and their employees is crucial.

5. Promoting Ease of Doing Business: Streamlining bureaucratic processes, reducing red tape, and enhancing transparency can improve Nigeria’s ranking in global ease of doing business indices, thereby attracting more investors.

6. Public-Private Partnerships: Encouraging collaboration between the government and the private sector can lead to more effective policy-making and implementation. This includes involving businesses in the dialogue on economic reforms and infrastructure development.

7. Skill Development: Investing in education and vocational training can create a more skilled workforce, which is attractive to both local and foreign businesses looking to operate in Nigeria.

While the exit of multinational companies like Aarti Steel paints a bleak picture, it also serves as a wake-up call for policymakers. By addressing the underlying issues that drive businesses away and fostering a more supportive environment, Nigeria can turn the tide, retain its existing investors, and attract new ones, ultimately paving the way for sustained economic growth and development.

The Nigerian air force said Tuesday it will acquire 50 new aircraft to strengthen its capabilities against armed gangs and terrorists in northwest Nigeria.

Nigerian Chief of Air Staff Hassan Bala Abubakar made the announcement at the opening of new military facilities, including two aircraft hangars in northwest Katsina state.

Abubakar said the aircraft would include 12 AH-1 attack helicopters, 24 M-346 combat planes, 12 AW109 multipurpose helicopters and a pair of Casa 295 transport aircraft. He did not disclose the cost, nor did he say who would provide the aircraft.

He said Nigeria is expected to receive them by next year.

The aircraft will be used to bolster offensives against jihadist groups and armed gangs that have terrorized northwest and central states in recent years, Abubakar said.

But security analyst Mike Ejiofor says acquiring 50 aircraft is overambitious and possibly misdirected.

"I know it will bolster the fight against terrorism, but I believe that we should concentrate more on land than air. We're not at war,” Ejiofor said.

The money, he said, should “have been channeled to training and provision of welfare for the ground troops. I think we would've achieved more results."

Abubakar’s announcement came as Kaduna state authorities announced Tuesday a partnership with the military to set up three new operational fronts within the state.

Kaduna state Governor Uba Sani said, "We concluded with the military to set up forward-operating bases in southern Kaduna, and another one in the Giwa and Birnin-Gwari axis. All the arrangements are being concluded."

The Nigerian air force came under heavy criticism in December after more than 80 people were killed and dozens wounded during an airstrike in Kaduna state that was intended to target gangs.

Nigerian authorities have promised to operate with more precision to avoid future accidents.

Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff General Christopher Musa told journalists in Abuja, "The armed forces of Nigeria are highly professional. We're here to protect innocent citizens, not to harm them. Whatever it was that happened there was a mistake, but we're addressing such issues."

Ejiofor said authorities should focus more on boosting the ability of the air force to gather and process accurate information about the activities of armed groups.

"These strikes are intelligence-driven, so we must get the intelligence before they're guided to the areas,” he said. “I think what we should've done is to deploy more drones that will be sending this data."

 

VOA

Israel's pledge to guard an aid route into Gaza falls flat as lawlessness blocks distribution

The Israeli military said Sunday that it was establishing a new safe corridor to deliver aid into southern Gaza. But days later, this self-declared “tactical pause” has brought little relief to desperate Palestinians.

The United Nations and international aid organizations say a breakdown in law and order has made the aid route unusable.

With thousands of truckloads of aid piled up, groups of armed men are regularly blocking convoys, holding drivers at gunpoint and rifling through their cargo, according to a U.N. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media on the issue.

The lawlessness is a major obstacle to aid distribution to southern and central Gaza — where an estimated 1.3 million Palestinians displaced from Rafah, or more than half of Gaza’s entire population, are now sheltering in tent camps and cramped apartments without adequate food, water, or medical supplies.

Here is a closer look at the security challenges facing the U.N. and aid organizations.

