Israeli strikes kill 23 in Gaza, military expands evacuation orders

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 23 Palestinians on Tuesday, local health officials said, as the Israeli military expanded evacuation orders to tens of thousands of residents across the enclave.

The Israeli military resumed its campaign against Hamas in Gaza a week ago, shattering a two-month ceasefire. Since then, nearly 700 people, mostly women and children, have been killed, Palestinian health officials say.

Most of Gaza's 2.3 million population has already been displaced by the fighting multiple times during nearly 18 months of war and is facing worsening shortages of food and waterafter Israel suspended aid deliveries earlier this month.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army told residents in all northern border towns to evacuate, saying Palestinian rockets had been fired at Israel from the area.

The affected towns include Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Shejaia in Gaza City. Orders were also issued for areas in Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.

"For your safety, you must move immediately south to known shelters," the military said in its orders to residents in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's historic refugee camps.

Palestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe areas in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the renewed offensive aimed to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining 59 hostages it is holding in Gaza. About 24 of them are believed to be still alive.

Hamas, which accuses Israel of abandoning the January 19 ceasefire deal, said it was cooperating with a new effort, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, to restore calm and conclude the three-phase ceasefire agreement.

According to some Hamas sources, there has been no breakthrough.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia, Ukraine agree to sea, energy truce; Washington seeks easing of sanctions

The United States reached separate deals on Tuesday with Ukraine and Russia to pause their attacks at sea and against energy targets, with Washington agreeing to push to lift some sanctions against Moscow.

While it was not clear when or how the Black Sea maritime security deals would start, the agreements are the first formal commitments by the two warring sides since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who is pushing for an end to the war in Ukraine and a rapid rapprochement with Moscow that has alarmed Kyiv and European countries.

The U.S. agreement with Russia goes further than the agreement with Ukraine, with Washington committing to help seek the lifting of international sanctions on Russian agriculture and fertiliser exports, long a Russian demand.

Shortly after the U.S. announcements, the Kremlin said the Black Sea agreements would not come into effect unless links between some Russian banks and the international financial system were restored.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his understanding was that the truce agreements did not require sanctions relief to come into force and would take effect immediately, calling the Kremlin's statement an attempt to "manipulate" the deals.

"They are already trying to distort agreements and, in fact, deceive both our intermediaries and the entire world," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

Kyiv and Moscow both said they would rely on Washington to enforce the deals, while expressing scepticism that the other side would abide by them.

"We will need clear guarantees," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "And given the sad experience of agreements with just Kyiv, the guarantees can only be the result of an order from Washington to Zelenskiy and his team to do one thing and not the other."

Zelenskiy said if Russia violated them he would ask Trump to impose additional sanctions on Moscow and provide more weapons for Ukraine.

"We have no faith in the Russians, but we will be constructive," he said.

In the hours following the announcements, both Russia and Ukraine accused each other of launching drone attacks, but there were no immediate reports of hits on Black Sea or energy targets.

Meanwhile Trump, in an interview with Newsmax, acknowledged that Russia could be trying to delay ending the war.

"I think that Russia wants to see an end to it, but it could be they're dragging their feet. I've done it over the years," he said.

BROADER TRUCE PROSPECTS

The deals were reached after parallel talks in Saudi Arabia that followed separate phone calls last week between Trump and the two presidents, Zelenskiy and Vladimir Putin.

If implemented, the deals could be the first significant step toward Trump's goal to achieve a more encompassing ceasefire in the war in Ukraine that Russia started with its full-scale invasion three years ago.

Putin rejected Trump's proposal for a full ceasefire lasting 30 days, which Ukraine had previously endorsed.

"We are making a lot of progress," Trump told reporters on Tuesday, while adding there was "tremendous animosity" in the talks.

"There's a lot of hatred, as you can probably tell, and it allows for people to get together, mediated, arbitrated, and see if we can get it stopped. And I think it will work."

Washington has softened its rhetoric towards Russia in recent days, with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff saying he did not "regard Putin as a bad guy," alarming European officials who consider the Russian leader a dangerous enemy.

Lavrov, a veteran Russian diplomat at the helm of the foreign ministry since 2004, said the optimism of Witkoff who said that truce could come soondoes not take under consideration the European allies of Kyiv.

"He (Witkoff) significantly overestimates the elites of European countries, who want to 'hang like a stone around the neck' of Zelenskiy, so as not to allow him to 'give in'," Lavrov said.

Ukraine and its European allies fear Trump could strike a hasty deal with Putin that undermines their security and caves in to Russian demands, including for Kyiv to abandon its NATO ambitions and give up land claimed by Moscow.

