UN chief says it's time to 'truly flood' Gaza with aid and calls starvation there an outrage

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres stood near a long line of waiting trucks Saturday and declared it was time to “truly flood Gaza with lifesaving aid,” calling the starvation inside the enclave a “moral outrage.” He urged an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

Guterres spoke on the Egyptian side of the border not far from the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where Israel plans to launch a ground assault despite widespread warnings of a potential catastrophe. More than half of Gaza’s population has taken refuge there.

“Any further onslaught will make things even worse — worse for Palestinian civilians, worse for hostages and worse for all people in the region,” Guterres said.

He spoke a day after the U.N. Security Council failed to reach consensuson the wording of a U.S.-sponsored resolution supporting “an immediate and sustained cease-fire.”

Guterres repeatedly noted the difficulties of getting aid into Gaza, for which international aid agencies have largely blamed Israel.

“Here from this crossing, we see the heartbreak and heartlessness … a long line of blocked relief trucks on one side of the gates, the long shadow of starvation on the other,” he said.

About 7,000 aid trucks are waiting in Egypt’s North Sinai province to enter Gaza, Gov. Mohammed Abdel-Fadeil Shousha said in a statement.

Guterres added: “It is time for an ironclad commitment by Israel for total … access for humanitarian goods to Gaza, and in the Ramadan spirit of compassion, it is also time for the immediate release of all hostages.” He later told journalists that a humanitarian cease-fire and hostage release should occur at the same time.

Hamas is believed to be holding around 100 hostages as well as the remains of 30 others taken in its Oct. 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and sparked the war.

When asked about Guterres’ comments, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to a social media post by Foreign Minister Israel Katz accusing the U.N. chief of allowing the world body to become “antisemitic and anti-Israeli.”

An estimated 1.5 million Palestinians now shelter in Rafah after fleeing Israel’s offensive elsewhere.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said an Israeli ground assault on Rafah would be “a mistake” and unnecessary in defeating Hamas. That marked a shift in the position for the United States, whose officials have concluded there is no credible way for getting civilians out of harm’s way.

Netanyahu has vowed to press forward with military-approved plans for the offensive, which he has said is crucial to achieving the stated aim of destroying Hamas. The military has said Rafah is Hamas’ last major stronghold and ground forces must target four battalions remaining there.

Again on Saturday night, Israelis protested in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem against Netanyahu and the government amid fears that surviving hostages held in Gaza are in ever-worsening conditions months into the war.

Israel’s invasion has killed more than 32,000 people, according to Gaza health officials, while leaving much of the enclave in ruins and displacing some 80% of the enclave’s 2.3 million people. Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday that the bodies of 72 people killed had been brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours.

The Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, but has said women and children make up the majority of the dead. Israel blames Hamas for civilian deaths and accuses it of operating within residential areas.

Fighting raged Saturday around Gaza’s largest hospital. Israel’s military says it has killed more than 170 militants in Shifa hospital since its raid began Monday, and the commanding officer of the Southern Command, Yaron Finkelman, on Friday said “we will finish this operation only when the last terrorist is in our hands.”

Nearby Gaza City residents told The Associated Press that Israeli troops had blown up several residential buildings.

“They are emptying the whole area,” said Abdel-Hay Saad, who lives on the western edge of Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood. Another resident, Mohammed al-Sheikh, said that intense Israeli bombardment was “hitting anything moving.”

Associated Press footage showed columns of smoke billowing over the hospital area.

The Health Ministry said five wounded Palestinians trapped at Shifa had died without food, water, medical services. It previously said Israel’s military had detained health workers, patients and relatives inside the complex. The military claimed it wasn’t harming civilians, patients or workers.

“These conditions are utterly inhumane,” the World Health Organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on social media late Friday,

Elsewhere, an older woman and five children were killed overnight in an Israeli airstrike on an area between Rafah and Khan Younis, health authorities said.

Hunger has become deadly, too. The U.N. and Israel’s government again traded allegations over the lack of aid delivery to northern Gaza, the first target of Israel’s offensive in the war and where anguished parents have reported watching children scavenge for bread in the rubble.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees — “the backbone of assistance in Gaza,” Guterres said — said Israel had again denied permission for an aid convoy to deliver to northern Gaza. The agency, known as UNRWA, said that two months have passed since a convoy could reach there.

Israel’s government replied by contending again that hundreds of aid trucks are waiting for the U.N. and partners to distribute it.

“No time for misinformation. Enough,” UNRWA’s communications director, Juliette Touma, told AP in response.

