WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine bans official use of Telegram app over fears of Russian spying

Ukraine has banned use of the Telegram messaging app on official devices used by government officials, military personnel and critical workers because it believes its enemy Russia can spy on both messages and users, a top security body said on Friday.

The National Security and Defence Council announced the restrictions after Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency, presented the council with evidence of Russian special services' ability to snoop on the platform, it said in a statement.

But Andriy Kovalenko, head of the security council's centre on countering disinformation, posted on Telegram that the restrictions apply only to official devices, not personal phones.

Telegram is heavily used in both Ukraine and Russia and has become a critical source of information since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But Ukrainian security officials have repeatedly voiced concerns about its use during the war.

Based in Dubai, Telegram was founded by Russian-born Pavel Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on his social media platform VKontakte, which he has sold.

Durov was arrested upon landing in France in August as part of an investigation into crimes related to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on Telegram.

The Security Council statement said Budanov had provided evidence that Russian special services could access Telegram messages, including deleted ones, as well as users' personal data.

"I have always supported and continue to support freedom of speech, but the issue of Telegram is not a matter of freedom of speech, it is a matter of national security," Budanov said in his own statement.

After the decision was announced, Telegram issued a statement saying it had never disclosed anyone's data or the contents of any message.

"Telegram has never provided any messaging data to any country, including Russia. Deleted messages are deleted forever and are technically impossible to recover," Telegram said.

It said every instance of what it described as "leaked messages" had been proven to be "the result of a compromised device, whether through confiscation or malware".

According to the Telemetrio database, about 33,000 Telegram channels are active in Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who sits on the security council, as well as military commanders and regional and city officials all regularly publish updates on the war and report important decisions on Telegram.

Ukrainian media have estimated that 75% of Ukrainians use the app for communication and found that 72% saw it as a key source of information as of the end of last year.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

US to delay Ukraine aid over shortages – CNN

The weapons stockpile shortages will likely force Washington to delay the shipments of promised military aid to Ukraine, CNN reported on Friday, citing two US officials familiar with the matter.

The report comes as Kiev has been asking foreign backers to speed up the delivery of arms and to lift the remaining restrictions on the use of longer-range missiles for strikes deep into Russia territory.

According to the Pentagon, the US has $5.9 billion left in the special congressionally approved mechanism (PDA) aimed at fast-tracking aid for Kiev. However, the aid packages have been getting smaller in recent times as the weapons stocks are dwindling, CNN said.

The currently available PDA is set to expire within the next two weeks since the House of Representatives failed to pass an extension on Wednesday. The White House may be forced to charge its approach, “announcing large military aid packages that will take months to deliver,” as opposed to smaller shipments, the channel said.

Washington believes Kiev will need at least half a billion worth of PDA per month throughout fiscal year 2025, CNN report, citing a senior White House official.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Western officials warned Kiev that “a full Ukrainian victory” would require immense resources that neither the US nor Europe cannot provide.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is expected to present his new “victory plan” to US President Joe Biden next week. The success of the plan would “directly depend on the approval and support of the United States,”Zelensky said.

Ukrainian commanders and politicians have repeatedly blamed the delays in weapons deliveries for battlefield losses and the failure to hold off Russian offensives.

Moscow, meanwhile, has stated that no amount of Western aid would stop its troops in Ukraine.

Reuters/RT

As is the case with most Nigerian things these days, the subject of this article has to do with petrol. And in commencing it, I am struck by the choice words of the real estate and automobile content creator, Ola of Lagos, as he markets multimillion naira assets saying “just.” He could go “for just N350 million, you can get so and so for yourself,” or, and this one stood out in my opinion, “for just N17 billion!” He rarely fails to intersperse his commentary with the famous catchphrase “It’s plenty!” or “I will not be poor in my life.” Why have I chosen to go this route, you ask? It is because ridiculous as these statements are for properties at those price points, they apply uncannily to Nigeria’s current economy.

Like me, you must have seen comparisons of fuel prices in Nigeria with those in neighbouring or far-flung countries. The astronomical figures in these locations are then leveraged to coax Nigerians into a false sense of stability about things not being as bad as they are elsewhere and, if anything, how little we pay to procure fuel. In an alternate sense, the premium motor spirit is sold for “just” N1,000 to the unrealistically statistical minds that are those of government planners and to the masses; these figures are stark reminders of their deepening poverty.

“I will not be poor in my life.”

