RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine ‘must accept new reality’ – Kremlin

Ukrainian authorities must accept the new conditions no matter how “painful” it might be for them, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. He was responding to a question on the prospects of new talks between the two warring countries.

Peskov made the remarks in an interview released by Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Sunday. Should Russia and Ukraine ever actually get back to the negotiating table, the potential talks will not be the same as those held early in the ongoing conflict, Peskov suggested.

“Should we begin the same negotiations, there’s a completely different reality now. And this new reality, no matter how painful it may be for the Kiev regime, must be recognized,” he stressed.

While Peskov did not elaborate, he presumably referred to the territorial changes, namely incorporation of the four formerly Ukrainian regions, Zaporozhye and Kherson, as well as Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics into Russia following referendums in late 2022.

Kiev, however, has repeatedly vowed to seize all its former territories from Moscow, including Crimea which broke away from Ukraine in the aftermath of the 2014 Maidan coup and subsequently joined Russia.

The March 2022 negotiations between Moscow and Kiev culminated in the signature of a preliminary agreement between the two nations, signed in Istanbul. The deal, obliged Russia to withdraw its troops from around the Ukrainian capital, but Kiev violated the agreement almost immediately after it had been signed.

According to recent revelations by David Arakhamia, the leader of president Vladimir Zelensky’s party in the Ukrainian parliament, and a key negotiator at the botched talks, then-UK PM Boris Johnson played a pivotal role in orchestrating the failure of the talks. As Arakhamia put it, Johnson at the time simply told the Ukrainians “let’s just continue fighting” and urged them not to sign anything with Russia.

Moscow has repeatedly insisted it was ready to settle the hostilities through negotiations, blaming the lack of any diplomatic effort on the matter on Kiev. The stance was reiterated by the Russian President Vladimir Putin during the conversation with the American journalist Tucker Carlson last week.

“The President of Ukraine [Vladimir Zelensky] has legislated a ban on negotiating with Russia. He signed a decree forbidding everyone to negotiate with Russia. But how are we going to negotiate if he forbade himself and everyone to do this? We know that he is putting forward some ideas about this settlement. But in order to agree on something, we need to have a dialogue,” Putin stated.

 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia is using Starlink in occupied areas, Ukraine says

Russian forces in occupied Ukraine are using Starlink terminals produced by Elon Musk's SpaceX for satellite internet in what is beginning to look like their "systemic" application, Kyiv's main military intelligence agency said on Sunday.

The terminals were rushed in to help Ukraine after Russia's February 2022 invasion and have been vital to Kyiv's battlefield communications. Starlink says it does not do business of any kind with Russia's government or military.

"Cases of the Russian occupiers' use of the given devices have been registered. It is beginning to take on a systemic nature," the Ukrainian defence ministry's Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) quoted spokesman Andriy Yusov as saying.

In a statement, the agency said the terminals were being used by units like Russia's 83rd Air Assault Brigade, which is fighting near the embattled towns of Klishchiivka and Andriivka in the partially-occupied eastern region of Donetsk.

The remarks were Ukraine's first official statement about Russia's alleged use of Starlink.

In a post on Sunday made on X, Musk said, "To the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia."

"A number of false news reports claim that SpaceX is selling Starlink terminals to Russia," Musk said in the post on X, which he also owns. "This is categorically false."

Russia's defence ministry did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Two Ukrainian government sources told Reuters earlier this week that Russian use of Starlink had been detected in occupied Ukrainian territory. One said they were trying to obtain data on the scale of such use.

The GUR agency said it had intercepted an exchange between two soldiers discussing setting up the terminals. It posted what it said was an audio clip of the exchange on the Telegram messenger by way of evidence.

GUR did not say how it thought the terminals had been obtained by Russian forces - whether for instance they had been procured from abroad or captured from Ukrainian forces.

Starlink said on Feb. 8 that its terminals were not active in Russia and that SpaceX had never sold or marketed the service in Russia, nor shipped equipment to locations in Russia.

In a statement posted on X, Starlink did not say anything about their possible use in occupied areas of Ukraine.

"If SpaceX obtains knowledge that a Starlink terminal is being used by a sanctioned or unauthorized party, we investigate the claim and take actions to deactivate the terminal if confirmed," it said.

 

RT/Reuters

 

I am not privy to what Femi Gbajabiamiala, your savvy chief of Staff, is telling you. There is hunger in the land. Messages have been sent to Aso Rock through the back door. So bad are things now that a new non-political front is emerging in which twelve of us have decided to seek a private conversation with you. When, I don’t know. The outcome, I don’t know. Enough of fake promises. Enough of “we are laying the foundation of a better tomorrow.” If people die today, there is no tomorrow for them. The terrible idea in Nigeria is to assume that everyone is looking for something when offering advice. No! Many want their country to succeed. Some even now begin to panic that the Tinubu presidency will discredit the entire Yoruba race.

I have written several times about the conditions of Nigerians and how the situation has not been turning around favorably. However, one must not see a reiteration of the ordeals of the society as mere tautologies because the problems would constantly be a fog to the future. Nigeria is a complex society and blessed with many resources, including resilient citizens who have shown commitment to hard work but have not been getting the proportional worth of their efforts. Every year, the version of suffering they face differs, and it seems that there are some temporal distinctions in the motivations of those ordeals. There is a systematic downfall in the economy, and those at the receiving end of its manifestation are the masses.

Well, some may say that it is too early to judge the government of Tinubu, but when starvation becomes a point of reference, we might just make an exception for that rule. A government is a failure if it has not been able to fulfill its primary duties and its published agenda. However, a government is useless if its people suffer endlessly from starvation. While it might be too early to judge the former, it is quite sure that he is failing terribly at the latter.

Recently, the video of a man who was caught in agony and lamentation attracted my attention. He was in the market to buy a “Congo” of rice but was told that it now costs N2,500. The man started crying, lamenting the harsh condition and confused as to what he and his family would eat. He had just N1,800 with him, and God knows how much effort he had to put together to get that amount. Some of us tried to locate the man to give him some money.

Bodija market in Ibadan, Oyo State, has a reputation for cheap consumable commodities, and the cost of food products there is considered slightly reasonable. However, this reputation is no longer possible as basic commodities now cost even more than they could be imagined. What is more annoying is that the prices are not stable, and the progression of the increase has been concerning. A lady lamented having bought her usual loaf of bread for 800 naira 3 weeks ago, and within that period, it had skyrocketed from N800 to N1,200 and now at N1,500 for a loaf that is as light as a foam. Let me confirm to you that I visited the place in January to check the data. Thus, let no appointee of yours deceive you that things are being exaggerated.

