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Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies have raked in a total of N887.86bn as revenue in the first seven months of 2024 following the tariff increase for Band A customers and improved revenue collection, findings by The PUNCH have shown.

Despite consistent complaints over poor power supply by consumers and high tariffs, the 11 Discos increased their income by 46.96 per cent from N604.15bn recorded in the same period of 2023, spanning January to July.

This information emerges as stakeholders in the sector decreased their borrowings from commercial banks by N28.82bn.

According to an analysis of data released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, which contains Discos’ commercial performance for the seven months, the distribution companies had billed a total of N1.114tn over the period under review but were able to collect N887.86bn, achieving 79.7 per cent revenue collection efficiency in the country.

During the previous period of 2023, the companies issued bills totalling N797.18bn, while they managed to collect N604.15bn.

After about two years of tariff freeze in the power sector, the Federal Government had in April increased the rate paid per kilowatt-hour of electricity from about N68 to N225 for Band A customers, who it said consistently enjoyed 20 hours of supply daily.

However, after an intense public uproar, NERC announced an 8.1 per cent reduction to N206.8/kWh in the electricity tariff rate for Band A customers. The hike in electricity tariffs has put many Nigerians under heavy energy bills.

Last week, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, assured Nigerians of a possible reduction in the price of electricity in the coming months, following a current effort to step up the generation and distribution of power.

However, Nigerians remain skeptical about the potential reduction, as many communities continue to appeal to be removed from the highest-paying tariff, which negatively impacts the cost of living and hampers economic growth.

A breakdown of the monthly revenue showed that N95bn was generated in January out of N130.92bn billed for the month.

N97bn was collected in February out of projected N113bn, N100.44bn was generated in March out of N126.56bn billed, N142.92bn was made in April out of N178.72bn, and N139.23bn was generated in May out of N191.65bn billed for the month.

In June, the revenue increased to N150.86bn out of an estimated billing of N176.57bn while N162.14bn was collected out of N197.11bn in July.

A comparison of the N95bn January revenue and N197.11bn generated in May gives a difference of N102.11bn, which is 107.48 per cent of the former.

With the current revenue collection pattern in the first seven months of 2024, the Discos have already exceeded their revenue for the whole of 2020 and are underway to break the records for 2021,2022 and 2023 by the end of 2024.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show an upward trajectory of N526.8bn in 2020, N761.2bn in 2021, N828.1bn in 2022, and N1.1tn in 2023.

With this considerable rise in revenue, the Discos are expected to plough back part into building the much-needed investment in infrastructure.

The electricity distributors have in the past been accused of under-investing in infrastructure to boost power supply to over 200 million Nigerians, who currently depend more on self-generated power for their homes and businesses, instead of the national grid.

Recall that the government in May secured a $500m loan from the World Bank to fund electricity Distribution Companies.

According to the Bureau of Public Enterprises, the loan would fill financing gaps in the distribution segment, considered as the most problematic in the industry.

It is expected that Discos would invest the funds “in critical distribution infrastructure; Improve ATC&C losses; increase power supply reliability; achieve financial sustainability in the power sector; and enhance transparency and accountability. Significant progress has been made in the preparation of the DISREP Programme,” BPE explained.

Meanwhile, players in the power and energy sector have reduced their borrowing from commercial banks by N28.82bn amidst the increased cost of debt servicing fuelled by high interest rates. An analysis of the Central Bank’s quarterly statistics, showed that the power sector reduced its loans from N1.12tn in January 2024 to N1.08tn in June.

 

Punch

Israel bombs Lebanon, Gaza ahead of one-year anniversary of Oct. 7 attacks

Israel bombed targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip on Sunday ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks that sparked its war, as Israel's defence minister declared all options were open for retaliation against arch-enemy Iran.

Hezbollah rockets launched late on Sunday got past Israeli air defence systems and landed in Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, causing damage to buildings, police said. Israeli media reported 10 people wounded in rocket strikes in Haifa and the city of Tiberias.

Hezbollah said it had targeted a military site south of Haifa with a salvo of "Fadi 1" missiles.

Israeli air strikes battered Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday in the most intense bombardment of the Lebanese capital since Israel sharply escalated its campaign against Iran-backed group Hezbollah last month. Large fireballs lit the darkened skyline and booms reverberated across Beirut.

The Israeli military said fighter jets struck targets in Beirut belonging to Hezbollah's Intelligence Headquarters and weapons storage facilities. It said strikes also targeted Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa area.

Hamas-led militants launched rockets into Israel from Gaza at the start of the Oct. 7 attacks last year.

The Hamas attacks that day killed 1,200 people and more than 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures. They provoked an Israeli offensive in Gaza that has laid waste the densely populated coastal enclave and killed almost 42,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

On the eve of the anniversary, pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested against Israel around the world from Jakarta to Istanbul and Rabat after rallies in major European capitals, Washington and New York on Saturday.

Iran launched a missile attack on Israel last week in response to its operations in Lebanon and Gaza, where Hezbollah and Hamas militants are Tehran's allies in a so-called Axis of Resistance.

Israel, which says its objective is the safe return of tens of thousands of citizens to homes in northern Israel, vowed retaliation amid fears that tensions will escalate into an all-out regional conflict.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday Israel would decide independently how to respond to Iran even though it was closely coordinating with longtime ally the U.S.

"Everything is on the table," Gallant, who is due to meet U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday, said in an interview with CNN. "Israel has capabilities to hit targets near and far — we have proved it."

While the U.S. has said it would not support strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, President Joe Biden said last week that Israeli attacks on Iran's oil facilities were being discussed.

Israel snubbed a U.S.-backed push for a ceasefire in launching ground operations in Lebanon.

On Sunday, the U.S. government reacted to Israel's heavy bombardment there by saying that military pressure can enable diplomacy but can also lead to miscalculations.

