Israeli strikes kill 30 in Gaza, including rescue service official and local journalist

Israeli military strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including a senior rescue service official and a journalist, local health authorities said.

The latest deaths in the Israeli campaign resulted from separate Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the south, Jabalia in the north and Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.

In Jabalia, they said local journalist Hassan Majdi Abu Warda and several family members were killed by an airstrike that hit his house earlier on Sunday.

Another airstrike in Nuseirat killed Ashraf Abu Nar, a senior official in the territory's civil emergency service, and his wife in their house, medics added.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said that Abu Warda's death raised the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 2023 to 220.

Israel's military said in a statement that chief of staff Eyal Zamir visited troops in Khan Younis on Sunday, telling them that "this is not an endless war" and that Hamas has lost most of its assets, including its command and control.

"We will deploy every tool at our disposal to bring the hostages home, dismantle Hamas and dismantle its rule," Zamir was cited as saying.

The statement did not address Sunday's strikes.

Later on Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC said in a statement that two of its staff - Ibrahim Eid and Ahmad Abu Hilal - had been killed in a strike on a house in Khan Younis on Saturday.

"Their killing points to the intolerable civilian death toll in Gaza. The ICRC reiterates its urgent call for a ceasefire and for the respect and protection of civilians, including medical, humanitarian relief, and civil defence personnel," the ICRC statement added.

In a separate statement, the Gaza media office said Israeli forces were in control of 77% of the Gaza Strip, either through ground forces or evacuation orders and bombardments that keep residents away from their homes.

The armed wing of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said in separate statements on Sunday that fighters carried out several ambushes and attacks using bombs and anti-tank rockets against Israeli forces operating in several areas across Gaza.

On Friday the Israeli military said it had conducted more strikes in Gazaovernight, hitting 75 targets including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers.

Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas militants' cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people by Israeli tallies with 251 hostages abducted into Gaza.

The conflict has killed more than 53,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the coastal strip. Aid groups say signs of severe malnutrition are widespread.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia launches war's largest air attack on Ukraine, kills at least 12 people

Russian forces launched a barrage of 367 drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities overnight, including the capital Kyiv, in the largest aerial attack of the war so far, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more, officials said.

The dead included three children in the northern region of Zhytomyr, local officials there said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the United States, which has taken a softer public line on Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin, since President Donald Trump took office, to speak out.

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"The silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages Putin," he wrote on Telegram.

"Every such terrorist Russian strike is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia."

It was the largest attack of the war in terms of weapons fired, although other strikes have killed more people.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said 12 people had been killed and 60 more wounded. Earlier death tolls given separately by regional authorities and rescuers had put the number of dead at 13.

"This was a combined, ruthless strike aimed at civilians. The enemy once again showed that its goal is fear and death," he wrote on Telegram.

The assault comes as Ukraine and Russia prepared to conduct the third and final day of a prisoner swap in which both sides will exchange a total of 1000 people each.

CEASEFIRE EFFORTS

Ukraine and its European allies have sought to push Moscow into signing a 30-day ceasefire as a first step to negotiating an end to the three-year war.

Their efforts suffered a blow earlier this week when Trump declined to place further sanctions on Moscow for not agreeing to an immediate pause in fighting, as Kyiv had wanted.

Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched 298 drones and 69 missiles in its overnight assault, although it said it was able to down 266 drones and 45 missiles.

Damage extended to a string of regional centres, including Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, as well as Mykolaiv in the south and Ternopil in the west.

In Kyiv, Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city's military administration, said 11 people were injured in drone strikes. No deaths were reported in the capital, although four were killed in the region around the city, according to officials.

This was the second large aerial attack in two days. On Friday evening, Russia launched dozens of drones and ballistic missiles at Kyiv in waves that continued through the night.

In northeastern Ukraine, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said early on Sunday that drones hit three city districts and injured three people. Blasts shattered windows in high-rise apartment blocks.

Drone strikes killed a 77-year-old man and injured five people in the southern city of Mykolaiv, the regional governor said. He published a picture of a residential apartment block with a large hole from an explosion and rubble scattered over the ground.