Inflation in Nigeria hit 27.3 per cent in November of 2023. The price increase was expected, but it seems that the progression of price increases for food items is at a higher rate than the supposed inflation. A recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics puts the inflation rate on food and consumables at 33%, but I am still convinced that the rates could have been underestimated. Several factors and reports have pointed to these unfortunate developments in the previous years. In October 2023, the Food and Agricultural Organisation predicted that about 5 million Nigerians would be afflicted by hunger by 2024. Well, we probably thought that 5 million is a small percentage of our population of more than 200 million, but it seems that that prediction was not accurate as the effect of food inflation must have put more people at risk. Another stat by the World Food Programme states that 26.5 million Nigerians will be subjected to acute hunger before the end of the year. The United Nations’ Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition noted that about 78 per cent of Africans would not be able to afford nutritional or healthy food. There was also a prediction that States like Adamawa, Borno, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto, and Yobe would face more problems with food security in 2024.

Tinubu, Garri has always been the best friend of the poor. It had always been one of the most affordable foodstuffs for even Nigerians who live below average. You could eat it the way you want. People experiencing poverty could leave some in water for a long while so that it would soak enough to share among everyone. They take some in the morning and come home to the rest in the evening. It is the hope of students when the end of semesters is close, and they have spent all their money running through the weeks. You could eat or drink it the way it is, add some sugar if you can afford it, or spray a bit of salt to just change the taste from the one you ate in the morning. You see, the present predicament of the people never got real until I realised that a “Congo” of Garri now costs between N700 to N1,200, depending on the place you are buying from and the type you have bought. This leaves me to wonder: what will the poor eat?

Beans are another food that has been saving people experiencing poverty. Although it takes longer to cook, it seems to last a while, especially when you combine it with Garri and mix it like you are mixing cement and sand. Students, especially in public universities, have the habit of making sure that aside from Garri, there are always grains of beans in their packs. They could cook beans with plenty of water to make it last. This is a similar habit of the poor. Unfortunately, the cost of a “congo” of beans has risen to between N1,500 and N2,200, depending on the location and type. Sir, please send your driver to check the prices.

It is not only the price of the common food that has risen; it is the same case for other staple foods. Today, a sachet of water costs around N50, and you barely see a bag of it at anything less than N300. This leaves the people to drink unclean well water or find their drinking water through other sources. I do not attempt to overstate the condition, but this is the reality on the streets, and it is hard to see any food item that has not skyrocketed in price by at least a 30 per cent rate.

The economy is imploding and affecting the livelihood of individuals. One may ask for reasons behind the continuous increase in these items. It is not rocket science to list out several of the reasons. To mention but a few, the cost of transportation and distribution of food items from across the country has become very difficult. First, the excessive price of petrol within the range of N590 to N660 across the nation has an impact on the final prices. In addition, the roads have become outrageously insecure, with different stories of kidnapping, highway attacks, terrorism, and other vices. These have jointly jacked up the calculative cost of production, and the masses are paying heavily for it.

In addition, the above reasons affect business, and most importantly, the incessant supply of power has become another foundational cause of the hike in prices. Today, many small and medium-scale businesses do not have access to a stable power supply, and in some cases, the tariffs have been so outrageous that the proportion of them and the profits per product are discouraging. They, therefore, resort to generating their power, which causes another extra cost. The result is that the products keep increasing in price as the costs skyrocket. Another factor is the decline of the value of naira to dollars. The dollar is the major currency for international trade, and many of the household items in the country are imported. This means that the prices of those commodities in Nigeria are expected to increase with the value of dollars, causing difficulties for the citizens. So, when a market woman insults you for negotiating lower prices for her wares, it is not because she is merely disrespectful but because she believes you are ignorant of the costs of putting her products on the market.

I keep wondering, if things are this extremely expensive, what will the poor eat? What would N30,000 minimum wage do in the current economy? How many would start dropping dead on the roads? How long would Nigerians trek because they could not afford the fare? How many would commit suicide?  What will the poor eat? There is almost no average-class individual in the country as the condition affects every social stratification.

One of the very steps to take in ensuring that the prices of things are favorable, at least food products, is to ensure that there is an increase in local production of food items compared to the rate of importation. As of November 2023, Nigeria imports, officially, about 2.1 million metric tons of rice yearly, making it the top buyer of rice globally. You could wonder that if Nigeria is said to have fertile land for farming and farmers ready to farm, why does the nation need to import that much, considering the decline in the value of naira globally? Nigeria produces about 8.4 million tons of local rice, but it is still not sufficient for consumption in the country. The Buhari administration created policies that would discourage the importation of rice and some other products in Nigeria in a bid to encourage local production. Unfortunately, this development made the price of local rice increase by 200 per cent. Currently, the prices of local and foreign rice are not too far from each other. This is because the price gap that would have been made necessary has been reduced by other local and internal issues militating against local productions. It means that the government must make efforts to first increase the productivity of local items as well as ensure that there is an unhindered channel of distribution of the same across the country.

It is important to also note that the nation has not been putting much focus on the role of state governments and other political leaders aside from the federal government. Agricultural schemes and strategies are not the sole work of the Federal Government, as eradication of poverty should be the watchword of every reasonable government. State-wide agricultural strategies and blueprints that would reduce the propensity of hunger and starvation in each state are important. Understandably, many state governments make efforts to build infrastructure that would be legacies for many years; however, when states make efforts to reach self-sustainability in the production of agricultural products, it would reduce the cost of transportation and boost the local economy. Poverty cannot be eradicated without collaborative efforts between the Federal Government and the State Governments.

When actions are not taken, and attention is not directed to starvation in the country, the country must be ready for the negative repercussions of the same. It is only logical that hungry people become desperate and desperate people become prone to committing crimes. This is partly the logic behind the proliferation of crimes in Nigeria and the rate of kidnapping in the past few months. Recently, the kidnappers have been asking for food items alongside the ransoms demanded. The adopters of the December 28, 2023, Abuja kidnapping victims requested “bags of rice, packs of Indomie, cough syrups, antibiotics, bedsheets, and cardigans” alongside 290 million naira. A similar incident happened in September 2023. Other manifestations of this hardship are seen in an increase in armed robbery and other social vices. When a man is seen stealing a cup of rice, it would be illogical to arrest or punish the person; it is only hunger that would have made a person do such.

