Israel says Hezbollah rocket kills 12 at football ground, vows response

A rocket attack on a football ground in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heightskilled 12 people including children on Saturday, Israeli authorities said, blaming Hezbollah and vowing to inflict a heavy price on the Iran-backed Lebanese group.

Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the strike, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since the start of the conflict in Gaza.

The attack sharply escalated tensions in the hostilities which have been fought in parallel to the Gaza war and has raised fears of a full-blown conflict between the heavily armed adversaries.

The rocket struck a football pitch in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, territory captured from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognised by most countries.

"Hezbollah will pay a heavy price, the kind it has thus far not paid," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a phone call with the leader of the Druze community in Israel, according to a statement from his office.

In a written statement, Hezbollah said: "The Islamic Resistance has absolutely nothing to do with the incident, and categorically denies all false allegations in this regard".

Hezbollah had earlier announced several rocket attacks targeting Israeli military positions.

The Israeli ambulance service said 13 more people were wounded by the rocket that hit the soccer pitch which was filled at the time with children and teenagers.

"They were playing soccer, they heard sirens they ran to shelter...it may take them like 15 seconds (to reach the shelter). But they couldn't reach the shelter because the rocket hit the site between the ground and the shelter," said Mourhaf Abu Saleh, a witness.

Footage posted on social media showed the moment the rocket hit. An air raid siren can be heard, followed by a big explosion and images of smoke rising. Reuters was able to independently verify the location with the buildings and road layout that matched the satellite imagery of the area.

Idan Avshalom, a medic with the Magen David Adom ambulance service, said first responders arrived to a scene of great destruction. "There were casualties on the grass and the scene was gruesome," he said.

Netanyahu, already due to head back from the United States to Israel overnight on Saturday, said he would bring his flight forward and convene his security cabinet upon arrival.

The United States, which has been leading diplomatic efforts aimed at de-escalating the conflict across the Lebanese-Israeli border, condemned it as a horrific attack and said U.S. support for Israel's security was "iron-clad and unwavering against all Iranian backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah".

The United States "will continue to support efforts to end these terrible attacks along the Blue Line, which must be a top priority," the spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said in a statement. The Blue Line refers to the frontier between Lebanon and Israel.

Moscow, which has ties with most of the key players in the Middle East, including Israel, Iran, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, condemned the attacks in the Golan Heights.

"We condemn all terrorist actions undertaken by any entity," Russian TASS state news agency cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Sunday.

IRANIAN MISSILE

The Israeli military said the rocket launch was carried out from an area located north of the village of Chebaa in southern Lebanon.

Speaking with reporters at Majdal Shams, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that forensics showed the rocket was an Iranian-made Falaq-1.

Hezbollah had earlier announced firing a Falaq-1 missile on Saturday, saying it had targeted an Israeli military headquarters.

In a televised statement, Hagari also said that for now there was no change in Home Front Command instructions, indicating the army was not expecting imminent escalation across Israel.

Netanyahu's far-right coalition ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, called for tough retaliation, including against Hezbollah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

"For the death of children, Nasrallah should pay with his head. All of Lebanon should pay," Smotrich posted on X.

The conflict has forced tens of thousands of people in both Lebanon and Israel to leave their homes. Israeli strikes have killed some 350 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and more than 100 civilians, including medics, children and journalists.

The Israeli military said after Saturday's attack the death toll among civilians killed in Hezbollah attacks had risen to 23 since October, along with at least 17 soldiers.

Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the UNIFIL peacekeeping force which operates in southern Lebanon, told Reuters its force commander was in contact with authorities in both Lebanon and Israel "to understand the details of the Majdal Shams incident and to maintain calm".

A senior diplomat focused on Lebanon said all efforts were now needed to avoid an all-out war.

ATTACKS FROM LEBANON

Hezbollah is the most powerful of a network of Iran-backed groups across the Middle East that have entered the fray in support of their Palestinian ally Hamas since October.

Iraqi groups and the Houthis of Yemen have both fired at Israel. Hamas has also carried out rocket attacks on Israel from Lebanon, as has the Lebanese Sunni group, the Jama'a Islamiya.

More than 40,000 people live on the Israeli-occupied Golan, more than half of them Druze residents. The Druze are an Arab minority who practice an offshoot of Islam.

The attack on the soccer pitch followed an Israeli strike in Lebanon that killed four militants on Saturday. Two security sources in Lebanon said the four fighters killed in the Israeli strike on Kfarkila in southern Lebanon were members of different armed groups, with at least one of them belonging to Hezbollah.

The Israeli military said its aircraft had targeted a military structure belonging to Hezbollah, after identifying a militant cell entering the building.

At least 30 rockets were then fired from Lebanon across the border, the military said.

Hezbollah claimed at least four attacks, including with Katyusha rockets, in retaliation for the Kfarkila attacks.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian shelling kills five in Ukrainian regions, one dead on Russian side of border

Russian shelling killed at least five civilians on Saturday in separate regions of Ukraine, officials said.

In the Kherson region, in Ukraine's south, officials said three people were killed, one in the administrative centre also called Kherson, one outside the city and one near the city of Beryslav, to the north.

Kherson region was occupied in the first days of Russia's February 2022 invasion, but Ukrainian troops recaptured large swathes of it later in the year. Russian troops continue to shell Ukrainian-held areas from new positions.

In the northeastern Sumy region, a border area frequently under Russian attack, a 14-year-old boy was killed and 12 other people wounded in a rocket attack on the small town of Hlukhiv, the Ukraine prosecutor's office said.

The attack on the town near the Russian border hit apartment blocks, houses, an educational institution, a shop and vehicles just after noon. Six of the wounded were children.

In Kharkiv region, another frequent Russian target further east, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said one person was killed when a private home near the city of Chuhuiv came under fire.

Over the border, in southern Russia's Belgorod region, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Ukrainian shelling and drone attacks had killed one person, injured two and damaged homes and other buildings.

Russia's Defence Ministry said air defence units had destroyed two drones over the region late on Saturday.

Reuters could not confirm accounts from either side independently.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces liberate DPR’s Lozovatskoye — top brass

Russia’s battlegroup Center has liberated the settlement of Lozovatskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the Defense Ministry said.

"The central battlegroup liberated the settlement of Lozolvatskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic. In addition, it defeated six Ukrainian brigades near DPR’s Toretsk, Ivanovka, Ukrainsk, Novgorodskoye, Shcherbinovka and Novoselovka Pervaya," the statement said.

Battlegroup North defeats five Ukrainian brigades in Kharkov Region

Russia’s battlegroup North has defeated five Ukrainian brigades and repelled two counterattacks over the day, the Defense Ministry said.

"The northern battlegroup defeated the manpower and equipment of four Ukrainian and one territorial defense brigades near Liptsy, Tikhoye, Petrovka, Bayrak and Volchansk in the Kharkov Region," the ministry said, adding that the Ukrainian forces lost up to 165 servicemen, three armored combat vehicles, two pickup trucks, a US-made 155 mm howitzer M777 howitzer, two ammunition depots and four 122 mm D-30 howitzers.

Battlegroup South wipes out up to 540 Ukrainian servicemen over day

Russia’s battlegroup South has eliminated up to 540 Ukrainian servicemen and destroyed four armored vehicles and a number of field artillery guns, the Defense Ministry said.

"The southern battlegroup took more advantageous lines and positions, defeated the manpower and equipment of five Ukrainian brigades near Stupochka, Katerinovka, Maximilianovka and Seversk of the Donetsk People's Republic. The Ukrainian losses amounted to up to 540 servicemen, four armored combat vehicles, five vehicles," the statement said.

Russian forces destroy warehouse of Ukrainian aircraft defeat equipment

The Russian armed forces destroyed two Ukrainian electronic warfare stations and a warehouse of aircraft defeat equipment, the Defense Ministry said.

"The Russian forces destroyed two electronic warfare stations, a warehouse of aviation defeat equipment and an ammunition depot, as well as defeated the accumulations of the Ukrainian manpower and military equipment in 124 areas over the past 24 hours," the statement said.

Reuters/Tass

Nigerians have been invited to troop to the streets in their millions from Thursday, August 1, to protest the harsh economic situation following the dramatic rise in the cost of living in the last one year. The protest is slated to last for two weeks. The demands are not very clear yet but the theme is centred on the hunger in the land. In just one year, diesel price doubled, petrol price tripled, official exchange rates tripled and “Band A” electricity tariffs tripled. Prices of foodstuffs and medicines have doubled or tripled or even quadrupled. This is by a distance one of the worst cost of living crises in the history of Nigeria — and, trust me, we have had quite a history in the last four decades.