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s Multidimensional Poverty Index, 63 per cent, translates to 133 million Nigerians who are multidimensionally poor. Put differently, well over half of the population suffers shortfalls in access to healthcare, food, shelter, and education, among other amenities. This is as reports variously indicate that more than eighty million Nigerians are in extreme poverty; that is, they live below the internationally acknowledged poverty line of less than $1.90 a day. Converted to naira at current rates, that amounts to a little over three thousand naira. Were one to take an ultimately incorrect approach to analysing this data, the ability to spend three thousand per day should amount to an expenditure of ninety thousand naira a month. This amount is significantly higher than the new minimum wage. On the flip side, analyzing this through the lenses of current living costs will put that amount on par with a variety of expenses ranging from a single measure of rice to three litres of fuel or even the entirety of transport fare expended in one day of transit in a state like Lagos. All these compared to figures as recent as just before the Tinubu administration.

Just N1,000!

Succinctly put, it is hardly the bare minimum for surviving. Yet, against this backdrop, the most consistent story in the news has been the issue of fuel prices. When it is not a novel twist in the seemingly unending showdown between Dangote Refinery and the Federal Government, it is the lapses of the NNPCL in preventing queues at filling stations. A third wheel in these controversies is the seesaw-like relationship between the infamous market dynamics governing the state’s attitude towards implementing or removing fuel subsidies and the entitled nature of the citizenry’s perception of subsidies. To understand things better, we must journey back into the seasons and settings of each facet of this conversation.

This takes us down the rabbit hole of fuel prices, international fluctuations and subsidies in the Nigerian market. Since Nigeria submitted itself to the notoriety of its curse, oil became a central determinant of the health of the Nigerian economy. Its scarcity predates increases in the prices of commodities and, consequently, instability in its politics. This is a natural order since it is elementary economics for the cost of production to influence purchase costs for the end user. However, these impacts should ordinarily be milder in an ecosystem with low import dependency and substantial manufacturing capacity. Where there is some degree of imports, which is inherently unavoidable in the grand economic scheme, a steady inflow of foreign exchange should equally serve to mitigate the imbalance occasioned by hefty quantities of local currency chasing scarce dollars. Nigeria defies this logic as it is, first and foremost, an imports-based economy, a bearing that unfortunately extends to its exploitation of oil.

Different authors reflect on the history of fuel price increases in Nigeria from 1973. I will focus on the same periods, too. The 1970s coincided with a decline in the exploitation of alternate commodities in favour of oil. Before this period, hydrocarbons accounted for less than 2 per cent of national exports and generated around N66 million in revenue in 1970. Enter the anti-west energy embargoes of the Arab states in 1973 and the astronomical surge in oil prices, the country was immediately exposed to a generous trough of foreign exchange than it had previously been familiar with. With oil now seeming like the goose with the finest golden eggs, other revenue sources, such as agriculture, were abandoned to a sharp recession in the shadows. The same year coincided with an increase in Nigeria’s pump price from 6 kobo to 8.45 kobo under the stewardship of the Yakubu Gowon administration. In 1976, Murtala Muhammed followed this with an increase to 9 kobo per litre. He was succeeded by the rise two years later to 15.3 kobo per litre under Obasanjo, then 20 kobo per litre under Shagari. It is instructive to note that the Obasanjo-led military administration instituted the Price Control Act in 1977, achieving the dual purpose of making it illegal to sell certain products, such as petrol, above the regulated price and institutionalizing the subsidy regime as we now know it.

As prices rose under successive administrations, so did consumption. Between 1977 and 1981, consumption rose by 30 per cent due to higher incomes and growing industrial application of hydrocarbons. Subsequently, consumption data would swing back and forth between high and low moments depending on the tenor of the market at any given time. Between 1986 and 1992, the military government of Ibrahim Babangida increased pump prices a total of five times, winding up at N3.25 by the twilight of his administration after much furore. His increases were notably driven by the conditions set by economic reforms advanced by Bretton Woods institutions to which Nigeria had subscribed. From that time onwards, different governments spearheaded the fuel price increases, all mainly under the theme of removing subsidies. Organized labour fiercely resisted them at varying points, as seen under the Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan administrations. These two contrasting standpoints led to the perpetuation of an arrangement that many economists attest was a positive leech on the purses of the Nigerian state. The need to subsidise in the first place was driven by the import dependency of what is, antithetically, one of the world’s largest crude producers. Lacking a functional refining capacity, the country relies on a round-tripping structure that sees oil exported raw and bought back as finished products for the local markets. The four state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Warri lie moribund in the wake of Nigeria’s importation of nearly a hundred per cent of its refined product needs. To make matters worse, subsidy has not been the sole culprit in gulping up Nigeria’s scarce resources; its unproductive refining facilities have, too. Two thousand twenty estimates suggest that $25 billion has been expended on the four refineries in 25 years, with figures computed by the national assembly last year placing this at N11.35 trillion since 2010.