Hunger is in the land, and it is affecting the masses; everyone must act. Where you have abundance, ensure you help others, and when you need, ensure you ask reasonably. If the rich or those who are comfortable do not help, they will all end up being victims of the consequences. The danger of starvation knocks, and it has everyone’s addresses. Nigerians are starving.

President Tinubu, wake up!

I wasn’t always good with money. I had to learn how to be. I grew up in an immigrant Chinese home with two very loving but frugal parents — where clipping coupons and reusing ziplock bags was the norm.

It wasn’t until I began my career on Wall Street that I realized the ultra-wealthy were less concerned with scrimping and saving and more focused on investing and growing their wealth.

By observing and learning from their habits, I made my first million by age 27. Here are four unpopular rules rich people follow that most others don’t:

1. Don’t worry about impressing people

Rich people put most of their spending power into buying assets (stuff that makes them money over time) instead of liabilities (stuff that costs them money over time).

Instead of buying, for example, a flashy Lamborghini that loses a third of its value as soon as you drive off the lot, a truly rich person will take that same chunk of change and buy a two-family duplex and rent it out.

They don’t care what you think of them or whether you’re impressed. They’re happy to just cash your rent checks and let you pay their mortgage.

2. Have an abundance mindset

So many people have a scarcity mindset — a constant feeling that we’re never going to have enough money, that we’re one slip-up away from disaster and we have to hoard every last cent.

The problem with this mindset is that it can make people very competitive with other folks in similar financial situations. So you have people at the bottom of the pyramid spending all their time and energy fighting each other for resources, instead of trying to overthrow those at the top.

Rich people have an abundance mindset. Since they know they’re going to be able to take care of their bills, they’re not worried. This gives them the freedom to decide what they want to do with their time, rather than only focusing on what they need to do to survive.

3. Think long-term

Rich people understand that sometimes, things take time, and they’re happy to wait. They’re kings and queens of delayed gratification.

A rich person has no problem, for example, socking away money in a retirement account. Yes, the $6,000 they invested in their IRA account this year is off-limits until they’re 59-and-a-half.

But they know that just because they can’t spend that money now, it’s not like it has disappeared. It’s actually the opposite: the longer they wait, the more money they get later on.

4. Share, swap and scratch each other’s backs

Rich people love being known as the smartest person in their friend group: the one with the best taste, who is on top of all the trends. You’ll often hear them say things like:

• “I have this great tax person — you should work with them.”
• “I found the best cocktail bar — you have to try the martini.”
• “I joined the best country club — and I’ll sponsor you to join, too.”

They recognize that when they’re open about their knowledge, other people will be more inclined to share what they know. It is another valuable form of currency, and it’s the same reason rich people love nothing more than putting their besties in positions of power.

Their thought process is: “I’m not qualified for this job, but my friend is, and once she gets it, she’ll owe me a solid. Then, as soon as she’s in a leadership position, I’m automatically tapped into that whole network.”

Yes, it’s because they like to see their friends succeed, but it’s also because they’re thinking strategically — and towards the future.

Vivian Tu is a former Wall Street trader-turned expert, educator, podcast host, and founder of the financial equity phenomenon Your Rich BFF.

 

CNBC

A helicopter carrying six people, including the co-founder of Nigeria’s biggest bank by assets, crashed in a Southern California desert near the Mojave National Preserve, authorities said.

Herbert Wigwe, 57, co-founder of Access Bank, was among the victims, family members from his home village of Isiokpo said.

Abimbola Ogunbanjo, 61, who was president of the National Council of the Nigeria Stock Exchange from 2017 to 2021, and served as the group chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc from 2021 to 2022, was confirmed dead by a family member in Lagos.

The Federal Aviation Administration said a Eurocopter EC helicopter crashed at about 10 p.m. on Friday with six people on board.

The crash site was near the border with Nevada. The craft was headed to Boulder City, Nevada, south of Las Vegas, local ABC affiliate KABC reported without saying where it got the information.

“The scene of the crash was determined to be east of the 15-Freeway, near Halloran Springs Road,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department said in an emailed statement on Saturday. “No survivors have been located.”

Wigwe started his professional career with Coopers & Lybrand Associates, an international firm of chartered accountants, before spending a decade at Guaranty Trust Bank. In 2004 he co-engineered the acquisition of local lender Access Bank where he assumed the post of deputy managing director and eventually became chief executive officer in January 2014.

He was building a new $500 million university outside the southern city of Port Harcourt to help students hone skills needed for the finance and technology industries in Africa’s most-populous nation, he told Bloomberg in an interview in November. Wigwe planned to teach and mentor students and also engage some of the country’s biggest entrepreneurs including billionaire Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, to teach at the university.

“To get the next set of leaders in banking, you need to create the right education for them,” Wigwe told Bloomberg from his office in the 14-story Access Bank headquarters overlooking a part of the Lagos lagoon.

Ogunbanjo started his professional career as a banker with Chase Manhattan Bank Nigeria in 1985 before he re-qualified as a legal practitioner and joined the law firm of Chris Ogunbanjo & Co in 1990, where he held the position of managing partner until his death, according to a biography from his firm.

He joined the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2011 and served in various capacities, including vice-president, according to his LinkedIn biography.

Ogunbanjo was the former vice chairman of the Commercial Law and Taxation Committee of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and acted as special Nigerian counsel to the London and Paris clubs in connection with the refinancing and rescheduling agreements made between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and International Creditors Banks.

The United States federal aviation administration (FAA) says it will be a part of the investigations into the crash of the chopper that had Herbert Wigwe, group chief executive officer (GCEO) of Access Holdings Plc, on board.

Wigwe, his wife and son were onboard the helicopter when it crashed in California near the Nevada border.

FAA said the Eurocopter EC130 helicopter crashed around 10 p.m. California time (Saturday, 7 a.m. Nigerian time).

According to KTLA 5 News, a US local media, the chopper took off from Palm Springs but it was not clear where it was headed.

Eurocopter EC 130, the ill-fated helicopter that Herbert Wigwe, the CEO of Access Bank, and five others boarded on Friday in the United States took off from Palm Springs Airport, California.

The flight took off at about 8:45 p.m. (local time).

According to a local news outlet, it was expected to land at 9:49 p.m (local time) at Boulder City, Nevada.

There was a reported rain and a snowstorm in the area at the time of the crash with gusty winds raging as high as 45 mph.

Two helicopters were flying towards the same direction at the time of the incident.

While one had Wigwe and his family on board, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Wigwe’s business partner and former Access bank CEO, and Tunde Folawiyo, business mogul, were reportedly aboard the second chopper.

KTLA 5 News added that a medical examiner was on the way to the scene to remove the bodies of the victims.