French President Emmanuel Macron said over the weekend that shipments of arms to Israel should be stopped. Israel said such a step will serve the purposes of Iran.

The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for residents of southern Beirut late on Sunday in advance of further strikes.

On Sunday night, Israel declared three more areas on its northern border as closed military zones in addition to more than five closed last week as military staging areas.

An Israeli strike on a building in the mountain town of Kayfoun in central Lebanon killed six people and wounded 13, Lebanon's health ministry said. A strike in the nearby town Qmatiye killed six more, including three children, and wounded 11, it said.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 26 people were killed and 93 others wounded when Israeli airstrikes hit a mosque and a school sheltering displaced people on Sunday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza government media office. The Israeli military said it had conducted "precise strikes on Hamas terrorists".

'JOINT COMMAND' LEADS HEZBOLLAH

In attacking Israel last week, Iran also cited assassinations of militant leaders, which have devastated Hezbollah's senior ranks.

Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine was targeted by Israeli strikes on southern Beirut last week and his fate remains unclear. He is considered a likely successor to leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli attack last month.

Senior Hezbollah political official Mahmoud Qmati told Iraqi state television on Sunday that Israeli bombing was obstructing search efforts in an area where Safieddine had reportedly been targeted. He said Hezbollah was being led by a joint command until a leader was designated.

Iran's Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani also has not been heard fromsince Israeli strikes on Beirut late last week, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters.

The conflict in Lebanon, which started a year ago with cross-border strikes by Hezbollah in solidarity with Hamas, has rapidly expanded in the past couple of weeks.

More than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in nearly a year of fighting, most in the past two weeks, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The ministry said on Sunday that 25 people were killed on Saturday.

"Last night was the most violent of all the previous nights," said Hanan Abdullah, a resident of Beirut's southern suburbs. "There were dozens of strikes - we couldn't count them all - and the sounds were deafening."

The United Nations' refugee chief said on Sunday there were "many instances" where Israeli airstrikes had violated international lawby hitting civilian infrastructure and killing civilians in Lebanon.

Israel says it targets military capabilities and takes steps to mitigate the risk of civilian harm, while Lebanese authorities say civilians have been targeted. Israel accuses both Hezbollah and Hamas of hiding among civilians, which they deny.

 

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian missile blows up Ukrainian ship unloading ammo – MOD

Russian forces have destroyed a Ukrainian ship carrying Western-made ammunition which was docked in Odessa Region, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said, releasing video of the purported strike.

In a statement on Sunday, the ministry said that an Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile successfully hit a transport docked in Yuzhny (known as Pivdennyi in Ukraine) Seaport located some 30km east of Odessa.

“The missile strike was carried out at the moment of unloading. The objective control footage shows the detonation of the ammunition,” officials said, adding that the shipment of arms and munitions arrived from Europe, without specifying the country of origin or the exact number of weapons destroyed.

The black-and-white drone footage, filmed from high altitude, shows what appears to be a missile hitting the ship while cargo was being unloaded and fire engulfing the vessel.

Oleg Kiper, the head the Odessa regional administration, claimed that the missile attack only damaged what he called a “civilian vessel,” adding that no one had been hurt.

Russia has been actively using Iskander missiles – which can carry a payload of up to 700kg of explosives up to 500km and travel at hypersonic speeds of over two kilometers per second – to strike Kiev’s staging areas, command and control centers, airfields, defense industrial facilities and other military targets. Moscow also regularly bombards Ukraine’s coastal areas and port facilities which serve as critical points for delivery of Western military aid. 

Russian officials have repeatedly denounced Western arms shipments to Ukraine, saying they only prolong the conflict without changing its ultimate outcome.

 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia targets Kyiv, Odesa in latest drone attack

Russia unleashed an overnight drone attack across Ukraine targeting the capital Kyiv and hitting infrastructure in the Black Sea port of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.

The State Emergency Service said one person was wounded and warehouses and cargo trucks were damaged in Odesa during the multi-wave attack, which kept much of the country under air-raid alert for several hours.

The Ukrainian military shot down 56 out of at least 87 drones launched by Russia over various regions of the country, the air force said. It added that another 25 were "lost" due to electronic jamming but did not elaborate.

Kyiv city military administrator Serhiy Popko said air defences destroyed all the drones that had been aimed at the capital. No injuries were reported.

Air raid alerts for Kyiv and the surrounding region were announced three times throughout the night, totalling more than five hours, Popko added.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

Russia has denied targeting civilians in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, begun in February 2022, but regularly launches missiles, drones and bombs at population centres far behind the front line.

 

RT/Reuters

On 7 June 1911, the High Court of Australia decided a very interesting case. It arose from a publication issued two months earlier, on 7 April 1911, by a newspaper called The Mercury, published from Hobart, in Tasmania. Under the title “A Modest Judge,” the newspaper took aim at Mr Justice Higgins, a senior judge of the High Court of Australia, who was also the first President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration.

According to the records, in a case presided over by Higgins in the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, a lawyer, Mr Starke, accused a labour union of impunity, alleging that “they are encouraged…. by the Government of this country.” On hearing this, Higgins prohibited the lawyer from uttering such words. When counsel protested his right to vigorously advance the case of his client, the judge retorted, “[Y]ou are not entitled to speak disrespectfully of those above us.” Here was the jurisprudence of Kabiyesi articulated with forceful clarity more than three quarters of a century before it arrived in Ligali Ayorinde’s High Court of Lagos in 1989.

This was the factual background to the article that was to become the centrepiece of the proceedings in the High Court of Australia, in which the newspaper said of Higgins that he was, “we believe, what is called a political Judge, that is, he was appointed because he had well served a political party. He, moreover, seems to know his position, and does not mean to allow any reflections on those to whom he may be said to be indebted for his judgeship.”