AP

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine loses up to 350 troops in Avdeyevka area in past day

Ukraine lost up to 350 troops in the Avdeyevka area in the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"In the Avdeyevka area, units of Battlegroup Center carried out active operations, moving to more advantageous positions and hitting the troops and equipment of the 59th Motorized Infantry Brigade, the 23rd and 53rd mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed forces near Netailovo, Umanskoye, Ocheretino and Toretsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic. <...> The Ukrainian armed forces lost up to 350 troops, two armored combat vehicles and five motor vehicles," the statement reads.

Russian forces also repelled 12 counterattacks by the 25th Air Assault Brigade, the Third Assault Brigade, the 24th and 75th mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces near Novgorodskoye, Semyonovka, Orlovka, Tonenkoye and Berdychi in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine not involved in Moscow attack, says Kyiv spy-agency spokesman

Ukraine was not involved in Friday's shooting attack near Moscow and suggestions of a Ukrainian link "have nothing in common with reality," a spokesman for Kyiv's military spy agency said on Saturday.

Russia's FSB security service said "all four terrorists" behind the attack at a concert hall near the capital had been arrested while heading to the Ukrainian border, and that they had contacts in Ukraine.

"This is of course another lie from the Russian special services, which has nothing in common with reality and does not stand up against any criticism," Andriy Yusov, of the Defence Ministry's Main Directorate of Intelligence, told Reuters.

He added: "Ukraine was of course not involved in this terror attack. Ukraine is defending its sovereignty from Russian invaders, liberating its own territory and is fighting with the occupiers' army and military targets, not civilians."

His remarks echoed those of presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, who denied any Ukrainian link in comments on Friday evening and again on Saturday. Podolyak wrote on X on Saturday that "any attempts to connect Ukraine to the terrorist attack are absolutely untenable".

Tass/Reuters

Curses and magical beliefs are woven together in African politics. A study found out that virtually all African leaders come to power emboldened by beliefs in local magical spells. Francisco Macias Nguema, first president of Equatorial Guinea from the time of the country’s independence in 1968, till 1979 when he was overthrown, was a perfect fit of this. A strongman and one of the most brutal dictators in human history, Nguema reportedly killed between 20,000, to 80,000 out of the total Guinea population of about 200,000 to 300,000 people. This led to his country being nicknamed the Dachau of Africa. The Dachau Concentration Camp, built by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany in March, 1933, is located in the medieval town of Dachau in Bavaria, Southern Germany. It was where Hitler’s hounded political opponents were warehoused. Nguema was perceived, as Nigerians perceived General Sani Abacha during his reign, to be mentally unstable. Medical reports that backed this up emerged even from his early career. For instance, a report in 1968 by the French foreign intelligence service, SDECE, claimed that Ngueman suffered mental disorders and venereal diseases. Claims of this ruthless dictator’s mental situation were further compounded by his rumoured addiction to regular usage of drugs like cannabis. This, he was said to consume through its edible drink derivatives of bhang andiboga which have strong hallucinogenic effects.

More importantly, Nguema believed strongly in magic. While he was president in the 1970s, he openly advertised steep romance with sorcery. For him, voodoo was a vehicle of instilling fear in the people of Equatorial Guinea. He often dropped the narrative at public events that his occult powers were drawn from a collection of skulls he arrayed in the presidential palace. The belief that Nguema was as well a sorcerer permeated the nooks and crannies of Guinea. He also flaunted frequent conversations he claimed to have had with the dead, most especially with the same persons he had ordered their execution. To reinforce the narrative of his spiritual invincibility and supernatural reputation, Nguema arranged his own escape from sponsored assassins. Thus, in 1979, upon his ouster in the coup masterminded by his nephew, Teodoro Obiang Ngueman Mbasogo, Nguema was ordered to be executed by firing squad. However, it became a herculean task sourcing his executioners. No one dared volunteer to execute the old sorcerer. The belief which permeated the whole of the minds of citizens of Equatorial Guinea was that Nguema was a mythical shapeshifter. He had the powers to make a return journey from the land of the dead in the form of a tiger and thus seek vengeance from his executioners. It was so bad that the government of Mbasogo had to import Muslim executioners from Morocco who eventually carried out his death sentence. As the last breath escaped his nostrils, Nguema was rumoured to have cursed Morocco. In a country plagued by belief in sorcery, sympathetic magic and witches, Morocco’s crisis which came later were attributed to the tiger, Nguema, which laid curse on Morocco for lending Mbasogo the sharpshooters who brought his life to an end. 

In the light of this, how powerful are curses, or how effective is their perception? In the killing of 17 soldiers of the Nigerian Army in the Okuama Community of Delta State on March 14, 2024, discourses on the curse of oil came to the front burner. Oil resource, generally held to be a blessing to nations, is in the same mould believed to be a curse to them. Nigeria and Venezuela took their rightful positions in that narrative. Were the soldiers martyred in Okuama part of the curse of oil on the Nigerian soil?

