WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Seven killed, 144 wounded in Russian missile strike on Ukraine's Chernihiv

Seven people including a 6-year-old girl were killed, 144 wounded, and 41 were in hospital after a Russian missile struck a central square in the historic northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said.

"I am sure our soldiers will give a response to Russia for this terrorist attack," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, delivered early on Sunday at the end of a visit to Sweden. "A notable response."

He said that of the 144 people injured, 15 were children, and named the girl killed as Sofia. Fifteen others were police officers, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram. Klymenko said most of the victims were in vehicles, crossing the road, or returning from church.

Regional governor Viacheslav Chaus said 41 people were in hospital on Saturday.

Zelenskiy said the strike on Chernihiv, a city of leafy boulevards and centuries-old churches about 145 km (90 miles) north of Kyiv, coincided with the Orthodox holiday of the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.

Debris was scattered across a square in front of the damaged theatre and surrounding buildings, where parked vehicles were heavily damaged. A 63-year-old who only gave her first name, Valentyna, showed the damaged balcony in her apartment opposite the theatre.

"It is horrific. Horrific. There were wounded, ambulances and broken glass in here. Nightmare. Just nightmare," she said.

The roof of the neoclassical theatre was torn off by the strike.

Russia has attacked Ukrainian cities far from the frontline with missiles and drones as part of the full-scale invasion that began in February 2022.

People leaving church and others passing by were among those hurt when the missile hit the theatre, where a meeting was taking place, Chaus said.

Law enforcement agencies were looking into how Russians became aware of the event, which he said included business and community representatives but Ukrainian media reported involved drone manufacturers. Both sides have widely used drones on the battlefield.

An event organizer said all the participants, including engineers, members of the military and volunteers, were asked to go to an air raid shelter in the theatre when the alarm sounded, but some people went outside.

"All those who took shelter remained safe," Maria Berlinska, a co-founder of the Dignitas Fund, whose fundraising includes money for drones for the frontline, said in a Facebook post.

A wounded woman said her friend pulled her out of one of the damaged buildings after a part of the ceiling fell on her head.

The streets were stained with blood trails and strewn with scraps from first-aid supplies that had been used to treat the wounded.

** Ukraine's long F16s training process has begun -defence minister

Training had begun for Ukrainians to operate U.S. F16 fighter jets but it would take at least six months and possibly longer, Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Saturday, two days after a U.S. official said F-16s would be transferred to Ukraine once its pilots were trained.

Reznikov said in a TV interview that six months of training was considered the minimum for pilots, but it was not yet known how long it would take to train engineers and mechanics. Ukraine wants the sophisticated U.S.-made warplanes so it can counter the air superiority of Russia, whose forces invaded the country in February 2022.

"Therefore, to build reasonable expectations, set a minimum of six months in your mind, but do not be disappointed if it is longer," he told Kanal 24 anchor Andriana Kucher, who shared the interview on her YouTube channel.

A U.S. official said on Thursday that Washington had approved sending F-16s to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands to defend against Russia as soon as pilot training was completed.

Reznikov said he would not give details on where and when the training was taking place.

The training included technical language training, as the usual basic English level was insufficient, he said.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine attacks Russian military airfield – MOD

A military air base in Western Russia came under attack from an explosives-laden drone on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry has reported. Military officials added that while the attack was thwarted, one aircraft still sustained damage.

In its statement, the ministry detailed that the incursion took place at about 10am Moscow time. According to the statement, the “Kiev regime” was behind the “terrorist attack” in Novgorod Region.

The UAV was detected by the airfield’s personnel and destroyed by small arms fire, the ministry revealed. “A fire broke out on the airfield as a result of the terrorist attack, which was swiftly extinguished by firefighting units,” the statement said.

While the incident did not cause any casualties, one plane was damaged.

Later in the day, the ministry added that one drone had been brought down over Belgorod Region, which borders Ukraine, with electronic warfare systems thwarting a similar attack over Moscow Region.

According to military officials, neither incident caused casualties or damage on the ground.

Numerous drone attacks have been attempted on Russian territory over the past several months, with UAVs shot down even over Moscow. The Russian authorities have accused Kiev of staging the attacks. The Ukrainian leadership, while stopping short of claiming responsibility, has hinted that it was indeed behind the aerial incursions.  

Back in May, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed it had foiled a drone attack on a military airfield near the city of Ivanovo in central Russia.  

