Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people ~ Luke 1:68.

Introduction:

The truth is that God often comes to townparticularly! Yes, the omnipresent-God is always present with us; however, there are spectacular moments when He formally visits and spends time with His peoplepurposely to grant them heightened manifestations of His love and power.

Quite unfortunately, many people do not know when He comes and when He goes. Thus, they lie in ruin and remain blind, deaf and undiscerning, not knowing the day of their visitation (Luke 19:44).

The issue is that the path to fulfillment of destiny on earth is often littered with desperate traitors and wicked predators (Luke 1:71-74). Notwithstanding, God’s desire to see His people accomplish their prophetic mandate in Christ Jesus remains unchanged (3John 1:2).

Divine visitation describes that sweet experience of supernatural appearance, which effectively culminates in our individual manifestations and accomplishments. It’s the unfailing answer to every form of trouble, frustration, famine and cruel delay (Ruth 1:1-6). Whenever God shows up, Satan automatically bows out. Why? Shekinah light and darkness don’t cohabit.

In Genesis 18:1-10, we read of an unforgettable experience of divine visitationto the patriarch, Abraham. Immediately he saw the “three men”, Abraham knew intuitively that they came to visit him, and he quickly rose to worship and to welcome them to his tent for refreshments.

As a result of Abraham’s positive and quick response at this hour of visitation, God gave him an everlasting promise that eventually overruled the delay, the reproach and the apprehension of twenty-five years.

See, every problem carries an expiry date; that is, they’re time-tagged. No matter how long it lasts, “surely there is an end …”(Proverbs 23:18). And, no matter what the situation is, you can rest assured that God will still visit you (Matthew 8:6). But, you must never ignore, overlook, dishonour or disregard the Heavenly Visitor.

Whenever God visits His people for good, He terminates satanic activities in their lives, especially in situations that have been long standing and have defied all human solutions, as in the case of the man with infirmity for thirty-eight years at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:2-9).

Again, when God visits His people, He provokes for them heaven-on-earth experiences, releases fresh glory upon them and brings them fitting miracles to preserve their dignity, restore their dominion and redeem their honour (Job 10:12).

Unarguably, God does not step into any situation unannounced, neither does His visitation leave any man on the spot where it meets him. When He visited Solomon, hebecame blessed with unusual wisdom, a long-life of peace, and staggering wealth of an unprecedented magnitude (1Kings 3:5-13).

When God steps into any issue, no matter how difficult it is, His glory turns it around (Psalm 106:4). Mighty wonders become inevitable, even as bitter tears are wiped away by the Dayspring from on high (Luke 7:11-16).

God could visit you no matter who failed in that regard before (Mark 9:17-27). And, He could visit you no matter how late it appears. Remember Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha (John 11:1-44). God’s visitation of preservation always putsbroad smiles on the faces of the visited.

Understanding Two Kinds of Divine Visitation

Essentially, God characteristically visits His people to preserve their honour, dignity and dominion, in Christ Jesus. He stepped into Egypt with signs and wonders and mighty acts, and He brought Israel out of the Egyptian captivity (Exodus 3:16-17). He visited Abraham and his wife, Sarah, gave birth to Isaac (Genesis 21:1-3)! When He visited Hannah, she conceived, and gave birth to three sons and two daughters (1Samuel 2:21).

However, whenever God visits His people for good, He simultaneously visits their stubborn enemies with His vengeance (Hebrews 10:30). He readily avenges His people to save them from troubles (Job 5:19).

In the days of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Moses spoke thus: “If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me” (Numbers 16:29).

In this context, Moses was clearly referring to a different kind of visitation: the visitation for vengeance. Thereafter, the rebellious three were summarily buried alive with their entire households.

God doesn’t spare His enemies that reject His mercy, and He doesn’t hesitate to pour out His vial of wrath upon the hard-hearted (Jeremiah 10:15). His vengeance is always swift as lightning and deadly sure, to vindicate His covenant people (Isaiah 26:13-14; 29:5-7).

Yes, people always frown at the idea of God’s vengeance. Nevertheless, none that breaks the “hedge” can escape the fury of vengeance, except by God’s grace and mercy (Deuteronomy 32:39-43).

The Lord’s “vengeance” must be understood in the light of His full character, including the essence of His justice system.God would be violating His own character if He overlooks wickedness, and doesn’t bring breaches to justice.

Jehovah-God is the God of mercy, but mercy requires that there should be justice. That’s the reason why Jesus Christ died to pay the price for our sins: to satisfy the demands of justice (John 3:16; Colossians 2:14; Romans 3:20-26).