In the western region of Khmelnytskyi, many hundreds of kilometres away from the frontlines of fighting, four people were killed and five others wounded, according to the governor.

"Without pressure, nothing will change and Russia and its allies will only build up forces for such murders in Western countries," the Ukrainian president's chief of staff Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram.

"Moscow will fight as long as it has the ability to produce weapons."

Russia's Defence Ministry reported that its air defence units had intercepted or destroyed 95 Ukrainian drones over a four-hour period. The Mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, said 12 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted on their way to the capital.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian attack destroys Russian church dome

A Ukrainian drone strike destroyed the dome of a cathedral in Tula Region, Russia in a large-scale overnight UAV raid on the country on Saturday, the regional governor has said.

The drone struck St. Nicholas Cathedral in the village of Yepifan, setting the main spire on fire and completely burning it, Dmitry Milyaev said in a statement on Telegram Sunday morning. The blast also damaged windows of nearby homes, he added.

“The fire has been localized,” Milyaev wrote, adding that there were no casualties.

Footage circulating on social media shows the Orthodox cathedral’s dome engulfed in flames, with burning debris tumbling onto the roofs below.

The drone raid damaged civilian homes and outbuildings in other parts of Tula Region, Milyaev said.

Russian air defenses shot down 16 UAVs over the region during the assault, according to the country’s military. In total, 110 drones were intercepted across Russian airspace overnight, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Ukraine has escalated its drone strikes on civilian targets in Russia in recent days. Nearly 900 Ukrainian drones have been intercepted over Russian regions since Tuesday, according to data from the Russian Defense Ministry.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has described the surge in UAV “terrorist attacks” on non-military targets as a deliberate attempt by Ukraine’s “party of war” to sabotage the recently renewed direct peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev. Ukraine’s Western backers, “led by the UK, France, Germany, and the EU leadership,” are facilitating the attacks by supporting “Ukrainian Nazis,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

Direct peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia resumed in Türkiye earlier this month, three years after Kiev unilaterally withdrew from the previous round of talks in Istanbul in 2022. As a result, both sides agreed to draft memorandums outlining their proposals for a peace settlement, and agreed on a landmark 1,000 for 1,000 prisoner exchange, which concluded on Sunday.

Reuters/RT

Marte, the headquarters of the eponymous Local Government Area (LGA) on the western floodplains of the Lake Chad in Borno State, North-East Nigeria, has been a site of lingering contest between Nigerian troops on the one hand and Islamist insurgents of Boko Haram on the other for over one decade. At 3,154 km2 , Marte LGA is just a little under the size of all of Lagos State.

For a while, between 2014 and 2015, Boko Haram reportedly bivouacked in Marte on its way to its more permanent operational headquarters in the Sambisa Forest. For much of 2015, control of the town exchanged hands in succession between the Nigerian Army and Boko Haram. Around May 2015, Boko Haram reportedly took back the city from the Nigerian troops who had held it for three months from February of the same year.

For the most part, Nigeria has controlled Marte thereafter with the exception of a brief duration in 2021, when the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) temporarily visited havoc upon a military base in Marte.

All that appears to have changed recently. Around Monday, 12 May, Islamist insurgents reportedly attacked the Forward Operating Base of the 153rd Task Force Battalion in Marte, resulting in considerable carnage. Sources familiar with the early morning attack reported that “over 10 soldiers were killed and hundreds of personnel deserted. The (terrorists) burnt down armored tanks and made away with arms and ammunition.” The beleaguered governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, has been left appealing to his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to ensure that Marte does not fall back into the hands of Boko Haram and its allies.