Such outrageous sums certainly demand that value be given and accountability be demonstrated. However, the national petroleum company has repeatedly reneged on its promises in recent years. On different occasions, Nigerians have been taken on a joyride by the abject dishonesty of state officials on the actual, realistic condition of these assets. December 2023 mainly saw the state curate a buffet of falsehood steeped in technical jargon to sway the emotions of long-suffering Nigerians. Debates about the implications of “mechanical completion” occupied the minds of many as the NNPC broadcast videos suggesting to the uninitiated masses that work on the Port Harcourt refinery was at an advanced stage. Nine months later, the rhetoric persists. Yet, mysterious as the affair has been, experts have posited that Nigeria’s refineries, while potentially one of Africa’s largest if fully utilized, are marred by myriad problems, top among which are dilapidated infrastructure made worse by decades of neglect. In the absence of functional refineries, product importation becomes the following line of action.

Given that this regime is vulnerable to the caprices of the international market, such as those witnessed in the 1970s, upticks in the prices of crude translate to higher subsidy commitments by the Nigerian government. For this reason, the energy crisis triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict forced Nigeria to pay an even higher subsidy bill, running into trillions of scarce naira. With increased local consumption also comes a jump in subsidy payments.

Analyses in past years have shown that the country’s regulatory habit towards pump prices has cost it dearly in terms of opportunities to develop human capital and invest in other sectors of the economy. In 2022, subsidy payments running into N4.3 trillion exceeded total healthcare, education and infrastructure funding by an excess of 800 billion naira, according to a PWC report. This subsisted despite the deregulation of kerosene and diesel, leaving both to control market forces. Contributing factors to the high level of subsidy include false entries to import petroleum without procuring the product and diversion of refined crude to the country’s neighbours in acts of arbitrage. Consequently, the expectation is that onshoring refining would prevent exposure to the downsides of importation, freeing up revenue and reducing the debt taken to fund subsidies. Neither of these would be possible without consensus from labour unions, which reflect a national sentiment that cheap fuel is a fundamental right. With government commitment to upscaling living conditions of the citizenry being next to non-existent, the most tangible way for ordinary Nigerians to access social benefits would be the black gold. Yet, paradoxically, the state is, for the same reason, handicapped from operating optimally. It is against this backdrop that the Dangote Refinery, globally acclaimed for its magnitude, appears to promise some redemption from the incompetence of the Nigerian state. With approximately $20 billion sunken into the Lekki Free Trade Zone grounds and a 650,000 bpd-capacity refinery stemming from it, it appeared to be the magic bullet to solving all our supply woes.

Not only is it right on home soil, but it would also save the government the headache of explaining over and over the mechanics of fuel pricing to a restive audience. Since what was most certainly a politicized inauguration in the final days of the Buhari leadership, the refinery has been able to do anything but relieve the burdens of the Nigerian people. In the last few months, it has appeared that both the complex and its regulators have been intent on displaying their public opinion manipulation talents in full glory. From accusations of monopoly and substandard quality to debates over supply-side challenges, the end feels distant for observers of this saga. So that we might avoid the pitfall of emotional illogic, we must understand the stances taken by either side. For Dangote, the nature of the oil business has its obstinate imperatives. He can compensate for the government’s failure to meet supply needs by importing from afield, but he cannot work the magic of reducing fuel prices unless he wishes to do so at his peril. On the NNPCL’s side, the case is a culmination of the problems it has contended with for decades now. It cannot simply guarantee a steady of crude to Lekki when its lines are consistently sabotaged by disgruntled locals in the Niger Delta. Neither can it compel producers to sell crude when the entire principle of sale and purchase depends on choice – and the provisions of the legislation.

