A fundamental spiritual principle of God’s kingdom says God is the centre and circumference of everything. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Beginning and the End. (Revelation 1:8). “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. (Romans 11:36).

This means if something is of men, it cannot be of God. And if it is of God, it cannot be of men. Accordingly, Jesus asks the Pharisees: “The baptism of John — where was it from? From heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25).

Jesus reveals that the things of men are not only not of God, but that they are of Satan. Therefore, He rebuked Peter: “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:23).

Since the things of men cannot be of God, it follows that the pleasures of men cannot be the pleasures of God. Indeed, Jesus drew a sharp distinction between the two by pointing out that: “What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15).

Good Pleasure

There are two types of pleasure according to the scriptures. There is pleasure that is of God, and there is pleasure that is of man.

Good pleasure is the pleasure of God. Bad pleasure is the pleasure of men. Good pleasure is what is pleasing and acceptable to God. For example, Jesus says: “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32).

Bad pleasure refers to what is pleasing to men and the flesh. This is commonly referred to simply as pleasure. Once it is the pleasure of men, it is bad and unacceptable to God.

It is like success. There is “good success” and “bad success.” The success that God approves is “good success.” God says to Joshua:

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8).

Bad success is the success men approve of. It is simply referred to as success. It gives great pleasure to men but not to God.

For example, when a man makes enough money to buy a Lamborghini, it gives him much pleasure. He might even thank and praise God for the exclusive car. What he does not know is that God hates Lamborghinis. It is an abomination to him because it is highly esteemed by men. (Luke 16:15). 

The things that give men pleasure are often ungodly. They are often bad. They are often sinful, and they tend to lead to sin.

However, the good pleasure of God redeems the soul. It gives: “All things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Jesus.” (2 Peter 1:3). It makes us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15). It leads to eternal life.

Bad pleasure, on the other hand, poisons the soul. It gratifies the flesh and produces sinful lusts. It leads to sin, death, and hell.

Jesus provides good pleasure, while the devil promotes bad pleasure. Jesus says: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10).

The Suffering Quotient

There is also good suffering and bad suffering. When we suffer for Christ’s sake, it is good. Peter says: “If you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed.” (1 Peter 3:14).

Bad suffering is when we suffer for malfeasances and crimes. “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters.” (1 Peter 4:15). 

The disciples of Christ rejoiced when they were beaten for preaching the gospel.

“When they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” (Acts 5:40-41).

The abundant life that Jesus gives includes suffering in this life. Good pleasure often includes suffering in this life and consolation in the life to come. The Bible says of Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2):

“Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8).

Isaiah prophesies likewise in his messianic psalm:

“The Lord God has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away. I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting. “For the Lord God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.” (Isaiah 50:5-7).

Recognising the vanity of the pleasure of men, Moses opted instead for the suffering that meets the good pleasure of God:

“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” (Hebrews 11:24-26). 

Bad pleasure, on the other hand, avoids suffering in this life. Bad pleasure chooses enjoyment in this life, and ends up with suffering in the life to come.

Avoidance of Suffering

Those who opt for the bad pleasures of this life and try to avoid suffering cannot enter the kingdom of God. This is because God has decreed, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22).

Those devoted to bad pleasures who try to avoid tribulation easily fall into sin. Thus Elihu cautions: “Take heed, do not turn to iniquity, for you have chosen this rather than affliction.” (Job 36:21). 

This was Peter’s predicament. He was a lover of pleasure, determined to avoid affliction. Peter disagreed when Jesus told His disciples He was appointed for the cross.

“Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!’ But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.’” (Matthew 16:22-23).

From this, the devil knew he had Peter. He was ready to sift him like wheat. (Luke 22:31). Peter had before him two choices: sin or suffering. He chose sin. So, he denied the Lord Jesus three times to avoid affliction. He cursed and swore that he did not know Jesus. He sinned because he loved his life, loved pleasure, and was afraid of persecution.

Jesus had to offer Peter, on his resurrection, the very cross he had disdained. He said to Peter:

 “I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.” Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.’” (John 21:18-19).

To follow Jesus, Peter had to accept the predicament that he was appointed to suffer for the gospel. The message is clear. There can be no salvation without the cross. Paul cautions about this:

“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame — who set their mind on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:18-19).