Nevertheless, vengeance belongs to God alone (Deuteronomy 32:35). Thus, the Bible prohibits the believers from taking personal revenge upon their enemies (Leviticus 19:18; Romans 12:19).

Living Ready for the Lord’s Visitation

What should we do if God comes to our church or to our homes today? How shouldwe respond when He comes to us via Hisanointed Word? How should we act if He comes to us as an angelic stranger in our “busy schedules”?

What you do determines what you get, andhow you respond determines the trail that God’s visitation leaves upon your destiny. Let’s learn wisdom from Abraham. He seized the moment and maximized the opportunity at hand!

In particular, these are the days of God’s end-time visitation, and Jesus Christ Himself is the Royal Visitor from the heavenly citadel of glory (Luke 1:78). He came to give us life, light and all such other priceless benefits from above. We ought to wholeheartedly respond to His love, repent and believe the gospel totally.

Furthermore, let’s keep in mind that divine visitation is connected to divine timing and it draws heavily on divine promises, but it’s provoked through supplication (Jeremiah 29:10-14).

It is not just enough to know what God has promised, we must also call upon Him in prayers, asking Him to perform what He has spoken (Joel 2:15-18). It is our declaration of God’s promises in prayers that justifies us for His visitation (Isaiah 43:26).

Beloved, I see God showing up at your address this season. He will visit and bring you land-mark miracles. He will bless and settle you, and you will have many reasons to testify. May you not be asleep on the dayof His visitation, in Jesus Name. Amen. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Archbishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

SMS/WhatsApp: +234 802 318 4987

Jesus castigates the natural father-child relationship as evil.  He asks:

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:13). 

Since men are deemed evil, sons of men must also be evil. But since Jesus says, “No one is good but One, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17), sons of God must also be good.

Jesus maintains natural relationships are bound to go from bad to worse:

“Brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.” (Matthew 10:21). 

He also insists natural family ties are inimical to discipleship. 

Even David, speaking by the Holy Spirit, observes that man’s relationship with God is enhanced when his relationship with his parents collapses:

“When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me.” (Psalm 27:10).

 Indeed, God takes special care of those without earthly parentage, which explains why He is known as “the Father of the fatherless.” (Psalm 68:5). 

If God is the Father of the fatherless, He cannot be, at the same time, the Father of those with fathers.

Lineage of salvation

Therefore, one of the requirements of salvation is that the earthly father-child bond must be broken.  The heir of salvation must take the initiative and forsake his earthly father(s) for Christ’s sake. Jesus says:

“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! No, rather, a sword.  I have come to set a man against his father..” (Matthew 10:34-35).

The earthly father-child relationship impedes the heavenly Father-child relationship.  Some cannot love God as Father because their earthly father is hateful. Some cannot love God as Father because they already love their earthly fathers. Others cannot obey the Father in heaven because his instructions are at variance with those of the fathers on earth.  

The complexities of these scenarios lead to a rather stringent condition for salvation.  The earthly father must be repudiated completely and the heavenly Father embraced totally without reservation.

The living and the dead

When one of Jesus’ disciples sought permission to go and bury his father, Jesus objected because a true disciple cannot have any other father apart from God. Jesus said to him:

“Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:22). 

When a man traces his identity through his earthly father, God regards him as a dead man.  Since earthly fathers die, their children are also appointed to death.  But when God becomes our Father, we pass from death to life. (John 5:24).  God says about us:

“This my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (Luke 15:24).

This principle is brought out in Jesus’ discourse with the Sadducees.  He says to them:

“Concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” (Matthew 22:31-32).

If God is our Father, we belong to the living and not the dead.  Thus, Jesus says to Martha:

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26).

Confession of salvation

The good confession that Peter made, which earned him the high commendation of Jesus, was in identifying Jesus not as the son of Joseph, but as the Son of the living God.  As a result, Jesus said to him:

“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:15-18).

Jesus’ church is built upon the revelation that he is, indeed, the son of God:

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15). 

However, although Jesus commended Peter, He nevertheless observed that Peter himself was not yet a son of God but a son of man.  He was still Simon Bar-Jonah, which means Simon, son of Jonah. 

This explains Peter’s shortcomings.  When Jesus told His disciples He must go to Jerusalem to suffer and be killed, Peter pulled Him aside and insisted such a bad thing would never happen to Him:  

“Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” (Matthew 16:23).

