The other day, on the plane, two ladies sat behind me. I was minding my own business, re-reading one of my pieces, “Mummy let the Singles Breathe” (https://www.newtimes.com.ng/mummy-let-the-singles-breathe/). However, the conversation between these two women, whom I will call Miss A and Miss B here, distracted me and captured my attention. Trust me, I always mind my business,and I tried my best to turn a deaf ear to them, but you know how some people talk; their voices are loud.

Miss A was loud enough that you would think she had swallowed a JBL speaker. She laughed out loud hysterically, and they literally got everyone’s attention on the plane. So, I took a break from reading and decided to listen in silence to what the conversation was about. You know, as a writer, you never can tell where your inspiration to write could come from. The conversation was about a boyfriend who did not give one of them N500,000 to buy artificial hair because he thought the price was outrageous.

According to Miss A, her boyfriend earns so much, turning in millions of naira every year, but spends very little on her. In fact, he recently bought the latest SUV for his mother, yet he has not replaced the car he bought for her last year, despite her pleas for a new one. Eh yah! Wahala for who no get rich man to bill. She complained about many other things, and in response to all her laments, Miss B asked if she was sure she was not feeling entitled to the man’s money.

“No o, entitled kẹ̀! I am just saying I deserve more than that. If he truly loves me, his money will also be mine. How can he buy his mother a new car and refuse to change mine?”

Miss B tried to argue further, to which Miss A replied, “Ehn, even if it is an entitlement, am I not his babe?” Thank God I don’t have a babe!

This conversation got me angry. I did not know when I exclaimed,  “Orí ẹ ti gbá ‘lè̀!” I adjusted my glasses and tried to concentrate on the Tribune newspaper I wanted to read before they distracted me. Listening to them was not exactly a waste of time, as the conversation did not stop in my head. I thought about the number of people who have expressed a sense of entitlement to the little money and influence I have. “Falola is a renowned professor, but he cannot even dash me N500,000 and forget about it.“ Ẹ gbà mí! How much do I even earn that I will become everyone’s destiny helper? I do not have money stored up in a Storex tank in my backyard or buried in my soak away. If I give everyone N500,000 and forget about it, will the bank not also forget that I ever opened an account with them when all the money has been dashed out because my name is Falola and I am a nice man?

I do not mean to insult your pedigree, but is it not unreasonable for you to have such high expectations that you deserve certain privileges from people as though you co-own their bank accounts and their contents? Very many people feel entitled to other people’s money just because they are associated with them in one way or another. You will find the sense of entitlement dripping from how people react when, for genuine reasons, you are unable to solve their financial problems. Nobody is obliged to give you part of their money, no matter who you are to them. And when they do, consider it a favour rather than a duty they owe you.

Even your president, the As̩íwájú of Èmi ló kàn dynasty, demonstrated a sense of entitlement when he told his fellow politicians to “gbé kiní yìí wá, èmi ló kàn” – a catchphrase that became his selling point during the elections. A manifesto of entitlement. Since he has godfathered some young men and given them a chance to sit on the throne, he is also entitled to sit on it. A kingmaker must as well become the king! No doubt, democracy is the government of the politicians, by the politicians, and for the politicians. Politics is now a game of entitlement where it is about whose turn it is to have a share of the cake and not about who is next to serve the people. A bunch of politicians using the nation’s throne to settle scores! But do I have the audacity to say that orí As̩íwájú ti gbá’lẹ̀?

Simbi, there you are, praying for a “helper” who will wire you N450,000 to buy human hair or hand you the key to an apartment in Lekki without any effort, just like that! You have forgotten the part of the scripture that says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NIV).

I am still trying to understand this set of humans who believe that their money is theirs to spend alone, but another man’s money is for “all of us.” You are only privileged to enjoy another man’s money, the money he laboured and worked hard for. Even if it is ritual money, at least he did something to get it. You open the slaughterhouse that you call a mouth to rain insults on the CEO of your company because he travels abroad every three months for a vacation. Ahn ahn!

You say, “All these rich people sef, they are just wasting money. If he donates the money he spends on vacation to people who are in need, their creator will bless him.”

Monalisa, no, he does not need your Ẹlẹ́dàá to bless him. He needs the vacation to wherever he wants! He has worked for his money; no be you go tell am wetin he go use the money do. You can see how his home and office space are packed with awards and recognition of various kinds as if he is selling them. Every single one of them was earned. Instead of drawing inspiration from him, you would say, “An award is nothing, he is just lucky. Vanity upon vanity.”

Slay queen, let me tell you what an award is. An award is a testament that you have paid your dues, and the world, even though selfish, has been compelled to recognise it. Aunty, do am if e easy!

Someone takes care of you, pays your school fees, sends you money you did not work for, and after two days, you reply with a one-word SMS, “Thanks.” He pays another one, and again, it’s just “Thanks,” as if you kept the money in his bank account. The day he does not send money as usual, you will send him an epistle of how sápá has almost finished you, that he must do something about it. If he does not, you change his contact’s name from “Rich Uncle Femi” to “Greedy Femi.” Ah! Your bad manners are only exceeded by your bad manners. That is why you do not know that gratitude is proof of honour. When you believe you are entitled to something, you cannot truly be grateful for it. Entitled fool, orí ẹ ti gbá’lẹ̀!