No survivors have been found so far.

FAA said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates.

 

Bloomberg/TheCable/PT

This is not the best of times for Nigerian families, who have had to adopt bizarre cost-cutting measures to cope with the recent hardship occasioned by the dramatic hike in the prices of goods and services.

Several of them lamented that their income could no longer take care of their daily needs, adding that the prices of staples had almost tripled in the market. Rice, which is arguably one of the commonest consumed staples in the country, has risen to N77,000 per bag.

In December, the National Bureau of Statistics stated that the country’s inflation rate hit a 27-year high as headline inflation rose to 28.9 per cent.

The December headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.72 percent when compared to the previous month’s rate.

In recent years, food prices have been on the rise across Nigeria. The situation deteriorated due to the impact of government policies such as the removal of subsidy on petrol and the free fall of the naira in the foreign exchange market.

Foodstuffs sellers in major cities, who spoke to our correspondents lamented that the cost of a bag of rice had risen almost 200 per cent.

Long grain rice, which sold for between N45,000 and N50,000 in November, now costs over N70,000, putting a huge pressure on the consumers.

The unprecedented increase in the prices of commodities has caused nationwide hardship, with residents of some major cities taking to the streets to register their displeasure.

From Kano to Niger, Rivers to and Osun, residents protested the hardship on the streets.

In Niger State, for instance, residents of Suleja took to the street last Wednesday to register their displeasure over the high cost of living in the country.

Wednesday’s protest came two days after a similar protest in Minna, the state capital.

The Organised Labour on Friday insisted on embarking on an industrial action to register its displeasure over the current economic hardship in the country.

Although the Federal Government has ordered the distribution of grains and other items to cushion the effects of the economic crisis across the country, citizens are still grappling with the hike in the prices of commodities.

Lagos residents lament

In Lagos, some residents, who spoke to one of our correspondents, lamented that the incessant increase in the prices of foodstuffs had strained their finances.

This is as they urged the government to intervene before things got out of hand.

A mother of two, Mrs Mede Orunmade, said the situation had made life unbearable for her and her family.

Orunmade stated that it was as though the country was at war, adding that the hike in the prices of foodstuffs was continuous.

She said, “It has been a hard time for me and my family. The country hasn’t been in the right position for the past eight months. I have been struggling with my family to clear up our electricity bills. Coupled with the ever-rising price of foodstuffs, I don’t know if I am going to survive.

“I used to operate an online business but it has packed up. There’s no gain on any business in Nigeria like before anymore. I am just striving to survive.

“The surprising thing is that a small carton of noodles is now N7,000 to N7,800. We used to buy it for between N1,900 and N2,000 in the past. It is so shocking that the price of a bag of rice continues to change almost every minute.

“A bag of rice five months ago was around N49,000, but it increased to N68,000. As of yesterday (Thursday), my supplier said it had risen to N70,000. The cheapest thing we used to buy before, garri, is now N2,500 for a paint bucket. It was N800 before.”

Another Lagos resident and father of four, Taiwo Babatunde, said he could no longer afford to feed his family like he used to.

He asked the government to come to her aid, as her suffering was becoming too much.

A housewife simply identified as Wunmi said, “The government needs to come to our aid now as everything is very hard. A bag of beans is now N65,000, which is three times the price it used to be. Also, groundnut oil is now N8,400 for four litres, and a bag of rice is now N70,000.

“This is getting too much. We hope the government will come to help us.”

Further findings by our correspondents revealed that a kilogramme of Semovita, which sold for N800 four months ago, now sells for N1,200.

The price of beans also increased from around N1,500 to N4,200 per tin.

Some women, who spoke to one of our correspondents at the Ibafo Market, Ogun State, lamented the difficulties they were facing in purchasing items from the market with little resources.

A trader, Mrs Bamise Olaiya, said, “The prices of the foodstuffs are just annoying. I came to the market with N8,000 to buy some food items but the prices have changed between last week and now. Just last week, I bought three portions of tomatoes for N1,200 and pepper for N1,000, but today I have spent N4,200 for the same items. Pepper grinding has also increased from N200 to N300.”

Businesses struggling – Traders

Entrepreneurs across various sectors are feeling the pinch as they struggle to navigate through the challenging times.

A skincare consultant, Damilola Olasunkanmi, said the current economic situation had almost put her out of business.

“I don’t get customers like I used to. My customers are cutting down on skincare purchases to prioritise other essentials like food and transportation, and that is affecting sales significantly. Restocking has become a daunting task as costs continue to soar,” he said.

Similarly, a dental therapist managing a private clinic in Iwo, Osun State, Oluwafemi Ogunsakin, noted that the surge in the cost of his services had deterred patients from seeking dental care.

A foodstuffs retailer, Mrs Ore Ilerioluwa, lamented that the increase in prices had continued to threaten the operation of her business.

She said, “I buy foodstuffs from the market wholesale and sell them in a little shop I run at home. But these daily changes in the prices of items are affecting me so much that I find it difficult to buy the items.

“Do you know that three days ago I bought a carton of spaghetti for N13,000, today I was told it was N14,000. Now, when you add to the cost of each one today, by the time you return, the prices will have gone up again.

“So, you will be forced to add more money. A bag of beans is now N120,000, whereas it was N70,000 before. People are going for anything cheap now. Many families are hungry.”

Another foodstuffs seller at the Magboro Market in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area, Ogun State, Sukurat Akanni, complained that prices of many items had doubled.

Another trader, Adeola Israel, noted that a bag of brown beans had increased to N62,000, while a paint rubber now costs N6,200.

She lamented that she no longer made as much sales as she used to in the past.

 

Punch

South Africa took third place at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast when they edged the Democratic Republic of Congo 6-5 on penalties after a goalless draw at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium on Saturday.

South Africa midfielder Teboho Mokoena hit the outside of the post with the first kick after which the next eight efforts were all successful, leaving DR Congo captain Chancel Mbemba needing to score to win the contest.

But South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams saved Mbemba's effort was saved, taking the shootout into sudden death.

Williams then saved again from Meschak Elia to win the tie.

No extra time was played in the bronze medal match, which the Congolese dominated despite proving poor in front of goal.

Silas Katompa had two glaring chances to put them ahead, first in the eighth minute when free on the left with just Williams to beat, but his hesitation allowed the keeper to grab the ball at his feet.

When Williams dropped a high ball in his box midway through the second half, without any pressure on him, Katompa had an even easier chance but shot into the side netting.