Israel’s ‘tactical pause’ stymied

Israel said Sunday it would observe daily pauses in combat along a route stretching from Kerem Shalom — the strip’s only operational aid crossing in the south — to the nearby city of Khan Younis. Before the pause, aid organizations had reported that the need to coordinate trucks’ movement with the Israelis in an active combat zone was slowing aid distribution.

The head of the U.N.’s World Food Program said Thursday that the pause has made “no difference at all” in aid distribution efforts. “We haven’t been able to get in,” said Cindy McCain in an interview with Al-Monitor. “We’ve had to reroute some of our trucks. They’ve been looted. As you know, we’ve been shot at and we’ve been rocketed.”

The U.N. official familiar with the aid effort said that there has been no sign of Israeli activity along the route. The U.N. tried to send a convoy of 60 trucks down the road Tuesday to pick up aid at Kerem Shalom. But 35 of the trucks were intercepted by armed men, the official said.

In recent days, the groups have moved closer to the crossing and set up roadblocks to halt trucks loaded with supplies, the U.N. official said. They have searched the pallets for smuggled cigarettes, a rare luxury in a territory where a single smoke can go for $25.

The surge in lawlessness is a result of growing desperation in Gaza and the power vacuum left by Hamas’s waning power over the territory, said Mkhaimar Abusada, an associate professor of political science at Al-Azhar University in Gaza who is now in Cairo.

With the enclave’s police force targeted by Israel, he said, crime has reemerged as an untreated issue in Gaza.

“After Hamas came to power, one of the things that they brought under their control was the lawlessness of the so-called big clans,” said Abusada. “Now, that’s left for the Palestinians on their own to deal with it. So once again, we are seeing shootings between families, there are thefts, all the bad things are happening.”

UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, used to deploy local Palestinian police to escort aid convoys, but many refused to continue serving after airstrikes killed at least eight police officers in Rafah, the agency said.

Israel says the police are legitimate targets because they are controlled by Hamas.

Is any aid still getting into Gaza?

The situation has largely paralyzed aid distribution to the south — particularly since Gaza’s nearby Rafah crossing with Egypt was closed when Israel invaded the city early last month.

The U.N. official said that 25 trucks of flour used the route Tuesday. Some private commercial trucks also got through — many of which used armed security to deter groups seeking to seize their cargo. An AP reporter stationed along the road Monday saw at least eight trucks pass by, armed security guards riding on top.

Before Israel’s offensive into the city of Rafah, hundreds of fuel trucks routinely entered the area.

The U.N. has now begun rerouting some fuel trucks through northern Gaza. Farhan Haq, a U.N. spokesman, said five fuel trucks entered Gaza Wednesday. The U.N. humanitarian office reported that these were the first fuel deliveries since early June and supplies remain scarce.

Aid groups say only a ceasefire and a reopening of the Rafah crossing could significantly increase aid flow to the area.

The military body in charge of coordinating humanitarian aid efforts, COGAT, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Security concerns also afflict aid from U.S. pier project

The U.S. installed a pier off Gaza’s coast last month, aiming to provide an additional route for aid to enter Gaza. But the ambitious project has suffered repeated logistical and security setbacks.

Cyprus and US officials said the pier was up and running again Thursday after being detached for a second time last week because of rough seas. COGAT said Thursday there were “hundreds of aid pallets awaiting collection and distribution by the U.N. aid agencies.”

But there, too, security concerns are hindering distribution of aid.

The U.N. suspended its cooperation with the pier on June 9 – a day after rumors swirled that the Israeli military had used the area in a hostage rescue operation that left over 270 Palestinians dead. Photos of the operation showed an Israeli military helicopter in what appeared to be the vicinity of the pier.

Both Israel and the US deny the pier was used in the operation. But the perception that the pier was used for military purposes could endanger humanitarian workers, and threaten humanitarian groups’ principles of of neutrality, the U.N. says.

Aid workers said they are working with the Israelis to find a solution, but that the security burden falls squarely on Israel’s shoulders.

Officials from the U.N. and other humanitarian organizations, including Samantha Power, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, met with Israel’s military chief and COGAT officials this week to seek solutions.