Last December, several UAVs targeted Dyagilevo and Engels military airfields, located 500km (310.7 miles) and 700km (435 miles) from Ukrainian territory, respectively. Six people were killed on the ground, with two planes receiving minor damage as a result, according to officials.

** US officials admit they missed opportunity for Ukraine peace – Politico

American officials have told Politico that they may have “missed a window”to push for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Speaking anonymously, they conceded that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley “had a point” when he offered a grim pronouncement on Kiev’s chances for victory last year.

More than two months into Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces, Kiev has failed to capture more than a handful of hamlets and villages in Zaporozhye region, and has lost at least 43,000 men and nearly 5,000 pieces of equipment in the process, according to the latest figures from the Russian Defense Ministry. Although the Ukrainian government still insists it can retake all of its claimed territory by force, Washington is increasingly unsure.

“We may have missed a window to push for earlier talks,” a US official told Politico on Friday, adding that “Milley had a point.”

Speaking in New York in November, Milley said that a military victory would likely be unachievable for Ukraine, and that Kiev could use the wintertime pause in fighting to enter negotiations with Moscow and avoid any further losses. 

His comments reportedly angered Kiev and caused panic in the White House, which rushed to reassure the Ukrainian leadership that it would continue to support President Vladimir Zelensky’s maximalist aims – which include retaking Crimea, an historic Russian territory that voted to rejoin the Russian Federation in 2014.

Media reports suggest that Washington has been divided on the idea of peace talks since at least last year, with President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken vehemently rejecting negotiations, against the wishes of some members of the military and intelligence agencies. This split persisted as Ukraine geared up for its counteroffensive, with reports indicating that despite Biden’s and Blinken’s optimism, the Pentagon knewKiev wasn’t ready for the operation, and the CIA expected it to end in failure.

Pessimism is now spreading in the White House, another anonymous official told Politico, saying that the Biden administration is increasingly asking itself “If we acknowledge we’re not going to do this forever, then what are we going to do?”

Milley has continued to suggest a diplomatic solution to the conflict. “If the end state is ‘Ukraine is a free, independent, sovereign country with its territory intact’... that’s gonna take a long, long time, but you can also achieve those objectives — maybe, possibly — through some sort of diplomatic means,” he told the Washington Post this week.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that any negotiations will be held “not with Zelensky, who is a puppet in the hands of the West, but directly with his masters.” The Kremlin also maintains that any potential peace deal will have to recognize the “new territorial reality” – that the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye will not be ceded back to Ukraine.

Reuters/RT

When death became ubiquitous and cheap as air, afflicting the young and the old in their scores, Yoruba of old said it had become three-for-a-penny. There was what they called iyo olo’kan (one-penny salt). Ookan was a penny and the least of the denominations of the money of the time. A mound of salt was sold for a penny. Death that harvested people in their prime, unannounced, they also likened to creepy, parasitic mistletoe – afomo. It is a leathery-leaved parasitic plant which grows on apple, oak, and other broadleaf trees in the forest and also sticks to trees, either of cocoa or kolanut. Farmers watch out for an afomo on their crash crops because, the moment a tree gets infested with it, it is on its way to barrenness. While the mistletoe has no root of its own, it bores roots inside the trunk of its host and starves the tree of nutrients. 

Afomo, however, has a dual usage. In refrains of chants for mercy and favour, afomo is a regular. It is chanted to remind the universe that all trees of the forest, including palm trees, have mercy on the mistletoe – ti’gi t’ope ni s’anu afomo. They also chant that the mistletoe has no roots but has every tree as its kindred (afomo o ni gbongbo, igi gbogbo ni ba tan). Wherever you see the afomo, it is a bloodsucking leech. That is what death has become in this land; it puts its hideous cap on the young, the old, male and female while those put in charge of lives of the people dance on unconcerned. 