PAUSE ON ATTACKS ON ENERGY FACILITIES

Russia has pounded Ukraine's power grid with missiles and drones and Kyiv has launched long-range strikes on Russian oil and gas targets in attacks that have become a major aspect of the war to undermine each other's war efforts.

The Kremlin said the pause in attacks on energy would last for 30 days from March 18, when Putin first discussed it with Trump. Ukraine had said last week it would accept such a pause only after a formal agreement.

The agreement on a truce at sea addresses an issue that was critical early in the war, when Russia imposed a de facto naval blockade on Ukraine, one of the world's biggest grain exporters, worsening a global food crisis.

More recently, maritime battles have been a comparatively small part of the war since Russia withdrew its naval forces from the eastern Black Sea after a number of successful Ukrainian attacks.

Kyiv has been able to reopen its ports and resume exports at around pre-war levels, despite the collapse of a previous U.N.-brokered Black Sea shipping agreement, but its ports have come under regular air attack. Zelenskiy said the agreement would bar such strikes.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said Kyiv would regard any movement of Russian military vessels outside the eastern part of the Black Sea as a violation and a threat, in which case Ukraine would have full right to self-defence.

Moscow said the agreement would require sanctions relief including restoring links between Russia's agricultural export bank and the SWIFT international payments system. That and other steps could require agreement from European countries.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

White House reveals details of US-Russia talks in Riyadh

The White House has released a statement on the US-Russia negotiations in Saudi Arabia, shedding some light on 12-hour talks held on Monday.

The “bilateral technical-level talks” focused on the situation in the Black Sea, as well as the agreement to halt strikes on “energy facilities of Russia and Ukraine” proposed by US President Donald Trump, the White House said on Tuesday.

“The United States and Russia have agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea,”the statement reads.

The US has also pledged to “help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions,” according to the White House. Both Moscow and Washington remain committed to “working toward achieving a durable and lasting peace” to end the Ukraine conflict, it added.

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that the negotiations explored the possibility of reviving the defunct Black Sea Grain Initiative, originally brokered in July 2022 by the UN and Türkiye. The deal envisioned the safe passage of Ukrainian agricultural exports in exchange for the West lifting restrictions on Russian grain and fertilizer trade. Moscow declined to renew the deal in 2023, citing the West’s failure to meet its obligations.

To renew the deal, Moscow needs firm guarantees from the US, which can “only result from a direct order issued by Washington to [Ukraine’s Vladimir] Zelensky and his team,”Lavrov explained, pointing to Kiev’s habit of breaking promises. Russia’s position now “is simple: We cannot take anyone’s word at face value,” he said in an interview with Channel 1.

“We need the clearest, most specific, verifiable, working guarantees and mechanisms [to revive the deal],” Lavrov stated. “We want the grain and fertilizer market to be predictable so that no one tries to kick us out of this market.”

Reuters/RT

As part of its golden jubilee, the University of Calabar is said to have held a special convocation ceremony on Saturday, 22 March, during which it handed out honours to all manners of persons. The Chancellor of the University is Aminu Ado Bayero, the deposed emir of Kano. Present at that event also were Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory and Nigeria’s most prolific political litigant; as well as Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim, a senior Justice of the Supreme Court, who delivered the leading decision in the recent judgment of that court concerning the withholding of the federal allocations of the Rivers State government.

Images of the event in Calabar putting these major actors in contemporary politics of the Nigerian judiciary in close propinquity with one another have gone viral. In response, Festus Akande, director of Information and Public Relations at the Supreme Court issued a public statement on Monday, 24 March, in which he felt compelled to claim that Emmanuel Agim attended the convocation “as an esteemed honouree and an alumnus of the institution, whom the Governing Council had found worthy to be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Law (Doctor Honoris Causa). He was recognised for his significant contributions to the legal profession; which is a reflection of his commitment to justice, integrity, and the rule of law, serving as a model for aspiring legal professionals and students alike.”

Akande’s statement further claimed that “Emmanuel Agim’s participation at the ceremony was independent and not as an official representative of any government ministry or department, let alone accompanying any serving or retired government official”, before asserting that “any insinuation to the contrary is not only inaccurate but undermines the judicial independence that is crucial to our democracy.”

These claims are made in the name of the Supreme Court and in pursuit of high sounding goals of judicial independence and democracy.

The Supreme Court is a public institution embodying the highest judicial authority in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Judicial independence is a high constitutional principle ordained for the protection of judicial authority as a public trust. It is not a self-serving shibboleth.

In terms of Nigeria’s constitution, the source of democratic legitimacy resides in the people alone.

To leave Akande’s claims uncontested or without a response, therefore, is to diminish the high authority of the Supreme Court, the service of the distinguished men and women who have laboured to give it its historically high standing in the public imagination until recently, and the high principles of judicial independence and democracy instituted for the protection of the peoples of Nigeria.