The Attorney-General of Australia charged the newspaper with the crime of “scandalizing the judiciary.” Dismissing the charge, Samuel Walker Griffith, Australia’s inaugural Chief Justice, who presided over the proceedings, had this to say, “I am not prepared to accede to the proposition that an imputation of want of impartiality to a Judge is necessarily a contempt of Court. On the contrary, I think that, if any Judge of this Court or of any other Court were to make a public utterance of such character as to be likely to impair the confidence of the public, or of suitors or any class of suitors in the impartiality of the Court in any matter likely to be brought before it, any public comment on such an utterance, if it were a fair comment, would, so far from being a contempt of Court, be for the public benefit, and would be entitled to similar protection to that which comment upon matters of public interest is entitled under the law of libel.”

The crime of “scandalizing the judiciary” has largely fallen into disuse. It assumed that the people who scandalise courts were always others rather than judicial staff, or even judges themselves. In Nigeria, the people most likely to scandalise the judiciary these days sit in most cases as judges and magistrates.

In her first official act as the 18th indigenous occupant of the office on Monday, 30 September, at a special session of the Supreme Court to conduct the annual ritual of inducting the latest set of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, warned that under her watch, obedience to court orders will be “non-negotiable. No individual or institution, irrespective of their standing, will be permitted to treat the judgements of our courts with levity or disregard. The Judiciary stands resolute in ensuring that the sanctity of our legal decisions is upheld.”

Regrettably, Madam CJN labours under the misapprehension that it is always possible or easy to know what the order is that is to be obeyed. The joke is that court orders these days are so lucrative that many judges make them – in good old Nigeria-speak – double-double. Responsibility for this sorry state lies mostly with the Federal High Court.

The ancient city of Kano now has two Emirs, one state and the other federal, after a rogue Federal High Court judge decided to take chieftaincy matters into the federal realm.

Edo State has two Deputy Governors too.

By dint of the judicial labours of Peter Lifu, a judge, the Federal High Court also attempted to impose two separate dates on Rivers State for the conduct of Local Government elections, after Chigozi Igwe, a judge of the High Court of Rivers State, had issued a considered decision setting 5 October as the date for the election. Rivers State Governor, Sim Fubara, acknowledged Peter Lifu’s hardwork by handing him the moniker of “that justice that gave that fraudulent judgment.”

This is not the first time the Federal High Court will gratuitously constitute itself into an appellate forum to review, without benefit of the records of proceedings and with the practised ill-will of a political hit-job dressed up in judicial robes, decisions of State High Courts. Nor is it the first time that the Federal High Court will convert itself into a court of unlimited jurisdiction that it is not at the expense of a State High Court which, under the Constitution, is indeed the only court of unlimited jurisdiction.

This Federal High Court has become the place where the law falls into disrepute and Lady Justice suffers repeat rape.

This has become the routine of the Federal High Court under the leadership of its current Chief Judge, who enables a notorious line up of judges of the court who clearly seem to be able to habitually scandalise the judiciary without consequence. This Chief Judge of the Federal High Court favours them with the species of cases that lend themselves to pay-as-you-go judicial dispositions that can only originate in the bedrooms of their favourite politicians.

Not even the Inspector-General of Police, who must provide the steel behind the orders of courts in Nigeria, has much regard for them. The most charitable that can be said of Kayode Egbetokun is that he is a political IGP. For most of his professional life, Egbetokun has been the Aide-de-camp to the man who now occupies the presidency. Even as IGP, the habits of a lifetime as ADC die hard. In his current office, he now heads the uniformed, armed wing of the ruling party. In that role, his brief is to make his principal happy. If a court order gets in the way of that, it is for CJN Kekere-Ekun to worry about that.

The people who have the gumption to call out such conspiracy of conceit become the butt of a line-up of professional hirelings defending the habitual malefaction of those who supervise judicial malpractice as standard procedure. One example of such faceless hirelings is the fly-by-night entity that calls itself “Global Network for Justice and Equity.” There’s the even more risible “Centre for Reform and Advocacy.” Others are plainly disreputable. One of the more enthusiastic among that species, a lawyer, has a quite shameful rapsheet with the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee. It reflects the sad state of the judiciary whose orders CJN Kekere-Ekun swears by, that such are the only specimens these days who can now be counted upon to speak up in defence of the authority of the branch of government that she must lead.

Some lawyers, judges and politicians would like to see the new CJN shut down all criticism of judicial malfeasance, requiring them all to go to the National Judicial Council. Regrettably, she cannot do that without bringing manifest disrepute upon herself. As David Pannick KC reminds us: “where criticism [of judges] is wrong or misguided, one should have the confidence in the strength of the institution to demonstrate by its conduct that it serves a valuable function and does its job well.”

Above all, that is very much like insisting that Martin Luther, instead of posting his 95 Theses on the gate of that church in Wittenberg as he did, must hand them to the Pope. Surely, there would have been no Reformation to speak of. Meanwhile, we await the next judicial scandal of a pre-destined order on Rivers State to be issued by the Federal High Court.

** Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a professor of law, teaches at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and can be reached through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Chris Kille

Key Takeaways
Managing a business should should center around direction, planning and growth rather than getting bogged down by day-to-day tasks.
Implementing the 10 strategies outlined in this article can help you regain control over your business, build a culture that empowers your team, grows your company and allows you to have time and a stress-free environment to enjoy the process.

Managing a business should be about direction, planning and development — not about becoming immersed in the day-to-day operations. However, if you are struggling with urgent work, stress and having no personal life, then it is high time to take back your life.

Here are 10 powerful strategies to make sure you are in control of your business and not the other way around.

1. Clarify roles and goals

The first key to regaining control of your business lies in making certain that every team member understands precisely what is expected of him or herand what the goalposts are. In the case where the roles and goals of the people involved are clearly defined, there is reduced confusion, fewer blunders and improved responsibility. It also enables your team to own their work, so they make most decisions without having to consult with you.