Last week, on August 14 and 15 respectively, like an afomo or, if you like, in the surreptitious manner of a wolf, men of terror crept into the Nigerian and Nigerien military forces. By the time they were done piercing their maniacal incisors into the raw flesh of soldiers of both countries, caked blood, mangled flesh, weeping and wailing were left in their trails. Terrorists and bandits literally washed their bloodsucking hands with the gallant blood of patriotic soldiers. The Nigerian soldiers were killed in two attacks. The first was in an ambush around Kundu village in the Shiroro local government area of Niger state and the second, the downing of a Nigerian Air Force MI-171 helicopter on a casualty evacuation mission near Chukuba village in same Shiroro local council area. While the Nigerian Defence spokesman, Edward Buba, itemized fatalities recorded in the attacks to include three officers and 22 soldiers, with seven wounded, foreign news agencies said the casualties were “at least, 36.” The downed Air Force Mi-171 helicopter killed all occupants on board which included 14 officers and men, inclusive of two pilots and two crew members. The number also factored into it bodies of those earlier killed in action in the earlier operation. If the afomo must cling to every tree of the forest, must it weave its parasitic self round well-tended trees as well?

A day after the Nigerian attack, at least 17 Nigerien soldiers were also killed in an attack said to have been masterminded by armed groups at a place near the Nigerien border with Mali. A detachment of the Nigerien Armed Forces (FAN) roving between Boni and Torodi was ambushed near the town of Koutougou, 52km southwest of Torodi by a deadly band of terrorists. Twenty of the soldiers were mortally injured and eventually evacuated to Niamey, the capital. The Nigerien army however said it “neutralized” more than 100 assailants as they retreated from where they inflicted sorrow, tears and blood on Niger. This particular area, which is the border area, a convergence point for central Mali, northern Burkina Faso and western Niger, had been noted to be an epicenter of violence by armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) in the Sahel region. This repeated bloodshed has provoked anger in the Sahel, fuelling military takeovers in three African countries of the Sahel since 2020. Niger Republic is the latest casualty of this military takeover as the coup which ousted President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 was attributed to the growing insecurity in the country.

On a national television last week, Edward Gabkwet, Air Commodore and Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, was contrite at the thought of wastages of the lives of his military colleagues. In his defence of the Nigerian army however, he made it look as if death was a regular afomo for soldiers that required no societal hoopla. Which should not be. In a release he issued thereafter, entitled We will not give in to terrorists’ propaganda, Gabkwet said, “like all military organizations involved in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations, incidences of fatalities, mishaps and crashes are sometimes inevitable.”

The Nigerian Army has struggled to defoliate the gravity of the Shiroro attacks. Both Gabkwet and Buba, deploying all euphemistic equivalents available to them, have attempted to mis-tag the downing of the military helicopter as a crash due ostensibly to foggy weather. This must be in apparent deference to patriotism. Two military sources however told Reuters that the Air Force helicopter was most likely brought down “after gang members shot at it.”Abdullahi Abubakar, a renowned terrorist who is also popularly known as Dogo Gide, later claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter. In a viral video, he said, “By God’s grace, this is what we will be showing you. These are dead bodies of Nigerian soldiers that attacked us with the aim of killing us. They wanted to kill Dogo Gide. But Dogo Gide by God’s grace is still alive and he will not die (by soldiers’ bullets). These are soldiers lying on the ground. Look at them…and their helicopter lying wasted. I want you people to repent because we don’t have any problem with anyone. We’ll not kill anyone except those who plan to attack us.”

It will be recalled that in the last two years, especially under former president Muhammadu Buhari, bloodsucking gangs of heavily armed men called bandits, terrorists or other synonyms, have wreaked irreparable havocs on Nigeria’s northwest. They kidnapped Nigerians in their thousands, killed hundreds and rendered life unlivable in that part of Nigeria. Forget the bally-ho and muscle-flexing, attacks coordinated by gangs, especially the deadly ones who are locally referred to as bandits, have seemed to confound Nigeria's security forces. The frightening number of casualties recorded in the process will appear to daily test the brawns and resolve of Nigerian soldiers to the limits. In August 2019, highly influential The Wall Street Journal had alleged that, on the eve of Buhari’s visit to Borno State, over 1,000 soldiers massacred by insurgents were secretly interred at a secret cemetery in Maimalari Barracks, Maiduguri. They were suspected bodies of soldiers killed in a then recent attack on the Melete barracks. The journal quoted military sources, some of whom said, “They moved the bodies from the morgue into the unmarked graves under cover of darkness… We could see the headlamps and the torches of the engineering division digging the graves.” While the Nigerian Army flatly denied this allegation, many families who were secretly contacted were said to have exploded in cries and anguish.

In the last few years, it has been the lot of Nigerian soldiers to ceaselessly tackle violent, deadly herder-farmer crisis in the north central. This includes a 13-year old interminable insurgency waged against the Islamist groups of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the northwest. Added to all these is the spate of general insecurity in the southwest and the blood-baiting nuisance of Unknown Gunmen in the southeast.