USAID said afterward that the meeting ended with promises of specific actions, but gave no details.

 

AP

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

‘Strategic defeat’ means end of Russia – Putin

The West must realize that defeating Russia is not only unlikely, but impossible due to the unity of its people who understand that it would spell the end of the country’s thousand-year history, President Vladimir Putin has argued.

Speaking at a press conference in Hanoi following his meetings with the leadership of Vietnam on Thursday, Putin addressed the issue of Western powers “raising the temperature” of the Ukraine conflict through gradual escalation.

“Apparently, they expect us to get scared at some point. But at the same time, they also say that they want to achieve a strategic defeat of Russia on the battlefield. What does this mean for Russia? For Russia, this means the end of its statehood. This means the end of the thousand-year history of the Russian state. I think this is understandable for everyone,” Putin noted.

And then the question arises: Why should we be afraid? Wouldn’t it be better to go all the way then? This is elementary logic.

Even though Putin repeatedly admitted that any conflict involving the use of nuclear weapons would have dire consequences for humanity, he has maintained that Moscow would be forced to defend itself using all available means if the country’s very existence was at stake.

Back in 2018, he famously said that “as a citizen of Russia and the head of the Russian state I must ask myself: Why would we want a world without Russia?”

The US and its allies have funneled weapons, ammunition, and equipment to Ukraine over the past two years, while insisting they are not a party to the conflict but want to inflict “a strategic defeat” on Moscow. In recent months, Washington, London, and other NATO members announced they were lifting restrictions on Kiev’s use of their weapons against Russia.

Citing the need to send the West a message, last month the Kremlin ordered the military to carry out drills in deploying non-strategic nuclear weapons. Asked on Thursday whether Russia could change its nuclear doctrine to include a clause on the possibility of launching a pre-emptive nuclear strike, Putin emphasized there was no need for that.

“We do not need a preventive strike yet, because the enemy is guaranteed to be destroyed in a retaliatory strike,” he said.

 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine's use of US-supplied weapons in Russia not limited to near Kharkiv, Pentagon says

Ukraine can use U.S.-supplied weapons to hit Russian forces that are firing on Ukrainian troops anywhere across the border into Russia and not just in Russian territory near Ukraine's Kharkiv region, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

Last month, President Joe Biden quietly authorized Kyiv to launch U.S.-supplied weapons at military targets inside Russia.

But officials said at the time that Biden's decision applied only to targets inside Russia near the border with Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region.

Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters that while there had been no change in policy, Ukraine's use of weapons against Russian troops was not limited to near Kharkiv on the Russian side.

"The ability to be able to fire back when fired upon is really what this policy is focused on... as we see Russian forces firing across the border, the ability for Ukraine to fire back at those ground forces using U.S.-provided munitions," Ryder said.

"It's self-defense and so it makes sense for them to be able to do that," he added.

Ryder's remarks echo comments made by Biden's national security adviser earlier this week.

"This is not about geography. It's about common sense," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told PBS. "If Russia is attacking or about to attack from its territory into Ukraine, it only makes sense to allow Ukraine to hit back against the forces that are hitting it from across the border."

Sullivan added that Ukraine could also use air-defense systems to fire at Russian planes flying in Russian airspace, if they are about to fire into Ukrainian airspace.

The front lines in Ukraine have barely moved since the end of 2022, despite tens of thousands of dead on both sides in relentless trench warfare, the bloodiest fighting in Europe since World War Two.

After initial Ukrainian successes that saw Kyiv repel an assault on the capital and recapture territory in the war's first year, a major Ukrainian counter-offensive using donated Western tanks fizzled last year. Russian forces still hold a fifth of Ukraine and are again advancing, albeit slowly. No peace talks have been held for more than two years.