In the same week that they attacked Marte, the insurgents also attacked the 3rd Battalion base in Rann, Kala Balge district, killing at least five soldiers and leaving at least four others reportedly injured. The intensity and scope of the attacks by Boko Haram in Borno State in the past six months led the state governor to raise an alarm last April, suggesting that the country was “losing ground” in the fight against Islamist terror.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, a retired assistant inspector-general of the Nigeria Police Force, who has run for and is credibly rumoured to retain ambitions for another tilt at the presidency, ostensibly failed to get the governor’s memorandum. Addressing the National Summit, so-called, of the APC, the NSA claimed to have killed 13,543 Boko Haram elements in the first two years of the administration and recovered over 11,000 arms from them. He notably did not mention the haul of arms the insurgents have been busy harvesting from Nigerian military formations. Over the same period, he claimed, “124,408 Boko Haram fighters and their families” also surrendered.

It is unfortunate that the ruling party has chosen to make national security a party political matter. It is even more tragic that the wannabe political opposition has allowed it to get away with it. The result is a vacuum of leadership in the security sector filled and fed with an atrocious body count of Nigerian casualties, whose death and suffering barely registers on the priorities of the people supposed to protect the country, its people and communities.

The central problem is a failure of strategy. To understand this, it is necessary to explain that the presidency is many jobs in one. A president is – among other things – party leader, chief marketer of the country, head of government, and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces. Every one of these roles of the president can be delegated, except the last. As Commander-In-Chief, the president sets security strategy.

For over 50 years, Nigeria’s national security strategy docked onto the neighbourhood of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). There was good reason for that. The country’s northern boundaries feed into the southern rim of the Sahel. With Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to its north as founding members of ECOWAS, the country could count solidly on friendly neighbours as buffers against the historical brutalities of Sahelian violence.

This understanding was at the heart of the transformation of the ECOWAS from an economic integration arrangement envisioned at its foundation in 1975 into a collective security arrangement in 1981. For much of the period since then, this arrangement held together.

However, following the military coup in Niger Republic in July 2023, the country lost its marbles and decided to bite its nose in order to spite its sovereign face. On behalf of ECOWAS, President Bola Tinubu committed the blunder of threatening to invade another member of the ECOWAS collective security arrangement. He alone knows what he was thinking.

The hubris of Tinubu’s handling of the coup crisis in Niger is inexplicable. With a landmass of over 1.267 million km2, Niger Republic constituted about 22 per cent of the 5.8 million km2  of the landmass of ECOWAS. The idea of an invasion of the country in order to militarily restore the ousted administration of President Mohamed Bazoum was always worse than bluster; it was plainly unviable.

In invoking war against Niger on behalf of ECOWAS, Tinubu managed in one stroke to violate the prohibition against the use of force in international law; create the impression that Nigeria’s Sahelian neighbours did not matter; and suggest that France was a more important factor to Nigeria’s neighbourhood strategy than its immediate neighbours.

That much should have been evident to the people who thought up the idea. But the damage was beyond a resort to fantastic bluster where hard-nosed rationality was needed. The costs have been prohibitive and rising; and the result has been devastating.

In September 2023, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger created their own collective security arrangement and orbited off into the realm of Russia’s mercenary diplomacy. Since then, the consequences for Nigeria have been stark. In the period since September 2023 and despite the fantasies of Ribadu, Nigeria’s internal security situation has disintegrated into mayhem.

In the North-West states of Sokoto and Kebbi, a new terror group, Lakurawa, has taken root. South of Kebbi, in Kwara State, another new terror group, Mahmuda, runs murderously rampant. To the east of Kwara in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, vast swathes of territory and communities in Benue, Nasarawa, and Plateau states are being emptied in intense attacks credited to so-called “foreign herdsmen.”

The politicians are reluctant to acknowledge what is obvious and the soldiers have been trained not to say that their Commander-In-Chief has left them in an insecurity pickle. But that is exactly what Tinubu has done with the way he has brought about the transformation of ECOWAS from an integrated security arrangement for the region into a rump of an association of Atlantic West African States (AAWAS).

The evidence is everywhere in the rising casualty count which Ribadu would not acknowledge. According to monitoring coalition, Nigeria Mourns, 4,416 people were killed in atrocities in Nigeria in 2023. In 2024, Tinubu’s first full year in office, the number rose by 21.2 per cent to 5,353, including 308 security personnel. Some 88.5 per cent of these killings occurred in Northern Nigeria. Another 5,171 were abducted.