I suspect that the inspiration for the planned protest came from Kenya, where citizens trooped to the streets to oppose proposed tax rises. Not surprisingly, the mass action became violent and 40 protesters lost their lives, with hundreds injured. Although President William Ruto — who had incredibly proposed to tax bread (who does that?) — beat a retreat and made concessions, protesters have refused to vacate the streets. They are now demanding that he should resign. At this point, he would think his political opponents are behind the protest. Even if they are not the ones instigating it, Ruto wilfully played into their hands. You can’t blame politicians for playing politics.

The jittery reaction from the Nigerian authorities to the impending protest is understandable. Our current leaders were specialists in protests in their previous lives. We shouldn’t expect them to eagerly drink from their own medicine. They know the political implications of mass action. More so, millions of Nigerians need no incentive to protest. If the one kilo of beans they bought at N651 in June 2023 is now N2,290, they don’t have to be PDP members or Obidients to protest. If the medicine they bought at N8,000 is now N35,000, they can hardly resist shouts of “aluta”. And if they have lost their jobs as a result of company shutdowns, “solidarity forever” will be music to their ears.

The reaction of the federal government has been more about a possible political hijack of the protests. Again, can you blame politicians for hijacking genuine agitation? I have lived long enough to witness such things in Nigeria. The founders of APC, the current ruling party, did a great job of instigating protests against PDP administrations in the past — and there is no way we would forget what happened in January 2012 when President Goodluck Jonathan tried to end fuel subsidy but was met with stiff resistance via “Occupy Ojota”, fully supported by opposition parties bent on unseating him. I do not blame either APC or PDP for playing politics. Politicians must necessarily politick.

I would also say President Bola Tinubu has done enough to incur the wrath of those who may want to join or sponsor protests against him. I don’t think we need to go to Harvard to study that. Many Nigerians, including those who didn’t vote for him, were ready to give him a benefit of the doubt when he was inaugurated in May 2023 but he mismanaged the honeymoon in no time — what with the famed 100-vehicle stunt in Lagos ahead of Eid al-Adha and the Dubai jamboree under the guise of COP23. The size of his cabinet at a time of austerity was such a slap on the face for Nigerians. He lost many people in the process. Nobody needs to send them an invitation letter to join the protest.

Politically, many Nigerians whose candidates lost the presidential election are yet to get over what hit them. They have a natural motivation to support the protest. Some have never accepted him as president in any case, so things like this will excite them. To complicate things, Tinubu’s pattern of appointments has clearly and unashamedly favoured his own part of the country, particularly Lagos state, as well as his loyalists. Those elsewhere who supported him one way or the other are thus motivated to work with his enemies to pull him down. It is rational political behaviour. In reality, nobody goes into politics for God’s sake. Self-interest is a major factor. It is the nature of politics.

Where do I stand? Peaceful protests are good for the health of democracy. Social action and citizen engagement are critical to the growth of democracy. Freedom of expression is core to democracy. That is why some of us prefer democracy to military rule any day. The beauty of democracy is not just “one person, one vote” but the voice it gives us after we have exercised our suffrage. Democracy will never grow if all we do is vote and retreat to our cocoons. Democracy is suffering body blows globally, no doubt, but the Nigerian situation is all the more worrisome because of the huge gap between the people and the leaders. “Them bellyful but we hungry” — as Bob Marley once said.

But while I propose that civic engagement must improve significantly, I have my worries. The protest can be hijacked. #EndSARS became #EndBuhari and #EndNigeria as some people sneaked in their own narrow agenda and unprecedented arson was unleashed on Lagos. Two, the duration of a protest can become a problem. I have observed, for decades, that the longer a protest lasts, the higher the possibility of hijack by hoodlums, anarchists, security agencies, and, lately, fifth columnists providing refreshments. Conversely, fatigue can set in when a public protest is going on for too long. We saw this with the sit-at-home action against the annulment of the June 12 election in 1993.

That said, I must now add that while protests and civic engagement are not out of order, they are not going to solve our economic problems. We are in deep trouble. There is no soothing way of putting it. We are literally living on borrowed time. As we say in Pidgin, “water don pass garri”. This problem did not start today, or yesterday, and will not be resolved today or tomorrow. No matter the fantasies we have built in our heads, Nigeria is in a mess. We used to paper over the cracks because we were earning fat petrodollars but we have so overstretched our luck that there is no wriggle room left. We are hopelessly dependent on imports while exporting all but one product: oil. We are in soup.

The current crisis started around 2014 when oil revenue started going down owing to two factors: falling production and falling prices. Call that double whammy. Onshore oil production, where Nigeria owns 55-60 percent of the joint ventures, was taking a hit from militancy, pipeline vandalism, host community restiveness, and theft. The oil companies started weighing their options. To worsen matters, we proposed a petroleum industry law in 2008 that remained comatose in the National Assembly for over a decade. Investors, unsure of what fiscal laws would govern their investments, held back their money. All these factors combined to reduce our production capacity. That is a fact.

It should be a thing of shame that a country that used to produce 2.4 million barrels of oil per day in the 1970s, when our population was about 70 million, is now producing 1.3 million when the population is over 200 million. Do the math. It just shows how unserious we have been all our lives. We managed to hit 2.2 million again less than 20 years ago, but we have been going down since then — and to think this is the source of our livelihood! With production dropping and oil exports retreating, our forex inflows logically went south, but we kept ballooning expenditure with unsustainable subsidies, even pledging future oil output as payment guarantee for urgent imports.

We needed to have made the necessary adjustments long ago, perhaps as far back as 2015, but we kept postponing the evil day. With no significant inflow, we started rationing the forex and printing naira recklessly to sustain our local expenditure, much of which was wasted or stolen. We kept petrol price ridiculously low “to protect the poor” who are now ultimately paying the price, literally. Ways and means that was about N50 billion a decade ago accumulated to over N20 trillion in a few years, further destroying the value of the naira, pumping up inflation and impoverishing the people. The economic crisis was inevitable and there is no easy way out. We are only reaping what we sowed.

Unfortunately, Tinubu did not help matters with the haphazard way he has implanted, or implemented, the reforms. The manner he announced subsidy removal showed clearly that he was going to be an unsympathetic undertaker. Basic things that should have been in place before such a major policy pronouncement — such as the CNG conversion initiative — were missing. While we were at it, we watched helplessly as the naira crashed under a poorly conceived exchange rate policy. For an import-dependent (or “export-deficient” — to be politically correct) country, it was going to be nothing short of Armageddon. “Band A” electricity tariffs were also tripled at one blow.

Public finance was all but dead when Tinubu took over. But he has been too brutal with his surgery-without-anaesthesia. When prices of food and medicines were on the rise last year, Tinubu could have granted tariff waivers to achieve temporary relief. It took him a year to approve. Too little, too late. He could have done far better with his message of sacrifice if he had lived it. Instead, we are talking about buying presidential jets. Sacrifice is obviously for the lesser mortals. In the final analysis, people have a right and reason to protest. It won’t solve the economic problem, obviously, but it could put our insensitive leaders on notice about not always taking Nigerians for granted.

People are hungry. As Marley also put it, “A hungry mob is an angry mob.” That is my fear about public protests. Things can get out of hand. The ideal thing would be for the organisers and the security agencies to work hand in hand to make sure the protest goes in an orderly and civilised way. But things are more likely to be violent. Whichever way things go, however, the government needs to wake up. Times are hard, very hard, and they are not doing enough or acting on time to relieve the pains. Contrary to a widespread opinion, Nigerians are not a difficult people to lead. They just want leaders who feel their pains and do things that show that they care. Is that too much to ask?

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

COMMISSIONS GALORE

Last year, President Bola Tinubu ordered “immediate implementation” of the Oronsanye Report “to cut the cost of governance”. The core recommendation was to reduce the number of government agencies — currently estimated at over 700 — through mergers and dissolutions. Well, we just created the North West Development Commission and the South East Development Commission to replicate the patronage and sleaze in the Niger Delta Development Commission and the North East Development Commission. Next stop? North Central Development Commission and South West Development Commission. Every state, every LGA will soon a get development commission. Nigeria!