As the menace of insecurity has become a common security decimal in Nigeria, it stands to reason that Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) must naturally elude Nigeria. In a report by the Punch newspaper last week, at least 77 percent of both North-Central and North-West states are today struggling with low revenue, poor foreign investments and huge debt profiles occasioned by incidences of banditry. The states are Zamfara, Katsina, Niger, Plateau, Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Sokoto and Kaduna. The paucity of IGR in those states has resulted in their entering the unenviable foyer of states that can seldom survive without federal allocations, said Punch. In the last two years, the states had borrowed over 12 times more than they earned. As no investor takes their wealth to volatile places, the report’s finding was that “at least 60 percent of both North-Central and North-West states did not attract any foreign investments in two years due to the rising cases of banditry.”

With the above as backcloth, it was anticipated that President Bola Tinubu, while nominating his cabinet ministers, would properly factor into the nomination the prime place of a secure Nigeria. The connect between security and investment has been said to be immeasurable. Those who would man Nigerian state security architecture were thought to be men who would be above the vagaries of politics. But Muhammed Badaru and Bello Matawalle were all we got as Ministers of Defence nominees.

While many an appointee has perforated the thesis of pure professionalism as answer to the drudgery and underperformance in public office, no one has been able to render redundant the place of experience in public office performance. It reminds me of the Tapa tribe and its estimation of the potency of unorthodox medicine. The Nupe, traditionally known as the Nupawa by Hausa and Tapa by the Yoruba due to an ancestry they both share (this was where the legendary Oba Sango’s mother reportedly hailed from) are an ethnic group dominant in Niger and Kwara states. When a local herbal medical practitioner flaunts the efficacy and healing powers of their phial in the presence of a Tapa, they ask if the practitioner had suffered from the ailment they profess to heal and, was it the same medicine that let them off the hook? It is a medicinal philosophy that harps on practice.

Badaru’s Jigawa, as governor, was one of the most volatile states in the northwest. Same is Matawalle’s Zamfara. Like most of the states in the region, both states convulsed under attacks by gunmen, known locally as bandits. Bandits’ subjects of attacks in those states were mainly rural communities and travelers. Thousands of people were killed while abduction was one of the notorious manifestations of the absence of authority in the states. Zamfara, for instance, faced one of the worst kidnap-for-ransom syndicates in the history of Nigeria under Matawalle, resulting in the kidnap of 29 phone repairers last year. Under him, Zamfara was a lawless haven for bandits where life was a replica of the Hobbesian brutish, nasty and short life. So, how did the duo of Badaru and Matawalle, the physicians who could not satisfy a Tapa’s practical quest for self-healing, by healing themselves, heal Nigeria’s insecurity?

Between the two countries of Nigeria and Niger Republic, they lost over 50 soldiers to attackers last week. While the governmental and military elites of the two countries see figures in those fallen soldiers, their families see breadwinners, fathers and children whose lives were cut in their prime. In the homes of those fallen soldiers, melancholy must have been an unwelcomed guest which forced itself in at dinner time. Many of the children of the fallen soldiers may never be the same again, with several destinies forced to make u-turns and emergency fatal landings.

Decision-makers should not make death the peremptory afomo that clings to patriotic and gallant soldiers at will. Doing this will necessitate adequately equipping soldiers to confront enemies of the people, as well as making wars only last resorts. Nigeria has fought so many wars in Africa and beyond and came out garlanded. In Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Somalia, Darfur and many other wars, Nigerian soldiers emerged with garlands and encomiums. To now imagine that same soldiers are now expendable in the hands of poorly trained local bandits and insurgents is a matter for concern. As Gabkwet said, indeed soldiering involves counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations and soldiers, by that very fact, will always record incidences of fatalities, mishaps and crashes that will cling to them like afomo. However, casualties can be minimized and soldiering should not necessarily be a death sentence.