Entitled girlfriends, like Miss A, let me talk to you. It is madness to think that a man’s money is your money, especially when you are not yet joined in matrimony. It is his money, not yours, and he has the freedom to spend it however he wants. If he chooses to spend everything on you, good for you! But do not be a mad girlfriend (má jẹ́ kí orí ẹ gbá’lẹ̀). Make your own money and spend it as you wish; he would be wrong to feel entitled to it, too. Regular financial gifts and spoiling of various kinds are not obligatory; they are only acts of kindness. You must have the sense to appreciate them rather than feel entitled.

Entitlement is one reason generous persons tend to withdraw their kindness. You will pray to God to bring destiny helpers your way, but you will use excessive billing and a sense of entitlement to chase them away. Can you see that there is little help God himself can offer you if you do not change your ways? I can see that you need a renewed orientation.

Obinna, the fact that you share the same surname with your siblings or rich family members does not mean that you must have a share of their money. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but the truth remains that nobody owes you anything. Nobody will go to hellfire for not paying your rent or giving you a job in their company. Nobody merely exists just to serve your needs and wants. Nobody owes you anything!

Know your position in people’s lives and stop imposing unrealistic demands and expectations on them. You must learn that when people agree to your demands, it is a responsibility, and when they refuse, it is a decision. Stop the pity party that you throw when they are unable to help. Should they cut their throats for you so that you can be comfortable? Nobody will die for you to be alive. Life itself is already a survival of the fittest. Appreciate the favours, the gifts, or any form of philanthropy people extend to you. Jẹ́ kí orí ẹ pé!

To Miss A, who inspired this piece, in case you come across this on the internet, I apologise for exclaiming “orí ẹ tigbá’lẹ̀,” but I advise you to change your ways if you want your rich boyfriend to put a ring on it.

In early 2023, Jeff Bezos was worth approximately $107 billion. A year later – to make the math easier – he was worth $177 billion. That's a difference of $70 billion, which means he made a little under $8 million per hour last year.

Granted, that's not his per-hours-worked rate. That's his per-total-hours-in-the-year rate.

Which is the point. To use the old passive income cliche, Bezos made a lot of money while he slept because he's an owner, not an employee.

Hold that thought.

Many people want to be rich. (How you define "rich" is of course up to you; my "rich" may seem like pocket change to His Airness.)

Many don't. But if you do, you will never become incredibly wealthy by working for someone else.

Data backs up that statement. According to the IRS Statistics of Income Division's 400 Individual Income Tax Returns Reporting the Largest Adjusted Gross Incomes Each Year, 1992-2014 (the most recent report I could find), the average income of those on the list was $317 million.

How did they make their money? Here's the breakdown:

• Wages and salaries: 4.4 percent
• Interest: 4.2 percent
• Dividends: 10.9 percent
• Partnership and S Corp Net Income: 16.2 percent
• Sale of Capital Assets: 65.2 percent

Salaries are a tiny percentage of wealthy people's earnings. The same is true for stock dividends and interest. Owning a business, and maybe someday selling a portion or all of that business? That's where the money comes from.

If you don't trust the IRS, check out the top seven on the Forbes billionaires list. Arnault. Musk. Bezos. Ellison. Buffett. Gates. Bloomberg. All entrepreneurs. Each built incredibly successful businesses.

Each is an owner.

The same is true for the aforementioned Michael Jordan. Jordan owns, through his royalty agreements, a piece of Nike's Air Jordan brand.

He also owned, until recently, the Charlotte Bobcats. Sure, he got paid handsomely by the Bulls. He got paid handsomely for endorsements.

But the bulk of his fortune came from owning things – things that, as with Bezos – other people helped build and grow.

Amazon employees? They get paid a salary in return for effort. Fair enough. That's the nature of employment; I do this, you give me that.

When I stop doing this? You stop giving me that.

That's not the case for owners. Bezos has stepped away from day-to-day duties. But as long as Amazon continues to perform well, he still makes money.

Because he's an owner. He owns an asset that has value. He has the owner's mentality.

And so should you. 

While investing in stocks is a form of ownership – since you do own a piece, however small, of the company – your ability to influence the success of that company is nonexistent. You can only analyze, assess and hope.

The owner's mentality goes deeper. Taking owning a rental property. Sure, you might not make a lot of money, at least in the short term.

(While there are plenty of other considerations involved, a simple metric my wife uses is that each of our properties should average at least $800 in positive cash flow per month, a standard we've achieved because, well, she's a really, really smart real estate investor.)

Short-term income is great, but the real value of ownership is long-term: increased property values, building greater equity as someone else pays down the mortgage, and long-term, annuity-like income.

Yes, time and effort are involved. The income we get and the wealth we slowly build, isn't passive. But we also do make money while we sleep.

Also, keep in mind you can be an employee and embrace an owner's mentality. My wife works in health care. I work for other people, on a contract basis.

The only thing I own is the book I wrote a few years ago. (That's why I'm writing another one.) The key is to look for ways to own something or things, even if just on the side.

A contractor friend started a side business installing HVAC systems on the weekends. A few of his friends work with him, and he's slowly building a business with assets he can leverage to either grow or sell.