Actionable insight: Periodically, you should always look at your roles and goals and determine whether they are still relevant to your business. Make sure that all the people stay on the same page in terms of the company's strategic goals and objectives.

2. Build foolproof systems

Business systems are the foundation of any efficient organization. If you don't have them, you'll be running from one crisis to another. Eliminating waste in these areas means that you are able to cut out potential errors in key operations such as recruiting new staff or handling customers.

Actionable insight: Look for task patterns, and automate work processesthat contain them. It is recommended to document these processes and also look for ways to optimize them as much as possible.

3. Delegate responsibility, not just tasks

Delegation is not just about assigning work; it is about empowering people to own responsibilities and be accountable for results. Delegation of responsibility entails transferring full authority to members of your team and allowing them to work on tasks independently from beginning to end. This not only relieves your burden but also contributes to the strengthening of your team and their confidence.

Actionable insight: Begin with small assignments, and give your team members as much support as possible to ensure they succeed. Delegate as many responsibilities as possible, and empower your team to solve issues on their own.

4. Empower decision-making

If you find that your business cannot function properly without your intervention, it is about time to delegate responsibilities. This does not mean abdicating responsibility altogether, but it does imply delegating decision-making authority to the employees. Decision-making protocols also enhance efficiency since they eliminate time-wasting procedures.

Actionable insight: Encourage only the people who are involved in the decision-making process to attend the meetings, define the goal and scope of the meeting in advance, and utilize project management tools to share the information with other members without having to report it to them.

5. Measure what matters

Not all parameters can be compared with each other or with the existing standards. To set your business on the right path, always pay attention to the essential KPIsthat are relevant to your operations. These should directly relate to your business objectives and must give information that can inform your business operations.

Actionable insight: Choose only a few strategic KPIs that must be met in order to achieve the set goals. Track these metrics to analyze the progress and make necessary changes to the strategies.

6. Streamline communication

Communication is crucial, but when done excessively, it becomes detrimental to the growth of your business. Unstructured communication through daily meetings, extended email threads and continuous follow-ups hinders productivity and creativity. Effective communication, therefore, means eliminating all the unnecessary and leaving only the relevant.

Actionable insight: Avoid inviting unnecessary people, be specific on what needs to be discussed and decided during a meeting, and ensure that everyone who should be in the loop is updated using project management software instead of calling a meeting for that purpose.

7. Encourage innovation

Innovation is a must to remain relevant in the market, but it is not a process that can be left to chance. You need to develop an environment in which your team members are motivated to come up with innovative ideas and solutions. When innovation is a goal, there is an opportunity to change and move forward in the business.

Actionable insight: Encourage risk-taking and learning from mistakes in order to create a culture of innovation. Encourage creative thinking, and supply the tools and guidance necessary to make such ideas become reality.

8. Set up regular checkpoints

Despite good systems and a great team, it is important to have routine meetings to ensure that everyone is on the right track. These are not checkpoints to micromanage but to make sure you are on track to achieving your goals and make corrections where needed.

Actionable insight: Schedule meetings between all team members so they can discuss their progress and concerns. These are good opportunities to discuss successes and setbacks and to remind everyone of the goals and priorities of the project.

9. Dedicate time to strategy

The biggest mistake any businessman can make is to be consumed by the operations of the business and end up with no time to think about the future. If there are no strategic objectives, your business will likely become directionless. To effectively manage your business, you need to set a specific time to focus on long-term strategic planning.

Actionable insight: Schedule time for strategic thinking, and avoid filling the entire day with meetings and other activities. This is the time for you to look at your business and map out a new direction and future possibilities.

10. Trust and step back

Last of all, it is crucial to have confidence in your team and let them do the work. This is usually the most challenging aspect of the whole process for most business owners, but it is crucial for sustainability. When you delegate, you free yourself to concentrate on more strategic activities that will help advance your business.

Actionable insight: First, delegate more responsibility, and then slowly start distancing yourself from the day-to-day management. Believe that your colleagues can accomplish the tasks without your intervention.

The idea of managing a business should enable you to lead, create and develop — a far cry from making you feel weighed down by work and pressure. By following these ten steps, you will be able to regain control over your business and build a culture that empowers your team, grows your business and allows you to have time and a stress-free environment to enjoy the process. Just as a reminder, your business is in place to support you and not the other way around.

 

Entrepreneur

The federal government says Nigeria has officially commenced the sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in naira.

Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, in a statement on Saturday, announced that in line with the federal executive council (FEC) directive, the sale of the products in naira commenced on October 1.

“Following a meeting of the Implementation Committee, Chaired by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy to conduct a post-commencement review of the Crude Oil and Refined Products Sales in Naira initiative, the commencement of this strategic initiative was affirmed by key stakeholders,” he said.

“The meeting brought together prominent figures, including the Minister of State, Petroleum (Oil), the Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the representative of the Chairman of Dangote Group, the Vice President of Dangote Group, and the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), led by the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Executive Vice President (Downstream).”

According to the statement, the strategic initiative and bold step taken by President Bola Tinubu-led administration is expected to have a lasting impact on Nigeria’s economy, enhancing growth, stability, and self-sufficiency.

The ministry said the country continues to navigate the complexities of global markets, and the strategic move positions Nigeria for success in the years to come.

On July 29, the FEC approved a proposal by Tinubu directing the NNPC to sell crude oil to Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other refineries in naira.

The federal government said the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery and other refineries in naira would commence on October 1.

On September 30, Eche Idoko, publicity secretary of Crude Oil Refinery-owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN), said the sale will start with refineries producing petrol.

Three days later, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said it had commencedimplementation of the federal government directive to coordinate service provision from all stakeholders for the smooth sale of crude oil in naira to the Dangote refinery.

 

The Cable

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew  Kukah, on Saturday, urged Nigerians to compel political officeholders to fulfil their campaign promises.

Kukah gave the advice in a keynote address at a centenary public lecture and awards ceremony by the Catholic Herald.