Each time a soldier falls, I imagine the cataclysm that befalls their homes. I have witnessed it and speak from experience. When ECOWAS flexed muscles about the D-Day for Niger war on Friday, I wonder how many of those leaders’ children will lead the battalions of fighters. It is an avoidable war and for the sake of all mothers, just as they do in recitation of incantations, let us all chant to ask that ECOWAS leaders, as afomo mercifully embraces all trees of the forest, have mercy on mothers of soldiers in those West African countries as ti’gi t’ope ni s’anu afomo. The alternative is to have Bola Tinubu, Faure Gnassingbé, Nana Akufo-Addo and other West African leaders’ children lead the platoons to war. If the leaders do this, they will feel the pinches, the midnight sleeplessness, the worries, the nightmares that mothers of soldiers at war go through. And eventually, the indescribable pain families feel each time their sons are plucked in their infancies. This is not to talk of the eternal latex - the oje – that oozes out of their body stems each time mothers get bereaved of their gallant soldier children.

And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing ~ Ezekiel 34:26.

Introduction

I strongly affirm that God is sending a refreshing prophetic message to His people worldwide, right now. He is declaring a season of showers of blessing upon us, with a view to reinvigorating our lives, homes and ministries.

Ordinarily, when we talk of showers, especially in this clime, we're talking of rain, or water pouring from above. The word often connotes a large quantity of water that is bestowed liberally or lavishly. A shower affords the quickest way to get soaked in the bathroom.

Consequently, in some other subcultures, events such as “bridal showers” and “baby showers” are not uncommon. A bridal shower is a party arranged with the sole aim of bestowing (or, showering) a prospective bride with presents and, especially, home-related gifts.

At a baby shower, on the other hand, the  expectant mother is generously given gifts that can be useful for the baby when it’s eventually born. In both cases, the recipients are copiously enriched with abundant gifts.

Similarly, supernatural showers of blessing refer to a deluge of God’s gifts — spiritual riches, glory, goodness, kindness, protection, miracles, wonders, wealth, wisdom and strength — which the Almighty God pours upon His people, to make them much more relevant to establishing His covenant on earth (Deuteronomy 8:18).

Beloved, please, rest assured that the El-Shaddai God can release this dimension of blessing upon any individual, any family, any community or even any nation at will (3 John 2).

When you’re caught in the divine shower, you become soaked in blessings without measure, until you become an unstoppable blessing to the whole world (Genesis 12:2).

Season of Showers!

Usually, there’s a season for showers of rain, by the mercies of God. We normally take this for granted though, and we often forget to thank God for it. However, when the showers don’t come at the scheduled time, we desperately long for it, so much so that every tiny cloud we espy on the horizon kindles hope in us.

Now, we can easily relate this to the prevalent spiritual as well as the socio-economic realities all around the world today. No doubt, there's intense drought, suffering and hardship in many quarters of the world right now.

These problems come in different shapes and sizes! Happily, amid it all, the good news is that God is hereby declaring upon us a season of showers of blessing to terminate our individual, ministerial or even national struggles and shame.

Moreover, God has made abundant provisions for this divine project. So, we can still thrive and make progress on the paths of our assignments in life despite all the circumstances around us. Yes, the season of showers is here with us. Alleluia!

Now, I am quite aware that God deals differently with every individual. Hence, what’s an in-season for somebody may be an out-season for another person.

Even then, I strongly believe that your being a partaker in this prophetic message is a significant indication that your season of showers and your “even now” miracles are here, in the precious name of Jesus Christ (Psalm 102:13)!

Whatever situation you may find yourself in, never think that God has forgotten you: He hasn’t. He will definitely send the showers of blessing to you in His season. Alleluia!

The Heavenly Shower Is From God Above!

By way of strengthening our cherished faith in this very important Bible subject, let’s reaffirm unequivocally that these heavenly showers come from God Almighty (Philippians 4:19).

Things don’t just happen by chance. It is God who sends down showers in His season (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 24:1). Every true blessing comes from God. Unarguably, He’s the One that gives power to live a blessed life.

God, in His infinite wisdom, ordered the water cycles that produce the clouds to give us the physical rain. He ordained the “solaric” systems, and made the “evaporation” and the “down-pouration” systems to function the way they do. He also determines the season for the showers.

Thus, when the dust of the dry seasons of life beclouds your vision and your hope is waning, please cling still to the same El-Shaddai God. He never forgets to send the showers in His season (Genesis 8:22). Indeed, “He makes all things beautiful in His time”!

Parameters for Enjoying the Showers!

There are certain qualifications and parameters that every candidate of the heavenly showers must wholly meet before they can receive and enjoy the showers of God’s blessings.

Firstly, to amply enjoy the showers of God’s real blessing, you must become a child of God in truth (Isaiah 8:18; Haggai 2:7-9).