He's thinking and acting like an owner, not an employee. Will he get rich? Maybe so. Maybe not. Either way, he's taking a chance. You might see it as a risk.

But being "only" an employee is even riskier. In return for less freedom, less control, and less fulfillment, every day you go to work for someone else your upside is always capped. (And your downside is total, since you can lose your job at any moment.)

The downside for owning something is also total, but in return, you enjoy the possibility of an unlimited financial upside.

Maybe not a Bezos-level upside, but one that is surely greater than if you only ever trade your effort for pay.

Inc

Three mobile policemen attached to PMF 51, Oghara, have been reportedly abducted by suspected herdsmen in the Ohoror community of the East-West Road in the Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.

Sunday Special gathered that the kidnappers also carted away the service AK47 rifles with ammunition of the policemen who were marched into the bush.

It was learnt that the kidnapped cops were part of a team of six mobile policemen drafted to the Ughelli-Patani Road nipping point.

It was also learnt that the news of the abduction created tension in the community.

A police source said the cops were whisked away while attending to a distress call.

“While they were at the tipping point, a young man simply identified as Moses Progress, 22, from the Uwheru community came to inform the team that he was robbed of his OPPO phone and money by suspected herdsmen under a nearby bridge close to their point while performing rituals to the god of the river.

“Consequently, the leader of the patrol team reportedly detailed the three inspectors to follow the complainant to the scene, armed with their AK-47 rifles.

“While waiting for the return of the three inspectors, the team later saw the complainant on a speeding motorcycle without our men,” the source said.

“He was stopped to inquire about the three mobile police officers who went with him. It was at that juncture that he told them that, when they got to the scene, they were attacked at the bush by six herdsmen and he had to escape while the policemen ran in different directions.

“When he told our men that he did not know the whereabouts of the police officers who went with him, there was no option than to arrest him after they called for backup,” the source added.

The Police Public Relations Officer for the Delta State command, Bright Edafe, could not be reached for comments on the incident as of the time of filing this report.

Punch

Gunmen have abducted the deputy vice-chancellor of a Nigerian university.

The victim, Godwin Emezue, of Abia State University, Uturu, was abducted from a petrol station at Umuekwule, Amachara, a community in Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State, south-east Nigeria.

Emelue, a professor, was said to have driven into the station alongside his wife to buy fuel for their vehicle on Friday night when the gunmen attacked them.

Sources said that the hoodlums, numbering about three, dragged the professor into their waiting Lexus SUV, collected his wife’s ATM card and zoomed off.

When contacted on Saturday morning, the spokesperson of the university, Chijioke Nwogu, said the police in the state have confirmed that there was a kidnap attack in Umuahia on Friday, but that the university only heard of Emezue’s kidnap through the social media.

“The news is everywhere. It has gone viral,” Nwogu said of the kidnap.

However, a lecturer at the university, who asked not to be named, told this newspaper that the university management, on Saturday, announced on a WhatsApp platform that is restricted to the university staff members, the kidnap of the deputy vice-chancellor.

He said Emezue must have been kidnapped late Friday given that the professor had made a post on the WhatsApp platform earlier on Friday.

The police in Abia State later confirmed the incident.

In a statement, on Saturday, the police spokesperson in the state, Maureen Chinaka, said the incident happened at about 9:30 p.m. on Friday.

“The Abia State Police Command is deploying resources and assets including intelligence and technical aid towards unravelling the crime, safely rescuing the victim from his captors,” Chinaka, an assistant superintendent of police, assured.

The police spokesperson asked residents of the state to remain calm, vigilant and security conscious while going about their legitimate activities.

She appealed to the residents to cooperate with the police by providing “useful information” that could help in tracking down the hoodlums as well as enhancing security in the state.

PT

Gunmen, on Saturday, kidnapped Akeem Akintola, Oyo State Chairman, Tipper, Lorry and Quarry Park Management System (PMS).

Akintola, popularly known as KUSO, was kidnapped at his residence in the Ajiboye area, Omi Apata, Ibadan.

A source, who did not want his name published, said that the gunmen stormed Akintola’s residence in the early hours of Saturday and abducted him to an unknown destination.

Efforts by our correspondent to confirm the incident from the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Oyo State, Adewale Osifeso, proved abortive. Several calls put through to his number were not answered.

NAN

Super Eagles of Nigeria have qualified for the quarter-final of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast. 

Nigeria booked a place in the next phase of the competition after defeating Cameroon 2-0 at the Stade Félix Houphouet-Boigny, Abidjan, on Saturday.

Ademola Lookman scored a brace as the Eagles outclassed the Indomitable Lions in the nerve-racking encounter.

Nigeria qualified for the second round after finishing second in Group A behind Equatorial Guinea. The team had failed to score more than one goal in their previous six matches.

But against the Lions, the Eagles broke the jinx with a bit more comfort and improved performance.

For the second consecutive game, Jose Peseiro, Super Eagles’ head coach, favoured a 3-4-3 formation with Stanley Nwabali in goal behind the defensive trio of Troost-Ekong, Semi Ajayi, and Calvin Bassey, while Ola Aina and Zaidu Sanusi on both flanks as wingbacks.

Alex Iwobi started in the midfield alongside Frank Onyeka. Moses Simon, Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen led the front line.