Discourses on the link between resources and curse gained currency in the early 1970s. The proposition put forward was that, countries that are richly endowed with natural wealth are most times plagued by violence, do not do well economically, politically, and socially when compared to poorly endowed countries. Two scholars, Paul Collier, a British development economist and Anke Hoeffler, German economist, political scientist, were known for their pioneering works on resource curse. They concluded that resources directly invite loot-seeking rebellion, as well as sociopolitical and institutional decay. Indra de Soysa, (2015) too, in “Oil and the ‘new wars’: Another look at the resource curse using alternative data”, Development Studies Research, 2:1, 64-76 argued that there were empirical evidence which supports the ‘resource curse’ argument in that oil abundance raises the probability of political violence.

This can only be the explanation of the gory scene in Okuoma community in oil-dominant area of the Niger Delta where seventeen soldiers which included a commanding officer, two majors, one captain and 12 soldiers were brutally murdered. The troops from the 181 Amphibious Battalion deployed in the Bomadi region were reportedly ambushed after they heeded calls to maintain peace between two communities who were locked in skirmishes over land. After their killing, the soldiers and officers were said to have been maniacally decapitated and butchered in the most horrendous manner. While some had their hearts ripped out of their chest cavities, others’ bodies were thrown into the river. Reports claimed that some of the recovered bodies had their stomachs ripped out. Incessant clashes over land, many a times deadly and requests for compensation for oil spills by energy companies in the Niger Delta are singsongs. None of these compares to the inhuman killing of these soldiers and officers which has raised critical questions in need of straight answers.

The question that agitates the minds of many compatriots is whether and how an innocent and dispassionate intervention to keep peace among two fighting communities could have earned the soldiers this level of beastly killing. While many have volunteered tongue-in-cheek analyses of the most logically coherent thing that could have led to the horrendous killing, perhaps the most profound of such was offered by former editor of The Guardian newspaper and Niger Delta leader of thought, Abraham Ogbodo. Ogbodo granted Arise TV interview last week. And he said: “It is not true that a misunderstanding between an Urhobo community and an Ijaw community could actually bring that level of crisis, that level of tragedy that we witnessed. It is not true. It’s not about communal crisis. What level of communal crisis? The combined population of those communities will be less than 2,000 human beings. Where will they get the capacity to wreak that level of havoc? To deliver that degree of tragedy, where will they have the capacity? It’s not possible. It’s like a crime taking place in all these drug enclaves in Latin America, and you will be looking for something else other than drugs. There is no crime that happens in Niger Delta that does not have crude oil and the arising benefits, and how those arising benefits can be allocated,” he said.

A very critical issue raised by Ogbodo was the nature of the military intervention. “What was actually compelling about a peace mission in that place that will require the strategic team going for a tactical mission? So, it shows that there are so many things underlying that we are not talking about. If it was actually for a peace mission, wouldn’t it have been for those community leaders to be summoned to the base in Bomadi for discussions to be held? This was not done - instead, the entire leadership of the battalion went to Bomadi and be so exposed, and if a mission like that was being carried by the strategic team, why was there not enough tactical cover that they were just gotten and taken out like that so cheaply? The Nigerian military! That is uncalled for. So, you will see that there are so many things that are wrong.”

Those rhetorical questions are key to resolving the fog that surrounds the killing of the soldiers and officers. To be sure, their loss has bored a huge crater on the heart of the country. From whatever prism one may look at it, Nigeria and, especially, their immediate families, may never recover from the losses. Apart from the huge investment Nigeria made into their trainings, many of their family members may never be the same again after the departure of these breadwinners of theirs. Having once suffered the death of a loved gallant soldier, it is easy for me to decouple the nature of the grief that envelopes the families of those slain military men. The goriness of their deaths makes the need to unravel the crime urgent. Doing so will also bring closure to agitations that lead to life-threatening incessant violence that happens in the crime scene, apologies to Ogbodo, that the whole Niger Delta region has become.

We have heard, since the agitations from the Ken Saro-Wiwas, of how resource-wealthy states like Nigeria are perennially enmeshed in provision of lower levels of public goods in terms of education, health and general wellbeing of the oil-producing communities. Researchers of resource curse have also found out that there is a general malaise among governments of resource-rich countries which reflects in their neglect of citizens and institutions of the oil-bearing communities. There is a growing intensity of social anger accruing from communities like Okuama against the operators of state. It is anger at how their nature-endowed resource has given access to easy money and unearned income by undeserving buccaneers in Nigeria. The truth is, if successive governments had prioritized the peace of oil-bearing communities and had taken a more than casual interest in it, the officers barbecued like chickens for a festival in Okuama may be alive today.