Dangote is first a businessman and, despite all his theatrics, must equally be seen as such. He has entered the arena of public opinion and swayed people to his side on what is a just cause. Still, he is also careful not to offend the interests of the masses, his ordinary but numerically capable allies. Thus, it is fair to join in the protests when top officials in the NMDPRA and NUPRC cannot seem to dedicate their jaws to positive speech concerning the project; it is also fair to ponder why NNPC is failing to meet its payment obligations to international suppliers despite a range of searing policies not least of which is the purported removal of subsidy. However, one can suspect deception when the CEO of the largest privately run refinery markets his fuel as being of top quality because of its pristine nature and plays a calculative back and forth in its public relations by doing everything but declaring its prices; it stops being fair. Just N800!

Interestingly, the victimhood embodied by the refinery was conducted while publicizing claims of marketers defying logic by patronizing more expensive international suppliers only for their prices to wind up more costly than anticipated. To be fair, the company has few choices given the purchase of its stocks from overseas. If it were to sell any cheaper, it would potentially invite the fraternal twin of the word’ profit.’ If it were also to adopt the naira as its currency of trade, it would expose itself to the uncertainties of a weak tender, making losses an ever-present risk.

So, in contrast to messy public feuds that we have seen play out, he must sell abroad if Nigerians will not buy and do business in dollars, a currency that has so far been responsible for many of the woes of ordinary citizens – except of course, the government develops frameworks like the naira-for-crude agreement. As these narratives unfold, one thing that must remain apex in the minds of all of us is the ongoing hardship. For the families who have now had to withdraw their children to schools within trekkable distance, forgo simple nutritional indulgences due to inflation, hike some or the entirety of their route to work daily, or pack up their businesses due to financial loss, these persistent twists by the elites are all just drama – one that they can neither afford nor enjoy the liberty to understand.

Could it be “Just for the masses”?

Toyin Falola, is a professor of History, University Distinguished Teaching Professor, and Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at The University of Texas at Austin.

A Pakistani father fearing for his daughter’s safety made her wear a surveillance camera on her head so he could keep an eye on her.

There is nothing a good parent won’t do to ensure their child’s safety! For example, one Pakistani man recently went viral on X (Twitter) for installing a surveillance camera on his young daughter’s head so he could monitor her activities throughout that day and make sure she was alright. In a viral video titled ‘Next Level Security’, the Pakistani woman is shown being interviewed while wearing a CCTV camera on her burka-covered head. Asked about the bizarre accessory, she said that it was his father’s idea, adding that she had nothing against it because she knew her parents were concerned about her safety.

The unidentified woman went on to say that the idea of wearing what we assume is a battery-powered camera when she goes out was inspired by the tragic death of a young woman in Karachi. Her father, whom she called her “personal security guard,” apparently told her that the surveillance camera would help him monitor her more closely, and she agreed to wear it.

Despite the obvious absurdity of the so-called security measure, the young woman claimed that the threat of violence against women in Karachi was very real, and her family had good reason to be concerned.

It’s unclear how the surveillance camera is being powered and how it can be accessed by the woman’s father, but even if both these issues were somehow resolved, many on social media pointed out that the camera wouldn’t be much use if someone attacked the young woman from behind. Then again, maybe her family is counting on the fact that the mere sight of a security camera would intimidate anyone with bad intentions.

Oddity Central

British consumer goods giant PZ Cussons Plc is contemplating a partial or complete withdrawal from its African operations, with Nigeria and Kenya as its primary manufacturing centers. This move comes as the latest in a series of multinational companies reconsidering their presence in Nigeria due to challenging economic conditions.

The potential exit was announced in a statement by PZ Cussons Nigeria, the local subsidiary, revealing that the parent company has "received a number of expressions of interest for our African business." This development follows the group's disappointing 2024 financial results, which saw a 39.7% drop in net profit, largely attributed to a 57% devaluation of the Nigerian naira against the British pound.

PZ Cussons' struggles in Nigeria mirror those of other multinational corporations that have recently departed or scaled back operations in the country. Notable examples include:

1. Procter & Gamble: The American consumer goods company announced its exit from Nigeria in December 2023, citing difficulties in the business environment.

2. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK): The pharmaceutical giant revealed plans to end its prescription medicines and vaccine businesses in Nigeria in August 2023.

3. Unilever: In March 2023, Unilever announced it would separate its tea business in Nigeria and Ghana, following a global restructuring of its tea division.

4. Sanofi: The French pharmaceutical company disclosed its intention to exit Nigeria in April 2023, transferring its commercial operations to local partners.