HOME COMING

If they explained Edo state politics to you and you understood, then it was not well explained. I actually adapted that from a saying about Nigeria. Philip Shaibu, the impeached deputy governor, has left the PDP for the APC where he was until 2020 when he and Governor Godwin Obaseki fell out with Adams Oshiomhole. Their opponent in 2016, Ize Iyamu, left PDP for APC to run for governorship in 2020. They traded places. On his return to APC last week, Shaibu knelt before Oshiomhole, whom he had publicly savaged in 2020. Once upon a time, I used to take sides with politicians. I learnt my lesson 20 years ago. All I do now is enjoy the show. Netflix.

WAGE RAGE

After prolonged negotiations, the minimum wage has been more than doubled — from N30,000 to N70,000 per month. Another review is expected in 2027. This is not a bad deal, even if not great either. Employers still have to generate the revenue to pay. Many will end up not paying at all or sacking workers in order to manage the wage bill. Some will do both. I find two popular takes on the minimum wage amusing. One, people make it look like N70,000 is the average wage of a Nigerian worker. It is not. It is for the lowest paid. Two, people convert the figure to dollars in order to ridicule it — as if workers collect their salaries and head to the BDC. It surely doesn’t work like that. Cynical.

NO COMMENT

Alhaji Umar Namadi, governor of Jigawa state, has told Nigerians that the planned nationwide protest against economic hardship is not the solution to our problem. True, but I wish he had stopped there. He went on to say “people should turn to God, repent, seek for forgiveness and divine intervention on the challenges”. Truly, economic hardship is not limited to Nigeria – it is a global phenomenon, although it seems Nigeria has been on a freefall. However, interpreting the hardship as “a trial from God” and something that needs repentance and forgiveness, as Namadi did, is quite bemusing. In that case, the repentance should start with those mismanaging the country. Logical.

The Cable

Without moving his body, African Development Bank (AfDB) President, Akinwumi Adesina, watlzed his tall frame in a dance last week. He danced to the rhythm of Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo of Gentleman Mike Ejeagha’s trending song track, Ka Esi Le Onye Isi Oche. A rhythmic refrain track from an album titled Akuko N'Egwu Vol. 1., Ka Esi… has a lot of similarities with A o m’erin j’oba, both taken from Igbo and Yoruba cosmologies respectively. Both are from rich traditional African folklores. While both also had Elephant and Trickster Tortoise animal totems as their major characters, these folklores teach the moral of how never to throw benefactors under a moving train. Released in 1983 by Ejeagha of Imezi Owa, Ezeagu in Enugu State, Ka Esi… recalibrated an ancient Igbo folklore of trickster Tortoise who sacrificed the huge and mountainous Elephant for his selfish desire to have the king’s daughter as wife. Elephant thought he was assisting a friend.

Folklorist/writer, Joseph Odunjo, like Ejeagha, brought A o m’erin j’oba into vivid perspective in his Alawiye Yoruba literature series. Using the animal world as a motif, Odunjo told the story of gross human deception and how human beings are easily susceptible to and capable of mischief. Represented as a character with power, majesty and acclaim, the mammoth-sized Elephant beast was the untouchable king of the jungle whose humongous size was a huge bother to other animals in the jungle. Several efforts were made to oust his prowess, to no avail. So, a plot was hatched using his majesty as his destruction. Tortoise, a clever and serpentine animal, was procured to do the hatchet job. Tortoise resolved that, given Elephant’s size and height, violence would not bring him to his hilt but a strategy of deception, praise-singing and bootlicking. Tortoise then traveled to the wooded savannah jungle to see his friend, the Almighty Elephant. His message was that, all animals had purposed to make him King of all Animals. Elephant was to come to the palace adorned in the full regalia of a King. Prior to the day, Tortoise had dug a very deep hole by the palace that could occupy Elephant’s mammoth size, decorated with a beautiful wool carpet worthy of a king’s royal feet. He completed it with an ornamented chair just at the edge of the royal carpet. Encircling the carpet, all the animals in the town clapped and hailed the new King dressed in flowery royal robe as he walked majestically towards the royal carpet. They cheered the Elephant on, shouting A o m’erin j’oba, eweku ewele. Fascinated by the splendor and cheer, Elephant walked majestically, acknowledging the cheers, until he fell into the ditch and unto his death.

Ostensibly marrying the morale in both Ka Esi Le Onye Isi Oche and A o m’erin j’oba, Adesina deployed them to paint a picture of a Nigerian establishment in whose veins flowed the blood of cruelty, shamelessness and greed. Either intended or stray, Adesina threw a bomb into their fold, a bomb whose shrapnel hit the innermost recess of Nigeria’s sleaze and slush petroleum sector. In a tweet on X last week, while upbraiding the apparent systemic gang-up to frustrate Aliko Dangote’s refinery by the Nigerian government, Adesina said, “Investing is tough. Pettiness is easy. It sadly sends a signal that the price for sacrificing for Nigeria is to get sacrificed.” In the short tweet, Adesina denounced government’s attempt to profile Dangote as a selfish monopolist Tortoise, as reflected in Ejeagha and Odunjo’s reworking of the Igbo and Yoruba folklores. He ultimately situated the gang-ups as attempt to sacrifice the monstrous Elephant refinery of Aliko Dangote to governmental pettiness.

Adesina’s cryptic quip of “sacrificing for Nigeria (and getting) sacrificed” also finds a corollary in another ancient anecdote, the killing of the proverbial hunchback, Abuke Osin. The hunchback was the favourite servant of Obatala. Among the Yoruba, Obatalá is known as the munificent and benevolent father of all Orisa – gods – and indeed, of all humanity. Obatalá is also reputed to be the owner of all ‘heads’ and minds of all human creations of Eledumare – God. While Eledumare created the entire universe, Obatala created humanity in their entirety. Everything that is pure without blemish emanates from Obatala because he is the source of purity and wisdom. Obatala was peaceful and compassionate  

According to the anecdote as told by the renowned living archive of Yoruba traditional institution, Yemi Elebuibon, in his The Adventures of Obatala: Ifa and Santeria God of creativity, (2016) Obatala sent the hunchback on errands and impressed by his service to him, Obatala chanted some incantations which deposited precious beads, gold and other ornaments inside the carapace-like chest of the hunchback. He however chanted that anyone who made him happy and rubbed his chest would partake of the wealth deposited therein. Ojugbe, the hunchback’s neighbor, benefitted from these gifts due to his good neighbourliness. When Abuke complained of pain in the chest, Ojugbe rubbed it for him and became stupendously wealthy therefrom. Not knowing the caveat attached to Ojugbe’s wealth, Tortoise envied him. But, unable to compete with Ojugbe-kind care, one day, Tortoise lured the Abuke Osin into his house and forcefully rubbed his chest. It refused to emit money. He then resolved to kill this servant of Obatala and incurred the wrath of the god. 

I do not want to go into details of the Nigerian establishment’s battle with this 650,000 bpsd state-of-the-art refinery which erupted upper week. They are in the public domain. Since 1973 when it was created, the NNPC has been a cesspit of corruption and vehicle for hemorrhaging Nigeria’s petro-dollars. It is a haven for white-collar criminals. According to Stephen Ellis in his This Present Darkness, (2016) by the late 1970s, an illegal trade in Nigerian oil flourished like a new bride. Corrupt politicians and military big epaulettes connived with NNPC officials to funnel Nigerian oil abroad. They did this with the connivance of Greek and Lebanese traders. All manner of internal and external sharks feasted on the Nigerian crude. In the process of this feast, scant consideration was paid to the goose that laid the golden egg, the refineries of Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri. Today, they have become moribund, resulting in Nigeria exporting its own crude and importing petroleum products from them. The refineries are grounded due to fossilized technology, humongous corruption and a wicked ploy by petrol cabals to keep the goose perpetually castrated. 

In October 2023, the Nigerian senate attempted to probe Nigeria’s expenditure on rehabilitation of the four refineries which were yet unproductive. A senator representing Kogi West, Sunday Karimi, presented a motion which revealed that, “Between 2010 to date, Nigeria is estimated to have spent N11.35 trillion (N11,349, 583,186,313.40) excluding other cost in other currencies which include $592,976,050.00 dollar, 4,877,068.47 Euros and 3,455,656.93 Pounds, on renovation of refineries, yet they are unproductive.” Karimi further said that, “Despite the moribund state of the four refineries, the operating costs of these refineries between 2010 and 2020 were estimated at N4.8 Trillion. The refineries are estimated to make a cumulative loss of N1.64 Trillion, within four years.” Indeed, in the last 25 years, NNPC has spent something in the neighourhood of $25b on TAM on these obsolete dinosaurs called refineries. The world was shocked recently when told that an NNPC subsidiary, PHRC, expended N23b on salaries and maintenance of a refinery that was too crude to refine even a  gallon of crude. For these oil vampires who grow rotund tummies out of our ancient comatose refineries, Dangote refinery must be stopped from functioning.