The truth is that, soldiers and policemen posted to oil-bearing communities are not innocent peace-keepers. They are grossly enmeshed in the crude craze that is the daily existential pursuit of Niger Delta communities. It is not news that soldiers deployed to oil-rich communities are alleged to be heavily enveloped in the oil-bunkering trade. Some of them even possess their own bunkering crew. This is a pestilence in the Niger Delta. Indeed, illicit trade in crude oil and violence are said to be the only thriving industry in Nigeria’s oil-producing communities. In the words of Ogbodo, “everything is subordinated to oil.” This is in agreement with scholarly arguments which say that resource wealth gives birth to weak institutions that are lax in maintenance of peace and security. Groups within the state then capitalize on this weakness to organize armed violence which they deploy to capture rents. The result is that a resource-dependent state like Nigeria is landlord to persistent violence in its oil-bearing communities. This is because institutions that are expected to bring peace and harmony like the army and police are either too weak to monopolize violence, cannot stop the oil resource itself from inviting looting or have become part and parcel of the problem. In the process, the financing of gory violence by individual state actors like the one in Okuama becomes a fait accompli.

There is also the resource jealousy and resource monopoly angle to the killing of the soldiers in Okuama. The resource-bearing communities see the rest of Nigeria as parasites reaping where they did not sow. On visits to Abuja, the communities see glittering streets paved by their oil money, compared to the despoliation of their lands and the crude-smeared waters they drink. They also know that fat leeches in power and their accomplices from other parts of Nigeria acquire toad-like stature from the wealth of their oil. Niger Deltans thus naturally develop a revenge complex against these Nigerian bugs. Take a look at the list of 17 soldiers killed in Okuama. You will discover that a particular section of the country takes a giant share of the fatalities. None of them is from the Niger Delta. This reflects how the Nigerian state sucks the nectar of Niger Delta while leaving its withered land to its fate.

The macabre manner in which those soldiers and men were murdered was not ordinary killing. It bears the traits of a revenge killing, or a Muti murder. A widespread killing tactic in South and Southern Africa, Muti is a form of human sacrifice. It is meant to achieve power, energy or good fortune and undertaken only after body parts have been precisely harvested while the victim is still alive. The aim is to allow the victim’s shrill cry go up to the sky, in the belief that it would summon deities. Only yesterday, a media report said the Defence Headquarters had confirmed recovering decomposing hearts of some of the soldier victims of the Okuama tragedy. Gouging out hearts, if not for ritual purposes, is a sadistic revenge method that is not undertaken by run-of-the-mill criminals. Could the murderers have been allies of the soldiers and thus saw them as betrayers?

It must be said that some other scholars have said that it is not wholly true that all oil-rich countries suffer the curse of chronic instability and violence. Nor that these countries’ resource opens up warfare in the oil-bearing communities. And that, like the rumoured curse placed by Nguema on Morocco, is a figment of imagination. This was the path trodden by Ross Michael (2012) in The Oil Curse: How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. While Venezuela, Angola and Nigeria affirm the greed thesis of oil resource, states and countries like Texas in America and Saudi Arabia show that the thesis may not be entirely true. These are countries not fraught with Nigeria and her allies’ oil curse manifestations.

The way out of the curse of oil is effective practice of federalism. States where oil resource is found should be allowed to administer it while they pay royalties to the federal government. If we do this, militancy and crises over land which necessitate soldiers being drafted to make peace would be a thing of the past.

Nigeria must unravel the killing of the officers and men of the Nigerian Army who met their untimely deaths in Okuama. Unraveling it will need openness and getting to the brass-tacks of the matter. It must be done by an independent entity, independent of the military. The military cannot be the accuser and judge in its own case. The first thing to examine is the claim of the peace mission that the felled soldiers were alleged to have come to Okuama for. There are claims that the Urhobo and Ijaw that make up the community were not at war with each other; at least not to the level that could warrant “a peace mission”. So if this is the case, why would a whole battalion invade a community that is not at war, with the most plum of its officers? Second, did the “peace-keeping force” fire first at the members of the community, as claimed by some of them? At what point were the officers and men ambushed? In answering these questions, we would be drilling into the base of the issue. It must be done for the sanity of the country.

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life ~ Jude 1:21.

Introduction:

It’s that time of the year again when many people demonstrate their keenest interests in increasing their personal growth, productivity and impacts on earth, beseeching the throne of God with prayers and fasting, just to break through the limits of the past and make the new year better than ever.