This statement is issued out of concern to stem the heedless haemorrhaging of the rarefied authority of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. In this spirit, it is essential to set the records straight, even if ever so briefly.

The Applicable Standards

The fact that Akande considered it essential to issue the statement itself shows what something was wrong with that event in Calabar. In case he needs reminding, Lord Chief Justice Hewart laid down the applicable standard for judging judicial impartiality and independence in 1923 in R. v Sussex Justices, Ex Parte McCarthy, (1923) All ER 233, to the effect that: “Nothing is to be done which creates even a suspicion that there has been an improper interference with the course of justice.”

That event in Calabar was rich with pictures to support suspicions of improper interference with the cause of justice.

Rule 2.8 of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers in Nigeria (2016) is very clear: “A Judge shall avoid developing excessively close relationship with frequent litigants – such as government ministers or their officials, municipal officials, police prosecutors in any Court where the Judge often sits, if such relationship could reasonably create an appearance of partiality.”

In Buhari vs. Independent National Electoral Commission & Ors(2008) LPELR-814(SC) at PP.145-146, Justice Niki Tobi of the Supreme Court admonished judges to “maintain a very big distance from politics and politicians,” warning that:

“….the two professions do not meet and will never meet at all in our democracy in the discharge of their functions…. Their waters never meet in the same way Rivers Niger and Benue meet at the confluence near Lokoja. If they meet, the victim will be democracy most of the time, and that will be bad for sovereign Nigeria.”

In his memoirs, Faces, Cases and Places, published in 1983 (p.78), former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Atanda Fatayi Williams, stated:

“In Nigeria, familiarity does not breed contempt. It breeds obligation. As a result, people with whom you are friendly expect you to bend the rules to suit their requirements. It pays in the end for a judge, even at the risk of being accused of being a snob or of haughtiness, to be somewhat aloof, not only from members of the Executive, but also from political powerbrokers.”

Neither Festus Akande nor, indeed, Agim as a Justice of the Supreme Court can pretend to be unaware that Nyesom Wike is the most prolific current political litigator in Nigeria. To justify public fraternising with him by a Supreme Court Justice is to licence the accessorising of judicial officers for political purposes.

The Context: Nyesom Wike and Emmanuel Akomaye Agim

On the last day of February, the Supreme Court delivered judgment in the consolidated appeals in SC/CV/1174A/2024 et al, Rivers State House of Assembly & Anor vs. The Government of Rivers State & 9 Ors. The case sought orders of the court to, among other things, require the Central Bank of Nigeria to withhold the federal allocations of the government of Rivers State until the passage of a budget by a faction of the State House of Assembly. At the time, the question of the right of that faction of the State House of Assembly to function as such was the subject of litigation before lowers courts in FHC/PHC/CS/2024 Oko-Jumbo & 2 Ors vs. Martin Amaewhule & Ors (pending in the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt since April 2024).

The case seeking to withhold the federal allocations of Rivers State was un-related to this appeal. Delivering the judgment of the Supreme Court on 28 February, Agim framed two issues for determination, neither of which had anything to do with the issues pending before the Federal High Court. Yet, without an appeal from that case before it, the court purported to determine the issues then pending before the Federal High Court on the question of the defection of the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly from the platform on which they were elected (the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC). Even though the issue of the defection of the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly did not arise in the appeal, the Supreme Court raised it by itself and shockingly decided a case that was still pending at the High Court.

This course of action has no precedent in Nigeria’s judicial history. It is the  first in the history of Nigeria that the Supreme Court will take over a case that is pending in the Federal High Court. Unsurprisingly, counsel to the 27 legislators promptly applied to the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt asking it to dismiss the case on the ground that it has become academic, on the basis that the Supreme Court has decided the matter, while it was still at the Federal High Court. The Port Harcourt judicial division of the Federal High Court will render its judgment on this application on 20 April.

The Context: Nyesom Wike and Aminu Ado Bayero

On 14 March, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja in Appeal No., CA/KN/27/M/2025, Alhaji Aliyu Babba Dan Sarki Dawaki Babba vs. Kano State House of Assembly & 7 Ors, granted a “Mandatory Injunction” (not a stay of execution) arresting the enforcement of the judgment of the same Court of Appeal on 10 January in Appeal No. CA/KN/126/2024, Kano State House of Assembly & Anor vs. Alhaji Aminu Babba Dan Agundi & Ors. The earlier judgment of the Court was delivered by a panel led by Justice Gabriel Kolawole, a Justice of Appeal since 22 June, 2018. The latter decision arresting that judgment was given by a panel led by Justice Okon Abang, a Justice of the Court of Appeal since 20 September 2023. Other members of the latter panel were Justice Eberechi Suzette Nyesom-Wike (Justice of the Court of Appeal since 10 July 2024) and Justice Oyejoju Oyewumi (Justice of the Court of Appeal since 10 July 2024). This panel of the Court of Appeal included the wife of the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike.