 

RT/Reuters

Some years ago, while Nigeria had abundant money from oil revenue, the prosperity gospel and motivational speaking also reigned. The prosperity gospel is a theology that promises divine blessings of material wealth and good health to the one who sows seeds of financial contribution to the church, a sacrifice that must be worthwhile enough to move divine transcendent power on one’s behalf. Motivational speaking was a similar message, except that the transformation it promised was connected to more secular tactics.

In that era, charismatic preachers made good. Their lavish lifestyle made their message self-affirming. A lot has since changed. The validity of the prosperity gospel has been contested in various ways; prosperity preachers and motivational speakers are now treated with the same derision. We have seen instances of people demanding a return of their seeds from pastors when they did not get the expected miracle and in one instance, someone even reported their pastor to the law enforcement agents. Even before Daddy Freeze (Ifedayo Olarinde) began to publicly spar with renowned pastors on the issues of tithe as a route to prosperity, the public had begun to raise questions. Even worse, social media platforms commissioned an army of sceptics who have become the nemesis of the media-savvy pastors.

Like the oil boom of the 1970s when Nigeria could afford to spend lavishly without concomitant productivity, the boom cycles (up till 2014) that coincided with the reign of prosperity gospel lacked similar structural strength. There was still no remarkable productivity at the base of the money flowing, and becoming rich was mostly a matter of scoring the right odds. Someone once said Nigeria is a place where you can sleep poor and wake up rich, and that is very true, especially if you get in bed with the right person.

While we are mostly wiser for the message of supernatural prosperity, our society has not ceased looking for magical wealth. There was a time when the fad was the so-called “money rituals.” We were told some people—from babalawos to pastors to alfas, many of them living in dingy houses and barely getting by themselves—were privileged possessors of the occult alchemy that would make instant wealth. Similar to prosperity pastors who ask you to sacrifice your life savings to move the heavens to open on your behalf, these ones too asked for money before they could make such a charm for you. Even more, they also requested human sacrifices too.

Then there is cybercrime, also called Yahoo Yahoo. Not only did young people acquire the set of technological skills that would enable them defraud unsuspecting victims in a transnational ecosystem where people from different countries of the world are now joined by electrical wires, but they also purported to enhance their skills through supernatural means. The upgraded version, called Yahoo Plus, gave birth to youths at the most productive stages of their lives chasing the illusion of super-logical wealth with the same dedication their parents put into the prosperity gospel. The craze got to a point that parents even actively connived with their Yahoo children.

Some of those whose religious and moral values did not allow them to go into Yahoo Yahoo or money rituals bought into Ponzi schemes when those too reigned in the social space. Again, similar to prosperity gospellers and motivational speakers, a generation of smooth talkers also arose to promise people an impossible return on investment if they invested in some dubious agro-industrial or real estate projects. The reasonable ones among those investors promised returns of 20 to 30 per cent, a rather high margin under even the best circumstances. To outbid this set in the market of illogicality, other Ponzi schemers went as far as promising a 200 per cent ROI! People invested with the same faith with which they put money in prosperity preachers’ pockets.

Even though the Ponzi market has largely receded when too many unfortunate investors finally got wiser, the kalokalo economy has continued. People continue their quest for magical wealth through betting schemes. One can argue that betting, unlike Ponzi schemes, at least does not deceive anyone into believing the activity is supported by some legitimate investment. Betting is transparent enough—putting in money is hedging an uncertain future on the chances of instant transformation if the odds favoured one. Still, it is not unlike the gospel that asks you to sow your seeds and expect a miracle of multiplication that will transform your ordinary life overnight. Stories are replete of young men staking money they made from daily hustles like their school fees, Okada riding, and even stolen money into the game of betting.

Then came the era of crypto. On the surface, it was a new thing. In reality, it was a replay of the era of “Forex,” another hazy investment enterprise that cleaned out millions of people who thought it was their route to prosperity. Like Ponzi schemes, most of those who invest in crypto (or even Forex) barely understood its mechanisms but they traded in faith all the same. It is the latest fad, the bandwagon on which millions of youths currently hitch their hope of social mobility and economic maturation. As it is, Nigeria has the second-highest adoption of crypto in the world after India, another country with the same unenviable mix of poverty, a mass of youths, and a demographic of wild dreams that will probably not be realised in this lifetime. One can hardly blame them. With few opportunities and fewer prospects of economic empowerment, people will follow any merchant of dreams that wheels their wares into the marketplace.