The Eagles thought they had taken the lead in the 12th minute after Ajayi finished off a rebound following a spillage from Fabrice Ondoa. But after a video assistant referee (VAR) review, the goal was ruled out for offside.

However, there was no denying them again in the 36th minute. Osimhen wrestled the ball from Oumar Gonzalez before setting up Lookman, whose shot trickled home under Fabrice Ondoa.

Lookman then scored his second late in the second half. He stabbed the ball past the limbs of Ondoa from close range after a long bust forward by Bassey.

In the end, it looked like a pyrrhic victory for Nigeria as Nwabali was stretched off after a collision with Georges-Kévin N’Koudou. The goalkeeper was replaced by Francis Uzoho.

The Super Eagles will play Angola in the quarter-final match billed for February 2.

Earlier, Angola defeated Namibia 3-0 in the other second-round game of the day

PLAYER RATINGS

Stanley Nwabali; GK (4/5): He was confident as usual and dealt with the few attacks thrown his way. Unfortunately, he left the field injured following a collision with N’Koudou.

Ola Aina, WB (4.5/5): He had the license to roam forward, and the defender was only denied a goal by a well-timed block. Another wonderful display on the wings at both ends.

Calvin Bassey, DC (4.5/5): He was rock solid as usual, cleared his lines and had enough time to assist Lookman’s second goal.

Semi Ajayi, DC (4/5): He scored but was denied by VAR. The languid defender was an effective foil alongside Troost-Ekong and Bassey. He handled the business as usual without the flair.

William Troost-Ekong, DC (4.5/5): He cleared and blocked everything thrown at him. Ekong recovered from injury to lead, and he put in a captain’s performance.

Sanusi Zaidu, WB (3/5): He made overlapping runs and held his own as Cameroon tried to go through the wings. He put in a massive shift in defence.

Frank Onyeka, MC (4/5): He was saddled with covering the midfield landscape, the Brentford man battled all night and was unfazed by the physicality on display by the Cameroonian players.

Alex Iwobi, MC (3/5): He was tasked with linking midfield to attack. However, he looked a bit out of depth most times and completely scuffed a chance that could have cushioned the victory for Nigeria.

Moses Simon, WF (3/5): He had another average performance but was not helped by the defence-first approach.

Ademola Lookman, WF (4/5): He scored the vital brace that sent Nigeria into the last eight. His positioning throughout the game was excellent.

Victor Osimhen, ST (4/5): He was aggressive, strong and pacy. The leader in attack showed why he is sought after by the big European clubs. He robbed Gonzalez of the ball and won the physical battle before setting up Lookman for the goal. He was a handful for the Cameroonian defender throughout the match.

Substitutes

Francis Uzoho, GK (N/A): A warm entrance for the forgotten man. No action came to his side, but being on the winning side could boost his confidence.

Keneth Omeruo, DF (3/5): He was solid in the cameo. He slotted in perfectly into the defensive unit.

Bright Osayi-Samuel, WB (N/A): No time to impact the game.

Paul Onuachu, ST (N/A): No time to impact the game.

The Cable

It is just January 2024, but Tobi Amusan has picked up where she left off in 2023, breaking Gloria Alozie’s 25-year-old 60m hurdles indoor record on Saturday.

Amusan set an African record as she dipped under 7.8 seconds in the 60m hurdles at the Astana Indoor Meet in Kazakhstan. Her record of 7.77 seconds smashed Alozie’s 25-year-old record of 7.82 seconds, set in 1999 during the Madrid Championship.

Amusan, 26, finished ahead of close competitors from the USA and Ireland, respectively.

Amusan finished first in the event’s final, ahead of Nia Ali of the US and Ireland’s Sarah Lavin, who finished second and third, respectively.

Aside from beating Alozie’s record, her 7.77-second achievement might enter the all-time top 20 records after every adjustment.

Amusan experienced a series of ups and downs in 2023. She faced a provisional suspension from the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on accusations of “missing three tests in 12 months.” As a consequence, she was unable to retain her World Championship title in Hungary, finishing in sixth place due to her arrival just three days before the start of the competition.

She bounced back towards the end of 2023, winning her third consecutive Diamond League medal.

Amusan, also known as ‘The Express,’ is getting ready for the 2024 Olympic Games, scheduled for Paris and starting from 26 July.

PT

Embattled UN agency warns its aid operation in Gaza is 'collapsing' over a wave of funding cuts

The head of the main U.N. aid agency in the war-battered Gaza Strip warned late Saturday that its work is collapsing after nine countries decided to cut funding over allegations that several agency employees had participated in the deadly Hamas attack against Israel four months ago.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, said he was shocked such decisions were taken as “famine looms” in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. “Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment,” he wrote on X. “This stains all of us.”

His warning came a day after he announced he had fired and was investigating several agency employees over allegations that they participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war. The United States, which said 12 agency employees were under investigation, immediately said it is suspending funding, followed by several other countries, including Britain, Italy and Finland.

The agency, which has 13,000 employees in Gaza, most of them Palestinians, is the main organization aiding Gaza’s population amid the humanitarian disaster. More than 2 million of the territory’s 2.3 million people depend on it for “sheer survival,” including food and shelter, Lazzarini said, warning this lifeline can “collapse any time now.”