In terms of seniority in the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal, Justice Okon Abang is number six out of 10; Justice Nyesom-Wike is number nine; and Justice Oyewumi is the last. It is unprecedented for a panel this junior to be constituted to sit upon a decision of a much more senior panel of the Court of Appeal. It is equally notable that the President of the Court of Appeal has unilaterally moved this case to Abuja from Kano.

The subject matter of this appeal is a fundamental rights claim by a disaffected king-maker in respect of the stool of the Kano Emirate, from which Aminu Ado Bayero was deposed. The Court of Appeal in Kano had denied that claim, holding that the Federal High Court had no jurisdiction over essentially chieftaincy matters.

Following this decision, Aminu Ado Bayero, who is not a named party in the case, notified the security services in Kano of his intention to hold an Eid-El-Fitr durbar at the end of the holy month of Ramadan. I am reliably informed by sources within the Court of Appeal of plans by some people to procure an order of the same Court of Appeal on Tuesday, 25 March to enjoin the security authorities in Kano to ensure co-operation with and protection for the durbar proposed by Aminu Ado Bayero.

Meanwhile, on Monday, 24 March, the Supreme Court entered an appeal against the ruling of the Okon Abang-led Court of Appeal panel as Appeal No SC/CV/279/2025. This should ordinarily preclude the Court of Appeal from further engagement with the subject matter, but these are no ordinary times and no one can say what could happen.

The Optics

Aminu Ado Bayero, the chancellor who conferred the honorary degree on the minister of the FCT, is seeking to claim benefit of a curious, incongruous and improbable order of the Court of Appeal panel, which included the wife of the minister. As I write, the panel is yet to release the text of the reasoning on which it issued its orders.

Justice Emmanuel Agim is the author of a curious, incongruous, and inexplicably unprecedented decision of the Supreme Court in favour of satraps of the same minister in the political contest in Rivers State.

This context makes the optics of that particular occasion in Calabar an awful advertisement for high subversion of the values of judicial independence and democracy, around whose flags Akande sought to wrap his defence of the indefensible. Even worse, these facts create a credible perception of network transaction in judicial orders.

The 50th anniversary convocation of a university is not an emergency event. The parties who met in Calabar had to have had notice of that event long before the dates of the judgments or rulings in the cases in which their interests interlocked. There was ample time, if they desired, to make alternative arrangements. Their decision to proceed in the manner they did without any regard to the optics or possible damage to the standing of the judicial institutions serves neither judicial independence nor democracy. Instead, it showcases a peculiar brand of hubris and impunity at the desecration of those high constitutional values.

Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a professor of law, teaches at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and can be reached through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Everybody makes a big deal about regular engine oil changes, and with good reason. Just like any other part of a vehicle, oil wears down during constant use and needs to be replaced to ensure your vehicle keeps operating at peak efficiency. In fact, oil might be the hardest working part of your vehicle seeing as how it gets squeezed and circulated through your engine thousands of times per minute and suffers through a gazillion heat cycles over the course of its lifetime.

What about transmission fluid, though? That does a lot of work, especially in a car or truck with an automatic transmission where it's not just lubricant but also the life's blood of the whole mechanism. Do you need to change your transmission fluid? If so, how often? Is there a difference between automatic and manual transmission service intervals? Is it good that my ATF is black and smells like burnt hair? Well, let's talk about it, shall we?

Most people don't think about transmission fluid until they absolutely have to — i.e., when it's too late. Even the most hardened gearhead might take their transmission fluid for granted if their transmission is shifting like it's supposed to. This isn't a value judgment, mind you. It's more to say that there are so many things on a car you need to worry about, and so many of them last a long time these days, that even something as important as the juice that makes sure your car actually moves can slip right through the cracks.

Transmission fluid (we're going to call it ATF from here on out to save the ink) is way better nowadays than it was even a decade ago. There have been constant advancements in the metallurgy and materials sciences that go into producing transmissions and the petro-science underpinning ATF itself throughout the century that cars have been around. Metals get stronger, tolerances get tighter, oils get slipperier, and things last a lot longer on even the cheapest modern car than they did on your father's Oldsmobile.

Like modern engine oils, modern transmission fluids come in two general flavors — synthetic and, uh... "organic" (dinosaur squeezins). We can argue for a million years about the pros and cons of each, but for the purposes of this here conversation, let's agree that both kinds wear out eventually, likely at different rates, and will need to be changed at some point in a vehicle's life.