These departures highlight the challenging business climate in Nigeria, characterized by currency volatility, regulatory uncertainties, and economic instability. The Nigerian division of PZ Cussons reported its first annual loss in years, amounting to N76 billion, primarily due to a staggering 3,000% increase in foreign exchange losses.

The potential exit of PZ Cussons from Nigeria would mark the end of a long-standing presence in the country, where it has been a household name for decades with popular brands such as Canoe, Premier Cool, and Devon Kings. The company currently holds a 73.3% stake in its Nigerian unit.

As multinational companies continue to reassess their operations in Nigeria, the government faces increasing pressure to address the economic challenges and create a more favorable business environment to retain foreign investment and attract new players to the market.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company has revealed plans to invest $1 billion in Nigeria over the next five years. This commitment was announced during a meeting with Coca-Cola's global leadership team, including John Murphy, President and Chief Financial Officer, and Segun Apata, Chairman of the Nigerian Bottling Company.

Murphy highlighted Coca-Cola's significant economic impact in Nigeria, noting that the company generates ₦320 billion annually from nearly 300,000 customers and contributes close to ₦90 billion in revenue to the Nigerian government. "We are very proud of the growth of the business over a long period and its impact on the daily lives of many Nigerians," Murphy said.

Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO of Coca-Cola HBC, praised Nigeria’s vast potential and reiterated the company’s commitment to partnering with the government to realize this potential.

Coca-Cola had previously pledged to invest $1 billion in Nigeria's economy in November 2021.

Primate Henry Ndukuba, leader of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, has urged President Bola Tinubu to prioritize the creation of a new constitution for the nation. According to Ndukuba, Tinubu's most lasting legacy would be establishing a solid foundation for democratic governance through this effort.

He emphasized that the new constitution should address the concerns raised at previous Sovereign National Conferences and respond to ongoing calls for restructuring the country. The Primate cautioned that avoiding this responsibility would be equivalent to "postponing doomsday."

In his presidential address at the 19th Standing Committee Meeting of the church, held at St. Andrew’s Basilica in the Nike Diocese on September 19, 2024, Ndukuba assessed the state of the nation, highlighting that Nigeria is plagued by various persistent challenges.

He stated that the proposed constitution would tackle the root causes of the "xenophobic agitation of the citizens." Ndukuba also praised the National Assembly for its work in amending the military-imposed constitution, which he believes will pave the way for a new constitution crafted by the sovereign assembly representing the "people of Nigeria."

Signed:

Folu Olamiti, Director of Media, Office of the Primate.

Israel destroys 1,000 Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels, military says

Israeli fighter jets pounded Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon late on Thursday, striking hundreds of rocket launcher barrels that were set to be used to immediately fire toward Israeli territory, the military said.

It said that since the afternoon, fighter jets struck some 100 rocket launchers consisting of about 1,000 barrels.

"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will continue to operate to degrade the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s infrastructure and capabilities in order to defend the State of Israel," the IDF said.

The intense barrage followed attacks earlier in the week attributed by Lebanon and Hezbollah to Israel that blew up Hezbollah radios and pagers, killing 37 people and wounding about 3,000 in Lebanon.

In Thursday's late operation, Israel launched dozens of bombs across southern Lebanon, three Lebanese security sources said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel will keep up military action against Hezbollah.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah after a week of escalation. The U.S. has also expressed fears of further escalation.

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to return tens of thousands of residents evacuated from northern border areas to their homes. Hezbollah

In a show of support with Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks, Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel, forcing many residents to flee to the center of the country. Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire daily since.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russia’s drone production to increase tenfold – Putin

The Russian military is set to receive ten times more drones in 2024 than it did in the year before, President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday during a meeting of the country’s Military-Industrial Commission on the development of unmanned aircraft systems.

The president stated that in 2023, the Russian Armed Forces received nearly 140,000 drones of various types and their production rate has since gone up significantly. “This year, the production of drones is planned to increase several times, or to be more precise, almost ten times,”Putin said.

He said that the range of unmanned systems is being expanded and that unmanned boats are being developed as well.

“The key task is to produce a wide range of unmanned aerial vehicles and to set up serial production of such promising technology as quickly as possible,” Putin explained, adding that it is necessary to “fully meet” the needs of the armed forces and increase drone production and the technical and tactical characteristics of UAVs, which includes actively introducing elements of artificial intelligence.

“Along with the development of drones, we need to look for means of their electronic and conventional destruction. This will save the lives of our military personnel, civilians and more reliably protect military equipment, civilian infrastructure, and critically important facilities,” the president said.