President Olusegun Obasanjo, in a revelation, said he was advised by knowledgeable experts that aside their obsolete equipment and infrastructure, the refineries were mere scraps which needed to be sold. He thus sold two of the refineries’ plants in Port Harcourt and Kaduna to Blue Star, a consortium of Aliko Dangote, a man who Bloomberg assessed as worth more than $15 billion, for a whopping $670m. Apparently instigated by a sleaze-steeped oil cabal, labour unions and other oil rats pressurized President Umaru Yar’Adua to reverse the purchase. Dangote Cement, his financial empire’s jewel, is also one of Nigeria’s traded companies, becoming one of Nigeria Stock Exchange’s companies to reach a market capitalization of N10 trillion. Since the reversal, Nigeria has spent multiple of the amount it would have collected from selling the refineries and is yet expending huge costs on sham Turn Around Maintenance and the bottomless pit of corruption in the NNPC. The corporation is alleged to be one of the most non-self accounting conglomerates in the world with an allegation of $32 billion hemorrhage in the Goodluck Jonathan administration’s corruption-ridden oil-for-product swap agreements.

The Dangote $20 billion refinery, biggest in Africa and second in the world, built on a 2,635 hectares land in Ibeju-Lekki, was a protest against the Yar’Adua government’s unconscionable reversal of the sale of the two Nigerian refineries by Obasanjo. With its 650,000 barrels of crude oil refining capacity per day, it surpasses the refining capacity of 435,000 of Nigeria’s total moribund refineries. It is said to be capable of supplying almost all of Nigeria’s daily consumption need. The downside is that it will eliminate Nigeria’s bottomless pit sleaze called subsidy and kill the roaches who have over the decades fed fat on this brand of Nigeria’s cesspit. Dangote’s almost 50,000 staff is said to be made up of over 90% Nigerians and a meager expatriates number of 11,000. Dangote Cement is also said to have paid N200bn tax since 2003, pays N27bn VAT monthly and corporate tax of N40.39b. FG also collects 52% tax on every N1 Dangote’s companies earn in profit. This is the context of Adesina’s X tweet of “pettiness is easy.”

Opposition to the Dangote refinery was initially amorphous. Platformed on allegation of Dangote’s famed monopolistic tendency, it soon branched into allegation that the quality of the refinery was suspect. At long last, the masquerade abandoned its costume –  “ago” – to reveal Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) chief executive, Farouk Ahmed. Same last week, Ahmed openly alleged that the diesel produced by the Dangote Refinery, compared to the one imported, was inferior. Ahmed also alleged that the Dangote fuel had huge Sulphur content, which he situated at between 650 to 1,200ppm ppm. He was most likely shell-shocked when asked where his or NNPC’s test laboratory for sulphur level resides. It was only then that Nigerians learnt that Lagos labs – Sewort, SGS and GMO perform this task for Almighty Nigerian oil colossus.

A number of surreptitious, faceless persons and groups have been used to push a Mafia-like battle against the birthing of the Dangote refinery. If derobed of their identities, it will be clear that these persons are angered by the obvious reality that the success of that humongous refinery means an end to their decades-old bazaar on Nigerian oil industry. A couple of weeks ago, the media reported Aliko himself as confirming that the blood-baiting oil sharks had run a ring round him. He, in fact, acknowledged his awareness that they could even be within his organization.

The other leg of the accusation came in a last year Financial Times report. It alleged that Tinubu is putting the squeeze on Dangote for not supporting him during his presidential bid. When EFCC raided his Lagos company last year, ostensibly on allegation of investigation into the foreign exchange allocations under CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, the thinking was that Tinubu was exerting the powers of his presidency on Aliko. It was alleged that while his business rival, Abdul Samad Rabiu and Tony Elumelu showered bounties on Tinubu during his presidential campaign, Dangote queued behind Atiku Abubakar. Anyone who knows how the Nigerian state runs will know that only Aso Rock authorizes such high-level infiltration.

Those who are opportune to visit the Dangote refinery have labeled it one of the most awesome wonders of our world. A television anchor called it the Dangote Planet. The most depressing reality about Dangote is that, in practical terms, he is not the richest Nigerian. At a conservative estimate, he could be one of the twenty richest. The bulk of the 19 others are mostly politicians who, in our sane moment as Nigerians, we ask, in American voice, we have seen the bucks, where is the shop? They take our stolen wealth to Malta, Dubai and other countries where their billions of dollar investments are beyond prying eyes. Dangote certainly isn’t richer than Olowo Eko who, in a moment of grandstanding immodesty told a monarch during a visit to Osun State, “Kabiyesi, ee l’owo mi!” – Kabiyesi, you don’t have my kind of money! But, does anyone know Baba Olowo’s shop? We are his shop! 

Let’s even accept that all the charges against Dangote are true – monopolist, feeding off closeness to successive governments, and all that – investing $20b in this economy, excluding his behemoth fertilizer and cement plants – is courage, valour, patriotism. Dangote and his refinery are Nigeria’s national assets. So also are the Mike Adenugas of our world. We must protect them from the Shylocks, Saurons, Lord Voldemorts, the Ikoko aje’ran je’gungun – foxes that devour human flesh and bones – and the Komodo dragons of this world who want to swallow our economic saviours.

Hardship protest: Tinubu, “bi iwo ba se rere…”

All of a sudden, President Bola Tinubu is running from pillar to post. The febrile fear with which his presidency tries to stave off the proposed August 1 Hardship protest is baffling. It seems to remind one of the biblical verse in Genesis 4:7 which says, “if thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” This English interpretation does not convey the message’s total interpretative capturing as its Yoruba version rendition. That particular scriptural verse is interpreted in Yoruba as “Bi iwo ba se rere, ara ki yio ha ya o?” It was God speaking to Cain, Adam and Eve’s first born, who was enraged because he reaped what he sowed. Cain leapt into a fury because God rejected his paltry offering and accepted his brother, Abel’s which was God-respecting. Rather than see this rejection as his own doing and take a redemptive detour, Cain took a callous step further. He murdered his younger brother.

Recounting Nigerians’ groaning lot in the last 14 months here will be an overkill. The man they hyped as coming of a pedigree of dancers whose eclectic dancing feet attracted donations of slaves now dances and is barely gifted a wrap of corn meal. Rather, his feeble dance-steps attract curses and boos. A pre-dancing cheering audience now jeers as its stomach hisses and rumbles. To say Nigeria tastes as bitter as Jogbo leaf will be an understatement. Our country is Jogbo leaf itself. Wherever you turn, it is bitterness. And this is under the grip of a man who was said to be King Midas whose touch turned everything  to gold.

Nigerians’ unusual resilience makes the world agape with incredulity. They are a people who could weather the storm, no matter the turbulence. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti couldn’t understand such orthodoxy of suffering which he called cowardice. “My people sef dem fear too much… My Pa dey for house…I nor wan die…” he dramatizes our pacifist spirit. Rotimi Amaechi said something worse recently about Nigerians. In a viral video which appeared to be a lecture on Nigerians’ famed pacifism, he said even if you kill a Nigerian’s father and mother, they would move on and say it was God’s wish for them. What many do not know is that Nigerians detest their leaders taking them for granted. Wily General Ibrahim Babangida knew only of the first sheaf about Nigerians’ resilient spirit. He didn’t however know about the other sheaf – the people’s tendency for rebellion. The truth is that, when Nigerians flip the other side of the cudgel, they are difficult to tame. By the time Nigerians made up their minds about IBB, they dropped his heap by the dumpsite of history.

Revisionists say that the key to Nigerians’ docile tendencies can be found in their history. What they call a history devoid of bloodshed. They juxtapose Nigeria with Kenya. In the latter, the Mau Mau rebellion in the British Kenya Colony between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the Mau Mau, and the British authorities lasted for good eight years. So they submit that whilst rebellion against oppressors was a Kenyan DNA, pampering oppressors was Nigerians’. Which is not true. Our forefathers fought, shed blood for the freedom we have now. Collective fights against white aggressors may be rare but we had the Ovonramwen Nogbaisis. Ovonramwen was the Ọba of Benin Kingdom who fought British usurpation. He attacked British Deputy Commissioner and Consul for the Niger Coast Protectorate, James Robert Phillips, killing him and virtually all on his entourage. A punitive expedition against the Benin kingdom resulted in its razing in 1897 and looting of its bronzes.