If Jesus is the Son of the living God, and the Son says He is going back to His Father, why would Peter insist this must not happen?  What good friend would deny a son the prerogative to go and be with his father?  It could only have been because Peter had yet to accept fully that God is the Father of Jesus.  He was still mindful of those things that pertain to the family of men instead of the family of God.

Cost of salvation 

The salvation Jesus provides is anathema to earthly fatherhood and all its appurtenances. He says emphatically: “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).

If we don’t relinquish earthly fathers, in preference for the only true Father in heaven, we cannot inherit the kingdom of God.  If we don’t relinquish earthly fathers, in preference for the heavenly Father, we would not be able to fulfil a cardinal principle of salvation, which is to lay down our lives out of love for God, in order to receive the eternal life. 

Jesus says:

“Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 16:25).

In short, exclusively divine fatherhood is the foundation of eternal salvation. If we were to have any other Father outside of God, we could not be saved in this dispensation of grace. 

I like to put it this way. Jesus is not the way to God.  In the Old Testament, Moses, the servant of God, was the way to God. But Jesus is not a servant but the Son of God. Therefore, in the New Testament of today, Jesus is the way, and the only way, to the Father. 

Jesus explains this dynamic in this manner:

“All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” (Matthew 11:27). CONTINUED.

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The fanfare that greeted the resumption of activities at the Port Harcourt Refining Company on Tuesday may have melted away leaving the hope and expectations of many Nigerians hanging.

A visit by Saturday PUNCH to the refinery on Friday revealed that there was no activity on site, as some workers met by our correspondent claimed that the refinery was undergoing calibration which might last till next week.

The Port Harcourt Refinery has faced numerous delays and missed deadlines to resume operations.

However, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, Melee Kyari, inaugurated the new plant at the Area 5 terminal of the refinery on Tuesday. It was claimed that 200 petrol trucks were loading daily from the plant.

However, the announcement was met with skepticism as reports circulated that the trucks were loaded with old products in the storage tanks.

Upon visiting the Port Harcourt Refinery Area 5, our correspondent observed no signs of activity.

An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that the loaded trucks contained “dead stock”.

He said, “Before the refinery was shut down between 2015/2016, we had dead stock left in the tank, including some Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) DPK  (kerosene), and Automated Gas Oil (diesel).

“So, these products were in large quantities in stores in those tanks. During the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, Old Area 5, those products were evacuated from the tanks for storage.”

However, he noted that the large quantity of refined petrol was “off-spec,” requiring separation from water to obtain the main product in preferred colours.

“But for DPK, it is in large quantity but they have not pushed it from the tank where it was kept after refined ready for commercial purposes.

“So, the product that was loaded was dead stock, that is the old product that was in the system. So, after these dead stocks, they will have to clean the tank, remove all the debris before pumping the new project into that tank, and redye it,” the source said.

The worker highlighted that refineries worldwide operate electronically, not manually.

“But what they are trying to do at the Port Harcourt Refinery is manual, which cannot match the new digital pumps. Most of the pumps used for the event were refurbished,” he added.

He explained that during Kyari’s visit on Tuesday, seven trucks were prepared for loading, but only five were filled with petrol.

The Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Taken Ikpaki, while speaking to journalists during the inauguration of the facility on Tuesday, had expressed optimism.

He stated that more trucks were expected to come into the facility to load products in the coming days.

But rather than more trucks coming into the refinery, the number of trucks has dwindled.

Around 1.30pm when our correspondent visited, he observed that most workers and drivers appeared idle as no machinery was operational.

Nine trucks were seen parked, but the loading bay, numbered from one to 18, was empty and deserted, with some workers lying down.

When asked about the lack of loading activity, a worker in overalls said, “They are de-watering, removing the water under the PMS. Maybe there will be loading after that, but we don’t know what time today.”

Another worker at the loading bay mentioned that ongoing calibration was the reason for the delay.

“They are calibrating the meters,” he said tersely.

Findings by our correspondent showed that the PMS left in the storage might not be enough to fill five trucks.

A source indicated that calibration would continue until Monday, with the loading of DPK (kerosene) and AGO (diesel) expected to start by then.

Speaking to our correspondent, a resident of Alode in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, who simply identified himself as Osaro, said, “After that ceremony with Mele Kyari where they said the refinery had started operation and loading was taking place, what happened afterwards? They continued loading on air, that is on the pages of newspapers and social media.”

When contacted for his reaction on the lack of activities on Friday, the National Public Relations Officer of the Petroleum Product Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Joseph Obelle, said it was as a result of ongoing calibration.