Putin stated that the design, testing, and serial production of drones is set to be carried out in special scientific and production centers, 48 of which are planned to be created across the country by 2030.

Earlier on Thursday, the president personally visited the Special Technology Center (STC) in St. Petersburg which specializes in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare systems and communications.

Putin also inspected an exhibition of robots that have already been supplied to Russia’s forces on the front line and was shown several examples of kamikaze drones, reconnaissance systems, and a model of a loitering munition.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia attacks Ukraine geriatric centre and power grid

Russian forces hit a geriatric centre in the Ukrainian city of Sumy and targeted its energy sector in a new wave of airstrikes on Thursday, killing at least one civilian, Ukrainian officials said.

A U.N. monitoring body said attacks on the power grid probably violated humanitarian lawwhile the International Energy Agency said in a report that Ukraine's electricity supply shortfall in the critical winter months could reach about a third of expected peak demand.

During a daytime strike on the northern city of Sumy, a Russian guided bomb hit a five-storey building, regional and military officials said.

One person was killed and 12 wounded, the interior ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said rescue teams were checking to see whether people were trapped under rubble.

Images from the site shared alongside the ministry's post showed elderly patients evacuated from the damaged building lying on the ground on carpets and blankets.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said that Russia had launched 90 guided bomb attacks in the past 24 hours

He also said that Ukraine's forces had "managed to diminish the occupiers' assault potential in Donetsk region," though the situation remained difficult in areas subjected to the heaviest attacks, near the cities of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had captured the village of Heorhiivka, east of Kurakhove.

The General Staff of Ukraine's military, in an afternoon report, referred to the village as one of several engulfed by fighting. Popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState said the village was in Russian hands.

Overnight, Ukraine's air force said it had shot down all 42 drones and one of four missiles launched since Russia invaded Ukraine more than 2-1/2 years ago.

Russian forces have pummelled the energy system in the Sumy region in multiple strikes this week, reducing power in some areas and forcing authorities to use back-up power systems.

Ukraine's energy ministry said power cuts had been in force in 10 regions due to airstrikes and technological reasons.

In a sign of its concern, the European Union said a fuel power plant was being dismantled in Lithuania to be rebuilt in Ukraine, and that electricity exports would also be increased.

The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said Russia's attacks violated international humanitarian law by jeopardizing essential services, including water and heating, while also threatening public health, education and the economy, according to the report.

Kyiv says targeting energy system is a war crime, and the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for four Russian officials and military officers for the bombing of civilian power infrastructure.

Moscow says power infrastructure is a legitimate military target and dismisses the charges as irrelevant.

SUMY A FREQUENT TARGET

Moscow has repeatedly attacked the Sumy region, which borders Russia's Kursk region, the site of a major Ukrainian incursion in which Kyiv says it seized over 100 settlements.

Russian shelling killed three people near Krasnopillia in the Sumy region on Wednesday evening, local prosecutors said. More shelling on Thursday wounded two people and damaged a medical institution, they added.

Russia has taken back two more villages in Kursk, a senior commander said on Thursday, adding that Russian forces were also advancing in eastern Ukraine.

Zelenskiy, however, said the incursion into Kursk region had succeeded in diverting nearly 40,000 Russian troops to the area.

RT/Reuters

By his admission, Adams Oshiomhole is a lousy product vendor. In the real commercial world, his premises would have been closed and his products banned.

But in politics, crime multiples grace. Oshiomhole dragged Godwin Obaseki into the governorship race in 2016 when the odds were against him. Obaseki’s daytime job was minding his business at Afrinvest, a financial services company he founded. But he soon landed a side hustle as chairman of the Edo State Economic and Strategy Team in Osadebey House, Benin.

When Oshiomhole wanted to hand over the baton in 2016, after two terms as governor, Obaseki, the Lagos Boy, didn’t look like it. He was not sellable. Pius Odubu, the deputy governor, was in good stead and seemed favouredto get it by most accounts. 

Tinubu-Fashola model

But Oshiomhole wanted to replicate the Tinubu-Fashola template in Lagos. He wanted to be the Tinubu of Edo and to make Obaseki, the technocrat and worldly-wise businessman, the Fashola. That was how Odubu, the local politician and village man, lost out.

A Lagos-based multibillionaire with a sprawling business empire also backed the plan, which finally earned Obaseki the ticket as a candidate for the All ProgressivesCongress (APC). Oshiomhole portrayed Obaseki as a genius, the special one that the Edo people had been waiting for while demonising his challenger in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Osagie Ize-Iyamu. 