Behind these numbers are people, families, communities, traumas that both Ribadu and the ruling APC will not allow Nigerians to see, hear, acknowledge or mourn. They are the experiences of loss and indignity that the dissolute wannabes in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) cannot bring themselves to ask the APC to account for or acknowledge.

On 28 May, the civic Coalition Nigeria Mourns invites all Nigerians wherever they may be to spare a thought for all these victims and their loved ones in a National Day of Mourning (NDoM) “to rage, resist, and demand action from the government” in memory of all who have been killed or violated. A more responsible government would not have waited for a group of un-armed, un-elected citizens to remind them.

** 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..

Julian Hayes II

Life offers a series of uncomfortable truths, often rooted not in surface-level perception but in our deeper human wiring. One of those truths is that appearance still matters. Whether we're talking about economic, social, or political advantage, there's long been an undercurrent of belief in what's known as "pretty privilege" or beauty bias. In 2025, discussing appearance and leadership in the same breath may seem outdated or offensive.

We live in a time of heightened sensitivity, swift backlash, and disagreement often met with protest or cancellation. But here’s the truth: how you show up still matters, and the data backs it up. A workplace survey conducted by StandOut CV in 2025 revealed a compelling trend: individuals who rated themselves as extremely attractive earned, on average, $19,945 more than those who rated themselves as unattractive. Even more telling, 71% of CEOs rated themselves a 9 or 10 out of 10, more than double the general population.

Is this just about good-looking people getting a free pass? Or is appearance a proxy for something deeper: discipline, presence, intentionality, and commitment to excellence?

The Case For Appearance As A Leadership Signal

Let’s set aside the small minority of individuals born with standout genetics. For everyone else, appearance, especially in leadership, is less about vanity and more about values. Your physical presence can be visible proof of traits like discipline, attention to detail, a willingness to delay gratification, and high personal standards. These qualities, when cultivated consistently, naturally elevate your presence and aura.

Studies have consistently shown links between physical appearance and professional outcomes. For instance, research in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that someone six feet tall earns nearly $166,000 more over a 30-year career than someone 5'5", even when controlling for gender, age, and weight. Each additional inch of height was associated with $789 more per year.

But "pretty privilege" isn't always about being born with ideal features. A study published in Personnel Psychology had managers evaluate 300 mock elevator pitches. The more attractive individuals were deemed more hirable, but not simply because of their looks. What made the difference was nonverbal presence. Interestingly, even those rated lower on attractiveness gained similar influence by improving their posture, proving that executive presence isn't just for those rated high in innate attractiveness.

In the StandOut CV study, 83.4% of respondents said people who invest in their appearance are perceived as more competent or professional. In today's world, where many standards have relaxed, appearance has become shorthand for consistency and care. Visual signals cut through noise and suggest reliability in a world of increasingly scarce attention.

Build Your Own Bias In Leadership

A leader’s best investment is in themselves—physically, mentally, and professionally. Your body, mind, and presence aren’t secondary assets in your leadership portfolio; they're primary assets. And yet, this comes with pressure. According to the StandOut CV report:

• 78.9% of workers feel pressure to spend on grooming to meet their professional norms.
• The most "attractive" professionals spent over $100/month on grooming and $500+ monthly on clothing and accessories.
• 64.2% feel pressure to alter their natural features.

But creating your own "beauty bias" isn’t about following transient trends or trying to be someone else. It’s about being intentional. It's about aligning your outer presentation with your inner standards so that what people see matches who you are. People trust those who show up with care because it suggests they'll likely bring the same care to their work. If you're looking to elevate your leadership and overall presence, start creating your own bias with the habits below:

• Dress and present yourself in a way that reflects your goals and values.
• Sharpen your nonverbal skills: posture, eye contact, body language, and listening.
• Watch how you talk to and about yourself. Self-deprecation may feel as if you’re being humble, but it can undermine your self-authority.
• Attend to your physical and mental world consistently.