Catholic Herald is Nigeria’s oldest surviving newspaper and weekly publication of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos.

The event held at the Mother of Perpetual Help Church, Victoria Island, Lagos State.

The event had “The Nigerian State: Transcending Challenges, Attending True Nationhood” as theme.

It was to celebrate the centenary anniversary of the Herald, the oldest newspaper in Nigeria.

The cleric spoke on nation-building.

Kukah said that the quality of the civil society, to a large extent, determined the extent of change in a society.

The cleric and social crusader appealed to the leadership to be people-oriented in their policies and administration.

Kukah said that there was a need for governments to carry the citizens along in projects and programme implementation to meet the needs of the masses.

“Nigeria’s journey to nationhood should be of concern to the people and with an eye on the desired destination.

“Pray that God renews our strength to champion just causes.

“Nation-building is a long-distance race that needs patriotic zeal to sustain to stardom,” he said.

He called on Nigerians to be committed to nation-building.

Catholic Herald was one of the platforms used by nationalists to push for Nigeria’s independence.

The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Adewale Martins, said at the event that the newspaper played a major role in the pre-independence era.

He said that the newspaper would, aside from its evangelism function, continue to stir public discourse to advance the society.

He called on the newspaper’s editorial board to do more to expand its scope of enlightenment. 

 

Vanguard

Heavy strikes shake Beirut as Israel expands Lebanon campaign

Massive consecutive strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs from late Saturday into Sunday, Reuters eyewitnesses said, sending booms across the city and sparking flashes of red and white for nearly 30 minutes visible from several kilometers away.

The strikes came after days of bombing by Israel of Beirut suburbs considered strongholds for Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and possibly his potential successor.

A Lebanese security source said on Saturday that Hashem Safieddine, the potential successor, had been out of contact since Friday, after an Israeli airstrike near the city's international airport that was reported to have targeted him.

The Israeli military said it eliminated Nasrallah in a strike on the group's central command headquarters in Beirut on Sept. 27. Hezbollah confirmed he had been killed.

Lebanese security sources said Israeli strikes since Friday on Dahiyeh, a residential area and Hezbollah stronghold south of central Beirut, have kept rescue workers from scouring the site of Thursday night's attack.

Hezbollah has made no comment so far on Safieddine.

His loss would be another blow to the group and its patron Iran. Israeli strikes across the region in the past year, sharply accelerated in the past few weeks, have decimated Hezbollah's leadership.

Israel has been expanding its actions in Lebanon. On Saturday, it made its first strike in the northern city of Tripoli, a Lebanese security official said, and Israeli troops launched raids in the south.

At least eight strikes rocked Beirut’s southern suburbs late on Saturday including close to the airport, according to Reuters witnesses, after the Israeli military warned some residents to flee.

Before the recent upsurge, exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah had been mostly limited to the Israel-Lebanon border area, in parallel to Israel's year-old war in Gaza against Palestinian group Hamas.

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Saturday that Israel had killed 440 Hezbollah fighters in its ground operations in southern Lebanon and destroyed 2,000 Hezbollah targets. Hezbollah has not released death tolls.

Israel says it stepped up its assault on Hezbollah to enable the safe return of tens of thousands of citizens to homes in northern Israel, bombarded by the group since last Oct. 8.

Israeli authorities said on Saturday that nine Israeli soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon so far.

CIVILIAN DEATHS, DISPLACEMENT

The Israeli assault has also killed hundreds of ordinary Lebanese, Lebanese officials say, and forced 1.2 million people - almost a quarter of the population - from their homes.

The Lebanese security official told Reuters that Saturday's strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in Tripoli killed a member of Hamas, his wife and two children. Media affiliated with the Palestinian group said the strike killed a leader of its armed wing, naming him as Saeed Atallah.

The Israeli said in a statement that it had killed two Hamas members operating in Lebanon, but did not say whether they had been in Tripoli, a Sunni Muslim-majority port city also targeted during a 2006 war with Hezbollah

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

In northern Israel, air raid sirens on Saturday sent people running for shelters amid rocket fire from Lebanon.

Hezbollah said it had fired missiles at what it called "ATA company for military industries near Sakhnin base," close to Haifa. It was not immediately clear what Hezbollah was referring to.

The Israeli army said two projectiles had crossed from Lebanon, one of which was intercepted while the other landed but caused no damage.

ANNIVERSARY OF OCT. 7

The violence came as the anniversary approached of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, and displaced nearly all of the enclave's population of 2.3 million.

The impact on civilians has prompted widespread protests internationally. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in major cities around the world on Saturday as the anniversary approached.

Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas, and which has lost key commanders of its elite Revolutionary Guards Corps to Israeli airstrikes this year, launched ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday. The strikes did little damage.

Israel has been weighing options for its response.

Oil prices have risen on the possibility of an Israeli attack on Iranian oil facilities. U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday urged Israel to consider alternatives to striking Iranian oil infrastructure.

The top U.S. general for the region, Army General Michael "Eric" Kurilla, is traveling in the Middle East, a U.S. defense official said on Saturday, declining to specify which country or to confirm Israeli media reports that he had arrived in Israel for consultations with Israeli military officials.

 

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia retrains ex-soldiers heading back to the battlefield

The bearded ex-driver and foundry worker, who identified himself only by his call sign, signed up with the army on Monday. By Friday, he was going through his paces at a training ground in Russia's southern Rostov region, practising firing from an automatic rifle and simulating the storming of a building.

Two and a half years into its war with Ukraine, Russia is offering one-off bonuses of up to 1.9 million roubles ($20,000) - 22 times the average monthly wage - to men prepared to sign volunteer contracts as professional soldiers.

Being able to attract people like Mara is crucial to Moscow's ability to replenish its forces and avoid resorting to another round of compulsory mobilisation. The drafting of 300,000 reserves in October 2022 proved hugely unpopular and prompted hundreds of thousands of people to flee the country.