Fifteen minutes from the end, DR Congo striker Simon Banza also had clear sight on goal but botched his effort from point blank range.

Substitute Fiston Mayele did well to bring a long ball down on his chest and get goalside of his marker but he, too, missed as his effort in the 89th minute went across the face of goal.

South Africa, who lost on penalties after extra time in Wednesday's semi-final to Nigeria, looked tired as they made only three changes to their line-up, while DR Congo gave an opportunity to all their reserves with nine changes from their midweek loss to the Ivory Coast.

On Sunday (today), hosts Ivory Coast take on Nigeria in Abidjan to decide the continental title.

 

Reuters

Hamas had command tunnel under U.N. Gaza headquarters, Israeli military says

Israeli forces have discovered a tunnel network hundreds of metres (yards) long and running partly under UNRWA's Gaza headquarters, the military says, calling it new evidence of Hamas exploitation of the main relief agency for Palestinians.

Army engineers took reporters for foreign news outlets through the passages at a time of crisis for UNRWA, which has launched an internal probe and seen a string of donor countries freeze funding over allegations last month by Israel that some of its staff doubled as Hamas operatives.

The Palestinians have accused Israel of falsifying information to tarnish UNRWA, which employs 13,000 people in the Gaza Strip and has been a lifeline for the aid-dependent population for years. The agency runs schools, primary healthcare clinics and other social services, and distributes aid, describing its activities as purely humanitarian.

UNRWA Headquarters is in Gaza City, among northern areas that Israeli troops and tanks overran early in the four-month-old war against the governing Islamist faction Hamas, sending hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing southward.

Reporters on the closely escorted trip entered a shaft next to a school on the periphery of the U.N. compound, descending to the concrete-lined tunnel. Twenty minutes of walking through the stifling hot, narrow and occasionally winding passage brought them underneath UNRWA Headquarters, an army lieutenant-colonel leading the tour said.

The tunnel, which the military said was 700 metres long and 18 metres deep, bifurcated at times, revealing side-rooms. There was an office space, with steel safes that had been opened and emptied. There was a tiled toilet. One large chamber was packed with computer servers, another with industrial battery stacks.

“Everything is conducted from here. All the energy for the tunnels, which you walked through them are powered from here," said the lieutenant-colonel, who gave only his first name, Ido.

"This is one of the central commands of the intelligence. This place is one of the Hamas intelligence units, where they commanded most of the combat."

But Ido said Hamas appeared to have evacuated in the face of the Israeli advance, preemptively cutting off communications cables that, in an above-ground part of the tour, he showed running through the floor of the UNRWA Headquarters' basement.

It appeared that heavy Israeli barrages and sustained winter rains may also have played a part in the departure: Several stretches of the tunnel were clogged with dislodged sand and knee-high water.

In a statement, UNRWA said it had vacated the headquarters on Oct. 12, five days after the war began, and was therefore "unable to confirm or otherwise comment" on the Israeli finding.

"UNRWA ... does not have the military and security expertise nor the capacity to undertake military inspections of what is or might be under its premises," the statement said.

"In the past, whenever (a) suspicious cavity was found close to or under UNRWA premises, protest letters were promptly filed to parties to the conflict, including both the de facto authorities in Gaza (Hamas) and the Israeli authorities."

UNRWA's supporters say it is the only agency with the means of aiding Palestinians in deepening humanitarian distress. Israel says the agency is "perforated by Hamas" and must be replaced. Hamas has denied operating in civilian facilities.

"We know that they (Hamas) have people working in UNRWA. We want every international organization to work in Gaza. That is not a problem. Our problem is the Hamas," Ido told reporters.

Lack of cellphone reception in the tunnel made geolocating it as under UNRWA Headquarters impossible. Instead, reporters were asked to put personal items in a bucket that was lowered by rope into a vertical hole on the grounds of the headquarters. They were reunited with the still-tethered items during the tunnel tour.

As a condition of taking journalists on the trip, the Israeli military did not allow photographs of military intelligence such as maps or certain equipment in the convoy of armoured vehicles they traveled in. It also requested approval before transmission of photographs and video footage taken on the trip.

 

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Zelenskiy fills out rebooted Ukraine military team

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced five senior military appointments on Saturday, filling out a rebooted team after he named Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi this week as the new armed forces chief.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said he spent the day meeting his military leadership and government and that experienced "combat commanders of this war" would be taking on new duties. The country is closing in on two years of war since Russia's full-scale invasion.

As deputy chiefs of staff under Syrskyi, Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi would take charge of unmanned systems and development of the use of drones by soldiers, while Colonel Andriy Lebedenko would focus on technological innovation of army and combat systems, Zelenskiy said.

Zelenskiy said he had also approved nominations of three brigadier generals as deputies of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - Volodymyr Horbatyuk, who would run operations and management, Oleksiy Shevchenko, in charge of logistics, and Mykhailo Drapatyi on training.

"We continue the reboot of the management team," Zelenskiy's Telegram channel quoted him as saying in the address.

Syrskyi, previously commander of ground forces, was promoted on Thursday to overall command of Ukraine's 800,000-strong armed forces. He later singled out drones and electronic warfare as examples of new technology that would help Ukraine achieve victory.

Ukraine has failed to recapture significant territory since late 2022 and faces a potential disruption in military aid supply from the United States, its biggest backer.

 

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

US doesn’t want talks – Kremlin

The US has not shown a readiness to negotiate with Russia and apparently lacks the “political will” to do so, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the news outlet TASS on Saturday.

Peskov made the remarks when asked whether the interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin gave to conservative American journalist Tucker Carlson earlier this week will help communicate Moscow’s position on various issues to Washington. “The US authorities know our position very well, they are perfectly aware of all of Putin’s main points,” the spokesman stated.

However, the US has not demonstrated any readiness to actually engage in negotiations with Russia, according to Peskov.

“This is not an issue of knowledge, but an issue of desire. The desire to do something to get on to the track of negotiations. We have not yet seen such a desire or the political will for this [in the US],” Peskov emphasized.

Nevertheless, the Carlson interview provided a great opportunity for the Russian president to communicate his position to a wider audience in the West, according to Peskov.

“The main thing for us is that our president is heard. And should he be heard, that means more people will think about whether he is right or not. They will think, at least,” he stated when asked about the interest the interview has sparked.

The interview has elicited a “hysterical” reaction from the US authorities and mainstream media, who rushed to warn the public against watching it, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has claimed.