Therefore, the good pleasure of God ends in eternal life. But the bad pleasure of men ends in eternal death. Good pleasure makes a man hate his life in this world.  Jesus says: “He who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25).

But bad pleasure, on the other hand, makes a man love his life in this world. Jesus says: “He who loves his life will lose it.” (John 12:25).

Valley of Decision

Moses says to the church in the wilderness:

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).

Nevertheless, virtually all of them chose death.

But why? Why did they choose death? Why did they reject life?

They chose death because they were devoted to pleasure. They chose death because they did not want to suffer. But the life that God offers involves suffering. God’s good pleasure always involves suffering. God kills before He makes alive. He wounds and then heals.” (Deuteronomy 32:39).

If you reject the killing, you will not be made alive. If you love pleasure, you will not be made alive.

The Israelites in the wilderness were lovers of pleasure.

“They soon forgot (God’s) works; they did not wait for His counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.” (Psalm 106:13-15).

Jesus killed them all because they were lovers of pleasure. Therefore Paul warns that perilous times will come because men will be lovers of pleasure. (2 Timothy 3:1-4).

“I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptised as followers of Moses. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.” (1 Corinthians 10:1-5).

God was not pleased with them because they were lovers of pleasure. So, Jesus killed virtually all of them over 40 years in the desert.

“These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, ‘The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.’ And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day. Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.” (1 Corinthians 10:6-11).

What is the warning?

Beware of the pleasures of this world and this life. The man devoted to bad pleasure walks in the flesh and fulfils the sinful lusts of the flesh. But the man devoted to good pleasure walks in spirit and does not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16). 

“Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:24). CONTINUED.

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Alcohol associated cancer deaths have doubled in the United States over the past three decades, disproportionately impacting men and people 55 and older, according to a new, yet to be published, study being presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual conference this week.

The analysis of national death rates attributable to alcohol use between 1990 to 2021 found a significant increase from 11,896 to 23,207 deaths.

"We already know other risk factors, such as tobacco, for cancer," Dr. Chinmay Jani, the study's lead author and a clinical fellow in hematology and oncology at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, told ABC News. "However, it is very important to know that alcohol is also a risk factor and can be a carcinogen in many different cancers."

As the study pointed out, any amount of alcohol has the potential to harm health. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you are drinking every day, Jani explained.

The study relied on self-reported drinking habits, which can have some inaccuracies, but researchers used statistical methods to help correct for that.

In January, the U.S. surgeon general issued an advisory linking alcohol use to seven cancers, including breast and colorectal. The advisory recommended adding cancer risk warning labels to alcoholic beverages.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified alcohol as a Group-1 carcinogen, with evidence linking its use to cancers of the liver, breast, colorectal, esophagus, larynx, mouth and throat. Scientists are still working to understand how alcohol causes cancer at the biological level.

Deaths attributable to alcohol use rose by 70.2% in men and 15.2% in women, the study found. Men may be at higher risk because they start drinking at an earlier age and are more likely to engage in risky alcohol behaviors. Biological differences may also make them more vulnerable, Jani said.

The study uncovered some statewide differences, with the highest alcohol associated death rates reported in Washington, D.C., and the lowest in Utah, likely reflecting regional alcohol consumption patterns.

Liver cancer emerged as the most serious risk related to alcohol use, especially in those 55 and older. Even low to moderate levels of alcohol consumption can increase liver cancer risk in those with other conditions like obesity, diabetes or high cholesterol.

"When people are drinking at a younger age, it starts accumulating in your body and then you have manifestations in elderly age, these things we are not aware of when we are young and drinking alcohol, usually more frequently," Jani explained.

Dr. Gilberto Lopes, the chief of medical oncology at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and one of the study’s authors, stressed the critical need for targeted prevention efforts and public health policies to raise awareness about the serious health risks posed by alcohol.

"We hope that our study will help educate the public on the impact of alcohol on individual cancer risk," he said.

ABC News

The Supreme Court has dismissed a suit filed by the 36 state governments and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) challenging the Federal Government’s handling of over N1.8 trillion in recovered looted assets. In a unanimous decision delivered on Friday by Mohammed Idris, based on a lead judgment prepared by Chidiebere Uwa, the apex court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter, which properly belongs before the Federal High Court.