President Vladimir Putin last month ordered the regular size of the Russian army to be increased by 180,000 troops to 1.5 million active servicemen in a move that would make it the second largest in the world after China's. In July, security official Dmitry Medvedev said nearly 200,000 people had signed army contracts since the start of the year.

"I had been working up to this moment for six months, thinking over the decision, since the enemy is no longer asleep and is crossing our borders," Mara said in a break from the training.

"We have a new generation growing up, my son is growing up, he will also join the armed forces this year. But it is better for his father to go to war than for our children to go."

Mara, who served in an engineering and sapper unit from 2003-5, said his family was supportive. "Everyone said well done, that I had made the right decision."

Another recruit, with the call sign "Ghoul", said money was not the motivation.

"Sitting in an office, working at a factory, is also a noble cause. But I am a man after all. I think that I will be more useful there (at the front) than here. With each passing hour I am convinced that I made the right choice," he said.

"You see, everyone is covered in dust, in dirt, in scratches. But we are preparing, giving our all."

One of the men's instructors, "Mityai", said they were keen to learn but starting from different levels.

"Some people have a little more desire, some a little less. Some have more physical training, some less. In principle, we equalize everyone during the course of training," he said.

 

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Dozens of Ukrainian troops surrendered in Ugledar – MOD

Several dozen Ukrainian troops have surrendered in the Donbass city of Ugledar, which was captured earlier this week, the Russian Defense Ministry has said.

In a statement on Friday, the ministry said that as many as 83 Ukrainian troops surrendered across the front line over the past week, without providing details on the circumstances. Officials added that 44 surrendered during the “mop-up operation” in Ugledar.

The heavily fortified town in the southern sector of the front was a linchpin of Ukrainian defenses in the area, with fighting raging there since August 2022. Ugledar also sits on a hill and consists almost entirely of high-rise concrete buildings, allowing for fire control of the surrounding terrain.

On Wednesday, TASS reported, citing sources, that some Ukrainian units in Ugledar suffered “huge losses” after failing to get out of the town in time.

On Thursday, the Defense Ministry confirmed that the city was captured, later saying that Russian forces have generally taken “more advantageous” positions in that sector of the front.

 

Reuters/RT

Nigerians and indeed, the world, watched aghast last week as a South African grisly movie reel began to roll. Full of all the elements of a movie, it was however a real story. The cast was two black women who, on August 17, were shot and fed to pigs by a white farmer. The victims, Maria Makgato, 45 and Lucia Ndlovu, 34 were scavenging for edible food in consignments of recently expired or soon-to-be-expired produce on a farm located near Polokwane, a South African northern Limpopo province. The expired edible foods were meant for pigs. Before her gruesome murder, Makgato was mother of four sons of between 22 and five years ages. Farm owner, Zachariah Johannes Olivier, 60, had reportedly ordered his employees, Adrian de Wet, 19, and William Musora, 50, to kill the two women. Their bodies were then fed to pigs, in order to destroy evidence of their murder. Ms Ndlovu's husband, Mabutho Ncube, who came to the farm with his wife, had been shot, too but crawled into safety with his gunshot wounds. Several days later, police found decomposing, horrific bodies of the women in the farm’s pigsty, partly eaten up by the swine.

In South Africa, farming communities are severally under attacks by white farmers, exacerbating an already high crime statistics in the country. This is especially rife in rural areas, despite the official cessation of the obnoxious racist system of apartheid 30 years ago. In same August, in the eastern province of Mpumalanga, two men – a farmer and his security guard – were arrested in Laersdrift, located beside a small South African town called Middleburg, for allegedly murdering two men on a farm. Accused of stealing sheep, the men were incinerated beyond recognition. The court had to subject their ashes to DNA analysis to be able to establish their identities. In the same vein, a 70-year old white farmer, Christoffel Stoman, of Lutzville, a Western Cape province, had allegedly driven over and broken the two legs of a 6-year old boy for picking a fallen orange on his farm. The boy’s mother, walking with him past Stoman’s farm, on their way to town to purchase groceries, was horrified as his son got mowed down by Stoman.

As they watch this grisly movie, like the rest of the world, Nigerians are entitled to their shock. However, literally and figuratively, on the social and political planes, our country can be said to be grappling with leaders of similar sadism as South Africa’s Oliviers. Almost on a daily basis, Nigerians’ bodies are figuratively fed to swine, simply because they pick expired pig foods from our collective farm.

Nigerian leadership in the last seventeen months, like Olivier, has figuratively thrown Nigerians’ bodies to the swine who now take turns to feast on our flesh for supper. Nigerians are writhing under excruciating poverty occasioned by wickedness in high places. They encounter limited vision and foresight of leaders who claimed it was their time to rule but who have no time to think through the people’s plights. Perhaps the greatest Olivier-like savagery inflicted on Nigerians is the gradual destruction and undermining of the foundation of democracy by the born-to-rule taskmasters. In almost 17 months, all the institutions of democracy, like the electoral system, free press/speech and impartial judicial system have been dealt mortal blows. They are all comatose today. This speaks to that eternal aphorism that democracies are not killed by guns but by wicked undermining of its foundation.

If Nigerians are so distressed about the misrule in their country today, unfortunately, they are in a Catch-24 situation. We are locked up in a paradoxical situation from which, except an intervention of providence, we may never escape. As Sule Lamido warned recently, if the Leviathan in Aso Rock didn’t control the Senate, the Nigerian Army, Nigerian police, DSS etc and yet won the 2023 election, it is wishful thinking that anyone can stop the reproduction of this misrule in 2027. The ones at the top today have worn upon them the classical head of the Medusa. In real terms, like the sobriquet of one of the friends of Ayinla Omowura, an Abeokuta musical warlord of the 1970s, they are reincarnates of Ab’esuj’obi – one who shares kolanut with the devil.