Those who are yet to know Christ must surrender to Him totally, and those who are already in Christ must continue to love Him consciously, consistently and intentionally for continued showers of God’s blessing (2 Corinthians 13:5; Proverbs 8:17-21).

Secondly, we must forget our past experiences, and believe God to make all things new for us (Ephesians 3:20). This was the trademark of Moses, Joshua, David, Peter, and such other heroes of faith, and they enjoyed the tremendous blessings of the covenant in their times. There is no enemy like the past, good or bad.

Thirdly, wait patiently upon the Lord. He says, “I will cause the showers to come down ……” (Ezekiel 34:26). Wait in expectation and, please, choose to see the clouds gather, and determine to hear the showers fall, by faith! It is our season of showers of blessing.

Finally, please observe and obey God’s commandments implicitly, if you desire His showers. God instructed Abraham to depart Haran on a mission, but none of the promised blessings became fulfilled until he had stepped out in obedience (Genesis 12:1-5; 13:2). With the showers of blessing come responsibility: our obedience (Deuteronomy 28:1-14).

No man can curse whomsoever God has blessed in Christ Jesus (Numbers 23:8, 14). Nevertheless, the blessed man can, by himself, limit or even reverse the divine blessings by refusing to adhere to the parameters enumerated above.

This was the pitiful experience of Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas (1Samuel 2:27-36). Their glorious destiny was truncated because of levity. Hophni and Phinehas died the same day on the battlefield, while Eli, their father, fell, broke his neck and died when he heard the terrible news of his sons’ demise and the capture of the Ark of the Covenant.

Friends and brethren, God’s season of showers of blessing is here! You can expect the heavy heavenly rain of blessings, to enrich you on all fronts and to terminate all vestiges of sorrow in your life (Proverbs 10:22).

We have no reason to remain any longer in the valley of self-pity. Redeemed through the blood of Jesus and blessed with all spiritual blessings, we’re now inhabitants of a field, which the Lord has blessed, with high yields of goodnews: prosperity, holiness, health, liberty, dramatic intervention and supernatural victories (Genesis 27:27).

The Lord will certainly send great showers of blessing upon us, if we do our parts of obedience and diligence (Ezekiel 34:27-28). He will open the windows of heaven unto us, till there’s an overflow of blessings in our lives, homes, churches and communities (Malachi 3:10).

No more drought, and no more dryness! No more poverty, sorrow, sickness, oppression, affliction, torment and fear, but jubilation, celebration and joy in the Holy Ghost. 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

If, according to God’s kingdom dynamics, the ways of God are antithetical to the ways of man, then God must consider evil to be good for man.

Evil did not just happen, God created it. He says:

“That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:6-7).

Evil is not of essence. Evil is created. The good God is the creator of evil. Therefore, evil is subject to good. Evil is subject to God’s divine purposes. Solomon says:

“The LORD has made all for Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.” (Proverbs 16:4).

Evil day

Jesus says evil is necessary in the life of a man: “Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34).

This means the man who is not confronted with evil is at a disadvantage and cannot develop into a perfect man. God will not shortchange us in the amount of evil we will have to face but will make sure that we have just the right amount that we need.

Jesus’ principle about the necessity of evil is also linked to others that point to God’s safeguards in our lives. Paul says:

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

This means God, and not sin, is the determinant of providence. When Jesus’ disciples saw a man who had been blind from birth, they asked Jesus:

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” (John 9:2-3).

In effect, we cannot draw any definitive conclusions about the righteousness of a man from anything that happens to him in this life. Bad things will happen to good people and good things will happen to bad people and vice-versa.

Jesus’ theology undermines the classical basis we have for thanksgiving. We usually give thanks because something good happens to us or because we escape something bad. But in this, we are mistaken. God does not favour us by saving us from calamity. Neither does He punish us by allowing us to suffer.

Both the disciples of Jesus and “the Jews” believed that the man was born blind because of some sin, either that of the man or his parents. But no! Jesus’ answer indicates that regardless of the circumstances that occur at birth or in any other situation, God does not interfere either to bless or curse.

There was some physiological reason why the man was born blind. But God does not discriminate, not even because of gross immorality, either to correct a condition or to cause it apart from the normal operation of the divine laws of nature. 

But Jesus, who intended to heal the man by a miracle (in this special case He did interfere), gave a reason for it: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” (John 9:3).