Nigerians do not expect their leaders to be magicians, apologies to Madam RAT. They even know that the taciturn Mallam from Daura inflicted his Janus persona on the economy so fatally that the wound would take long to heal. But Nigerians detest governmental deceit, incompetence and hypocrisy advertised as leadership. In the last 14 months, this has been the broth served Nigerians a la carte. To worsen matters, our leadership has carried on with an I-don’t-care attitude which Yoruba describe as a let-the-angry-torrents-of-rainfall-pierce-into-shreds-the-helpless-cocoyam-leafs-if-it-can “òjò pa ewé kókò, b’ó le ya, k’ó ya”.

So when this same leadership runs from Ankara to Kutuwenji in its bid to stop Nigerians from letting the whole world know of their plight, the apt response to it is the same that God gave to stubborn Cain, “Bì ìwo bá se rere, ara kì yíò ha yá o?” In the last couple of weeks, government has been funneling scarce resources into bribing Cash-tivists who call themselves activists not to come out and demonstrate on August 1. Students’ union leaders have received theirs. Journalists have. The Three Gbosas people have. Traditional rulers across Nigeria, too have visited an Aso Rock which changes people into unfeeling mummies.

So many reasons have been proffered for why Nigerians must not protest their deplorable plights. One is that criminals could hijack the people’s constitutional right to protest. So, why spend people’s money to pay policemen if they cannot be funneled out in their thousands to protect protesters on their constitutionally mandated responsibility to an absent government? Second reason from government on why Nigerians should dress their punches in velvet glove: That the government is finding a way round the hunger in the land. One is reminded of someone who is spending twenty years to practice madness. They even say that since the protest has no identifiable leadership, it could be uncontrollable like scattered pellets of a dane-gun bullet. The police also come out to Afghanistanize the protest by claiming that Intel tells them foreign mercenaries were part of the ploy. Since they know anything security is opaque, it is quite easy for them to befuddle the people with such scary lie. This is same police which no calamity has ever befallen Nigeria that they forewarned Nigerians about. But, shouldn’t Nigerians let the world know about their plights?

Let me mimic judges at the temple of justice: Considering all evidence before me, Nigerians must protest on August 1. Nigerians need to retrieve their country from the hands of leaders who don’t care about their plights. Not violently. Violence under-develops a people. Do you think, if he ever survives his ongoing ordeal, William Ruto, in his own words, “the village boy (who) has become the president of Kenya," will ever take Kenyans for granted? Let the man whose ambition it has always been to live in Aso Rock be made to commit to making Nigerians live meaningful life.

Gbolagunte: Good night, great jurist

On Friday, I listened to one of the most impactful sermons ever at the New Reservation Baptist Church, Iyaganku, Ibadan, Oyo State. It was devoid of the depressing low of “style-style fundraising” and motivational prosperity sermons that Pentecostalism has sunk into in Nigeria. Church Pastor, Kayode Oyedemi, taught about how death was man’s companion which should be loved and not hated. He brought the reality of death in our lives so vividly that I doubt if any one who attended that service would unnecessarily reify life, going forward. It was at the burial of My Lord Justice Adegboye Ayinla Gbolagunte, son of Oyo State Second Republic House of Assembly Speaker under Governor Bola Ige, Jagunmolu of Eruwa, University of Ibadan pioneer student and lawyer, Mokolade Davidson Gbolagunte. Gbolagunte was aged 64.

My path and that of Gbolagunte crossed in 2019 during my court externship. The Nigerian Law School had attached me and other colleagues to his chambers at the Oyo State High Court. There, I saw him in his true self. After each sitting, Gbolagunte would call us into his inner chambers and the teacher in him took over. He would lecture us on the judicial background of his pronouncements.

Our friendship began from there. It was later I realized that he saw my quest to combine journalism with law in himself. He had gained admission to study History at the University of Lagos in 1978 but later ported to Mass Communication. At the funeral, I met one of his friends, the highly respected journalist, Kayode Samuel. Gbolagunte later studied law at the University of Ibadan from 1983 to 1986.

Before law, Gbolagunte was a lecturer of journalism in different institutions. He particularly taught News Writing, Editing, Press Law, Marketing and Insurance Law at The Polytechnic, Ibadan and the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Ogba, Lagos. He was also a prolific writer. From his holiday job at the then NTV Ibadan in 1980 where he began reportorial job, he spent time with the Imo State newspaper, Nigerian Statesman during his NYSC. While on the editorial board of the Times newspaper, Gbolagunte covered the famed visit of Nelson Mandela to Nigeria in 1991.

When he later learnt of my passion for Apala maestro, Ayinla Omowura, he told me he passionately retained his middle name, “Ayinla” because of the profound manner Ayinla’s music arrests him. He called to request for a copy of my biographical portraiture of the musician upon its publication. I honoured the request by couriering an autographed copy to him through the first President of the Oyo State Customary Court of Appeal, My Lord Justice Adegboyega Akinteye (rtd) which he acknowledged.

While still interning in his chambers, Gbolagunte proposed that we both collaborated in a biography to mark his 60th. I guess the ailment which took him killed that dream as well.

If commendable testimonials could wake Gbolagunte, last week, the jurist would leave the morgue and go embrace his wife, Wuraola. If corroborations of his unusual integrity, humility, service to God and humanity were the passport to heaven, he will be by the feet of his Creator now. A valiant and courageous judge, Gbolagunte fought judicial powers and principalities who he considered to be thieves in judges’ robes. When he received medical judgment that his death was afoot, Gbolagunte took time to arrange his home and proceedings of funeral. He paid for his casket, the vault where he would be buried and in the words of one of his sons at last week wake service, “he arranged every part of this burial service, who to meet, talk to” and how he should be buried.

Good night, great brother, Great Akokite, Great UIte.

And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord .….  when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard ~ Luke 1:11-13a.

Introduction

Without any doubt, the modern day Christian needs divine direction, strong interventions and supernatural assistance now more than ever! Why? Troubling end time signs and prophecies as foretold by Jesus are being fulfilled daily (Luke 21:16-28; Mark 13:5-23).

However, no matter the circumstances, fulfilling our destiny is top on God's priority list. He expects us to forget the failures of the past and seize today's incredible opportunities (James 1:17). He’s calling us, therefore, to a deeper relationship with Him, so we can walk in His light and experience His power afresh.

Basically, God created two distinct but closely interwoven worlds: the spiritual and the natural worlds. Both are real, and they have beings, things, processes, etcetera.

The spiritual world was designed to operate, directly and indirectly, as an invisible power in the natural world. In fact, though the natural world exists and behaves based on observable natural laws, it is powered indirectly by the invisible spiritual power (Hebrews 1:3).

Occasionally, the spiritual essence operates directly in the natural world, causing visible manifestations beyond natural laws. Whenever a “spirit being” directly interrupts natural principles and laws to create tangible states and phenomena, we call it “supernatural intervention” (Luke 5:4-9).

Actually, all genuine Christians, recreated in Christ Jesus, are supernatural beings (Hebrews 12:9). God made the supernatural life possible and accessible for us through that Eternal Door, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:16). However, we were made to live, both in the natural and the supernatural dimensions.

We must, therefore, open our eyes and see the world for what it is, and understand the hidden operations of darkness in plain sight. Being careful not to allow unbelief, carnality or unwillingness to block our supernatural manifestations, we must re-orientate our minds and release our faith to make our environments supernatural-friendly.

Particularly we must keenly familiarize ourselves with the agents that God typically deploys to assist us, and become more conversant with their operational details and modes of engagement.

Sudden and Glorious Supernatural Events!

We human beings generally tend to be set in our ways, relapsing easily into our old traditions and natural lifestyles (Acts 11:1-16). But, we must rather recognize God’s readiness to visit us and return our exiles (Psalms 126:1-6).

Whenever God visits us, He brings heaven to earth, and bestows heaven-on-earth experiences upon us in all ramifications of life: homes, health, finances, careers and callings. How? Wherever the “Head” is, defines the functional headquarters!

Zacharias and his wife, Elisabeth, once experienced a sudden and remarkable supernatural intervention (Luke 1:5-7). They both came from the priestly lines with amazing godly heritage, walking in righteousness and serving the Lord faithfully.