Sadly, however, too many good people simply relive the “same year” many times over, year-in year-out, till they grow old and die. They shrink their dreams to fit the sizes of their fears and indulgences. But, that’s not how God intended us to live.

Yes indeed, no matter the season you’re in right now, you can still upgrade your life significantly and make this year the finest year of your life yet. However, this won’t just happen, you must accept responsibility and do something about it.

Though, there are many steps to take in this regard; albeit, I strongly believe that the place to start is to examine and reorder the status of our hearts towards God whose throne we've been bombarding with all manner of prayers since the beginning of the new year. Are we truly reciprocating His love for us (1 John 4:19)? Do we genuinely love Him in our hearts?

As far as I know, the most unfailing winning idea ever is your personal love for God. It generates a peculiar supernatural force that can make any man great on earth. This is a fantastic mystery!

No doubt, God’s love for us is expressly overwhelming (John 3:16). However, how we respond to it matters most to our destinies. God so loved us, and we must reciprocate it. Reciprocated love is the tonic of any relationship.

Genuine Iove for God is that compelling desire to please Him, to keep His commandments and to say yes to His Will (John 14:15; 15:10). It is an attribute, attitude and a lifestyle that every serious believer should vigorously pursue, without which no man can ever fully appropriate God’s love personally.

The greatest heroes and heroines with loads of outstanding achievements in the Scriptures were people propelled by their positive force of genuine love for God in their hearts. They demonstrated great courage and noble moral qualities, and had lived in the minds of God and men for successive generations.

David followed this route, and we clearly see how his life contrasted with that of Saul in 1 Samuel 13:-13-14. Saul was foolish in disregarding the commandments of the Lord, his reign was aborted and David was chosen to replace him.

God found David in the wilderness, and said that’s my king. When David was anointed, he left the wilderness for the palace, and he became an instant phenomenal personality (Psalm 89:20). A teenager became a national hero through the Lord’s uncommon favour, overnight!

If we may inquire here, what qualified David for this uncommon favour he enjoyed with God? It was simply his heart for God: he loved God and His kingdom. Although he was a bush boy, God brought him into divine limelight, because he demonstrated a commitment of love for Him in diverse ways.

Your commitment of love to God is what will single you out amongst the crowd, and make you extra-ordinary among ordinaries. When you are committed to God, even angels will run errands for you. Let’s all determine to be militant in our love for God on earth!

The Gains of Loving God

Basically, anything that’s important to God works by love (Galatians 5:6). Indeed, everything that the covenant provides works by love. Hence, when you give God your best in love, your prayers will turn to praise.

Your love for God defines the perimeter of your safety on earth. The big playing field where the believer may walk and exercise himself, without any fear of harassment or intimidation is defined by his love for God. It is the energy of God’s love that keeps us safe from evil.

Secondly, in love is everything connected, and in it every good thing in life can be collected (John 1:1-3). The love of God is so deep, so boundless and so encompassing (Ephesians 3:19). It shows us the lines, which we must not transgress and it equally throws His lines of pleasure in areas that mark our inheritance (Psalm 16:6).

What principle did Solomon engage to become fabulously rich? It was love for God (1Kings 3:3-4)! Thereafter, God gave him an outstanding, peculiarly outlandish supra-wealth. When you genuinely and outstandingly love the Lord, the good things of life will begin to pursue you.

Furthermore, loving God guarantees a torment-free life. Loving God and loving the world are mutually-exclusive (1John 2:5,15). You cannot love the world and love God at the same time. Only perfect love for God casts out the torment of fear (1 John 4:18).

Any adventure outside the Father’s love is a disaster waiting to happen! Any enterprise or advance outside it is like courting the viper’s fangs (Ecclesiastes 10:8). If the Word of God cannot correct you or re-orientate your life, you're in great danger and you're not safe.

See, the way of transgressors must be hard, naturally (Proverbs 13:15)! On the contrary, when you genuinely love the Almighty God, you supernaturally become torment free.

When you prove your commitment to Him by your qualitative love for Him, He will speedily heap on you an abundance of every good thing you could ever wish for, and all the good things of life will start running after you (Matthew 6:33). Assuredly, loving God is the most potent creative force for enjoying God's super abundant favour.

How To Show Your True Love for God

Fundamentally, your obedience to God’s commandments is the litmus test and the living proof of your love for Him. Biblical obedience can be indexed by the number of things, pleasures and propensities, you’re ready to give-up for God, your genuine love for humanity, and the quality time you’re happy to spend in His presence to worship, pray and study the Word.

When you truly love God, it will also reflect in your sacrificial giving and general services to His kingdom. And, it will show in your zeal and fire for the things of God, including your firm defense of His kingdom in your speech and other daily socio-political interactions, and so on. Watch out: you are what you do, not what you say you'll do!