Obelle, the PETROAN spokesman, said, “They are calibrating the loading pumps. They will be done today.”

Meanwhile, it was gathered that the Senate Committee on Petroleum visited the refinery on Thursday on a facility tour. The outcome of the visit had yet to be made public.

Calls and text messages to the spokesperson for the NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, were not replied as of the time of filing this report.

But the NNPC had in a statement denied claims by an Alesa community leader, Timothy Mgbere, that the Port Harcourt refinery was not producing fuel.

Soneye accused Mgbere of crass ignorance of how a refinery runs.

He said, “The old and new Port Harcourt refineries have since been integrated with one single terminal for product load-out. They share common utilities like power and storage tanks. This means that storage tanks and loading gantry which he claimed belongs to the new Port-Harcourt Refinery can also receive products from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery.”

He called on the public to disregard claims borne out of “sheer mischief and blatant display of ignorance.”

Punch

Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State has criticised the tax reform bills, saying it will drag the northern part of the country backward.

The bills, transmitted to the National Assembly by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in September, have faced stiff opposition, especially from the north, with stakeholders calling for its withdrawal.

Daily Trust had reported how Northern governors, traditional rulers, and Northern Elders Forum rejected the proposed bills, saying they were not in the interest of the nation.

However, despite protests and rejections of the pieces of the legislation, the Senate passed the bills for second reading on Thursday despite rowdiness at plenary.

Weighing on the development in an interview with BBC Hausa service, the governor expressed displeasure over how the bills enjoyed speedy and smooth passage to the current phase when other bills had to spend several years to scale through.

“We condemn these bills transmitted to the National Assembly. They will drag the north backward, and not only the north, South East, South West and some states in the South West such as Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, will have problem with these bills.

“It is not opposition. This, based on our understanding, is something that will destroy the north in its entirety. Therefore, we call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and others to review this decision. He secured 60% of his votes in the north. He should not listen to those telling him that northerners are not supporting him. If our interest is served, that is all. What we need now is the withdrawal of the tax bills.

“Why all the rush! There’s a petroleum bill that was presented but it took almost 20 years before it was finally passed. But this one was transmitted and now receiving legislative attention within a week. What we are saying is that, let it be treated carefully and with caution so that even after our exit, our children would reap the benefits.

“How we see it is, if these bills scale through, we will not be able to even pay salaries. And if we paid, it won’t be sustainable the following year.”

Asked whether the bills would further exacerbate hunger and poverty in the north, Zulum answered in the affirmative, adding, “Including security. But they’re saying otherwise. We are against it, Lagos is against it; that it will drag it backwards. If this is the situation, then why won’t they rescind it? Our National Assembly members and even some from the Southern region are not in support of these bills.”

The governor, however, clarified that his objection of the bills was not a pointer of any opposition against the government, maintaining that it was only a call to reverse the decision.

“This is our stand and doesn’t mean that we are against the government. We supported and voted for him (Tinubu). But these bills will not mean good for us.”

Asked to comment on whether the lawmakers would pass the bills when lobbied and given kickbacks, Zulum said, “There are rumours around but we are not certain. But you know we are in Nigeria! What I am saying is that let us all be patriotic. We have children, grandchildren and relatives who are in villages, therefore, we should be careful not to endorse anything that would impede the progress of the north and other regions. We are appealing to the President to listen to us and address our concerns.”

Daily Trust

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETTFund) said it would from January 2025 halt its foreign scholarship funding for Nigerian academics under the TETFund Scholarship for Academic Staff (TSAS) scheme.

The Fund disclosed the decision on Thursday in a statement by its spokesperson, Abdulmumin Oniyangi.

Oniyangi noted that the suspension is in response to the “excessive cost” of training in foreign institutions as well as the “high rate of abscondment of foreign scholars”.

The TETFund spokesperson said the board of trustees of the agency has approved the suspension.

He added that the suspension is effective from 1 January 2025 with the exception of scholars already in the programme.

“TETFund scholars who have already enrolled in foreign institutions would continue to draw down on their scholarships till the end of their programmes,” he said.

“It is expected that the suspension will conserve and reduce the pressure on foreign exchange rate, boost investment and local capacity in Nigerian tertiary educational institutions and significantly increase the number of beneficiaries of the intervention.”

Transnational education

TETFund said it is collaborating with the National Universities Commission (NUC) to intensify efforts to implement the Trans-national Education Guidelines “recently approved by President Bola Tinubu”.