As I said in an article at the time, there was no name that Oshiomhole didn’t call Ize-Iyamu, except the name his parents gave him: Osagie. This man, he said, was a lousy product, undeserving of the vote of the Edo people.

Short honeymoon

Genius Obaseki won, but the honeymoon didn’t last. It didn’t take one year before he fell out with his promoter, Oshiomhole. The disagreement was not about performance or party programmes. It was about whether or not Tony Anenih, Oshiomhole’s mortal enemy, should have been given a state burial and also about control of the state’s resources. 

The off-season governorship poll in Edo made matters worse. Obaseki inherited a parliament installed in 2015 when Oshiomhole was governor, and the lawmakers’ reelection in 2019 came one year ahead of Obaseki’s. He managed to work with the lawmakers for the first three years of his tenure because they were all predominantly members of the same party. 

When he switched to the PDP after he was denied the APC governorship ticket in 2020, a predominantly APC parliament fiercely loyal to Oshiomhole was in place. The House was a lion’s den, and Obaseki knew he would have had to plot his survival if he won reelection. Oshiomhole went around Edo State begging voters to forgive him for selling them a “bad product,” the same product he used his mouth to advertise as a genius deal in 2016. 

This time, he offered them Osagie Ize-Iyamu, whom he had demonised and written off four years earlier as the rebranded new deal. Of course, voters rejected the offer. Obaseki, who had defected to the opposition PDP with his deputy, Philip Shaibu, won the election.

To survive, Obaseki governed with a hobbled parliament. Over half of the state lawmakers were camped in Oshiomhole’s house in Abuja because the governor refused to swear them in. 

Vendor begs again

The vendor has been begging again for the sins he committed against the Esama of Benin, Gabriel Igbinedion, hoping that forgiveness might also pave the way for the APC’s candidate, Monday Okpebholo, in this weekend’s governorship election. 

It won’t be long before we know what the voters think. The stage is set for a three-way race among Okpebholo(APC), Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP). 

According to the election watchdog, Yiaga Africa, there are 17 parties with about 2.6 million registered voters. For nearly two-and-a-half decades, the political contest in Edo has been between two parties – until last year’s presidential election altered the landscape, producing a result that gave Labour 56.97 percent of the votes cast in the presidential election, a senator, and a member of the House of Representatives.

The battlegrounds

The battle this weekend will be fierce in two senatorial districts – Edo Central, where the two leading candidates, Okpebholo and Ighodalo, are from, and the South, which produced a senator and a federal House member from the Labour Party and is also the stronghold of the Obaseki and his ally and former SSG, Osaradion Ogie.

It was in the Central, formerly a PDP bastion, that Okpebholo defeated Clifford Ordia, a two-term senator. This weekend’s contest gives Okpebholo a chance to prove his victory was not a fluke in an election where the two leading candidates, both from this constituency with the least local governments (five) and lowest number of registered voters 440,514 (16.68 percent), have everything to play for.

The South is the main battleground, the state’s vote bank with 1,526,699 (57.81 percent) registered voters and seven local governments. It is also crucial to the outcome for other reasons. Apart from being the governor's base and the home of the Labour candidate, it is also the most cosmopolitan, partly explaining the Labour Party's emergence as a force.

The South is where the governor’s record in the last eight years and the credentials of those who want to succeed him might face the strictest scrutiny. Yet, like most elite populations, it is also the most unreliable in outcomes. If it rains too much, the weather is too hot, or the fear of violence becomes a clear and present danger, the elite has an excellent excuse to shun the poll and sit at home. 

With the APC and PDP threatening to make the election a do-or-die affair and allegations by the PDP that the APC plans to use force and intimidation to rig the poll, low voter turnout, especially in urban areas in Edo South, is a clear and present threat. This danger may erode any benefits for Ighodalo from the combined forces of Obaseki and Ogie from Oredo and Ikpoba Local Governments and tip the scales in favour of the APC and Labour Party candidates.

Not on the ballot?

Oshiomhole is not on the ballot. His reputation as one of Edo’s most famous product vendors of the past eight years is. With six local governments and 673,794 (25.51 percent) registered voters, Edo North, Oshiomhole’s home base, is the second-largest vote bank in the state. It is also the base of Philip Shaibu, the stranded deputy governor. 