The suit, marked SC/CV/395/2021, was filed in 2021 and alleged that between 2015 and 2021, the Federal Government recovered looted assets totaling N1,836,906,543,658.73 in cash, alongside 167 properties, 450 cars, 300 trucks and cargoes, and 20 million barrels of crude oil valued at over N450 billion. The state governments claimed that these recoveries were not remitted to the Federation Account as required by the Constitution, but were instead diverted into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) and other accounts not recognized by law.

According to the plaintiffs, the CRF is intended only for the Federal Government’s share of the Federation Account and its exclusive earnings, including income from licenses, rents, administrative fees, and other federal revenue sources. They argued that the creation and use of accounts such as the Asset Recovery Account and Interim Forfeiture Recovery Account by the Federal Government and its agencies—including the EFCC, ICPC, Nigerian Police Force, and the Office of the Attorney-General—violated constitutional provisions.

Relying on sections 80, 162(1), and 162(10) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and Section 2 of the Finance (Control and Management) Act of 1958, the governors insisted that all proceeds from recovered assets constitute revenue that must be paid into the Federation Account for distribution among all tiers of government.

The plaintiffs had sought a court declaration affirming this position, an order mandating the remittance of the N1.8 trillion in cash and N450 billion in non-cash assets to the Federation Account, and a directive requiring the Federal Government to account for all unremitted recovered assets. They also requested that the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) be ordered to design modalities for distributing such recovered assets equitably among federal, state, and local governments.

However, the Supreme Court ruled that it was not the appropriate forum for such a dispute, and struck out the case accordingly.

Nigeria's stock market is displaying contrasting trends, with weekly trading showing mixed performance while foreign investor participation has declined dramatically in recent months.

Weekly Market Performance Reveals Split Trends

The Nigerian Exchange concluded its latest trading week with conflicting signals. Market capitalization rose by 0.19 percent, gaining N130 billion to close at N68.751 trillion, up from the previous day's N68.621 trillion. This increase was primarily attributed to United Bank for Africa's additional shares listing on the NGX.

However, the All-Share Index painted a different picture, dropping 0.14 percent or 154.40 points to close at 109,028.62, down from 109,183.02. This marked the third consecutive daily loss for the index during the week.

Trading activity showed positive market breadth with 30 advancing stocks outpacing 22 declining ones. Red Star Express led the gainers, soaring 10 percent to close at N6.71, followed by University Press which climbed 9.82 percent to N4.36 per share. Other notable performers included ABC Transport (up 9.69 percent to N2.49) and McNicholas (rising 9.05 percent to N2.29).

On the downside, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills suffered the steepest decline, falling 9.97 percent to N118.70, while Transcorp Hotel dropped 9.95 percent to N138.50 per share.

The week's trading volume totaled 637.54 million shares worth N18.122 billion across 15,927 transactions, representing a decrease from the previous period's 1.65 billion shares valued at N19.098 billion in 26,176 transactions. Tantalizer dominated trading activity with 145.08 million shares worth N384.45 million.

Aruna Kebira, managing director of Globalview Capital Ltd., explained that the divergence between market capitalization and the All-Share Index resulted from UBA's rights issue of 6.8 billion units, which increased the bank's outstanding shares from 34.199 billion to 41.039 billion. He noted that investors are beginning to take profits, particularly on dividend-paying stocks.

Foreign Investment Sees Dramatic Decline

A more concerning trend has emerged in foreign investor participation, which plummeted by 90.9 percent in April 2025. Foreign transactions totaled just N63.07 billion (approximately $39.50 million), a sharp drop from March's N699.89 billion (about $455.41 million).

This dramatic decline contrasts with domestic investor activity, which showed resilience with a modest 0.8 percent increase to N418.97 billion in April, up from N415.62 billion in March. Domestic investors now account for 74 percent more transaction value than their foreign counterparts.

The Nigerian Exchange attributed the foreign investment decline to the absence of large block trades that had boosted March figures, along with ongoing concerns about foreign exchange volatility and repatriation challenges that continue to deter international investors.