According to the playbook of democracy, opposition deepens democracy. In Nigeria, the Leviathan has effectively castrated opposition. And this is why we should all be bothered. It is a Lagos model given federal promotion. The Leviathan then dipped his hands into his wiles pouch. From there, he brought out a colony of termites, led by a choleric dictator who is seeking political vengeance in his home state. His main assignment was to gradually corrode virtually all the internal strength of the PDP. I will not be shocked if the Leviathan is also the sponsor of the crisis in the Labour Party as well. Like a colony of pests called termites, Aso Rock and Nyesom Wike have visited on our country, using Rivers State as model, one of the most debilitating democratic devastations ever in history. This means that, whatever tyranny and limited vision leadership which Nigerians complain of today has a longer expiry period than they may think. We should all buckle up for a marathon. It is a distressing reality.

What happened in Edo State last month, coupled with the lawlessness that has eaten up Rivers State today, are clear signals that the electoral, judicial and police institutions have been ambushed. In broad daylight, with the obvious abetment of the Villa, electoral process was cavalierly thrown to the swine. The animals in turn mauled it with maniacal relish. It was obvious that Mahmood Yakubu’s INEC didn’t have any qualm licking the pus-dripping wound of the Leviathan and his accomplices.

With wanton abuse of electoral rules by INEC, advocacy for the abrogation of state electoral commissions for being lapels of state governors will not make any sense. From what is going on in Rivers today, with INEC openly in bed with a federal minister whose Hippopotamus ego will not stop from his Samson complex, any INEC-conducted state election will automatically be a from-frying-pan-to-fire situation. We will obviously be substituting local state despots for Abuja despots. In all, INEC’s Edo sham election hasn’t shown that the commission is the solution to governors’ brazen perversion of democracy. Kayode Egbetokun stands smilingly on the fringe to offer autocracy and totalitarian rule a pillow for comfort and the judiciary a final seal.

The second prong from which to look at this pig-food relationship is ethnic relations in Nigeria. As it stands, in the last nine years or thereabout, ethnic tensions here have ratcheted up so frighteningly, just like among black and white people of South Africa. When you read posts on social media, especially from both Yoruba and Igbo, a tingling feeling of foreboding will creep up your nerves. Of a truth, there is a subsisting history of almost a quarter century-old hatred ramped up between the two ethnicities. However, between 2015 and now, a heavy salvo has been unleashed on the relations between the two ethnicities, so much that if there is any slight prick, the bubble will burst finally.

The most incalculable salvo, more devastating than the machine guns of the civil war, was smashed on ethnic relations in Nigeria by Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year rule. In my piece of May 26, 2019 with the title, Who will be Nigeria’s last president?, I argued that, by the time Buhari exited Aso Rock, there might be no Nigeria as handed over to him. My hunch was based on Buhari’s ultra-ethnocentric rule. That playbook is being revamped today. All the cement and glue that made a united Nigeria have practically been deliberately peeled off or worn out. Ethnic tensions are at a frighteningly high level, reminding one of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Buhari, on national TV, once referred to the Igbo as a “tiny dot in a circle.” It was not different from the pre-fixing of the word “cockroach” by Hutus against the Tutsi. Both depicted a negligible, expendable ethnicity. While in Rwanda, it inflamed passion and expedited genocide, in Nigeria, it bred resistance. Buhari then prosecuted this hate agenda with clinical finish, so much that, by the time he left office, ethnic relations between the east and other ethnicities landed on the borderline.

Curiously and seemingly illogically, since this current government assumed office, Yoruba and Igbo, who were united by their mutual pummeling by Buhari, have squared up to themselves in a needless ethnic animosity similar to the escalation of war between Israel and Palestine. The Leviathan has done little or nothing to quell the inflamed passion and escalation of distrusts between them. The hatreds are bereft of logic, scarcely backed by history and are mere whimsical carry-overs of political antagonisms. Why would a people who have similar histories, struggles and challenges in the hands of their mutual oppressors, hate each other this much?

It is so bad that, if one of the two ethnic stocks, like Maria Makgato and Lucia Ndlovu did, goes rummaging for edible food in the other’s compound, just as Olivier’s maniacal identity profiling of South African blacks, one will feed the other’s flesh to their pigs. Sometimes when I read very acidic but senselessly divisive posts from both sides on the social media, not only do I shudder, I wonder whether the writers were same offspring of leaders like Michael Okpara and Mama HID Awolowo/Alhaji Dauda Soroye Adegbenro? In 1964, both camps, leaders of two erstwhile politically irreconcilable parties – the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) and Action Group (AG) – came together to form the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA) and campaigned round Ibadan during Okpara’s visit. By then, Obafemi Awolowo was locked up in the Calabar prisons by the Igbo/Yoruba common enemies.

In closing, the story of Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s government in Malawi will tell us not to take for granted the danger of a one-party state growing on the Nigerian soil. Banda’s was an extensive cult of personality. He ordered all business buildings to hang his official picture on walls. Today, a particular cap of specific branding is worn by all top officers in Nigeria today, including Villaswill Akpabio, a man who should ordinarily be at the head of checks on the excesses of the executive. Banda brooked no poster, clock or picture hung on the wall that was higher than his portrait. It was a criminal offence. Whenever any film was aired in Malawi, a video of Banda waving to the people must be mandatorily shown. Same happened whenever Malawian national anthem was played. If Banda paid visit to any Malawi city, a group of women were mandatorily expected to salute him at the airport and wag their buttocks erotically to prep up the leader’s voyeur instinct. The performances were also accompanied with special clothes that had Banda’s picture on them. He banned faiths like Jehovah’s Witnesses permanently from Malawi while other houses of worship were mandated to get his government’s approval before preaching.