I guess that Obaseki’s style – not to mention his take-no-prisoner politics, a bad habit he may have inherited from his estranged promoter, Oshiomhole – may have further alienated him and reduced the chances of his candidate, Ighodalo, making significant inroads in the North. Prominent people in PDP who sheltered Obaseki from vagrancy in 2020 against whom he turned his back are waiting to take revenge. 

Will it be the triumph or perhaps the redemption of the product vendor? Will President Bola Tinubu get his vindication four years after Obaseki’s campaign mocked him with, “Edo no bi Lagos?” Or will this be Obaseki’s chance to affirm himself as the new political force in Edo and shut down the production factory of the decorated lousy product vendor once and for all?

** Ishiekwene is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book Writing for Media and MonetisingIt.

Sui Guillory

Every entrepreneur is on her path to running a business, and each will learn her own lessons in time. But take it from me, an entrepreneur who has started several successful businesses over the past 20 years: Sometimes it’s helpful to learn from others’ experiences!

And so I offer five deceptively simple lessons I’ve learned as a business owner.

Lessons learned from running a business

1. It’s okay to pivot

When you start a business, there’s often this drive to build the business, make it a success, and then…what? Most entrepreneurs keep running their businesses for years and ignore the fact that they’re burnt out and bored.

There’s no lifelong contract you sign when you start a business. You call the shots, and if you’re being called to do something completely different, give yourself permission to do so. That may mean closing or selling the business you’ve worked hard to build. This is not failure. This is success. You have created a thriving business and now you’re deciding to take on a completely new endeavor. That takes bravery!

Even if you stay in the same business, set your ego aside and constantly look for ways to improve the business, even if that means changing services or products to better align with your audience.

2. It’s okay to work less

Americans have become workaholics, and rather than making us better at work, it’s impeding us, causing health problems and stress. Again, there seems to be some unspoken rule that says the more you work, the more virtuous you are (or appear to be).

If you remove cultural expectations and instead focus on working just as much as you need to keep your business chugging along and move it in the direction of your business goals, you might find it’s a whole lot less than 40 hours a week.

Creating systems and processes can cut down on the time you spend on menial tasks, like scheduling social media posts rather than creating them when you’re ready to publish them. And delegating tasks to others (which is why you hired employees, right?) can free you up to focus on the bigger-picture activities you need to perform as the business owner.

3. It’s okay to fire clients

New entrepreneurs may be horrified at the idea of firing a client, but those who have been running their companies for a while will instantly be able to think of a pesky client who they would love to fire. Maybe it’s the one who sends 20 emails a day and calls you on the weekend. Or the one who constantly changes his mind about what he wants for a project. Or the one who pays little but demands much.

You don’t have to put up with bad clients. Yes, you will lose revenue if you let one go, but think of the time you’ll free up. With that time, you can look for new, better clients to replace that revenue. You can also devote more time to the clients you have, which will make them so happy, they’ll refer others to you!

Just be careful in how you “fire” a client. If emotions get in the way, you risk burning bridges. On the other hand, if you can tactfully tell a client that you’re no longer able to provide services for them, you may leave the relationship secure. If you don’t want to be honest about how crazy it makes you to receive dozens of texts about a project from the client, just tell them your workload doesn’t allow you to fully dedicate yourself to their project.

4. Who you are now isn’t who you will be

Even after 20 years of entrepreneurship, I’m still changing and learning. You will, too. As your industry changes, as you’re influenced by books, blogs, documentaries, conferences, and peers, you will get new ideas about how to run your business and the products or services you offer.

In business, there is no stagnation. Or there shouldn’t be. Your role as an entrepreneur is to constantly improve yourself so you can help your business grow. Your ego (there that word is again) may tell you that you’re experienced and that you don’t need to learn anything, but don’t listen to it. There’s always room to grow and learn

5. Listen to others (but know when to shut your ears)

One great way to learn and help your business grow is to turn to others for advice. That might be a business partner, employee, friend, spouse, or mentor. Be open to the advice coming from anywhere, and humble yourself enough to really hear it rather than deciding that you always know best what your business needs.

On the other hand, realize that while people have the best intentions, they don’t always know what your business needs! It’s up to you to discern when you’ve got things covered and when you’re in too deep and need to see your business from an outside perspective. Sometimes you need a combination of advice from others and your own intuition.

If you pay attention, your business is teaching you things every day. But sometimes it requires you to pull your head out of the muck to hear it, and set aside self-pride to heed it.

Forbes