So popular is crypto in Nigeria that even the Afrobeat singer Davido (David Adeleke) floated one, $DAVIDO. You might wonder what a singer knows about the crypto economy, but that is how the magical economy works. Anyone can claim expertise over any domain as long as they can razzle dazzle with celebrity power. Remember, at the height of the prosperity gospel, pastors too invested heavily in appearance—flashy cars, clothes, jewellery, and private jets. Every Yahoo boy rushes to buy the finest commodity to accessorise and mimic the respectability of a made man.

All these routes to magical prosperity are concurrent in Nigeria, just at varying levels. On the surface, these means look different but internally they are connected. Not only do they promise wealth without commensurate productivity, but they also promise social transformation outside the purview of politics and the government for salvation. By government, I mean the domains of national politics where the policies that can actually change our lives come from. The wealth that will supposedly transform is either going to come from a transcendental being (God, spirits, and similar forces) or outside the nation space (which is also why there also is a lot of japa), especially the magical spaces where technology connects us to some other humans (that we do not see/know) or some other foreign sources whose operations cannot be readily explained but is believed to hold the key to instant transformation.

By looking away from the government for life enhancement, it also seems that many of us have given up on the faith that Nigeria’s politics—as currently constituted—is capable of ever coming up with a political arrangement that will end our poverty. Maybe that cynicism also explains why our political actions are self-sabotaging. We abjure every good sense to vote for the very people who have paralysed us with their moral corruption and will keep doing so. Our lack of conviction in the rationality of our politics to transform keeps us looking for illogical means as a source of salvation. The faith that magical alternatives—instead of politics—are what will save us, is a big reason we have given up on the government.

 

Punch

Last December, on my last day of work before Christmas, I sat alone in my office in Abuja, reflecting on my life's journey. I thought about my years in the media, especially the few years since I ventured into entrepreneurship. 

I remembered my post on Facebook in June 2015 announcing my resignation as Managing Editor at LEADERSHIP Newspaper and the planned unveiling of Sundiata Post as an online newspaper the following month. I thought about the people whose paths I had crossed in the media. 

I remembered the statement made by Abubakar Dangiwa Umar, a retired army colonel, when, as military Governor of Kaduna State in the late 1980s, he said he could follow the then military President Ibrahim Babangida to war blindfolded. That was a profound statement of loyalty. Never mind that Umar recanted after the 12 June 1993 election annulment in which the late MKO Abiola won. 

I thought about the people who have impacted my life and wondered if there were any of them I could follow to war blindfolded. Azubuike Ishiekwene, known as “Azu” to many of us, his admirers, came to my mind. He is a man who has had a profound impact on the careers of many media practitioners who have crossed his path, and I have been a significant beneficiary of his generosity. 

In Lagos, where I was Features Editor for several years at ThisDay, Azu set the pace at PUNCH, where he became an editor and, later, Executive Director of publications.

Our paths crossed again in 2013 in Abuja when he signed me as Managing Editor at 

LEADERSHIP, where he was Group Managing Director. No one wanted to miss the Management meetings on Mondays, not necessarily because of strict protocols but because of Azu's leadership style. 

I left the meetings enriched with deep insights into newspaper management, and they paid off for me when Sundiata Post was set up. When Sundiata Post was unveiled on 7 July 2015 in Abuja, Azu, ever supportive, was the moderator at the panel discussion on “New Media and the Future of Newspaper in Nigeria.” 

The panel discussed the paper delivered by Mohammed Haruna, then a syndicated columnist. Haruna is a national commissioner at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).  

However, Azu is better known for his writing. A hugely respected syndicated columnist, week after week, he writes about Nigeria, its history, the state of the union, and its place under the sun. 