Now, Elisabeth was barren. They prayed, but it seemed like answers wouldn’t come soon. However, they never gave up on God, but remained very faithful. In fact, whenever Zacharias served the Lord on the altar, he did so without any hint of bitterness, grumbling or complaining.

Then, suddenly, a supernatural being, an angel, appeared to him, saying: “Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John” (Luke 1:13).

Angels are messengers from the Lord, and mighty warriors with prodigious strength (Daniel 10:6). They’re holy agents that God typically deploys on supernatural assignments, to minister to His children in diverse ways, and to craft the wonders that they see and experience (Hebrews 1:14).

There is a high note of great significance in this temple encounter! Prior to the event, there hadn’t been any heavenly experience amongst the people of Israel for about four hundred years: no prophecies, angels or miracles. Those were the “silent years” in-between the Old and the New Testaments. Yet, Zacharias and Elisabeth   believed God!

Mary the mother of Jesus also experienced an out-of-this-world dimension of supernatural operations at the conception and birth of Jesus Christ (Luke 1:30-45).

Unarguably, this was the noblest miracle and the most dizzying wonder that ever happened. Of course, there’s no human explanation for how Mary became pregnant. The angel only hinted, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee”. And Mary believed (v35-38)!

We too must readily give all it takes to ensure that supernatural encounters become our commonplace experiences via a deep, passionate and growing hunger for the things of God.

Charging the Angels for Supernatural Performance!

We now know that God gave His angelic hosts charge over us, to run errands for us (Psalms 91:9-12). But what remains to be learnt is the fact that God also gave us charge over them, to release them on assignments.

In Psalm 103:20-22, we see how David instructed angels to praise God, and how he also commanded his environment to bless the Lord. Admirably, he was able to do these because his habitation was so rich in praise and the fear of God, as a regular lifestyle.

Now, if David who was not “born again”, so to say, could have a fair rule in the realm of the spirit via the use of the Word, how much more we who have been redeemed by the blood and are now seated in the heavenly realm in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-7).

We must faithfully cherish our privileged position in Christ, and be ever thankful for it. Indeed, we can still daze our world and enjoy the fullness of the heavenly resources if we dutifully compel the earth to align with God’s Will, always (Matthew 6:10).

The Cost of Supernatural Release

As we aspire to soar higher supernaturally and relish the glories of God’s presence, we must keep in mind that there’s a cost they attract. In its generic sense, it's called repentance and dying to our selfish natural inclinations.

We must relinquish ownership of our lives and let God have His way, embracing the go-big attitude and soaring with all manner of prayer and fasting, to set the stage for the supernatural through the accomplished works of Christ.

When our natural senses fail, then our spiritual senses become quickened, as it’s commonly experienced during prolonged fasting, and we’re thus enabled to witness things that ordinary mortals cannot.

In addition, your bold declaration of God’s Word on issues will further demonstrate how you value the release of the supernatural (Psalms 18:44-45). Nothing happens in the kingdom without a declaration (Genesis 18:17-18).

Moreover, a lifestyle of sharp sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, obedience and positive actions based on firm confidence in the integrity of God’s Word are very crucial to provoking the supernatural.

Friends, let’s come boldly into the heavenly realms, putting our faith to task. The Holy Spirit will then lift us up on eagle's wings, and cause us to ascend into God’s Presence to encounter things beyond earthly words.

Nonetheless, we must always allow God’s wisdom to prevail in all circumstances (Psalms 46:10). And, please, be patient: a person who never gives up cannot be defeated (Isaiah 40:31).

As you develop your supernatural foresight with this truth and act accordingly, be aware that you’re creating the atmosphere for supernatural performances, which could grant you a meteoric rise in your faith and dominion.

Beloved brethren, it’s time now to pant after supernatural Christianity, taking hold of what belongs to us. Thereafter, men, angels and nature will cooperate to minister to us and assist us in our assignments. You won’t miss this, in Jesus Name. Amen. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

SMS/WhatsApp: +234 802 318 4987

Truth in the Bible is not abstract.  Truth in the Bible is real and tangible. Truth in the bible is a person with a personality. Truth in the Bible is Jesus Christ. (John 14:6).

Jesus Christ is truth personified.  Only Jesus who came down from heaven truly expresses God and presents the true ideal of man. Hence, he is the Truth.  He is the logos, the true expression of God. Similarly, the Holy Spirit (the spirit of Jesus Christ) is the Spirit of truth because His function is to guide into all truth.

You can do nothing against the truth but for the truth. (2 Corinthians 13:8). No matter what you do, the truth remains true. Truth is absolute. It refuses to go away.  It cannot be silenced. It does not change.  The only thing that it can do is to change you. Jesus said: You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32). It is the lie that shackles; and the truth that makes free.

God is a God of truth, making truth a basic element of His Person. Because God is truth, He is constant and unchanging. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the rock and His truth endures unto all generations. God is a God in whom there is no variableness and shadow of turning. This means that God does not change like shifting shadows.

Problematic Jesus

For a long time, Jesus was a big problem in my life. I simply could not handle the truth of God revealed by Jesus. Before I met Jesus, I was convinced that I was the most righteous man on earth. I had never met a man who was as righteous and as truthful as me. I lived my life under a strict code of principles and precepts, which I believed, set me apart from a lot of people, including and especially some so-called Christians. 

But the truth, which I discovered or accepted much later, was that those principles were self-serving. The problem with Jesus was that his righteousness was diametrically opposite to mine.

When I met Jesus, his message was unambiguous. There could only be one conclusion from his teachings: Femi Aribisala is unrighteous. I was confronted with a choice. I would either have to choose the righteousness of Christ, or conclude that he was talking a load of rubbish. I could not come outright to say that Jesus was talking rubbish because I came from a Christian home and was raised as a Christian.

But at the same time, I sought refuge in the misguided conviction that his righteousness was simply impossible to fulfil. I was convinced, for example, that there was no way that a man could get to the point where he never again looked at a woman lustfully. There was no way someone would slap a grown man on the one cheek and he would willingly turn the other cheek. There was no way that a man would forcefully take your coat and you would give him your cloak as well. Unless, of course, if you were stupid. There was no way that a human being could be expected to love his enemies and to pray for those who despitefully use him. There was no way to be the kind of man that Jesus preached about. And I surely had yet to meet any Christian like that.

Avoiding Jesus

So what did I do about the truth of God’s word? I decided that it was better for me to stop reading the Bible. I reached a conclusion, which in retrospect I now realise was an incredible piece of deception. I concluded that if I continued reading the bible, I would end up as an atheist. 

Sooner or later, the illogical nature and the irrationalities of Jesus’ teachings would get to me, and I would conclude that Jesus was a load of rubbish. Since I did not want to reach that conclusion, I decided to keep away from Jesus as much as possible. This was one way I could deal with the truth of Jesus, and I now realise it is completely idiotic.

And so today, you have so many people who believe that Jesus is a prophet, but don’t believe in him. Nicodemus recognised that Jesus was a teacher sent from God and yet, he did not believe in him. Even Moslems believe that Jesus is a prophet of God. 

But please what kind of prophet would call himself God? Only a false prophet would do that. So if Jesus is a prophet of God then Jesus is God. If Jesus is not God then he is not a prophet. There is no middle passage. He has not left us with any fudged view of himself.

Responding to the Truth

Beloved, how do we respond to the truth? Do we fight against the truth? It is a losing battle because the truth is impregnable. To fight against the truth is to fight against God. We cannot win.

John the Baptist spoke the truth to Herodias, you should not marry your husband’s brother. Herodias had a problem dealing with this truth of God’s law. What is the solution to her predicament? She decides to fight against the truth. John the Baptist must be killed. Truth must be silenced. But would the death of John the Baptist change the truth of her adultery? Would the death of John the Baptist make adultery righteous? Certainly not!

Jesus came to provide a way of escape from the sin problem. The wisdom of God in this regard was to simplify the problem of sin.

And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. (John 3:19-21).

Sin is no longer the doing of evil.  Sin is now the rejection of salvation from sin.

Evil people are not just people who do bad things; they are those who hate the light. They are people who love darkness rather than light. They prefer to be ignorant because to be knowledgeable will put a great demand on them. Knowledge means coming out of the darkness. But they would rather be ignorant than come out of the darkness. The man fears that if he comes to the light his deeds would be seen as worthless, and he would need to turn from them.