Yes, obedience may come with painful costs; yet, it is in your moments of obedience that your destiny is shaped. Moreover, the pain of today is temporary, but the fruit of eternity is permanent. Don't give up. You cannot change the character of the devil, but you can change your attitude to events and happenings around you.

Friends, let’s settle our “accounts” with God today, we can’t “bank” on tomorrow. Receive grace to love God. Resist every seducing spirit working to lure you away from loving Him. Thereafter, every negative energy working against your advancement will be totally neutralized, and all doors appointed to usher in fulfillment and excellence to your destiny will be fully opened. You won’t miss it, in Jesus Name. Amen. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

SMS/WhatsApp: +234 802 318 4987

Jesus says to Nicodemus: “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3). “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5).

This means some things can only be discerned by those who are flesh and blood but not in the flesh but in the spirit. Some things are only perceptible to those who are here on earth but at the same time are sited in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6).

Everything about the kingdom of God is counterintuitive. Because it is currently a spiritual kingdom, it can only be seen by those able to see the invisible things of God. (Romans 1:20). Those things can only be seen by those who are blind but can see. But those who are not blind but can see are blind to them.

Jesus says to a Jewish man: “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”(John 9:39).

Eye-openers

God says: “Who is blind but My servant? Who is blind as he who is perfect, and blind as the Lord’s servant? Seeing many things, but you do not observe.” (Isaiah 42:19-20).

Therefore, He reveals to those born again a kingdom that is yet to come but nevertheless is already here. That is why faith in God is: “The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1).

But how can something intangible be substance? How can something we cannot see be evidentiary? The answer is simpler than it seems. Jesus says: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4).

A man who lives by bread alone lives an incomplete and unfulfilling life. A man who lives only on his salary is a candidate for hardship. A believer is not rich in money but in the glory of God. (Phil 4:19). He must live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

This is because God Himself is the life of the believer. (Colossians 3:4). “In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28). Moreover, “God calls those things which do not exist as though they did.” (Romans 4:17).

Once He calls them into existence, they exist, whether physically manifest or not. Once He calls them into existence, we can live by them, whether we have them physically or not.

If God tells the barren she has a child, she must receive the child, whether she is pregnant or not. She must then live in the consciousness of that child, even before she is pregnant. God says His word never returns to Him void: “But it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11).

Believing to see

In the world, we say, “Seeing is believing.” In the kingdom, we believe to see. David says: “I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13).

Jesus says to Martha at the graveside of Lazarus: “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40).

He said to Thomas who did not believe He had risen from the dead: “Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29).

Accordingly, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7). We must receive things spiritually even before receiving them physically.Therefore, Jesus says: “Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:24).

Promised Kingdom

God promised Israel a kingdom that will never pass away. Nathan said to David, king of Israel: “Your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16).

Daniel also confirmed this: “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” (Daniel 2:44).

This kingdom has yet to be established. And yet, it is already here.

However, the Jews expected this promised kingdom to be established physically. But God brought it to them spiritually.

Jesus told the Pharisees when they asked Him when the kingdom would come: “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.” (Luke 17:20-21).

The kingdom of God was already among them, but they could not see it. The kingdom was already among them because Jesus was with them. Jesus is the King of the kingdom of God. But He has not yet been installed as King in this world. Therefore, He told His disciples to pray that the kingdom of God should come on earth and that God’s purpose should be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10).

We are still using this prayer guideline today, asking for the kingdom to come, because the kingdom has yet to be physically established. It will only be physically established in Jerusalem at the Second Coming of Christ.

World of Evil

Currently, it is the will of the devil that is done on earth. Or so it appears.

Daniel says: “The Most High rules in the kingdom of men.” (Daniel 4:17). But John observes that: “The whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19). Indeed, Jesus calls the devil: “The ruler of this world.” (John 12:31). He told Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36).

Therefore, Jesus is still referred to as a Prince because He has yet to be crowned as King. He is: “The Prince of princes,” (Daniel 8:25);“Messiah the Prince,” (Daniel 9:25); and “The Prince of Peace,” Isaiah 9:6).

But when John sees Jesus by revelation, He is a King: “He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:16).

Is Jesus a King now or will He be a King?

Jesus is already a King, but He is yet to be a King. When He is installed as King: “Every knee (will) bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue (will) confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:10-11).

But that Has yet to happen.

Declaring the Kingdom

The Bible records that: “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’” (Mark 1:14-15).

He was asking Israel to believe what the Jews could not see. The kingdom was at hand but not yet. The King was in their midst, but Israel did not recognise or acknowledge Him. He did not come in the pomp and splendour that they anticipated. He was not a conquering war hero, but a peace-loving and humble servant who laid down His life for the sins of mankind:

That was the openly hidden promise of the scriptures: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6).