The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, destroyed vast swaths of Gaza and displaced nearly 85% of the territory’s 2.3 million people. The Hamas attack in southern Israel killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 250 hostages were taken.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back Saturday after the International Court of Justice ruling to limit death and destruction in the military’s Gaza offensive, declaring that “we decide and act according to what is required for our security.”

Among the first deaths reported since the ruling, witnesses said three Palestinians were killed in an airstrike that Israel said targeted a Hamas commander.

Israel’s military is under increasing scrutiny now that the top United Nations court has asked Israel for a compliance report in a month. The court’s binding ruling on Friday stopped short of ordering a cease-fire, but its orders were in part a rebuke of Israel’s conduct in its nearly 4-month war against Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

At least 174 Palestinians were killed over the past day, the Health Ministry in Gaza said. It does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its tolls, but has said about two-thirds are women and children.

Israel holds Hamas responsible for civilian casualties, saying the militants embed themselves in the local population. Israel says its air and ground offensive in Gaza has killed more than 9,000 militants.

Israel’s military said it had conducted several “targeted raids on terror targets” in the southern city of Khan Younis in addition to the airstrike in nearby Rafah targeting a Hamas commander.

Bilal al-Siksik said his wife, a son and a daughter were killed in the Rafah strike, which came as they slept. He said the U.N. court ruling meant little since it did not stop the war.

“No one can speak in front of them (Israel). America with all its greatness and strength can do nothing,” he said, standing beside the rubble and twisted metal of his home.

More than 1 million people have crammed into Rafah and the surrounding areas after Israel ordered civilians to seek refuge there. Designated evacuation areas have repeatedly come under airstrikes, with Israel saying it would go after militants as needed.

In Muwasi, a narrow coastal strip once designated as a safe zone but struck in recent days, displaced Palestinians tiptoed on sandaled feet through garbage-lined puddles in damp and chilly weather. Walls of sheets and tarps billowed in the wind. A mother wept after rain leaked in and soaked the blankets.

“This is our life. We have nothing and we left (our homes) with nothing,” said Bassam Bolbol, whose family ended up in Muwasi after leaving Khan Younis and finding no shelter in Rafah.

Frustration with the uncertainty grows. As thousands of Gazans fled Khan Younis toward Muwasi, Israel shared video showing a crowd appearing to call for bringing down Hamas.

The case brought by South Africa to the U.N. court alleged Israel is committing genocide against Gaza’s people, which Israel vehemently denies. A final ruling is expected to take years.

The court ordered Israel to urgently get aid to Gaza, where the U.N. has said aid entering the territory remains well below the daily average of 500 trucks before the war. The U.N. also says access to central and northern Gaza has been decreasing because of “excessive delays” at checkpoints and heightened military activity.

The World Health Organization and the medical charity MSF issued urgent warnings about the largest health facility in Khan Younis, Nasser Hospital, saying remaining staff could barely function with supplies running out and intense fighting nearby.

WHO footage showed people in the crowded facility being treated on blood-smeared floors as frantic loved ones shouted and jostled. Cats scavenged on a mound of medical waste.

“These are the only painkillers left we have. If you want to count them, they are only for maybe five or four patients,” Dr. Muhammad Harara said.

Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said in a statement that Nasser Hospital lacked anesthesia and other medicines for intensive care units and had “dangerous” shortages of blood.

The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has increasingly called for restraint and for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza while supporting the offensive.

More mediation lies ahead in search of a deal to secure the release of hostages who remain captive in Gaza. Over 100 were released in a swap for Palestinian prisoners during a week-long cease-fire in November. An unspecified number of the remaining 136 are believed to be dead.

The U.S. CIA director will meet in Europe with the head of the intelligence agencies of Israel and Egypt and with the prime minister of Qatar, according to three people familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.

Netanyahu in his address said he would not take back “a single word” of his earlier criticism of Qatar, again accusing it of hosting Hamas leaders and funding Hamas.

“If they position themselves as a mediator, so please, let them prove it and bring back the hostages, and in the meantime deliver the medicines to them,” he said.

While the prime minister’s comments appeared to be aimed at his right-leaning base of supporters, other Israelis again gathered in Tel Aviv and outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem to call for new elections, frustrated with the government’s failure to bring all hostages home. Israel also was marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, alongside other countries around the world.

Hamas has said it will only release the hostages in exchange for an end to the war and the release of large numbers of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

AP

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

US to change strategy on Ukraine – WaPo

The US is working on a new strategy for Ukraine that would mark a departure from the failed forward push of 2023 and instead focus on frontline defense, the Washington Post has reported. The supposed adjustments come in response to Kiev’s failed counteroffensive last year, the newspaper added.

In an article on Friday, the newspaper quoted a senior White House official explaining that “it will be difficult for [Ukrainian forces] to try to mount the same kind of major push on all fronts that they tried to do last year.” In light of this, the hope is now much less ambitious – to ensure that Kiev does not lose any more ground to Moscow, the unnamed staffer told reporters.

This, however, does not mean that Ukraine’s military will just sit in their trenches, with what is described as a “swapping of territory” still likely in small cities and villages, the source told the WaPo.