Honestly, if you have a newer vehicle or something that's still under warranty, just follow the manufacturer's suggested maintenance intervals. The rule of thumb these days seems to be a full transmission flush and refill somewhere between 60,000 and 120,000 miles (96,560 and 193,121 kilometers for our friends in the civilized lands). That's a pretty broad spread, I admit, and it can be altered by a number of factors including how you drive, where you drive, if you're towing, and how hot it usually is where you drive. Don't worry too much about it, though. If you follow the suggested maintenance schedule, and listen to your dealership tech/neighborhood mechanic/oil change guy, you should be fine.

What if I'm cool, though?

If you're driving an older vehicle, you'll need to be a bit more proactive in figuring out when and where to change your trans fluid. You should check the level (or have it checked if you don't do the work yourself) every oil change just to be sure. If your transmission is leaking or otherwise losing fluid, you don't want to be surprised.

It's pretty easy to tell when your ATF — or gear oil/Synchromesh/etc. if you have an old-timey bolt-action transmission — is worn out, especially if you're paying attention. A transmission with burnt, worn out, low, or otherwise compromised transmission fluid may behave badly and can even pose a danger to you while driving. The transmission might slip, losing power under acceleration, or the shifts between gears might be noticeably rougher and louder. The car might hesitate and surge while driving, or the transmission might get hotter than normal, reducing the transmission fluid's efficacy even further. Worst case scenario, of course, is that the transmission eats itself or blows up, leaving you stranded somewhere with a growing puddle of stinking, burnt-up transmission fluid spreading under your crippled car. This last one is deeply embarrassing, ask me how I know.

Again, don't worry too much about it. Make sure you check the transmission level during regular oil changes and check around where you regularly park to see if the car's leaking anything. If everything's good, it's more than likely good! If you're low, top the transmission off. Other than that, changing your ATF or gear oil every 100,000 miles is probably best practice. Remember, an ounce of prevention (regular maintenance) is worth a pound of cure (new transmission).

Jalopnik

Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have approached the Supreme Court to challenge President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, calling it unconstitutional.

On March 18, Tinubu invoked Section 305(5) of the 1999 Constitution to impose emergency rule, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and the state House of Assembly members for six months. He appointed Retired Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as sole administrator to oversee the state.

The PDP governors—from Bauchi, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Enugu, Osun, Plateau, and Zamfara—argue that the president lacks the authority to remove an elected governor or deputy. They also contend that installing a sole administrator breaches constitutional provisions.

In their suit, the governors seek a judicial declaration that Tinubu’s actions violate Sections 1(2), 5(2), and 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). They assert that the president has “no powers whatsoever to suspend a democratically elected governor and deputy governor under the guise of an emergency proclamation.”

Additionally, they challenge the National Assembly’s approval of the emergency rule, arguing that a voice vote was insufficient—the constitution requires a two-thirds majority in both legislative chambers.

The plaintiffs further claim the emergency declaration failed to meet constitutional conditions under Section 305, stating it was made for reasons outside the provision’s scope.

Their demands include:

- Nullifying Ibas’s appointment as unlawful.

- Restraining the president from suspending other governors or interfering in their constitutional duties.

The case escalates the political crisis in Rivers State, testing the limits of federal emergency powers under Nigeria’s democracy.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese Matthew Hassan Kukah, and Aminu Tambuwal, the former governor of Sokoto State, yesterday expressed concerns that democracy was not working in Nigeria.

The leaders, who spoke at the 60th birthday celebration of former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria, Emeka Ihedioha, at the Ladi Kwali Hall, Abuja Intercontinental Hotel, yesterday, stressed the need for urgent reforms to address the country’s challenges.

Speaking at the event also attended by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Emeka Anyaoku and immediate past governor of katsina State, Aminu Masari, Obasanjo noted that democracy, as currently practised in Nigeria and much of Africa, has failed to meet the need of the people.

According to him, western model of democracy does not align with African values and needs, and “democracy in Africa has failed because it is not African.”

Obasanjo, who called for a redefinition of democracy to better reflect the continent’s cultural realities and serve the people more effectively, said: “Is democracy failing in Africa? Are we talking of democracy or western liberal democracy?

“We should remember that in Africa, we had a form of government which attended to the needs of the people. That is democracy.

“Abraham Lincoln describes it as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. But what do we have today? The Greek democracy affects everyone but democracy has now become representative democracy and it hasn’t taken care of everyone.

“Democracy in Africa has failed because it’s not African, it didn’t have our culture and way of life. You will say, go to court when you know that you can’t get justice. Democracy is dying in Africa and to save it, it should be made in the context of Africa.”

On his part, Obi also noted that the democracy practiced in the country is not working as it should.
Recalling his experience, where he had to fight for his mandate after being impeached as governor of Anambra State, Obi maintained that he did not resort to bribery.