Strategic Appearance, Not Surface Vanity For Better Leadership

Workplace bias is real, especially when people are penalized for their race, hair texture, or failure to fit narrow norms. At the same time, 55.7% of respondents said they’ve downplayed their looks just to be taken seriously. Both extremes are problems. The key is intentionality, not conformity, and certainly not performative perfection. Appearance isn't everything, but it is something. It sends a message before you say a word.

Self-care, fitness, and presentation aren’t vanity metrics. These tools are strategic levers for elevating your leadership. In a competitive world where margins are razor thin, intangibles—like presence—can create meaningful separation. It may be an uncomfortable truth for some, but it remains true: appearance matters in leadership. Far from being superficial, it reflects how you think, live, and lead.

Forbes

Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has declared his intention to run for Nigeria’s presidency again in 2027 under the same party.

Obi made the announcement while engaging with supporters in a viral video on Saturday. When asked about his political platform for the next election, he affirmed, “I will still continue to run in the Labour Party. I’m a member of the Labour Party.”

Obi Blames Government for Party Crises

Addressing concerns about his perceived detachment from the Labour Party’s internal conflicts, Obi accused the Nigerian government of deliberately fueling instability in opposition parties.

“What is happening in the Labour Party and the PDP is caused by the government—quote me anywhere,” he said.

Recalling past political interventions, Obi cited how former President Umaru Yar’Adua once mediated party disputes by instructing then-INEC Chairman Maurice Iwu to ensure fairness.

“Today, all parties have problems—these are deliberate crises created by the system,” Obi stated. “If given the opportunity, I will clean this up. A strong democracy needs a functional opposition.”

Calls for Electoral Accountability & Youth Participation

Obi urged Nigerians to take ownership of their votes, emphasizing that “even if party agents are paid, the power to protect your vote rests with the people.”

He also encouraged youths not to lose hope, acknowledging that “positive change will always face resistance from those benefiting from the old system.”

Proposes Age Limit for Politicians

Reflecting on his political future, Obi, who will be 65 by 2027, suggested a retirement age for politicians, stating he does not intend to keep contesting elections “into his 70s.”

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has disclosed that the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) will undergo a scheduled maintenance shutdown starting May 24, 2025.

In a statement released on Saturday, Olufemi Soneye, NNPC Ltd’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, confirmed that the shutdown is necessary for maintenance and a sustainability assessment of the facility.

“NNPC Ltd wishes to inform the public that the Port Harcourt Refinery will commence a planned maintenance shutdown on May 24, 2025,” the statement read. “We are collaborating with key stakeholders, including the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), to ensure the process is conducted efficiently and transparently.”

Soneye reiterated NNPC Ltd’s dedication to providing sustainable energy solutions for Nigeria and assured that updates on the refinery’s status would be shared through official communication channels.

Background on the Port Harcourt Refinery

The Port Harcourt Refinery complex consists of two units: an older plant with a 60,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity and a newer plant with 150,000 bpd, totaling 210,000 bpd.

The refinery has faced operational challenges for over two decades. It was shut down in March 2019 for repairs, with Italy’s Maire Tecnimont handling the rehabilitation and Eni serving as technical adviser.

In 2021, NNPC Ltd announced the commencement of repairs after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved $1.5 billion for the project. The government later declared the mechanical completion and flare start-up of the refinery on December 21, 2023.

Netanyahu accuses France, Britain and Canada of 'emboldening' Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the leaders of France, Britain and Canada of wanting to help the Palestinian militant group Hamas after they threatened to take "concrete action" if Israel did not stop its latest offensive in Gaza.

The criticism, echoing similar remarks from Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Thursday, was part of a fightback by the Israeli government against the increasingly heavy international pressure on it over the war in Gaza.

"You're on the wrong side of humanity and you're on the wrong side of history," Netanyahu said.

The Israeli leader, facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Gaza, has regularly criticized European countries as well as global institutions from the United Nations to the International Court of Justice over what he says is their bias against Israel.

But as the flow of images of destruction and hunger in Gaza has continued, fuelling protests in countries around the world, Israel has struggled to turn international opinion, which has increasingly shifted against it.