His commitment to excellence is well-known to anyone who has worked with him. However, his concern about how journalists and content producers can earn money and live well would appear to be a revelation. This concern has kept many media practitioners awake at night, especially in the Internet age, when content is available almost free of charge or even stolen.

Getting paid for content is an issue that media practitioners have been grappling with. This has hit online publishers as they have no physical copies to sell. In the craze for traffic, they publish content without getting rewarded. 

In this regard, Azu’s new book, Writing for Media and Monetising It, is an idea whose time has come. No other person is more suited to write this book than Azu, a media management guru, content producer and columnist who has made his mark nationally and internationally.

True, Azu didn't set out to write a book for entrepreneurs. He is clear about the purpose of the book. He could no longer ignore suggestions from admirers to share his experience in a permanent form, having been writing for more than 35 years. 

His words: "I thought perhaps it might be useful to combine my speaking experiences with decades of reporting, editing and writing a weekly column now enriched in both audio and visual formats, to serve the needs of a younger generation of content providers, especially students and those in the earlier stages of their career, trying to find their way and also trying to make an honest living while doing so."

He has, however, written a handbook for media entrepreneurs, especially online publishers. The Nigerian media landscape is inundated with several online newspapers, most of them in the general news category, financially challenged and struggling to carve a niche in a way that can guarantee their continued operations. 

The critical issue in online publishing is content. Other issues like search engine optimisation, digital marketing, website friendliness, and social media presence are also vital to the success and sustainability of an online media business. However, the factor that binds all these and makes a platform stand out is content. That is why Bill Gates said content is king. 

An online publisher would find chapters 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 13 and 14 helpful. In these chapters, the author offers prescriptions that, if followed religiously, could lead to tremendous success. Apart from content, the author discusses the choice of subject, style, audience, staying out of trouble, etc.

His reference to an article by his former lecturer, Olatunji Dare, on stalactites and stalagmites, for example, makes the point that evergreens do far better than ephemeral content, even on social media. 

In Writing for the Media and Monetising It, Azu delves into the distinction between style and substance. He takes the reader through the efforts he made to create his style from a long list of writers he admired, from acclaimed journalists like Dele Giwa, Ray Ekpu and Yakubu Mohammed to literary writers like Chinua Achebe and Mark Twain before he settled on his unique style.

Azu deals with the subject of knowing one's audience in Chapter 4. He writes: “Not everyone is interested in what you say. For those who follow you, however, you must find valuable ways of connecting with them in a world of many, often noisy and confusing voices.” 

The author gives tips on how a writer can build their audience and earn money from content provided for that audience. In online publishing, a platform can adapt the tips given by the author, carve a niche, focus on that niche and earn money from that niche.

The author discusses content creation in detail, using the examples of Linda Ikeji, the blogger; Abdulsalam Idris, who has recorded tremendous success sharing content on X (now Twitter); Adeola Fayehun, producer of ‘Keeping It Real with Adeola', and Tunde Olaoluwa Adekunle, blogger, comedian, entertainer and musician.

And hey, Azu’s book promotional videos in the last few weeks, ahead of the public presentation of his book in Abuja on June 26, is a master class in content creation!

His book is easy to read. I hardly put it down when I started reading it. The book's strength lies in the practical examples the author uses to explain the issues discussed. He tells the reader about his own experiences, the challenges he encountered along the way, and the steps he took to overcome those challenges.

The sentences and paragraphs are short, and the design and layout are compelling. A reader can do exercises to engage or explore each subject further. In addition, each chapter has boxes, tips and reading lists for easy reading. 

Whether one is a mass communication student, a journalist, a journalism teacher, a media entrepreneur or a New Media enthusiast, there is something in the book for everyone. 

•Amuchie, Founder/CEO of Sundiata Post Media Ltd, is a member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers. He is also the immediate past president of the Rotary Club of Abuja CBD and the outgoing vice president of public relations at the Unity Toastmasters Club in Abuja.