God is responsible

Inevitably, God is responsible for all the evil in the world. If God does not require evil, it would not exist. If He does not require evil, He would not create it. Thus, Amos asks rhetorically:

“Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing? Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all? If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?” (Amos 3:4-6).

Indeed, God is behind everything. David says to God: “I was mute, I did not open my mouth, because it was You who did it. Remove Your plague from me; I am consumed by the blow of Your hand.” (Psalm 39:9-10).

Purpose of evil

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

It is God Himself, and not an enemy, that has set good and evil before us. He does this, not for our injury, but for our benefit.

Without evil, we would have no appreciation for good things. Without evil, there would be no salvation. Without sickness, there would be no healing.

Immediately after His baptism, the Holy Spirit handed over Jesus to Satan. Jesus had to overcome him by trusting in God and in His word. Thus, evil is meant to be overcome. It is like running a steeplechase or hurdles race. Evil constitute the obstacles in our way that must be surmounted.

An overcomer must have things to overcome. Evil is the mountain or hill before us. Jesus says: “He who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.” (Revelation 21:7).

But evil cannot be overcome with evil. Evil must be overcome with good. (Romans 12:21). Thereby, evil provides a testing ground for righteousness. Evil is designed to provoke righteousness.

Purifying agent

Jesus says: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8). 

God uses the afflictions of the devil to purify our heart. This is what happened with Job. After undergoing the ordeal that God orchestrated, Job’s eyes were opened and, for the first time, he saw clearly “the invisible attributes of God.” (Romans 1:20). He said to God: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6).

Because evil is beneficial in measured doses, Jesus does not restrain Satan from prevailing against Peter. Instead, He tells him that the lessons learnt from the experience will enable him to strengthen his colleagues:

“The Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke 22:31-32).

Jesus then told all his disciples that the devil’s testing is divinely designed to identify those who will be given the crown of life:

“The devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10).

Testing tool

God also uses the devil’s testing as a tool of righteousness. This was Paul’s experience who was also handed over to the devil. He says: “One of Satan’s angels was sent to make me suffer terribly, so that I would not feel too proud.” (2 Corinthians 12:7). 

In similar fashion, Paul also hands over sinners to the devil for their good. He writes to the Corinthians about an adulterous man: “You must then hand that man over to Satan. His body will be destroyed, but his spirit will be saved when the Lord Jesus returns.” (1 Corinthians 5:5). 

He also writes to Timothy: “Two of them are Hymenaeus and Alexander. I have given these men over to the power of Satan, so they will learn not to oppose God.” (1 Timothy 1:20). 

Accordingly, Habakkuk, who had complained about God’s inclination to allow evil to flourish unrestrained, finally realises that God uses the devil and his evil works for good, disciplinary, and corrective purposes. He exclaims at last: “O LORD, you have appointed them for judgment; O Rock, you have marked them for correction.” (Habakkuk 1:12).

Even if God kills us, we will not die. He will raise us from the dead. Even when God brings calamity, it is for righteous reasons. As Daniel observes:

“The LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.” (Daniel 9:14).

“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.“ )1 John 1:5)

In God, there is no duality of right and wrong, or good and evil. Everything that God is, and everything that God does, is good and right. It is only in man that we have an interplay of the negative and the positive.

Because God is good, evil can never destroy the good. Evil can only destroy evil. Because God is good, evil can never triumph over good. Therefore, God gives us this reassurance:

“Behold, I have created the smith that blows the coals in the fire, and that brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, says the LORD.” (Isaiah 54:16-17).

Since all things proceed from God. All things operate through Him. And all things will be reconciled in Him. Then, even evil will end up as good because God is goodness.

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever!” (Romans 11:36).

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A Spanish man stands accused of taking advantage of an overly-religious old woman by posing as her Lord and Savior and asking her to deposit money at His ‘Church of Heaven’.

Could you say ‘no’ to God? What if He called you directly to ask for a favor? Esperanza, an elderly woman from León, in northwestern Spain, could not refuse God when He called her on her telephone and told her to put her savings in His ‘Church of Heaven’, because it offered better interest than earthly ones. The woman never once suspected that she was being scammed, as she was convinced that she was a ‘chosen of the Virgin’ long before receiving the call, so getting a direct call from the Almighty didn’t really seem that strange. Over six years, Esperanza followed God’s instructions and deposited around 300,000 euros in a small drawer at a local convenience store, convinced the money would end up at a heavenly church.