"It's hard to convince at least some people, definitely on the far left in the U.S. and in some countries in Europe, that what Israel is doing is a war of defence," said former Israeli diplomat Yaki Dayan.

"But this is how it is perceived in Israel and bridging this gap is sometimes an impossible mission," he said.

Israeli officials have been particularly concerned about growing calls for other countries in Europe to follow the example of Spain and Ireland in recognizing a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution to resolve decades of conflict in the region.

Netanyahu argues that a Palestinian state would threaten Israel and he has framed the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington on Tuesday by a man who allegedly shouted "Free Palestine" as a clear example of that threat.

He said "exactly the same chant" was heard during the attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct 7, 2023.

"They don't want a Palestinian state. They want to destroy the Jewish state," he said in a statement on the social media platform X.

"I could never understand how this simple truth evades the leaders of France, Britain, Canada and others," he said, adding that any moves by Western countries to recognize a Palestinian state would "reward these murderers with the ultimate prize".

Instead of advancing peace, the three leaders were "emboldening Hamas to continue fighting forever", he said.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian drones attack Kyiv, apartment building hit, seven injured

Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Sunday and injured at least seven people as fragments set an apartment building on fire and damaged homes, officials said.

Timur Tkachenko, head of the city's military administration, said four people requested medical aid after a five-storey apartment building was struck in the Holosiivskyi district just outside the city centre.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the building's exterior was damaged, and three people were injured in other city districts.

Tkachenko had earlier warned that more drones and possibly missile strikes were likely. Reuters witnesses heard anti-aircraft units in operation around the city.

In northeastern Ukraine, Mayor Ihor Terekhov of Kharkiv, the second-biggest city, said drones hit three city districts and damaged a business. Terekhov said many drones remained in the air over the city.

Unofficial Telegram channels reported a fire after a strike on the Black Sea port of Odesa.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Attacks by over 100 Ukrainian drones repelled overnight – MOD

Russian air defenses have eliminated 104 Ukrainian drones in the country’s airspace overnight, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.

Belgorod Region, where 74 drones were shot down, was most affected, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday morning.

Bryansk Region saw 24 interceptions, and UAVs were also destroyed in Kursk, Lipetsk, Voronezh and Tula regions, according to the statement.

The ministry did not report any incursions in Moscow Region; the capital has been the main target of Kiev’s drone attacks in recent days.

Ukraine has intensified its UAV raids this week, with 776 UAVs being shot down in Russian airspace between Tuesday and Friday, according to the Defense Ministry.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday that the incursions had led to one person being killed and injured 20, including four children.

According to the ministry, the continued “terror attacks against civilians” by Kiev’s forces are “an attempt to thwart direct Russia-Ukraine talks facilitated by the US administration [of President Donald Trump], which are designed to settle the conflict definitively.”

The Russian military will respond to the drone raids, but “unlike the Ukrainian side, our targets will be strictly limited to military facilities and defense industry plants,” the Foreign Ministry stressed.

Reuters/RT

In May 2023, immediately after assuming office, President Bola Tinubu boldly implemented two of the most aggressive policy reforms demanded by the Bretton Woods institutions: the removal of the fuel subsidy and the liberalisation of the exchange rate.

These moves, applauded by both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, were sold to Nigerians as necessary steps toward economic stability and long-term growth. Yet, barely two years later, the same institutions are projecting a grim future for the very people these reforms were meant to uplift.

According to the World Bank’s “Africa’s Pulse” report of 23 April — released on the sidelines of the recently concluded Spring Meetings in Washington — poverty in Nigeria is expected to worsen significantly over the next five years.

The report predicts a 3.6 percentage point increase in poverty through 2027 in countries like Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo — both resource-rich yet fragile economies. This projection is not only disheartening but also contradictory.

If the much-heralded reforms were supposed to lead to progress, why is poverty deepening? To understand this paradox, we must examine both Nigeria’s recent policy trajectory and the role of its external advisors.