Politico similarly reported of a realization in Washington and Brussels that a “total victory” for Ukraine was unlikely, at least in 2024, and that the US and EU are silently redirecting their efforts toward an eventual negotiated settlement.

The Post reported that the Ukrainian army in Zaporozhye Region is already preparing to emulate the Russian defense line that stopped their own advance last summer.

Its Western backers also want Kiev to focus more on long-distance missile strikes against Russian forces, including the Black Sea Fleet based in Crimea.

In the longer term, the Biden administration reportedly hopes to seal a ten-year-security agreement with Ukraine as early as this spring, similar to that recently signed between London and Kiev.

Under the would-be accord, Washington would commit to beefing up Kiev’s military as well as to strengthening its industrial and export base, among other things, the WaPo report claims.

However, these plans hinge on Congress giving the green light to President Biden’s $61-billion funding request, with Republicans appearing as uncompromising as ever, the newspaper pointed out.

According to the report, it is hoped that Washington’s long-term agreement with Ukraine would make it more difficult for the Republican frontrunner Donald Trump to slash aid, should he win the presidential election in November.

Trump has repeatedly called into question his country’s continued generous allocations for Kiev, and vowed, if returned to the White House, to end the bloodshed “in one day, 24 hours.”

Last week, CNN reported that the Biden administration was hoping to get “as much aid [as possible] in before January 2025” amid fears that Trump could throttle back the flow of cash, if reelected.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says it uncovers mass fraud in weapons procurement

Ukraine's SBU security service said on Saturday it had uncovered a corruption scheme in the purchase of arms by the country's military totalling the equivalent of about $40 million.

The announcement of mass procurement fraud, confirmed by Ukraine's Defence Ministry, will have a huge resonance in a country beleaguered by Russia's nearly two-year-old invasion.

The fight to root out endemic corruption remains a major issue as Ukraine presses its bid to secure membership in the European Union.

The SBU said an investigation had "exposed officials of the Ministry of Defence and managers of arms supplier Lviv Arsenal, who stole nearly 1.5 billion hryvnias in the purchase of shells."

"According to the investigation, former and current high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defence and heads of affiliated companies are involved in the embezzlement."

The embezzlement, it said, involved the purchase of 100,000 mortar shells for the military.

The SBU said a contract for the shells was clinched with Lviv Arsenal in August 2022 - six months into the war - and payment was made in advance, with some funds transferred abroad.

But no arms were ever provided, the statement said, with some funds then moved to other foreign accounts.

The statement said five individuals had been served "notices of suspicion" - the first stage in Ukrainian legal proceedings - both in the ministry and the arms supplier. One suspect, it said, was detained while trying to cross the Ukrainian border.

Corruption within the military has been a particularly sensitive issue in Ukraine as it tries to maintain wartime public morale and present its case to join the 27-nation EU.

Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov was dismissed last September over various corruption cases despite enjoying a solid reputation in representing Ukraine in its discussions with Western allies.

Although he was not alleged to have engaged personally in corruption, several cases hit the military under his stewardship, one for supplying troops with food, another over procuring suitable clothing for servicemen.

RT/Reuters

Northern Nigeria used to have a cult of power called the Kaduna Mafia. The Kaduna Mafia decided who would become the Nigerian president, which road to build, which to abandon, which industries to be cited and where. When it couldn’t help but hand the reins of power to the south, it determined which weakest link to exploit. The 1976 assassination of Murtala Muhammed and the handing over of power to Olusegun Obasanjo explains this. If the Kaduna Mafia was bothered about the north-centric disposition of Obasanjo, it could have defiantly handed over the reins of the military government to Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, at that time a lieutenant colonel in the army. Nothing would have happened. When it handed power to Obasanjo, it had to ensure a triple promotion for Yar’Adua, the Fulani scion whose stock needed placation. He was named Chief of Staff Supreme Military Headquarters, with the brief to curtail Obasanjo’s probable excesses against the north.

Though the Kaduna Mafia seemed to have hit its expiry at the time Muhammadu Buhari came into office, the northern oligarchy was resolute about the Daura General’s emergence. And Buhari didn’t disappoint. His administration inflicted one of the most atrocious ethnic and cronyistic governments on Nigeria.

But today, the North is angry. This time, the subject of its annoyance is the planned relocation of some key departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from Abuja to Lagos State. In time past, when the north got annoyed, it was akin to the shrill cry of the pied crow. The crow is a bird the Yoruba call the Kannakanna. So many myths surround this strange bird. The most outstanding of its mysterious features is its queer and unusual cries. These, the Yoruba, in their deep into mystical beliefs, associate with calamities. Yet, the Kannakanna has other features, one of which is that, it does not lay own eggs but rather chooses to harry other birds off their own egg nests. This bit about harrying other birds seems to be true. It, however, has no known explicable biological reasons. The other myth woven round the bird is that the Kannakanna does not lay its own eggs. This has been disproved by ornithologists.