Dealing With the Person of Truth

How do you deal with the truth? Remember that you can no longer deal with truth in the abstract because truth now has a personality? How do you deal with truth in the form of a person? Jesus said to this end was he born, and for this end he came into the world, that he should bear witness to the truth.   

Can you honestly live with such a person as this? Or would he or she become insufferable? Can you have a friend who always tells you the truth? Would you only visit him sometimes, or would you like him to abide with you forever?

In both the Old and the New Testaments, prophets of God were killed because they dared to tell the truth. They told people what they did not want to hear. They convinced people of their sin. Rather than deal with their sin, people decided to deal with the prophet. Jesus prophesied that this propensity would be heightened in the last days. (Luke 21:16-17; John 16:2-3).

Hating the Truth 

Most people don’t like the truth. Some people like the truth sometimes. Most people don’t like the truth at most times. There are times when we want to be lied to. There are times when we seek solace and comfort in lies. 

Sometimes we define friendship as the ability of a companion to know when to tell us the truth and when to comfort us with lies. Sometimes we regard a friend as someone oblivious to our faults. A good friend becomes someone who not only ignores our faults but also dutifully convinces us that our faults are non-existent. 

The question then is this: can Jesus be our friend?  Can we walk with him? CONTINUED.

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Brace yourself before reading.

Content warning: Discussions of death, homicide, and suicide. Some descriptions may be graphic.

On one of my recent late-night scrolls, I came across this thread by Reddit user u/LadyEmry, which asked: "People whose work involves death (e.g., paramedics, hospice carers, morgue attendants, etc.), what is the weirdest thing you've ever seen?" Hundreds of people who work around death shared their stories, which ranged from strange to weird to chilling. Here's everything they wrote:

1. "Sometimes when leftover gas is leaving the body, they'll sort of groan or fart, which is really unnerving."

Fstop123 / Getty Images

—texaspoontappa93

"Also, it sometimes sounds like they are knocking from the inside of the fridges, which is pretty creepy when you are not used to it."

—Melcolloien

2. "In my early days as a first responder, I was in a rural area, and we were the first on the scene. I responded to a multi-vehicle accident where a man had been decapitated; I got in the passenger side, and his head was hanging on by a few tendons on the right side. Without thinking, I grabbed his head and tried to 'put it back on.' I don't know why.

"In retrospect, I think I saw something that wasn't right, and instinct told me, 'This goes here.' The old timers laughed and teased me a few times. One of them pulled me aside and told me, 'It's not the first time someone's done that. It won't be the last.' I have heard of other people doing similar things but haven't personally witnessed it."

3. "A European bloke came in three weeks after falling off a horse. He didn't go to hospital when it happened. Instead, he flew to Australia for a holiday and was admitted to our emergency ward a few days later. He had literally shattered two ribs. He was acting normal when I was talking to him, but then five minutes later, his spleen ruptured when someone tried to move him."

Sopone Nawoot / Getty Images

"It's not uncommon for spleens to rupture weeks after trauma, but this dude lasted three weeks, and only 10 minutes after being admitted did it rupture. If it had happened on a plane, he would've been dead. He lived."

—[deleted]

4. "I worked in a veterinary clinic for a while. I have witnessed the phenomenon of 'jumping ship' twice. Once, we had a cat who was old and sick brought in to be put down. She was covered in fleas, and so when we put the medicine that euthanized her, the fleas were able to tell and immediately started leaving the body in huge numbers to the point where the area around the body was black from fleas."

"The other time I saw it was when we put a dog down in the OR because exploratory surgery showed his tumor was inoperable. He had some ticks that all jumped off as soon as the drug was injected."

5. "My mom was a paramedic for fifteen years and once had to do a body recovery of two teenage girls on a full moon walking through waist-high grass and fog while their wrecked van played 'Uninvited' by Alanis Morissette. She says it was one of the most unsettling moments of her career."

Mikhail Galyshev / Getty Images/iStockphoto

—LittlestDeborah

6. "Hangings are pretty horrible, but we ended up attending to a man who had [died by suicide] after killing his girlfriend. He had caved the back of her head in with a blunt object and hung her in a spare room before hanging himself. The weirdest part of it is that he didn't kill himself straight away. Her body had decomposed more than he had. The police on the scene estimated she had been dead for around four or five days before he killed himself."

7. "Paramedic. Hangings are always very eerie scenes. They somehow seem staged, cinematic, and unreal. And it's odd what sticks in your memory. Like how neatly they placed their slippers beside the ladder or how rough the knot was. Hangings often extend the neck in an inhuman way."

8. "I was transporting a man with liver disease and diabetes. I grabbed his arm gently to help him, and the top layer of skin slid off like a pudding. I wore my fucking gloves after that."

Edwin Tan / Getty Images

—Lucilleisthirsty

9. "EMT here. Sometimes, when you do CPR, the person becomes conscious again and can talk to you while you're doing compressions. I've seen some go into cardiac arrest, and after two compressions, she woke up, grabbed the nurse who was doing the compressions, and went unresponsive again. Everyone in the room was like, 'What the fuck?!'"

10. "I had a 100-year-old patient with colonic mass admitted for new compression fractures, likely secondary to metastatic cancer. The family did not want to pursue further workup, and he was placed in comfort care with a plan to discharge him back to home on hospice. He was feeling well on the day of discharge. His sons came by to make sure he got on the ambulance. Medics loaded him onto the gurney; he closed his eyes, took one more breath, and died right there."

"The sons told us later that they were actually pretty relieved because they didn't want their father to die at home because of how much it would affect their mother. I have never had a patient die while in the process of leaving the hospital. It's weird for a physician to say, but damn, what a good way to go."

11. "When a person is really old, they can look dead when they are actually alive and vice versa. I walked into a room, and I could see this guy propped up in bed; his eyes were wide open, and he sounded like he was choking on mucus. So I started to suction it out, and then I realized he never started to breathe. I checked a pulse. He was dead, but his eyes were still open, like he was staring at me. I had to do the thing they show on TV, where the doctor puts their hand over the person's face and closes the eye. We left him in bed peacefully."

Sasithorn Phuapankasemsuk / Getty Images

—Racer13l

12. "Not really weird, just the only thing that stands out in my mind. I work in a hospital in infection control; occasionally, I am needed down in the morgue when there is a containment issue. On this night, a body was brought in under special circumstances. A body was found in a body of water, so the patient was already swollen from that. It has been at least a few days since the time of death. This patient had no positive results from the lab, so I didn't understand why I was called in."

"This is what happened: all suspicious death autopsies are performed at a single location in my state. Since their body was found on a Friday, we were to keep the body in storage until it could be transported on Monday. This is not abnormal, but our body storage is actually just an old walk-in freezer from a cafeteria renovation years ago. After the body was brought in, the freezer broke down sometime over the weekend, and as the body warmed up, so did the gases in the intestines, resulting in the lower torso exploding onto the cart and floor. It was the most putrid thing I've ever had to be a part of."

13. "I work in a mortuary. We had an older lady, maybe mid-60s, who looked like a beautiful, youthful 40-year-old from the chest up but like Frankenstein's monster below that. I'm talking about numerous heavy scars all over, misshapen areas of her torso, lots of discoloration, and fluid build-up. She looked like a lawnmower had attacked her and crudely stapled back together."

Juanmonino / Getty Images

"Come to find out, she was really into plastic surgery, and even though she had an expensive, well-recommended surgeon, things started to go wrong. She got infections, her body wasn't responding well to the surgeries, and every procedure done to fix the previous one just went worse. They pretty much turned her into a living meat puzzle."

14. (Cont'd) "Second example: A seemingly healthy middle-aged guy had a heart attack and passed away early one morning. His wife and adult kids came in that afternoon to make arrangements. A few hours later, at home, while her family was eating dinner, the wife went to lie down, had a heart attack of her own, and passed away. We ended up picking up both the husband and the wife at the same time. And no, those greedy sons-of-bitches didn't offer the family a discount on the removals."

15. "Paramedic here; this isn't involving death, but it's the weirdest thing I've seen. We had a psychiatric call, and I was in the back with the patient; my partner was driving. The patient looks at me and goes, 'Do you know the time?' I told the patient, 'I actually don't' (my phone was dead). The patient says, 'It's okay, it is 8:17.' Then says, 'Do you know how I know?' I look at her and say, 'You have a watch?' She then goes, 'No, Jesus told me.'"