“They’ve had a hysterical fit – the White House, the Department of State, all the mainstream media are shouting at the top of their lungs one thing only: don’t watch [the interview], and that an American journalist shouldn’t conduct such an interview,” Zakharova told Russia’s Izvestia newspaper on Friday, describing such reaction to the conversation as a “phenomenal”one.

The two-hour-long conversation, which largely revolved around relations between Moscow and Kiev and the ongoing conflict, garnered over 100 million views in just one day on Carlson’s X account (formerly Twitter) alone.

The interview, which was published on Thursday, was the first between the Russian president and a US journalist since the Ukraine conflict began in February 2022.

 

Reuters/RT

This is what Kurumi's Ijaye looked like after it was attacked and defeated by Ibadan forces in 1860/61: “Old people, men and women and young children were being carried to the river Ose to die,” wrote John Iliffe in his Poverty in Nineteenth-Century Yorubaland. He continued: “Whilst many others were left to perish in the streets. There being no food for them, that many, in order to obtain the means for subsistence, put themselves and children in pawn and others even sold their relatives to procure food to eat.” A Baptist missionary was reported to have taken responsibility for feeding some fifty children who he evacuated to Abeokuta, while his Anglican counterpart, in October 1861, selected 20 of the distressed children to cater for. It was so bad that some parents resorted to begging, an act alien to the people’s culture, while some others were picked in very terrible conditions on the streets. Their dying parents, in their last wishes, pleaded with missionaries to rescue the children from ominous deaths in the face of hunger. Read and re-read the above and more in Iliffe’s piece published in The Journal of African History, Vol. 25, No. 1 (1984), pp. 43-57 by the Cambridge University Press). 

Does the above description not fit the present state of the Nigerian nation? It was as a result of Kurunmi’s obstinacy. Last week’s protests against hunger in Nigeria reminded students of history of dreadful scenes that accompanied the siege and capture of Ijaye in 1860-2. They provoked a powerfully evocative imagery of a country in abeyance. Ijaye, a city-state, was originally an Egba town whose inhabitants were driven away by some warlords in 1833. By that time, veteran of multiple wars and despot, Kurunmi had built Ijaye into a prosperous military powerhouse that could be compared to Abeokuta and Ibadan. Like every conquistador, Ibadan had consolidated its military strength and was attempting to become a sole power in Yorubaland. A year before the war, at the death of Atiba Atobatele, the Alaafin of Oyo, the ascendancy of his son, Adelu, to the throne had caught the ire of Kurunmi who believed that custom and culture had been put in abeyance in the coronation of Adelu. He reckoned that Adelu should have died with Alaafin Atobatele. Kurunmi thus chose not to recognize Alaafin Adelu. So, when one Abu, a very wealthy lady who resided in a town under Ijaye called Ijanna, died intestate and Adelu, according to custom, sought the reversal of her wealth to the Alaafin, Kurunmi fiercely resisted it. He even took captive messengers sent by the Alaafin to execute the customary demand on Abu’s property. This provoked Alaafin Adelu who then ordered Ibadan warriors to declare war against Kurunmi and his Ijaye. The war was so fierce that, against the conventional warfare weaponry of bows and arrows that Kurunmi was used to, Ibadan warlords devised a totally unconventional strategy. At a war council meeting held in Ibadan on April 10, 1860, war generalissimo, Balogun Ibikunle, raised the standard of warfare by cutting off food supply to Ijaye from the Oke-Ogun flank and reigned bullets on Kurunmi and his warriors. The war was so intense that Kurunmi’s sons, which included his eldest surviving child, Arawole, were killed and the despotic Kurunmi himself died in June, 1861. He was buried in a secret sepulcher by the head of his slaves called Abogunrin.

Last Monday, youths and women in Minna, Niger State recreated that traumatic scene in Ijaye. They blocked the Minna-Bida Road from the popular Kpakungu Roundabout, in protest against their disaffection with the “suffering under the Bola Tinubu government.” The protests were soon to spread like bushfire in the harmattan. Though the cries of agony have become singsongs in Nigerian homes in the last eight months of this government, these protesters were the first to bite the bullet by taking to the streets of Minna. In epigrammatic description of their plights, the women and youths drew the graph of unbearable and biting hardship, death and hopelessness.

The Minna protests can, however, not capture the Ijaye-like trauma that Nigeria is facing today like a viral video which trended same last week. A group of market women in Ogun State was shown in the video calling for the resignation of Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu. Their grouse? Tinubu had been tame and tepid in curtailing the astronomically soaring prices of goods and foods in Nigeria. This has resulted in traumatic and biting hardships. The women’s despondency even provoked them into making some very scary and fundamental statements about the president and his government.

The women berated the Tinubu administration. Having thus badly performed in government, so said the women, in their estimation, Tinubu had disappointed Nigerians, particularly the Yoruba. 

According to one of them, “he (Tinubu) has disappointed us in Yoruba land, he is not behaving like a Yoruba man,” while another said, "this problem is too much. If you can't solve our problem, don't add to it.”  After drawing the upswing curve of food prices in Nigeria, when asked what they would do if they came face to face with Tinubu, they said, "We will beat the President… we will beat him. What he told us is not what he is doing.”

Indeed, during his campaign round the country, Tinubu had promised life abundant. As hyperbolic as it may sound, the essence of a group of feeble women voicing their desire to beat up the symbol of Nigeria is in need of an examination. One on one, brawn-wise, it is doubtful if they could physically beat Tinubu up. Again, these were women who may never have the opportunity of standing before the majesty of the Nigerian president. So, was that “beating” up the president a mere exaggerative claim or it was representative of a desire for a castration of his government? In what way can the women beat the president? Could it be that the women were so frustrated and depressed about the hunger in the land that they have lost the tenderness associated with their gender?

But, situations of existence can render men effeminate, pushing women too to acquire the masculinity of the male gender. When castration of fervor and ability is under discourse, my mind hovers over my favourite South African short story entitled The Dube Train, authored by Drum magazine journalist, Canodoise Themba, otherwise known as Can Themba. Themba was one of the collectives of Apartheid journalists like Nat Nakassa, who blended journalism with creative writing. This they used as social commentaries against the ills of the white government and the crass disconnect of government from the pains and pangs of the people. In the said Themba story, set in a busy train coach heading for Dube Town on a Monday morning, a woman is physically assaulted by a tout called tsotsi and the passengers say nothing. A woman then spanks the men “Lord, you call yourself men! You poltroons! You let a small ruffian insult you. Fancy, he grabs at a girl in front of you…. might be your daughter…if there were real men here, they’d pull him off and give him such a leathering he’d never sit down for a week.” Then the tout pulls a knife, stabs a man who nonetheless hauls him out of the train, to his death. The passengers winced, without a whimper. The ending that Themba gives the story is what fascinates me here and in which I find a corollary with the Nigerian situation of intense hunger: “it was just another incident in the morning Dube Train” as “the crowd is greedily relishing the thrilling episode.”