He said: “Democracy is not working in Nigeria. Everything has been knocked down. I didn’t pay a dime to retrieve my mandate. When I was impeached, Obasanjo called to ask about my welfare. Nigeria should imbibe the Indonesian democracy, proportional representation.’’

Speaking further, Obi said Nigeria’s democracy, which had been progressing since 1999, is now being “knocked down” by the current administration.

“Some people came and knocked everything down. That is the situation we are in now. Everything has been knocked down. Nothing works.

“I became a governor through the court when President Obasanjo and Atiku were in government.
“I did not pay the court one naira. I was sitting in my office, and the court declared me the winner. It can’t happen in Nigeria today.

“When I was being impeached, the president sent people to come and intervene on my behalf. Ken Nnamani came, begging the House (House of Assembly) not to impeach me.

“Today, the president is impeaching a person. They were in PDP; I was in APGA. The president was calling and saying, ‘Peter, are you okay? Even when I was impeached, President Obasanjo called and said, ‘Are you okay? Are you safe?

“When the court eventually declared me (the winner) under Andy Uba (as governor), President Yar’Adua called my phone in London and said, ‘come back. I said, President, I can’t come back.

“When I came back, the military people came and received me at the airport. I couldn’t believe it. And took me straight to him. Now, the president would ask me not to come back. Democracy is collapsing.”

Delivering the keynote address, titled “Is Democracy Failing in Africa?’’ Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, faulted the weaponization of religion in Nigeria, which he described as one of the major hindrances to the country’s democratic development.

Kukah also described the relationship between Obasanjo and Atiku as being like a Catholic marriage, where they quarrel frequently but never broke up.

The cleric, who, however, called for a more honest and inclusive approach to addressing the country’s challenges, said further: “Democracy is working for different people as you can see in their outlook. There is the belief that citizens are free to rebel. There has been debate whether the Nigerian constitution is perfect or not.

“No constitution will be better than the Bible and Koran. Yet, we are still living in sin. The problem is that in Nigeria, the issue of Christian and Muslim prayer is not the best. The weaponisation of religion is a big problem in Nigeria.

“Democracy is work in progress. God doesn’t discriminate between Christian or Muslim prayers. There is no discrimination. We are children of one God. If we are not treating each other rightly, one of them must be a bastard.

“Democracy and its principles are endless contests. There are certain things God has given us which people can’t control.

“We, as Africans, inherited a system that’s not ours, but we can’t say it’s not relevant to us. There are differences between democracy in Asia and that of Africa. Singapore, for example. What do we make of the tenets of democracy in Africa?

“I feel sorry for the judges. At the last election, even small me, I had people calling me, complaining, talk to this, talk to that. Pressure on judges to deliver justice. I agree that there’s an urgent need to clean up the mess.

“Democracy is about everything, it’s about justice. How do we know if democracy is working in Nigeria? Do we measure democracy based on the things we wish ourselves?”

In his remarks, former governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, said democracy in Nigeria is still work in progress but noted that its success depends on the commitment of political leaders to abide by the rules.
Weighing on the emergency rule declared in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu, Tambuwal recalled that there was cooperation of the National Assembly during a state of emergency under Obasanjo’s administration, saying democracy could work when political actors act responsibly.

“Democracy will work if the actors play by the rules. It’s work in progress. Under Obasanjo, a state of emergency was declared. The NASS worked together to ensure that 2/3 majority passed the emergency. “Each member had to vote. In this same NASS, we have the same constitution. What happened in the last one? We need to chase out the bad operators of democracy”, he stated.

Speaking at the event, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said Ihedioha has remained loyal, even when they found themselves on different political platforms.

“Emeka and I have kept this relationship and till today I have found him extremely loyal, dedicated and focused, even though sometimes we found ourselves on different political divides but we kept our relationship and I think that testifies with the kind of person Emeka is,” he said.

On his part, former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, traced the origin of democracy and what he and his team at the commonwealth did to promote its cause across the globe.

Anyaoku said: “As Commonwealth Secretary-General, I helped members to transit to multi-party democracy. Also the collapse of apartheid administration in South Africa. Review of 1999 constitution
“We need a new constitution to address many challenges. True federalism is the answer to the management of national issues.

“The recent coup in Mali, Niger tend to take us back. The nature of our politics and the conduct of our politicians is another problem of our democracy.

“They have become instruments of capturing political power. It’s only true, stable democratic governance that can rid our country of the crises which impede development.

“I believe Nigeria can change this Eurocentric narrative. We in Africa and Nigeria have a responsibility to get a stable democracy and change the Eurocentric narrative.”

While expressing gratitude to all who attended the event, the celebrant, Emeka Ihedioha, said: “My father told me the most expensive habit is having friends. I have lived my life pursuing the cause for democracy. We should all rise to defend democracy.