When you compare the ancientness of northern elders’ cries in Nigeria whenever they feel things are not going their way with this strange bird, you will find out that the Kannakanna has a lot in common with the elders of the north. This mysterious bird is known among the Yoruba to be the bird of the elders; elders in this wise, witches and wizards. In some other instances, obeisance is paid to witches through chanting of their cognomen. One of these chants is that the witch is the owl with copper-like eyes – owiwi oloju ide. Witches are also simultaneously reputed to have their legs bespattered with camwood – osun. Beliefs in witches say that the crow is a messenger of these unique beings of African women. It is the animal they send on their mysterious, most times destructive assignments. Always decked in black apparel – its quills – a few other species of crows have white apron-like quills on their chests. Though it feeds mostly on ants, the Kannakanna’s most cherished meal is the hatchling of a sparrow (eye ega). The sparrow itself is a social, homely, very small, seed-eating bird with conical bills. It will fight its assailant to a standstill if annoyed. That is why when a spat is in the offing between two groups or individuals, the Yoruba will say that they smell a fight in the proportion of what happens when the crow attempts to beat the hatchling of a sparrow – “Kannakanna na omo ega...”

So, the north is annoyed. This time, the north that is annoyed is represented by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF). A few other voices have spat into the void and lapped the sky-spiraling spittle with their faces. One of them was Ali Ndume, the senator representing Borno South in the National Assembly. While the NEF, through its Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said that the relocation of the CBN departments would lead to brain drain, Ndume delivered his in form of a subtle threat. He said, if the Yoruba-born president of Nigeria goes ahead with the relocation of those departments, this “move would have consequences.”

For Ndume, who is today the self-appointed one-man squad spearheading the north’s dissonance with government’s policies, the president is being ill-advised by the people he derogatorily labeled “Lagos boys” in the corridors of power. Hear him: “All these Lagos boys who are thinking that Lagos is Nigeria are just misinforming and advising the President wrongly. Those political cartels that are in the corridors of power are trying to misinform the President and we will tell the President. The President will take action. They are not doing any favour to Mr President because this will have political consequences”.

If you are imbued with the steady eyes to see the unseen, ears to hear the unsaid and ability to penetrate the thin veneer of today to arrive at Nigeria’s atrocious past, Ndume will remind you of the ubiquitous Kaduna Mafia. The only difference is that the Kaduna Mafia was not as loquacious, nor visible as the Borno senator. In Bala Takaya and Sonni Gwanle Tyoden (eds) book, The Kaduna Mafia: A Study of the Rise, Development and Consolidation of a Nigerian Power Elite, (1987) this mythical, sect-like northern Nigeria powerful force’s role in Nigeria’s political economy was rightly dissected. Operating under similar historical evolution and characteristics as the Mafia in Italy, Spain and the United States of America, the book used the septic-tank darkness nature of the Italian Mafia to explain the Kaduna Mafia. It said it “is such that for (the Kaduna Mafia) to continue its existence and pursue its objectives with the required effectiveness, it cannot but subject its identity, nature and activities to obscurity. (Secrecy) is one of the hallmarks of a successful mafia set-up".

The Kaduna Mafia, a faction of the Nigerian bourgeois class and northern oligarchy, escalated the ethnic politics between the north and the south in the 1970s to the 1990s. The Mafia was a set of amorphous but lethal power-baiting individuals. Within this period in the life of Nigeria, this narrow group interest held the rest of Nigeria to ransom. It dictated the political and economic barometer of the country and blithely decreed the future of Nigeria. It perfected underdevelopment, focusing solely on development of the north and like godfathers in today’s politics, was narrow-minded and self-centered. Like the roach, the Kaduna Mafia had very sensitive political antennae with which it sniffed the pendulum of power and ethnic gains. Realizing that the best place to manipulate power was outside the locus of power, the Mafia fiddled with policies in such a way as to ensure that the north made maximum benefits through strategic positioning of policies and structures. Using the façade of Islamic puritanic posture, the Kaduna Mafia was be able to conceal its selfish political and economic interests before the overall intent got exposed to a larger Nigeria.

The overall effects of the Kaduna Mafia’s ethnic politics were negatively consequential for Nigeria. In the military, for instance, the first and only Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, was clairvoyant about the future hegemonic hold of uniformed men on the running and ruining of Nigeria. Thus, he ensured that a number of qualifications for entrance into the military were waived for northern boys enlisting in the military in 1959 to the 1960s. In height, education and mental acuity criteria, many northern boys who didn’t measure up became soldiers, rising to become military governors and even Heads of State. This ultimately inflicted colossal damage on the future of the country. One of such boys was Muhammadu Buhari. In terms of academic qualifications, he obviously didn’t have the school certificate requirement. He also ranked very low in terms of depth. How was anyone, even Bello, who had much charisma and depth, to imagine that someday, Nigeria would be in the hands of a Buhari? The rest, as they say, is history.

So, when Ndume and the NEF began the resurgence of their crow cry about a north under siege, what came to the minds of other parts of Nigeria is similar to the cry of a butcher who is being stalked by a threat of death. So when the butcher screams that death was about to take hold of him, the question people ask is, didn’t the animals he had mercilessly butchered too have blood flowing in their veins? Yoruba render this as, “Iku fe pa alapata, o nkigbe; omo eranko t’o ti da l’oro nko?” What this pithy saying advocates is the need for fairness at all times as whatever one is unwilling to stomach, they should refrain from imposing it on others. 