Jesus rebuked even His disciples for rejecting what was written in the Old Testament: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:25).  

They did not believe Zechariah, who said: “Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.” (Zechariah 9:9).

When Jesus rode a donkey triumphantly into Jerusalem, they did not get the message. Instead of crowning Him, they killed Him. TO BE CONTINUED.

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To increase your longevity, you can make some small changes to your eating patterns.

“Diet is one of the most important factors that can impact chronic disease risk, mortality and longevity,” says Frank B. Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Here are four smart, simple ways you can change your diet with longevity in mind, according to Hu. 

1. Eat more whole foods.

“Focus on whole and minimally processed foods, especially plant foods,” Hu says. Aim to incorporate more whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes, into every meal.

2. Eat less processed food.

“In the U.S. diet, almost 60% of the calories come from ultra-processed foods,” including items like soft drinks, snacks and sweets, Hu notes. “That’s one of the reasons Americans consume too many unhealthy foods and too many calories.”

3. Eat for enjoyment, too.

Identify which of the whole foods you enjoy and make your own healthy diet, he says. You can mix and match the elements of a Mediterranean diet and an Okinawan diet, or create an entirely new way of eating that works for you.

“That’s how to actually improve their enjoyment and also long-term adherence to dietary patterns,” Hu says.

4. Eat with other people.

Social connection is a vital factor in longevity. By asking friends out to lunch or over for dinner, you can combine two behaviors – socializing and eating – that are linked to living a longer life.

“Eating healthy food together not only nourishes our bodies, but also nourishes our souls,” Hu says.

CNBC

Debt Management Office (DMO) says Nigeria’s total public debt rose to N97.34 trillion in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023.

In a statement on Friday, DMO said the latest figure represents a 10.73 percent or N9.43 trillion increase compared to N87.91 trillion recorded in the third quarter (Q3) last year.

The country’s public debt consists of domestic and external debt stocks of the federal government of Nigeria (FGN) and the subnational governments — the 36 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

According to DMO, the increase was primarily due to new domestic borrowing by the federal government to partly fund the deficit in the 2023 budget as well as disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.

“At N59.12 Trillion, Total Domestic Debt accounted for 61% of the Total Public Debt Stock while External Debt at N38.22 Trillion accounted for the balance of 39%,” DMO said.

“Consistent with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s External Debt Stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral (49.77%) and bilateral lenders (14.02%) or total of 63.79% which are mostly concessional and semi-concessional.”

DMO said while it continues to use best practices in public debt management, the fiscal authorities’ recent and ongoing measures to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability.

The Cable

The Federal Government on Friday, arraigned the detained President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo, on a three-count terrorism charge.

The defendant, who has been in detention since January 23, was further remanded in the custody of the Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA, after he pleaded not guilty to the charge that was read to him before trial judge, Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

It would be recalled that Bodejo was arrested at the Miyetti Allah’s office in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa state shortly after he unveiled a vigilante group.

Following his arrest, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, on February 5, through an ex-parte motion, obtained an order that allowed the government to keep him in custody, pending the conclusion of the investigation and his arraignment in court.

Based on the strength of the AGF’s application and an affidavit that was attached to it, Ekwo initially gave FG the nod to detain the defendant for 15 days.

The court, on February 22, further extended the detention order, even as it directed FG to within seven days, file a charge against Bodejo.

Ekwo ordered that the detainee should be taken before a court of competent jurisdiction for arraignment.
Counsel to the defendant, Mohammed Sheriff, had on the last adjourned date, notified the court that he applied for the unconditional release of his client from the custody of the DIA. He urged the court to release him on bail, pending the arraignment.

His request was opposed by a lawyer from the Federal Ministry of Justice, Ms. Y.A. Imana, who urged the court to refuse the bail application.

FG told the trial judge that Bodejo, whose followers besieged the court premises with placards to demand his release, was detained in the interest of national security.

Meanwhile, before the defendant took his plea on Friday, the defence lawyer drew the attention of the court to the fundamental rights enforcement application he filed on behalf of his client.

In a short ruling, Ekwo dismissed the application on the premise that it had been overtaken by events owing to the charge that was brought before the court by FG.

“A matter is said to be overtaken by the event when something happens that can change the original course of action, or, when there is a superseding course occurs that makes a previous course of action no longer a suitable pursuit.

“In judicial consideration, a matter overtaken by event means that by the prevailing circumstance, a previous course of action has lost its currency and by that, become academic,” Ekwo held.

He, therefore, ordered the defendant to enter his plea to the charge that was anchored on section 159 (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.