“I urge all men to always speak truth to power and protect democracy. There’s life after money. I will remain who I am. For me and democracy, it is till God do us apart.”

Vanguard

U.S. jet fuel imports are set to hit a two-year high in March after Nigeria's Dangote refinery pushed barrels to North America, which should lower prices of the aviation fuel in the peak summer travel season, trade analysts and storage brokers said.

The shipments by the 650,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Dangote refinery, Africa's largest, highlight its potential to reshape global fuel trading dynamics by creating a new swing supplier in the Atlantic Basin.

It has already shown signs of success in competing with European refiners on gasoline exports, and the jet fuel shipments to the United States could challenge domestic producers' economics in the largest fuel consuming nation.

Six vessels carrying about 1.7 million barrels of jet fuel from the Dangote refinery arrived at U.S. ports this month, data from ship-tracking service Kpler showed. Another vessel, Hafnia Andromeda, is set to arrive at the Everglades terminal on March 29 with a load of about 348,000 barrels of jet fuel, the data showed.

Total U.S. jet fuel imports so far in March stood at around 226,000 bpd, the most since February 2023, the data showed.

The Dangote refinery started production last January after years of construction delays, and ramped up to about 85% of capacity in early February, allowing it to sell more fuel to international markets.

Dangote is unlikely to be a regular jet fuel supplier to the U.S., but a maintenance-related shutdown of the Phillips 66 (PSX.N) Bayway refinery in New Jersey helped open a rare arbitrage opportunity for flows from Nigeria to the U.S., Sparta Commodities analyst James Noel-Beswick said.

The window is likely to close soon or shrink significantly due to elevated U.S. inventories of the aviation fuel, Noel-Beswick added.

Demand to lease storage tanks for jet fuel in Houston and New York Harbor in April is averaging around 700,000 barrels on storage broker TankTiger's platform, five to six times the average monthly demand, TankTiger Chief Operating Officer Steven Barsamian said.

The surge in demand, partly due to the influx of supply from Nigeria, is likely to lower jet fuel prices in the U.S. ahead of peak summer travel season, Barsamian said.

Despite lower prices, air travel over the summer could be dampened by economic headwinds from a stock market selloff and waning consumer confidence, Sparta's Noel-Beswick said.

U.S. jet fuel stocks ended February at 45.2 million barrels, the highest for the month since 1999, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed.

U.S. refiners' yield of jet fuel hit a record last year, reflecting stronger demand relative to other transportation fuels, the EIA said on Monday. The agency expects U.S. jet fuel consumption to touch a record in 2026.

Reuters

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently reported that Nigeria’s inflation rate fell to 23.18 percent in February, down from 24.48 percent in January.

Despite this, many analysts questioned the figure and the new methodology.

A few days after the report’s release, it was quietly taken down from the NBS website, raising concerns about data transparency and accuracy.

Checks by TheCable Index on Monday showed that the report had been reuploaded but with notable changes.

MISSING HISTORICAL DATA

Deleted inflation data

Re-uploaded inflation data

In the initial version, following NBS tradition, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report contained historical data dating back to 1995.

However, the reuploaded version omits this information, leaving only January and February 2025 CPI data.

This is not the first time NBS has quietly deleted reports from its website.

On January 15, 2025, the NBS website came back online after being inaccessible for 29 days due to a cyberattack.

The website was reportedly hacked 24 hours after the bureau published the crime experience and security perception survey.

When the site was restored, TheCable Index found that the controversial crime and security perception report was no longer available.

TheCable Index has contacted NBS for  comments.

QUESTIONS OVER INFLATION CALCULATIONS

Agora Policy, an Abuja-based think tank, has raised concerns over unusual trends in the NBS inflation computation.

In its report, “Questions and Insights from the February 2025 Inflation Data”, the think tank questioned the sharp decline in the month-on-month inflation rate for December 2024, which stood at -12.3 percent — a figure it described as unprecedented.

“According to the newly rebased CPI series, inflation slowed to 23.18% in February 2025 from 24.8% in January 2025, with a moderate month-on-month change of 2.04%,” the report reads.

“However, using the rebased computations, NBS reported 15.4% as the headline inflation rate for December 2024 and an unprecedented -12.3% as the month-on-month rate for December 2024.”

Agora Policy noted that such volatility is rare in Nigeria’s inflation data, as month-on-month changes are usually gradual.

“From February 2024 to November 2024, the monthly change in inflation remained within a relatively stable range of 2.14% to 3.12%,” the report reads.

“Likewise, data from February 2025 saw the month-on-month change return to 2.04%, in line with the previous trend before the December outlier. The lowest month-on-month change recorded in the last 26 years was -3.51%, which occurred in August 1999.”