Like the woman in that Dube Township train that Monday morning, it took women of Niger and Ogun States to voice the anger of Nigerians with the Tinubu government over the gnawing hunger in the land. Also, like the passengers in the train, Nigerian men seem to have lost their balls, looking the other way from the agony in the land. They lament the cost of living that is hitting the firmament and food prices that are a whiff off the cloud in their closets. Yet, Nigeria is fast getting to that intersection the Ijaye people got to when “many, in order to obtain the means for subsistence, put themselves and children in pawn and others even sold their relatives to procure food to eat.” The Ijaye crossroads is reminiscent of the famine and hunger in biblical Samaria where two mothers, hungry and unable to endure the pangs, agreed to mutually devour their children for supper. It was a very challenging, governmentally rudderless time in the city of Samaria which was under siege and embroiled in an unprecedented food scarcity. Like Nigeria. The Samarian hunger resulted in mutual cannibalism. Already in Nigeria, the economy is pushing the people to Samaria. We witness the extremes of crimes which even criminologists find no corollary to in crime literature. Pastors are faking their own kidnaps so that they can extract illicit profit from their congregation; sons are killing their parents for rituals. It is, Samaria, here we come. Even during the Nigerian civil war, things were not this traumatic. Nigeria is suffering one of its most painful economic crises post-independence and the leaders seem to be picking their teeth.

Another angle to the women who threatened to beat the president is to ask whether Abeokuta is a land of rebellion against punishing status quo. It was the same city where candidate Bola Tinubu, against the run of play, during the APC presidential campaign held at the MKO Abiola stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta, riled against then sitting president Buhari. It was unprecedented, birthing the famous or infamous Emi Lo Kan.

Again, does the “we will beat him” up remind anyone of the oppressive tax regime of the colonial regime which the then Alake of Egbaland, Ladapo Samuel Ademola, was perceived to have abetted? Does it remind us of the Abeokuta Women’s Union (AWU) which Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, a head teacher of a local school, spearheaded in same Abeokuta? Ransome-Kuti had galvanized a political organization with the inputs of working-class market and middle-class women under the same umbrella. Her purpose was to fight the colonial rule structure which midwifed an oppressive tax regime. She also sought to fight the reigning patriarchal nature of society which ensured that this oppression went uncensured. The refusal of many of the women living in Abeokuta and its environs to pay the tax landed them either in jail or payment of fines. Ransome-Kuti and her crew in AWU bombarded the colonial office with petitions against the Alake and the Resident between August 1946 and May 1947.

When the women delegation met with the Alake on October 5, 1946, still, no respite came. This culminated in the final decision by the Alake to increase the flat rate tax on women, with the active connivance of the Resident. In mid-October of that year, a mass protest erupted, made up of about a thousand women. They marched outside the king’s palace with their furious demand and legendary hate songs against the Alake. Their major demand was the abolishment of direct taxation.

Like the incandescent Afrobeat songs of her son, the irrepressible Fela Ransome-Kuti, Funmilayo helped the women compose a stinging song against the Alake in Yoruba, which translation ran thus: “Idowu (Alake) you have used your penis as a mark of authority against us for far too long a time; posturing that you were our husband. Today, however, the table has turned and we are poised to reverse the equation by deploying our vagina as a weapon of conquest to play the role of husband on you… O you former men conquerors, the head of the vagina has sought vengeance.” It was in part a feminist epistemology.

Rather than being mild on the women, the Resident furiously tackled the protesters with the aid of teargas canisters and beat them up mercilessly. The protests continued nevertheless. The women subsequently sent petitions to Britain against the Resident and Alake. On January 3, 1949, the women succeeded in “beating the Alake up” as they forced him to abdicate the throne after his deposition by the British government. He sought exile somewhere in Osogbo, current Osun State.

Women in the viral video, who may have been found Abeokuta as well, and their Minna counterpart, seem to be of the opinion that Tinubu needs beating up. How they want to do this, whether in the Ransome-Kuti mode or otherwise, leaves much to be desired.

The presidential media office was so disingenuous that it claimed that the protests were politically motivated. What other motivation is more potent than hunger wracking the bellies of the people? What is most apparent in Nigeria today is that bringing sanity to the economy is fast slipping off government’s grips like a running hare. The economy and insecurity have defied all solutions. At the conclusion of a meeting of the Armed Forces Ruling Council in October 1986, Ibrahim Babangida turned to the Inspector- General of the Nigeria Police Force, Etim Inyang, to ask for the whereabouts of two rampaging and notorious armed robbers, Lawrence Anini and Monday Osunbor, by saying, ‘My friend, where is Anini?’ Today, Tinubu too may have to turn to Wale Edun and Yemi Cardoso to ask, “my friends, where is the economy?”

Government keeps lapping up the refrain of seeking people’s understanding. Yet, agony, pain and hunger have become constant companions of the people. Rumours are rife that there is massive corruption and governmental heists today in the Villa. Government officials live as if Nigeria was in an unending saturnalia, rather than the recession that the country is battling. In the midst of this, Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the president, lent himself as an affirmation that this government relishes abandoning substance, to make mountains of hubris. He demonstrated this last Thursday at a book launch. While speaking, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives lamented that the social media had become a “societal menace” and in need of urgent regulation to avert the “great danger” it poses. Well said. To be fair to Gbajabiamila, he has been a recipient of several lacerating posts and comments on the social media which could make anyone go into depression. One of these dwelt on his law practice in America and allegations of graft as Tinubu’s CoS. No one should receive such pummeling from a medium and still seek its flourishing. Of a reality, many people have also lamented that the social media needs regulation because, not only has the social media become a home of falsities, the ease with which names are pulled down on it without authenticity is benumbing. However, I am of the firm belief that only the people themselves should regulate their networking platforms, not government.

Gbajabiamila must know that you cannot spank a child and still retain the right to prevent the child from weeping. A good government will curb social media excesses with its positive governance. If the CoS does not know, it is that same social media that has served as life-saving escapism to millions of people. It is what rescues them from the pure malady that has been offered the people as governance. The alternative of a platform to ventilate their grouses against government is an upsurge of mad people on the streets. Today, under this government, Nigerians are restless and on the edge. Hope is fast dissolving into hopelessness. Clue, it will appear, is a scarce commodity in Aso Rock. Inflation has reached its crescendo, the highest in Nigeria’s history, with hunger and starvation becoming regular guests in every Nigerian home. Gbajabiamila, it will seem, is not intent on communicating hope but an elimination of a major weapon which the people use to vent their anger. If you arrest protesting women of Minna for articulating the grouses of about 200 million Nigerians, cavalierly legislate against the social media, then, we have arrived at a full-fledged brutality. Our own Chilean Augusto Pinochet would then be the renewed draconian hope.