The prosecution counsel told the court that FG has lined up witnesses to testify in the matter, even as he applied for the defendant to be further remanded in the custody of the DIA.

While granting the application, Ekwo ordered that the defendant be given adequate medical attention at the detention facility.

He further warned against mobilising people to come around the vicinity of the court to protest for the defendant’s release.

“Tell the defendant. Those who are drumming, thinking it is a carnival, they will face the trial,” the trial judge warned.

More so, the court said it would allow at least 10 family members of the defendant to be around to witness the proceedings.

The matter was subsequently adjourned to May 27, 28, 29 and 30.

Vanguard

Three students of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, were feared dead on Friday in a stampede that occurred when the students struggled for rice donated by the state government.

The incident occurred at the convocation square of the university where the bags of rice were kept awaiting the arrival of Governor Abdullahi Sule for the commencement of distribution.

According to a student witness, Moses Ajah, the surging crowd of students overpowered the security personnel and broke into the square through the gate, thereby causing a stampede.

“Some of the students were struggling with the police over the rice, and as more students got information, the situation degenerated.

“As we speak, some students are injured and receiving treatment at the school clinic,” he said.

He said some students picked up bags of rice and ran to their hostels and other places of residence even as the governor was yet to arrive to inaugurate the distribution.

As of the time of filing this report, police officers were seen retrieving the palliatives from students.

When contacted, the Information and Protocol Officer of the University, Abraham Ekpo, said he was aware of the incident but yet to get the details.

NAN

A newlywed man, identified as Sani, was among 21 persons shot dead by bandits who invaded a weekly market in Madaka, an agrarian community in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State on Thursday.

Sani, a butcher who resided in Kagara, the headquarters of Rafi LGA, was said to have gone to the market to sell meat when he was shot during the attack.

He reportedly got married about three weeks ago.

Also, Muslim women were reportedly forced to break their fast by bandits during the attack.

Residents said the attack was launched around 3pm on Thursday when commercial activities had peaked.

One resident, Salihu Abdullahi, told Daily Trust at IBB Specialist Hospital where his 8-year-old daughter shot during the attack was admitted that bandits ordered the women to drink water or risk their lives.

“We were at the neighbouring village where we went to mine gold when we saw people running. Some people started jumping into the river, even those who didn’t know how to swim. So, I rushed home on my motorcycle to pick up my family.

“On my way, I was stopped to go back, that they had taken over the community already. They burnt down our clinic and shops containing goods worth millions of naira, motorcycles, trucks, foodstuffs and houses. They gathered our women and forced them to break their fast. One of them that attempted to resist was beaten mercilessly.

“My little daughter was among those they shot. She’s 8-year-old. In the first place, I counted 11 corpses. More bodies were later recovered. And uptil now, many people have not been accounted for because many sustained bullet wounds and they ran to the bush. Some people died in the bush.

“Over the years, vigilantes have protected our communities. We contribute money to pay them and buy them food items to enable them face the security job and they have been doing well. Since we formed the vigilante, bandits have not attacked our community. We didn’t know what happened, the commander was arrested and they asked them to stop operation.”

Residents alleged that bandits invaded their community one week after the vigilante commander was arrested by the police and his boys were ordered to stop operations by the state government over alleged illegal arrest of herders.

The Madaka Youth Leader, Saidu Bwale, said that the Thursday attack was one of the deadliest on the community.

Chairman, Rafi Local Government, Ayuba Usman Katako, said that the bandits had invaded Pangu Gari on Wednesday and rustled cattle and goats before they attacked Madaka on Thursday.

“In Madaka, many people were killed. Till now, we can’t ascertain the number of casualties until when those who have fled return home that we will be able to ascertain the number of people that they have kidnapped or that are still missing.

“At least, 21 people including the village head, Saleh, lost their lives during the attack.

The Sarkin Hausawa Madaka, Garba Mai-Haja, who sustained severe gunshots injuries died in the early hours of Friday at the IBB Specialist Hospital, Minna.

Residents said seven people, comprising four men and three women including children were receiving treatment at the IBB Specialist Hospital.

Secretary, Coalition of Shiroro Association, Saidu Salihu, described the attack as severe and unfortunate.

He called on the federal and state governments to renew efforts in the fight against insecurity in Shiroro, Munya and Rafi LGAs.

Residents decried absence of security operatives despite that the area had come under attack several times in the last five years.

Niger State Commissioner for Homeland Security, Bello Abdullahi Mohammed, a retired brigadier general, confirmed the attack to our correspondent on the telephone.

Though he did not give details of the attack, he said the state government was working in collaboration with security agencies to put and end to the incessant attacks on farming communities in the state.

Daily Trust