Domestic Investors Drive Market Activity

The data reveals a clear shift toward domestic market dominance. Throughout 2024, local investors accounted for approximately 85 percent of total market transactions, while foreign participation represented only 15 percent. This trend has continued into 2025, with domestic transactions reaching N1.837 trillion compared to foreign transactions of approximately N877.12 billion.

Despite the month-on-month decline, April 2025 activity remained robust compared to the previous year, with total transactions rising 39.22 percent from April 2024's N346.23 billion. However, overall April activity fell 56.79 percent from March's N1.1155 trillion to N482.04 billion.

Within the domestic market, institutional investors maintained their edge over retail participants by 14 percent in April. While retail participation declined 8.02 percent to N181.31 billion, institutional activity grew 8.77 percent to N237.66 billion.

Long-term Growth Despite Recent Volatility

Looking at broader trends, both domestic and foreign investor activity have shown substantial growth over the past 18 years. From 2007 to 2024, domestic transactions increased 33.2 percent from N3.556 trillion to N4.735 trillion, while foreign transactions expanded 38.31 percent from N616 billion to N852 billion.

The improved domestic investor confidence appears driven by relative macroeconomic stability, attractive corporate earnings releases, and sustained institutional investor participation, suggesting underlying market strength despite recent foreign investment volatility.

UN says more food needed in Gaza as looting hampers deliveries

Israeli airstrikes killed at least six Palestinians guarding aid trucks against looters, Hamas officials said on Friday, as the head of the United Nations warned that only a "teaspoon" of aid was getting in following Israel's 11-week-long blockade.

The Israeli military said 107 trucks carrying flour and other foodstuffs as well as medical supplies entered the Gaza Strip from the Kerem Shalom crossing point on Thursday, for a total of 305 since Monday when the blockade was relaxed.

But getting the supplies to people sheltering in tents and other makeshift accommodation has been fitful and U.N. officials say at least 500 to 600 trucks of aid are needed every day.

So far, an umbrella network of Palestinian aid groups said, 119 aid trucks have got past the Kerem Shalom crossing point and into Gaza since Israel eased its blockade on Monday in the face of an international outcry.

Despite the relaxation of the blockade, distribution has been hampered by looting by groups of men, some of them armed, near the city of Khan Younis, an umbrella network representing Palestinian aid groups said.

"They stole food meant for children and families suffering from severe hunger," the network said in a statement, which also condemned Israeli airstrikes on security teams protecting the trucks.

The U.N. World Food Programme said 15 trucks carrying flour to WFP-supported bakeries had been looted, which it said reflected the dire conditions facing Gazans.

"Hunger, desperation and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming is contributing to rising insecurity," it said in a statement.

A Hamas official said six members of a security team tasked with guarding the shipments were killed.

Israel imposed the blockade in early March, accusing Hamas of stealing aid meant for civilians. Hamas rejects the charge, saying a number of its own fighters have been killed protecting the trucks from armed looters.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which generally considers all armed Palestinians as militants.

"Hamas constantly calls the looters 'guards' or protectors' to mask the fact that they're disturbing the aid process," a military official said.

'DESPERATION'

With most of Gaza's 2 million population squeezed into an ever narrowing zone on the coast and in the area around the southern city of Khan Younis by Israel's military operation, international pressure to get aid in quickly has ratcheted up.

"Without rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access, more people will die – and the long-term consequences on the entire population will be profound," said U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

A German government spokesperson said the aid was "far too little, too late and too slow," adding that delivery of supplies had to be increased significantly.

Israel has announced that a new system, sponsored by the United States and run by private contractors, will soon begin operations from four distribution centres in the south of Gaza, but many details of how the system will work remain unclear.

The U.N. has already said it will not work with the new system, which it says will leave aid distribution conditional on Israel's political and military aims.

Israel says its forces will only provide security for the centres and will not distribute aid themselves.

As the aid has begun to trickle in, the Israeli military has continued the intensified ground and air operation launched last week, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said would end with Israel taking full control of the Gaza Strip.

The military said it had conducted more strikes in Gaza overnight, hitting 75 targets, including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers. Palestinian medical services said at least 25 people had been killed in the strikes.