Upon assuming office, President Tinubu swiftly ended Nigeria’s decades-old fuel subsidy regime — an action that sparked immediate inflationary pressure. The price of petrol tripled, dragging up food and transportation costs.

For millions of Nigerians already on the brink, the impact was devastating. Within months, protests erupted across the country. Hunger, job losses, and failing businesses became widespread.

Meanwhile, the naira’s value plummeted following the decision to float the currency, sending the cost of imported goods soaring. Amidst this climate of economic pain, the IMF and World Bank remained curiously enthusiastic.

Their endorsements of Nigeria’s reforms gave the government a dangerous sense of validation, despite the massive outcry over the crippling impact of these draconian policies.

Tinubu, emboldened by praise from abroad, even boasted that he deserved a Guinness World Record for his sweeping changes. But for ordinary Nigerians, there was no cause for celebration — only survival.

The contradiction lies in the fact that while Nigeria is implementing the textbook prescriptions of its international creditors, it is also descending into deeper socioeconomic chaos.

And this is not the first time. The Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the late 1980s, another IMF-backed initiative, similarly resulted in devaluation, subsidy removal, and industrial collapse.

Textile factories shuttered, inflation soared, and poverty spread like wildfire. History, it seems, is repeating itself. The core issue is not that reforms are inherently bad — economic reform is vital for any country’s progress.

However, when reforms disproportionately burden the poor, enrich the elite, and come without accountability or transparency, they become destructive, rather than developmental.

In the case of Nigeria, there is little to show for the billions borrowed under the banner of reform. Infrastructure is crumbling, healthcare and education are underfunded, and corruption continues unchecked.

Curiously, while the World Bank applauds fuel subsidy removal, it admits that Nigeria may still be paying subsidies — suggesting a lack of clarity or even transparency. Even more puzzling is the Bank’s silence on how much has truly been saved and how those savings are being utilised.

Instead of asking hard questions about government spending — on luxury jets, inflated budgets, and political patronage — the Bank urges Nigeria to “stay the course” for another 10 to 15 years.

For a nation in which over half of its 233 million people live in poverty, that is a dangerously tone-deaf prescription. One must then ask: what do the IMF and World Bank really want from Nigeria? Is it meaningful development or simply compliance? Their history suggests that debt servicing, policy alignment, and market liberalisation matter more to them than human impact. Poverty, after all, does not show up in quarterly reports. But it is felt every day in Nigerian homes where families now choose between a balanced diet and fuel.

Nigeria deserves reforms — but not the kind that strangle its people in the name of fiscal discipline. True reform must come with compassion, oversight, and a relentless focus on improving the lives of citizens — not just balancing the books for the benefit of foreign lenders.

Until then, the question of the Bretton Woods institutions’ true intentions in Nigeria remains unanswered — and increasingly, deeply troubling.

** Umar Farouk Bala writes from Abuja. He can be reached through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God ~ 2 Chronicles 27:6.

Introduction:

When you look closely into the life of any normal human being, one of the amazing things you will quickly notice is that unquenchable desire or dream for a better life. Happily, God Himself is in it! He designed us originally to dominate, and not to be dominated, curtailed or halted by the elemental forces here on earth (Genesis 1:26-28)!

However, we have to get really ready to fully partake of the divine promises of new things in the realm of glory (Isaiah 54:1-5). We must work on ourselves and be adequately prepared for the new things which the El-Shaddai God wishes to reveal in our lives.

Good preparation is a required platform to set the stage for the next levels of God’s glory in our lives (2 Chronicles 27:6). Therefore, we need to regularly fact-check our spiritual foundation by the yardsticks of God’s Word. Certainly, a sound foundation is very crucial to any new Christian experience we hope to see and enjoy.

No matter how beautiful, fanciful, attractive or splendid a structure appears to be, if the foundation is not right, the structure is doomed to collapse. The stability and the durability of any building are largely dependent on the depth and strength of its foundation. Hence, even God often prepares people for their next levels of assignment before He finally entrusts them with it!