The think tank added that the steep drop in December 2024, followed by a sharp inflation rebound to 24.5 percent in January 2025 (with a 10.7 percent month-on-month increase), raises questions about the accuracy of the data and the factors driving these dramatic shifts.

It projected inflation could be back to 31-37 percent in December 2025 because of the low base established for December 2024.

The Cable

The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo sent a letter to President Donald Trump offering a minerals deal in exchange for a security agreement with the U.S. that would remove violent rebels from the war-torn nation. 

"Your election has ushered in the golden age for America," President Félix Tshisekedi wrote in February to Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. "Our partnership would provide the U.S. with a strategic advantage by securing critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, copper and tantalum from the Democratic Republic of Congo."

The Congo has over $20 trillion worth of minerals available, according to the Congo-based Panzi Foundation, including gold and copper. The African country is also the world’s largest producer of cobalt, which is essential for defense and aerospace applications, and a main component in the batteries of many electric vehicles and cellphones.

Tshisekedi seeks to strike a "formal security pact" so Congo's army can defeat a Rwandan-backed rebel group called M23 in exchange for a minerals deal, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

The letter did not provide details on what a potential security pact would look like or operate. 

Congo "is interested in partnering with the Trump administration to end the conflict and stop the flow of blood minerals via Rwanda," a Tshisekedi spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal. 

"It is in both our interests that American companies – like Apple and Tesla – buy minerals direct from source in the DRC and unlock the engine of our mineral wealth for the benefit of all the world," she added. 

Congo and Rwanda are neighboring nations and have been involved in conflict for decades, including the First Congo War from 1996 to 1997, the Second Congo War between 1998 and 2003, and the most recent ongoing conflict that began in 2022. The current conflicts are rooted in gaining access to resources, such as minerals, and claims M23 will protect ethnic minorities from the Congolese government. 

The rebels seized Goma – the country's largest city of the North Kivu province – in January as fighting between the Rwanda-backed rebels and government intensified, which included the deaths of 13 U.N. peacekeepers and foreign soldiers. 

Tshisekedi joined Fox News' Bret Baier Wednesday to discuss the potential minerals deal with the U.S., explaining he wants to build jobs in his nation through the extraction of the minerals, while simultaneously building a partnership with the U.S. to ensure lasting peace in the nation. 

"We want to extract these minerals but also process them, as this would create a lot of jobs," Tshisekedi told Baier. "And we want a partnership that will provide lasting peace and stability for our countries, which we need." 

China has a large presence in Congo, and it runs the country's cobalt mine, Fox Digital previously reported. Tshisekedi brushed off concerns that China's presence could complicate any potential deal with the U.S. during his interview with Baier. 

"Nature abhors a vacuum, as the saying goes," he told Baier. "It's not that China is waxing in Africa. It's more that America is waning in Africa… and we would be very happy to have our American friends here, who used to be more present than China in the ‘70s and ’80s." 

Tshisekedi is also in negotiations with Erik Prince, the founder of private military firm formerly known as Blackwater and a Trump ally, to potentially aid the Congo's government amid the war, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on the deal offer, but did not immediately receive a reply. 

The offer comes after the Trump administration worked to strike a minerals deal with Ukraine, which is rich in resources such as lithium and copper, in an effort to recoup the cost of aid sent to Ukraine amid its war with Russia. 

The deal, however, was put on ice after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's tense Oval Office meeting with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in February. 

Fox News

Israeli military says it intercepted missile fired from Yemen; Houthis claim responsibility

The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen on Friday, one day after shooting down two projectiles launched by Houthi militants.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it fired a ballistic missile toward Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, the group's military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said in a televised statement in the early hours of Saturday.

Saree said the attack against Israel was the group's third in 48 hours.

He issued a warning to airlines that the Israeli airport was "no longer safe for air travel and would continue to be so until the Israeli aggression against Gaza ends and the blockade is lifted".

However, the airport's website seemed to be operating normally and showed a list of scheduled flights.

The group's military spokesman has also said without providing evidence that the Houthis had launched attacks against the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea.

The group recently vowed to escalate attacks, including those targeting Israel, in response to U.S. strikes earlier this month, which amount to the biggest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January. The U.S. attacks have killed at least 50 people.

The Houthis' fresh attacks come under a pledge to expand their range of targets in Israel in retaliation for renewed Israeli strikes in Gazathat have killed hundreds after weeks of relative calm.

The Houthis have carried out over 100 attacks on shipping since Israel's war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza's Palestinians.

The attacks have disrupted global commerce and prompted the U.S. military to launch a costly campaign to intercept missiles.

The Houthis are part of what has been dubbed the "Axis of Resistance" - an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias including Hamas, Lebanon's Hezbollah and armed groups in Iraq, all backed by Iran.

Reuters