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

The Israeli campaign has since killed more than 53,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the coastal strip. Aid groups say signs of severe malnutrition are widespread.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Kyiv mayor says Russian drones, missiles trigger fires, injure eight

Russia attacked Ukraine's capital Kyiv early on Saturday with drones and missiles, triggering fires, strewing debris in districts throughout the city and injuring at least eight people, the city's mayor said.

Reuters witnesses saw and heard successive waves of drones flying over Kyiv, and a series of explosions jolted the city.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two residents had required hospital treatment and that air defence units were in action.

Pictures posted online showed smoke billowing from the top of one block of flats and flames leaping from part of another as emergency crews trained water on it. An orange-red glow lit up the city as plumes of smoke wafted across the horizon.

Klitschko said fragments from one drone struck the top floor of an apartment building in the Solomynskyi district on the west bank of the Dnipro River, which bisects the city. One apartment building was on fire in the area as was one non-residential building.

Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said a fire had also broken out on two floors of an apartment building in Dniprovskyi district on the opposite bank.

Officials also reported a fire in Obolon in the city's northern suburbs and fallen debris on a shopping centre in the same area. They said drone fragments hit the ground in a number of other widely separated neighbourhoods.

An air alert remained in effect more than two hours after it was first declared.

The overnight strikes followed several days of Ukrainian drone attacks - some 800 attacks - on targets inside Russia, including capital Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had vowed on Friday to respond to those attacks.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian Army enters Yunakovka in Ukraine’s Sumy region — military expert

Russian forces have entered Yunakovka in Ukraine’s Sumy Region, from where Kiev used to move troops to the bordering Russian region of Kursk, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS.

"According to information at my disposal, our troops have already entered the locality of Yunakovka, which served as a logistics hub for moving Ukrainian militants to the Kursk Region," he said.

On April 19, Marochko told TASS that Russian servicemen had expanded their fire control over a motor road between Yunakovka and Oleshnya that Kiev used for sending supplies to the Ukrainian battlegroup at this sector of the front line.

Reuters/Tass

A Chinese woman was allegedly forced to take off her heavy makeup after facial recognition scanners at an airport failed to confirm her identity.

A short clip showing a young woman using wet wipes to clean her face of makeup while being scolded by airport staff went viral on Chinese social media last week, sparking all sorts of humorous comments.

According to the boarding pass shown in the video next to the woman’s ID, the video was shot in September of last year, at Shanghai Airport, but only recently attracted attention online. During the short clip, the woman holding the camera (presumably an airport official), scolds the young girl, telling her that she needs to wipe off all the makeup until she looks like the picture on her identification document.

“Wipe everything off until you look like your passport photo. Why would you do your makeup like that? You are asking for trouble,” the voice behind the camera says.

It’s unclear whether the woman eventually passed the airport’s facial recognition scan, but her ordeal did inspire humorous comments on social media.

“It’s not like she was able to walk around with a filter on in real life, right?” one person asked.

Others took pity on the young woman, saying that she already looked embarrassed enough, and there was no woman for the airport official to nag her about the makeup, while others wondered whether the makeup should be an issue for modern facial recognition scanners.

“No matter how thick the makeup is, the face shouldn’t be unrecognizable, right? Isn’t it time to upgrade the equipment?” one person wondered.

We reported a similar incident a while back, when several Chinese women had problems entering the country after flying to South Korea for facial plastic surgery, which changed their look so much that they became unrecognizable.

Oddity Central

Maybe coffee doesn't need to be the very first step in our morning routines.

While it's often associated with wakefulness, experts claim there may be benefits to holding off on that cup of joe for a different time of day.

Cortisol, a stress hormone, is highest in our body right as we wake up, according to Julia Zumpano, a registered dietitian with the Cleveland Clinic Center for Human Nutrition.

From there, she said, it begins to decline naturally throughout the day.

Caffeine is a stimulant, so if it's consumed (by drinking coffee, for example) when cortisol is high, that can increase stress levels that were already high at the beginning of the day. 

Note the time delay

"The [cortisol] decline is different for everyone but typically occurs one-and-a-half to two hours after you wake," Zumpano said.

That's the best time to have coffee, Zumpano said.

That way, "you can rely on your body's natural alert system - cortisol - and when it declines, then you use caffeine to provide the boost."