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you ~ Matthew 17:20.

Introduction:

The subject of faith is a quintessential subject in our Christian persuasion (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17). Nothing works without it: salvation, healing, prosperity, and victory cannot be accessed without it. Even eternal life cannot be enjoyed without exercising ourselves in it (Mark 16:16-18).

Faith is crucial to living, and it’s very paramount to the believer’s justification (Galatians 2:16). We must therefore develop an accurate understanding of its nature, and build ourselves, grow and mature in it before it can work or produce for us.

Unbelief and doubt are the chiefest enemies of faith. Below the surface, unbelief festers and truncates colorful destinies. We all must receive grace to eliminate doubt in our hearts and replace every vestige of unbelief in our spaces with robust faith in God (Mark 11:22-23).

Faith is firm confidence in the integrity of God and His Word. It is a resolute expectation of the good things which God has promised us (Matthew 8:6-13). Faith evidences the certainty of future things, and it’s the ground, basis and foundation of every reality.

Unraveling the mystery of faith in Hebrews 11:1-7, the scripture affirms that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence (or demonstration) of things not seen. A “demonstration” is that which cannot be otherwise, but is so as we assert.

Our faith says that what we expect cannot but be! Faith is a reliable companion and a sure passage. It is the spiritual organ of appropriation, and an invisible hand that takes what God offers. Faith is the proof producer of good reports.

By faith, Abraham obtained the divine promise and became the father of nations. By faith also, Noah built the Ark for 120 years and preserved a select group from the deluge of God’s wrath. Faith is a fixed persuasion of things hoped for (Hebrews 10:35-36). No wonder, those who live by faith are called the children of Abraham (Galatians 3:7-9).

Now, faith is fake without action; it’s dead without works (James 2:17). Faith is “a fact”, but also “an act” motivated by God’s Word. Jesus told the man with a withered hand,“Stretch forth thine hand”. The man did so, and wholeness was restored to him (Mark 3:1-5).

Occasionally, when you’re acting in faith, you may appear primitive in the eyes of others, but the dignity of your eventual victory will be undeniable.

The marriage celebrations almost stalled at a time in Cana of Galilee, if not for Jesus who was there. “Fill the waterpots with water”, He said, and they did. “Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast”, He further commanded. When they obeyed in faith, the rest was a historic miracle (John 2:1-11).

Your faith is your valid instrument of victory in Christ Jesus (1John 5:4). Faith is the only shield that can guarantee protection against the darts of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16; 1Peter 5:7-9).

Real faith puts you in God’ class by God’s intentional grace (Luke 1:37; Matthew 17:20). When faith is in place, the power of God swings to action. Until your faith fails, you don’t become a failure.

It takes faith to move God to work for you. As long as your faith abides, it gives all the force of reality to that which is believed (Mark 10:46-52; Matthew 9:27-30).

The Sure Fountain of Pure Faith

Faith is that quality that makes us feel and act as if unseen things are tangible, and which causes them to exert an influence over us as if we see them. Think about it!

Now, a very important question at this stage is: “how does faith come”? Yes indeed, anyone in Christ can contact a strong productive faith, and even mature in the same by hearing the Word of God. It is His Word that imparts faith (Romans 10:17).

However, it is not enough to hear the Word of God; you must hear it from Him. You cannot hear Him and remain the same! When you choose to hear Him, you cannot doubt Him.

The Voice of the Lord is powerful, irresistible and full of majesty (Psalms 29:4). When you hear the Lord’s Voice, you become a significant voice on earth.

Though Saul was once a violent persecutor, the day he heard the Voice of Jesus Christ, he recognized His Lordship (Act 22:6-9). Other people around him saw the Light, but only Saul heard the Voice. You cannot hear His Voice and remain untouched.

Light signalizes information, Voice represents personality. If you are informed and the Lord is not there, there can be no substance or change of status.

Adam heard from God, and Satan couldn’t deceive him directly (1 Timothy 2:14). Noah heard from God, and he had no problem believing God. Moses heard from God, he went straight to confront Pharaoh, the same man he ran away from earlier.

Men of exploits in the Bible were men who were sensitive to the Voice of God (John 5:30). Until you hear from God, you have nothing to hold onto. Until your spiritual deafness is healed, your future remains awry.

To matter on earth, you must hear from heaven (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance” (Psalms 89:15).

Happily, our Father-God still speaks to His people today! But, to hear Him, you must be spiritual to start with (Revelation 1:10-20). Flesh and blood cannot hear from God because God is a Spirit Being (John 4:24). Behind every written Word is His Voice; hence, His Word is spirit and life (John 6:63).

Again, we must gladly worship the Lord if we want to hear His Voice. When Elisha needed to hear from heaven, he requested a minstrel to break through the siege of the spirit of heaviness (2 Kings 3:15).

Furthermore, you must be still to know this joyful sound (Isaiah 30:15; Psalms 4:4; 46:10; 84:4). Nothing works by anxiety (1Kings 19:4). Anxiety chokes the seed of the Word, thereby constituting itself a major enemy of destiny (Luke 8:14).

Moreover, be obedient (John 2:5). Be meek and humble (1Peter 5:5; James 4:7). And, choose the walk of faith, today (2Corinthians 5:7). Nothing that’s visible is durable; but the invisible things which carry eternal value can only be evidenced in our lives here on earth through faith (2Corinthians 4:18).

Albeit, real faith is not just about quoting “quotable quotes”. It is a weapon of war. You don’t just watch the enemy gain ground in your family, business, body, career, and mind. You fight him to finish with your Word of faith and prayers.

Friends and brethren, the fight of faith is the only guaranteed way to winning (1Timothy 6:12). Whatever has not been working in your life till now can be forced to work by faith in the dominion power of our God and King (Matthew 11:12).

Fight sin, Satan, poverty, sickness and stagnation: our God takes pleasure in such fights that resist evil (Deuteronomy 2:24,31). Never give a room for Satan. Sing excitingly, “Thanks be unto God who always causeth us to triumph in Christ”. See you on payday! You won’t miss out, in Jesus name. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

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