“Under the scheme, top ranking institutions from the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Malaysia, Brazil, etc. will be encouraged to mount programmes in partnership with Nigerian institutions to offer the same standard and quality of courses that are obtainable in their home institutions,” he said.

“Beneficiary Institutions of TETFund have been advised to prioritise their training needs for implementation in Nigerian institutions and ensure strict compliance.”

The NUC has since 2022 noted that it developed a guideline for the implementation of a transnational education “to guide foreign investment and partnerships between foreign universities and their Nigerian counterparts.”

About TETFund

Established in 2011, TETFund administers, manages, disburses, and monitors the judicious utilisation of the now three per cent Tertiary Education Tax paid by all registered companies operating in Nigeria.

It was formerly the Education Tax Act (1993) with a mandate to operate as an intervention fund to all levels of public education – from basic to tertiary education.

However, in 2011, the Act was repealed and replaced with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Act which focuses only on public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

PT

Hamas attacker opens fire at Israeli bus in West Bank, injuring at least 8: report

An alleged gunman from the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas opened fire Friday at an Israeli bus in the West Bank, injuring eight people, including four soldiers, reports say. 

The incident near the settlement of Ariel ended when the attacker, identified by Hamas as 46-year-old Samer Hussein, was killed by Israeli troops. 

"As a result of the shooting attack, four IDF soldiers were lightly injured and were evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement, adding that "an armed terrorist opened fire at an Israeli bus in Gitti Avisar [Junction], causing injuries and damage." 

Images and video taken from the scene showed numerous bullet holes in the front windshield of the bus and a heavily damaged car on the side of the road. 

"IDF soldiers eliminated the terrorist at the scene," the Israeli military said. 

Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said the assailant belonged to its ranks, according to Reuters. 

Elsewhere, Friday, two girls and a woman were crushed to death as a crowd of Palestinians pushed to get bread at a bakery in the Gaza Strip. 

The bodies of two girls aged 13 and 17 and the 50-year-old woman were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where a doctor confirmed that they died from suffocation due to crowding at the al-Banna bakery, according to The Associated Press. 

Food prices reportedly have been soaring in the Gaza Strip following a recent attack on nearly 100 U.N. aid trucks that crossed over from Israel. 

A woman in the city of Deir al-Balah told The Associated Press last week that the price of flour has now climbed to more than $100 a bag, if it can even be found. 

Fox News

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine asks NATO for membership invite next week, letter shows

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has urged his NATO counterparts to issue an invitation to Kyiv at a meeting in Brussels next week to join the Western military alliance, according to the text of a letter seen by Reuters on Friday.

The letter reflects Ukraine's renewed push to secure an invitation to join NATO, which is part of a "victory plan" outlined last month by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to end the wartriggered by Russia's 2022 invasion.

Zelenskiy told UK-based Sky News that offering Ukraine NATO membership while allowing Russia to keep for the moment territory it had captured could be a solution to end the "hot stage" of the 33-month-old war.

Ukraine says it accepts that it cannot join the alliance until the war is over but extending an invitation now would show Russian President Vladimir Putin that he could not achieve one of his main goals - preventing Kyiv from becoming a NATO member.

"The invitation should not be seen as an escalation," Sybiha wrote in the letter.

"On the contrary, with a clear understanding that Ukraine's membership in NATO is inevitable, Russia will lose one of its main arguments for continuing this unjustified war," he wrote.

"I urge you to endorse the decision to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance as one of the outcomes of the NATO Foreign Ministerial Meeting on 3-4 December 2024."

Zelenskiy told Sky News an invitation had to be officially extended to the entire country as Ukraine had no legal right to recognise any of its territory as Russian. NATO membership could then initially apply to only the part of Ukraine that Kyiv controls.

"No one has offered us to be in NATO for one part or another part of Ukraine. The fact is, it is a solution to stop the hot stage of the war because we can just give NATO membership to the part of Ukraine that is under our control," Zelenskiy said.

"But the invitation must be given to Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders ... That's what we need to do fast and then Ukraine can get back the other part of its territory diplomatically."

NO NATO CONSENSUS

NATO diplomats say there is no consensus among alliance members to invite Ukraine at this stage. Any such decision would require the consent of all NATO's 32 member countries.

NATO has declared that Ukraine will join the alliance and that it is on an "irreversible" path to membership. But it has not issued a formal invitation or set out a timeline.

Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine's deputy prime minister in charge of NATO affairs, said Kyiv understood that the consensus for an invitation to join NATO "is not yet there" but the letter was meant to send a strong political signal.

"We have sent a message to the allies that invitation is not off of the table, regardless of different manipulations and speculations around that," she told Reuters.

In his letter, Sybiha argued an invitation would be the right response "to Russia's constant escalation of the war it has unleashed, the latest demonstration of which is the involvement of tens of thousands of North Korean troops and the use of Ukraine as a testing ground for new weapons".

In recent days, however, diplomats have said they do not see any changes of stance among NATO countries, particularly as they await the Ukraine policy of the United States - the alliance's dominant power - under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Zelensky changes position on ceasefire terms

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has said for the first time that he might be willing to agree to a ceasefire with Russian troops still in control of the land claimed by Kiev.

Zelensky previously insisted that only “complete withdrawal” of Russian forces and the restoration of Ukraine’s 1991 borders should serve as precondition for any future peace negotiations. 

In an interview with Sky News on Friday, chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay asked Zelensky to comment on recent reports that US President-elect Donald Trump’s team is considering allowing Russia to keep the territory claimed by Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine becoming a NATO member. 

“Ukraine joins NATO, but Russia takes control and keeps the land that it has to date. Would that be a possibility?” Ramsay asked.

Zelensky said that it could potentially serve as a foundation for a ceasefire. “If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we need to take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control,” he said. 

“We need to do it fast. And then on the [occupied] territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can get them back in a diplomatic way,” he added.

Zelensky stressed that such an arrangement has never been officially offered to Ukraine. He clarified that Kiev will not formally renounce claims on Crimea and four other regions, which joined Russia following referendums in 2014 and 2022, respectively. 

“We cannot, by law, recognize any Ukrainian territory under occupation of Russia as Russian. That is impossible. That is against the Constitution of Ukraine,” Zelensky said.

Ukraine applied to join the US-led alliance in September 2022. NATO has made it clear, however, that Ukraine could not become a member until its conflict with Russia is resolved.

Moscow has insisted that Ukraine must withdraw its troops from the parts of Donbass it controls and recognize Russia’s current borders. Russia further said that Ukraine must abandon its plan to join NATO and become a permanently neutral country.

President Vladimir Putin has cited NATO’s expansion eastward and military cooperation with Ukraine as one of the root causes behind the conflict.

Reuters/RT

The Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN) has raised concerns over the country’s severe shortage of mental health professionals, revealing that fewer than 200 psychiatrists are responsible for the mental well-being of Nigeria’s population of over 200 million.

The APN President, Taiwo Obindo, a professor, highlighted this alarming disparity during the opening of the association’s 55th Annual General Conference and Scientific Meeting in Ilorin. The event, themed “Prioritising Mental Health Needs of Nigeria in a Depressed Economy: An Urgent Call for Integrated, Comprehensive, and Sustainable Interventions,” emphasized the critical state of mental health care in Nigeria.

Obindo attributed the dwindling number of mental health professionals to the ongoing “japa syndrome,” a term referring to the emigration of skilled workers from Nigeria. He stressed that those remaining in the country are overburdened and underpaid, a situation that urgently needs to be addressed.

He further lamented the lack of governmental focus on mental health, contrasting Nigeria with countries like Canada, which has a dedicated Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions. In Nigeria, however, mental health remains a sub-program under the Department of Public Health within the Federal Ministry of Health.

Obindo also pointed out that Nigeria’s budgetary allocation for health is less than 6%, far below the 15% minimum recommended by the 2001 Abuja Declaration.

Despite these challenges, the APN has made significant strides, notably with the establishment of the Mental Health Programme and the enactment of the Mental Health Act of 2021, which replaced the outdated Lunacy Act of 1958—a legislative breakthrough after more than 30 years of advocacy.

Delivering the keynote lecture, Owoidoho Udofia, a professor from the University of Calabar, highlighted a study indicating that 12% of Nigerians suffer from mental and behavioral disorders. He noted that cultural factors and somatic symptoms often obscure the diagnosis of mental illnesses, leading to underdiagnosis by general practitioners in teaching hospitals.

Udofia dismissed colonial-era misconceptions that Africans were not susceptible to depression, emphasizing that mental illness in Nigeria extends beyond conditions like schizophrenia and psychosis. He called for improved diagnostic practices and increased research to address the rising cases of substance abuse and other mental health issues.

“There is a need for better identification and management of mental illnesses in Nigeria’s healthcare system,” he concluded.