In this regard, to be adequately prepared for the new things, new songs and higher levels of glory, you must clearly define the tracks of your vision for new things. You must also make broad rooms for training and skill development, and be prayerful, keeping in mind that it is either you are praying or fainting (2 King 6:1-7; Luke 18:1).

In addition, it is essential to regularly seek God’s ideals in all your ways. In 2 Chronicles 26:1-11, we read of a very young successful King Uzziah, whose main trade secret was his close affinity for the things of God: “And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper” (v5).

The pursuit of God’s ideals grants insight that will root any man in the resources that are quite essential for the next level. And, this also engenders broad-based faith, which is sometimes manifested in a kind of strange boldness to tackle oppositions on the path of life’s assignments.

The very next phase of God’s doing in your life will require you to dare where others are dismayed. The future belongs to covenant risk-takers, like David who dared the critical odds of life to cruise through to greatness. He killed a lion and a bear; afterwards, he went for Goliath to make room for his enthronement.

At any rate, all those who will enjoy new things from the Lord must be ready to engage change, which is paramount to newness. Where change is resisted, new things are denied their emergence. In short, those who cannot allow change may never see new things or experience new levels of glory. New things are not traditional, but transitional!

Meanwhile, the focus of the works of the Spirit in the lives of believers is to create the right changes (1 Samuel 10:6). Hence Job said he would do anything in favour of change (Job 14:14).

Choosing and Working On Your Environment

In relation to the foregoing discourse on our necessary preparation for the holy streams, God’s people who desire to relish their moments of new things must carefully choose and work on their environments, including the associations they keep.

It is a basic truth of life that somebody somewhere has what you are looking for, no matter what they may be. And, when you cultivate  opportunities for right associations and utilise the same, your struggles to attract new things — new levels of glory, new social status in life and new dimensions of spiritual relevance — may happily cease.

There is great strength in right relationships, and your choicest asset in life is access to people who are both goodly and resourceful. When you have access to an outstanding man in any field of life’s endeavours, you can gain access to the working principles that stand him out, and can therefore become equipped to replicate his success. Choose your associates and friends wisely; they can make or mar your destiny!

Most importantly, when you consciously build your access to God through a well groomed affinity to the Holy Spirit, you are inescapably set for a supernatural stream of new things upon the earth (Isaiah 40:28–31; Psalm 35:13).

The realm of the spirit is the realm of great consequences. Nothing happens here unless it has happened there to start with. And, the earlier you know how to access that realm, the shorter your battle against stagnation becomes.

Particularly, spiritual sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is a most advantageous benefit we can derive from a genuine affinity with the Lord. When you are privileged to “know” what God is doing at a particular moment and you join Him to accomplish same, and you “know” what the devil is doing at a particular time and you confront him to stop his evil works, you naturally become a showpiece of wonder to your generation.

Those who are adequately sensitive in the realm of the spirit are sure carriers of the indomitable power that guarantees the next level, and they are forces that cannot be ignored. For sure, great power is needed for the demands of the promised new things.  

The first time the mantle fell upon Elisha, it was an indication of a calling (1 Kings 19:19). But then much power was needed to fulfil that calling, hence the experience in 2 Kings 2:13, where Elisha got the power through faithful continuance in the steps of his master Elijah. And, this is very consistent with what our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, also taught His disciples (John 12:24-26, 32).

Valuable things are always rare and very costly. For this reason, obtaining Holy Ghost power for new things calls for a considerable spiritual investment. You must be totally yielded (Acts 1:8; Luke 4:1,14). You must lead a purposeful life that fulfils scripture (Matthew 3:15). And, you must be a living sacrifice, living ready to die to self and sin, daily (Romans 12:1-2).

In conclusion, beloved friends, always remember that the Voice of the Lord is the champions’ surest trade secret. When David traded with it, his streams of new things as well as his records of victory and promotion became unbroken (1 Samuel 30: 8). As you  get yourself set for the promised new things by giving heed to these words and by trading with the same secret, you will be very glad you did sooner than later, in Jesus Name. Amen. Happy Sunday!

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Archbishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

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