"There is no specific time that's best to drink caffeine," the dietitian added. "[It's] based on when you wake and your natural rise and drop in cortisol."

Yet adhering to the body's natural wake-up processes can help sustain energy levels by avoiding one big cortisol, caffeinated crash.

Fox News Digital previously reported on smart ways to consume coffee, with an expert noting that coffee drinking should be tailored to each individual.

"For some people, waking up and having a glass of water to rehydrate and then having coffee works well – but for others the morning ritual of having a cup of coffee first thing upon awakening is just too good to give up," said Wendy Troxel, a Utah-based sleep expert and senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. 

"So, I think it's mostly a matter of personal preference."

Know when to cut it off

The ideal window may begin two hours after waking up, but how long do we have until we need to cut the coffee again before going to sleep?

"I typically suggest six to eight hours before bed, but some people are slow metabolizers of caffeine," Zumpano said. So "it may take longer for their bodies to excrete caffeine."

For those people, she suggests limiting consumption in the nine-to-12-hour window before bed.

"Coffee is high in antioxidants and can aid in alertness and wakefulness, although one should not be dependent on caffeine for this effect," she said.

"If you struggle with caffeine addiction, look at other lifestyle factors such as sleep duration and quality, nutrition, exercise, and timing and amount of caffeine consumption."

Fox News

New statistics from the UK Office for National Statistics reveal that Nigeria maintained its position as a major contributor to British immigration in 2024, with approximately 52,000 Nigerian nationals relocating to the country throughout the year.

The figures come amid a dramatic reduction in overall UK net migration, which plummeted by nearly half to 431,000 in the year ending December 2024, down from 860,000 the previous year—representing a decline of almost 50 percent.

Work and Study Drive Nigerian Migration

The data shows that Nigerian immigrants primarily arrived for employment and educational opportunities. Work-related visas accounted for 27,000 arrivals, while 22,000 came on study visas. The remaining 3,000 entered under various other immigration categories.

Nigeria's substantial contribution places it alongside India, Pakistan, and China as the leading sources of non-EU+ migration to the UK. Indian nationals topped the list as the most common non-EU+ immigrants during this period.

According to the ONS report, "Work and study-related immigration were the primary reasons for migration among Indian, Pakistani, and Nigerian nationals."

Demographics of New Arrivals

The migration data reveals key demographic patterns among non-EU+ immigrants. The vast majority—83 percent—fell within working age (16-64 years), with a relatively balanced gender split of 52 percent male and 48 percent female.

Children under 16 represented 16 percent of all migrants, while those over 65 accounted for just one percent of arrivals.

Factors Behind Overall Decline

While countries like Nigeria continued to send significant numbers of migrants to the UK, the broader downward trend in immigration resulted from multiple factors. Reduced arrivals on work and study visas from non-EU+ countries contributed to the decline, along with increased emigration rates.

The statistics suggest that many individuals who arrived during or shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic have since returned to their home countries, particularly those who came on study visas.

The most significant decrease occurred in work-related immigration among primary applicants, which fell by 108,000—a 49 percent year-on-year reduction. Study-related immigration dropped by 17 percent, while the number of study dependents saw the steepest decline at 86 percent.

Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, has stated that the Federal Government earns 52 kobo in taxes from every N1 generated through the production and sale of Dangote Cement.

He made this disclosure during the 2025 Taraba International Investment Summit, held under the theme: “Unlocking Taraba’s Investment Potentials: Advancing Agriculture, Energy, Mining, and Industrialisation for Sustainable Growth and Development.”

Dangote emphasized the importance of creating an enabling environment for businesses, noting that both private and public investments benefit the government through tax revenues.

“It may surprise you to learn that the Federal Government—not even the states—earns more from our cement operations than we do. For every naira we generate, 52 kobo goes to the government,” he said.

Dangote underscored the role of taxation in funding essential services and infrastructure, stating, “We often say government has no business in business—and that may be true. But how else do they generate the revenue needed for education, healthcare, roads, and other public services? Through taxes.”

He cited the example of the United States, saying, “Have you ever heard of the American government owning oil blocks? No. Yet, they are the world’s leading oil producers. Their income comes through taxation.”