"I then asked my partner what time it was, for the hell of it. Sure enough, she got the time right. There was no way on the truck for her to know the exact time (no clocks, tinted windows). Didn't say a damn word the rest of the ride. I made sure to tell the ER staff that Jesus talks to the patient about time..."

16. "Medical student here and been in the hospitals all year. We had a patient I'd been following since her admission who had liver cirrhosis due to alcohol, and it was horrible to watch. She went from cheerful and talkative to a shaky, catatonic mess within a week. When she died, her skin was neon-yellow; I've seen plenty of dead bodies in my time, but I've never seen anything like that. Her skin looked like that yellow construction paper from elementary school."

Aleksandr Zubkov / Getty Images

—flowercurtains

17. "Not super interesting, but I've dissected a lot of cadavers, and one time, this guy's brain was completely necrosed. Idk why the brain didn't preserve, but my guess was it was part of his cause of death. BTW, the brain turns to liquid when it dies (liquefactive necrosis). We scooped out handfuls of watery gray refried bean brains and had to just leave them in his tub with him until he got cremated."

"Also, one time, a lady had chronic lung problems that caused her heart to work in overdrive to compensate, essentially. Over a long period, the heart grew (just like any other muscle that is worked), and this 110-pound lady ended up with a heart the size of a cantaloupe. But organs always have weird anomalies."

18. "I went to a car accident where a man had a watch embedded in his head. He was driving one-handed when he collided, and the airbag forced the watch into his skull."

19. "I had a patient die in ICU that was in his 60s or so. He was a missionary who came back early from a South American country due to abdominal pain. His bowel had perforated due to parasitic worms. When he died, the abdomen was still wiggling. I cleaned him up, bagged him, and prayed that the worms didn't come through. I hope the morgue freezer killed those things. That was the most gross thing I have ever witnessed in many deaths I have seen."

Ryan Mcvay / Getty Images

—peprjak24

20. "I'm a medicolegal death investigator, which is basically a forensic investigator that works at a medical examiner's office and only investigates death. This week, there was a foot found at a train yard. It turns out it belonged to a homeless guy in another state riding the rails. Somehow, it got cut off; he fell off the train and lived while his little piggies kept going and ended up in my state a few days later."

21. "My husband worked in the medical field for years. Once, he was in an elevator with someone from a science donation pushing a cart. Another woman on the elevator asked what was in the cart. Without saying anything, the guy opened a drawer, which was just a drawer of torsos that were going to thoracic studies. I didn't know they cut up the bodies like that."

And lastly:

22. "Paramedic here. It was my first ever time working with someone who had a cardiac arrest; I was 19 years old at the time. We get called for a 60-something man, short of breath. We get our stair chair and attempt to get him from his bed into the chair. He collapses, has a syncopal episode, and comes to a few seconds later. We attempt to sit him up so we can lift him onto the chair, and he starts exclaiming, 'Don't sit me up; I can't sit up!' I say, 'We have to get you on this chair. We need to get you down the stairs to get you on the stretcher.' He tells us not to sit him up two more times when I ask him, 'Why can't you sit up?' he says... 'I'll show you.' AND THEN HE FUCKING DIED."

"I shit you not, his last words (at the time) were: 'I'll show you...' We ended up shocking him, getting him back, got him downstairs where he died again, shocked him, got him back. We did this four or five times before getting him into the resuscitation room in the ER. Every time we shocked him, he would be back almost talking with us, but obviously still out of it since, y'know, he just died and all. I never got to ask him how he knew or what he saw since it was a crazy, dynamic call, but I'll never forget him looking directly into my eyes, saying, 'I'll show you.' He ended up walking out of the hospital five weeks later. It was so whacky."

Buzzfeed

The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, has disclosed that the country’s average daily production was 1.61 million barrels per day as of July 23.

Komolafe revealed that at the House of Representatives Special Committee’s two-day public/investigative hearing on oil theft/losses.

“As of July 23, 2024, Nigeria’s average daily production stands at 1.61mbpd,” he disclosed.

This is coming barely two weeks after the commission announced that the average daily oil production for June was 1.25mbpd.

According to Komolafe, Nigeria had continued to dominate as Africa’s largest producer of crude oil, boasting proven reserves of 37.50 billion barrels and a production capacity of approximately 2.19mbpd.

On the statutory mandates and regulatory strategies of the NUPRC, he said the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 grants the commission several statutory mandates in the areas of calibration and certification of metering systems and equipment, publication of reports and statistics on upstream operations, regulatory oversight and issuance of quality and quantity certificates for exports, and determination of fiscal prices for crude oil and condensate.

Komolafe added that the strategies of the commission aimed to optimise production, enhance regulatory oversight, and ensure accurate measurement and accounting.

He maintained that the NUPRC had prioritised improving rig availability and reducing non-productive time through unlocking heavy crude oil reserves via industry workshops.

Those initiatives, he noted, also supported new Petroleum Prospecting License awardees to achieve their first oil, among other initiatives.

The NUPRC boss admitted that Nigeria was facing significant challenges regarding crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, especially affecting terminals at Bonny, Brass, and Forcados.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited stated in September 2022 that it lost $700m every month to oil theft.

Also, the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative added that Nigeria lost 619.7 million barrels, valued at N16.3tn, to crude oil theft from 2005 to 2021.

In 2023, the NNPC spent N136 billion on security, repairs, and maintenance of vandalised infrastructure, per Dataphyte.

“This has prompted the commission to employ end-to-end production monitoring and a mass balance methodology to accurately account for losses and differentiate them from operational losses. These interventions have significantly reduced theft, with zero incidents reported in July 2023,” Komolafe stated.

He noted that NUPRC had introduced several innovative measures to enhance transparency and accountability.

He highlighted, “Other innovations include the Advanced Cargo Declaration Regulation that ensures no crude oil is exported without proper accounting and assigns a unique identification number to each cargo, the Upstream Metering Regulation, which mandates reliable metering systems to account for all hydrocarbon production and exports, and real-time cargo tracking and digital documentation to improve visibility and efficiency in cargo operations.”

He, therefore, reaffirmed NUPRC’s commitment to continued engagement with stakeholders to optimise Nigeria’s oil production and maintain its leadership position in Africa’s energy sector.

Our correspondent reports that crude oil thieves and illegal refiners have continued to defy government efforts, impacting the nation’s crude production daily.

Punch

At least seven Nigerian soldiers were killed after a mine exploded on a highway in Borno state, the hotbed of a Boko Haram militant insurgency, two vigilante officers said on Friday.

Nigeria faces a raft of security challenges including a long-running Islamist insurgency in the northeast, separatist violence in the southeast, rampant oil theft in the Niger Delta and kidnapping for ransom by criminal gangs.

Shaibu Musa, a local vigilante officer helping to combat the insurgents, said a military vehicle was travelling along the road linking the villages of Monguno and Baga on Thursday when the vehicle detonated an improvised explosive device.

The military did not immediately respond to request for comment on the incident.

Another security official, Isa Bukar, said the explosion occurred on Thursday morning after soldiers on patrol triggered the mine, which killed seven of them.

Reuters

The Federal Government on Friday disclosed that 125 Boko Haram terrorists and financiers were convicted in the resumed mass trial held over two days in Kainji, Niger State.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Communication & Publicity, office of the AGF, Kamarudeen Ogundele, noted that the convicts were tried on charges bordering on terrorism, terrorism financing, rendering material support, and cases relating to International Criminal Court criminality.

He said the trials were held under Giwa Project Kanji Phase Five, between Tuesday and Wednesday, before five Federal High Court judges led by Binta Nyako. Others are Joyce Abdulmalik, Emeka Nwite, Obiora Egwuatu, and Mobolaji Olajuwon.

He added that all 125 of the Boko Haram members were found guilty of the charges brought against them.

The statement read in part: “the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, is superintending over the trial in conjunction with the Office of the National Security Adviser.

“The prosecution team was led by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, Mohammed Babadoko Abubakar, while the defence team was led by Abdulfatai Bakre from the Legal Aids Council” the statement disclosed.

“Others in attendance as international observers are the National Human Rights Commission, the Nigerian Bar Association, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes among others.

“The courts convicted 85 persons for terrorism financing, 22 for ICC related crimes while others were convicted for terrorism. They were sentenced to various jail terms.

“It is also noteworthy that 400 defendants who have completed their sentence have also been moved to Operation Safe Corridor in Gombe State for rehabilitation, deradicalisation and subsequent reintegration”.

Punch