The current federal government is trying to relocate CBN departments like the Banking Supervision, Other Financial Institutions Supervision, Consumer Protection Department, Payment System Management Department, and Financial Policy Regulations Department from Abuja to Lagos? Ex-CBN Deputy Governor, Kingsley Moghalu, was the first to thaw its ice by labeling it an unnecessary wolf cry. In a tweet on X, he claimed the Lagos office, which he said had been completed and inaugurated approximately 12 years back, was underutilized while the staff of the CBN at the Abuja headquarters “exceed the health and safety limits of the building, hence the need to relocate.” He said the relocation was “rational, given that the market entities supervised by these departments are predominantly located in Lagos.”

While corroborating Moghalu, CBN former governor and ex-emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said “Northern politicians will shout that this is moving from Abuja to Lagos. Abuja is a federal capital not a northern issue. So long as this is a principled decision, the noise should be ignored.” According to him, “All this noise is absolutely unnecessary. The CBN has staff manning its branches and cash offices across the Federation. Moving staff to the Lagos office to streamline operations and make them more effective and reduce cost is a normal prerogative of management.”

Now, why does the NEF relish this idea of northernizing Abuja? Does this Kaduna Mafia-incarnate think that localization means ownership? Countless times, the South-South people have cautioned those who see the FCT as their patrimony, reminding them that the glittering roads of Abuja were paved with oil money from their soil. It was this same northernization of Abuja reasoning that bred the vacuous clamour for a northerner to be FCT Minister at the beginning of this present government and the gas-lighting of the incumbent.

Before the February 4, 1976 promulgation of Decree No 6 by the Federal Military Government of Nigeria which initiated the removal of the national capital from Lagos to Abuja, there had been previous advocacy for its relocation. One of such was made by Obafemi Awolowo at the 1953 constitutional conference held in London. It was Awolowo and his Action Group’s contention that Lagos must be merged with the Western Region while a new federal capital should be built in central Nigeria.

Following this up, the Action Group published a pamphlet in 1953 with the title Lagos Belongs to the West, where it articulated that “(Lagos) is strategically… highly vulnerable. Geographically, it is not by any means properly suited to serve as the headquarters of the Central or Federal Government. Lagos is to Nigeria what Calcutta is to India. What we need now, to pursue this analogy, is a New Delhi.” The party then made this proposal: “A large area of land should be acquired by the Federal Government near Kafanchan, which is almost central geographically, and strategically safe comparatively, for the purpose of building a new and neutral capital. The new capital should be built on a site entirely separate from an existing town, so that its absolute neutrality may be assured. Being the property of the Federal Government, it would automatically be administered by it in the same way as Washington, D.C. in USA or Canberra in Australia. Such a capital would be a neutral place indeed.”

In August I975, the Supreme Military Council formed a Committee on the Location of the Federal Capital, one of whose members was Tai Solarin, Headmaster of Mayfair College, Ikenne, who had written many articles in the Tribune newspapers advocating relocation of the capital from Lagos to the north. One of such was a 197I article he wrote with the title Lagos 'should go'. Other members of the committee were Ajato Gando, the only member with a background in geography and urban planning; Pedro Martins from Lagos, and T. Akinola Aguda as Chairman. The Aguda committee, made up mostly of westerners, recommended Abuja as the FCT. If the SMC had northernization of Abuja in mind, it probably would have made the committee an all-north affair. While its initial planning and implementation were undertaken by the Military Government of Murtala Muhammed and Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida eventually relocated Nigeria’s capital to Abuja. 

One of the terms of reference for the establishment of the new capital was to ensure that it was a truly neutral city which would accommodate Northern, Eastern, and Western peoples and where these peoples would co-exist in harmony. The SMC was wary of the new capital not being free from the rancorous historical legacies of state capitals where dominant groups imposed themselves on previous urban centres. Today, with the nauseating ethnicization of Abuja and an opaque reading of sentiments into national policy matters like the FAAN and CBN relocation by northern crows, the fact that there was a predominant Northern influence in the process of construction of Abuja has made the noxious perception rife today that the FCT is a northern bequeathal. What NEF, Ndume and others are doing by locating ulterior motives in the relocations from Abuja to Lagos is northernizing the ownership of the FCT. Otherwise, the president should be left with the prerogative to decide what policies best suits its administration. What Nigeria needs now is healing. What the framers of the FCT establishment and Awolowo’s Action Group envisaged was a neutral capital which it no longer is. NEF, Ndume and the likes are curating an Abuja that is a threat to unity and indeed a potential symbol of the escalation of the North-South discord.

Should Abuja ever be an issue for ethno-religious claim? It was conceived to be a city of love and not hate. It was conceived as a city of equality and not of superiority of one part over another. That was why the Federal Government paid off the original owners of the land and created Suleja for them. As Nigerians, we owe one another that duty of respect and love - and Nigerians can love! I experienced it last Friday during the burial of my mother. Nigerians of all classes and ethnicities, public figures, private figures helped me in seeing my mother off to eternity. Governors who I, at one time or the other, wrote against; senators I once queried their patriotism to Nigeria; captains of industry, North and South; farmers , artisans, white collar, blue collar people – everybody from everywhere gave my mother a state burial. I thank them immensely. The lesson for me there is that I should stay on the track I have chosen for myself while I plead that we work harder to make Nigeria a haven for all Nigerians who are still alive. Enough of bickering over nothing – not over Abuja, especially!