One major blood-dripping hallmark of Banda’s one party state despotism happened in 1983. Three ministers in his government, Aaron Gadama, Dick Matenje, Twaibu Sangala and a Member of Parliament, David Chiwanga were suddenly found dead. At a meeting with Banda, they voiced their support for a migration from Banda’s one-party state to multi-partyism. They told him to his face that he should perish the thought of a life presidency. Not only did Banda dissolve cabinet immediately, he stripped all members of their status and ordered the three men to be rounded up. They were also tortured and bundled into a Peugeot 604 belonging to Matenje. An accident was then staged for them with their car overturned. It was later discovered that they had been murdered with tent pins which were hammered into their heads. During their burial, Banda ordered that their caskets must not be opened for public viewing. They were subsequently buried at night.

If we think the above is impossible in Nigeria, we should just keep an eye on what is going on in Rivers State. Hours to the state council election, the situation escalated into an embarrassing exchange of allegations between Egbetokun and Governor Similayi Fubara. That is democracy under the Leviathan. We must know that autocracy creeps in harmlessly, just the way music furtively slides into its listener’s consciousness. Of this, Bob Marley once sang, “one good thing about music – when it hits, you feel no pain.” There is a progressive shrinking of the civic space and its replacement with democratic stifling. Wike has suddenly become so powerful that every democratic institution – INEC, judiciary or police – is hidden under his Isiagu clothes. He arrogantly boasts, in inebriated gutturals, that he is the custodian of fire and he can set ablaze any state at his whim. The Leviathan is not bothered. Nigerians laughed at this grisly humour from a totalitarian.

Wike’s boast and the political calculation of the Leviathan who is playing games with the “head” of Nigerians, preparatory to a one-party state, remind me of the Chewa. A Bantu ethnic group of Malawi, the Chewa tribe can also be found in Zambia, Zimbabwe and a sprinkle in Mozambique. They are a very metaphysical people, renowned for witchcraftcy and secret societies called Nyau. Researches conducted by H. Debrunner, leading to the book Witchcraft in Ghana (1961) says witches play games, including football, at night like ordinary people. In order to do this, they '''cut off a person's head and play ball with it." He corroborated this with another research work by Marwick (1965) who said that similar practice was prevalent among the Akan witches of Ghana who “engage in… harmless pleasures such as dancing and playing football where they are said to use a human skull.” Incidentally, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who personified witches’ cruelty in his presidency of Malawi, was Chewa. If, like the two black South African women, shot and fed to pigs by a white farmer, Nigerians continue to be daily fed to the swine on social and political planes by the Leviathan and his appendages, we can only chorus, “Long live Hastings Kamuzu Banda.”

Things are tumbling down fast in Rivers, with morbid signals of owls – birds of bad luck omen – crowing in the air. In many African cultures, owls are representative of bad luck or omen of death. They are feared and avoided. Wike and his Villa minders may be kneading together a script which will result in a Moses Majekodunmi being a gubernatorial placeholder in Rivers. When a State of Emergency was imposed on a chaotic Western Region in June 1962, leading to the Premier's exit from power, that singular action spelled the death-knell of the Republic. Rivers is the economic livewire of Nigeria. Its peace is the peace of Nigeria. Any tampering with the lucid-hour sanity of that Ijaw state could signal a rupture of Nigeria. It was easy for Olusegun Obasanjo to foist it on an agrarian Ekiti State. It could spell national disaster in Rivers. Hope the Leviathan and his cantankerous sidekick are listening?

 

Garlands for Mimiko and Farounbi on their birthdays 

Within a week, two great Nigerians celebrated their birth anniversaries of 70 and 80 years respectively. They are, Olusegun Mimiko and Akinyemi Farounbi. While the former, a medical doctor-turned politician, was governor of Ondo State, the latter, a broadcast journalist of over six decades, was Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Philippines. In my estimation, what links both men is a mental acuity, brilliance and patriotism that are difficult to define. I begin with Farounbi.

Till today, what drives Farounbi is a puzzle that may take a very long time to unravel. Woven into a common whole in him is an optimism and faith in Nigeria which many may find hard to access. He prosecutes this faith with a matchless energy that he devotes into his daily activity of speaking truth to power. Farounbi’s voice is almost a daily echo on Ibadan, Oyo State radio and television stations where he blends a profound knowledge of history with his hope that Nigeria will be better. An avid reader with an elephantine power of recall, he is a role model to anyone who still banks on redemption for this country.

At a point, Farounbi and his friend of over 60 years, Tola Adeniyi, of the inimitable Abba Saheed fame, noticed that my zeal in talking to deaf leaders and seemingly dead Nigerian situation was extinguishing. Immediately, he reached out to me sermonizing like a pastor on the pulpit. He followed it up with, in alliance with his friend, Adeniyi, convoking a miniature confab in Adeniyi’s Ibadan home. There, Nigeria was on the table for dissection and at the end of the day, they both succeeded in revving my zeal and commitment to a better Nigeria. Many Nigerians still wonder how an 80-year old man like Farounbi could still retain this high-octane zeal and patriotism for a country whose essences are dropping off like the wings of a sparrow in the hands of political vultures. I sill do, too.

Mimiko and I met for the very first time in December last year in his Ondo town home. At our meeting, I pointedly asked if he knew that I never liked him while he governed my State. He acknowledged that he knew. My Akure people believed that as governor, he held huge hatred for them in his heart. I told him. He then went on an explanation of all he did, driven by patriotism and an eye on the future.

While I wrote against his government, a détente in my heart came when a relation had to make use of the Mimiko government’s medical initiative called Mother and Child hospital in Akure. I couldn’t believe that any Nigerian leadership could conceive and execute such great medical intervention for its people. My relation was delivered of her baby without a dime demanded of her under very amazing medical care. With a general review I have been able to do about Mimiko after that encounter, especially placed side by side the general rot in governance going on in Ondo State today, I believe Mimiko is a leader whose time posterity will judge kindly.

As these two great Nigerian leaders and patriots celebrate their 70 and 80 years on earth, kindly permit me as I make a toast to their long life and good health.       

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