The victim in this bizarre case suffers from religious mystical delusions. In 2013, she somehow became convinced that she was a saint chosen by the Virgin herself. It is believed that the scammer, the owner of a local shop who knew about the woman’s beliefs, took advantage of her extreme religiousness to fill their own pockets.

“I have been a saint since 2013,” Esperanza told reporters.  On a car trip I felt hands on my shoulders and when I got home they took me to the bathroom. There, on the mirror, it was written in letters of blood: ‘I am the Virgin, here I have shed all my blood. My daughter, you are a saint. Wipe it with this sponge.’

So when the elderly woman first received God’s phone call in 2013, she wasn’t that surprised. He told her to start depositing her money into a “checking account of God at the Bank of Heaven”. She was promised better interest than that offered by earthly banks, as well as the possibility to build herself a house in Heaven with the money saved. To Esperanza, that sounded like a good deal.

From 2013 to 2019, the elderly woman deposited all her savings in a small drawer at a local convenience store operated by a man who now stands accused of scamming her. She used up all her savings and took out two bank loans to please the Almighty. No one, not even her children knew about her deal with God, as the scammer allegedly threatened to kill her family if she told anyone. God is supposed to have unlimited power, so Esperanza heeded the warning. Her kids only found out about it when they learned that her saving account was empty.

The suspect in this case still insists that he is innocent, but prosecutors allegedly have evidence of him taking advantage of Esperanza by posing as God and faking his voice during phone calls with the woman. His trial has recently started and the prosecution has asked for 8 years in prison for the defendant.

Oddity Central

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced additional guidelines for Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in a bid to improve efficiency of the Nigerian foreign exchange market.

The decision comes two years after the apex bank banned the sale of dollars to BDCs amid efforts to stabilize the market. However, the latest directive does not state that the central bank will resume the sale of dollars to the BDCs.

The new operational mechanism, contained in a circular dated 17 August, stated that the spread on buying and selling by BDC operators will be within an allowable limit of -2.5 percent to +2.5 per cent of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange market window weighted average rate of the previous days.

In the circular, signed by O.S Nnaji, the Director of Exchange Department, the bank ordered a mandatory rendition by BDC operators of the statutory periodic reports (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly) on the Financial Institution Form Rendition System (FIFX) which it said has been upgraded to meet individual operators requirements.

The apex bank warned that non-rendition of returns would attract sanctions which may include withdrawal of operating license with effect from the date of the circular.

“Where Operators do not have any transaction within the period, they are expected to render nil returns. Please be guided accordingly and ensure compliance,” the circular said.

Background

In August 2021, the CBN ended the sale of forex to Bureau De Change operators, saying the parallel market had become a conduit for illicit forex flows and graft.

The bank said it would no longer process applications for BDC licences in the country.

Weekly sales of foreign exchange by the CBN was thereafter designed to go through commercial banks, the suspended governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele, said at the time.

“We are concerned that BDCs have allowed themselves to be used for graft,” Emefiele said.

He argued that international bodies, including some embassies and donor agencies, had been complicit in illegal forex transactions that hindered the flow of foreign exchange into the country.

The directive was issued a few days after the acting central bank governor, Folashodun Shonubi, met with President Bola Tinubu during which he blamed the high exchange rate of the dollar to the naira at BDCs on speculators. He said the government would put measures in place to check the activities of currency speculators.

“We do not believe that the changes going on in the parallel market are driven by pure economic demand and supply but are topped by speculative demand from people,” he told journalists after the meeting.

The bank chief said he briefed Tinubu on some of the plans to address the challenge.

“Some of the plans and strategies, which I’m not at liberty to share with you, means sooner rather than later, the speculators should be careful because we believe the things we’re doing when they come to fruition may result in significant losses to them.”

PT

Atedo Peterside, founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc and Anap Foundation, says the “All Eyes On The Judiciary” slogan recently seen on billboards across the country is far from being offensive.

Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) had ordered the removal of billboards with the messaging as sponsored by a group known as the Diaspora’s for Good Governance.

The advertisements were put up as the presidential election tribunal prepares to deliver its verdict on the petitions challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the general election.

ARCON also dissolved its Advertising Standards Panel and suspended the director and deputy director of regulations for approving billboards targeted at the presidential election petition tribunal.

In a tweet on Friday, Peterside said the slogan should not have been offensive to a right-thinking person.

“For the record, methinks #AllEyesOnTheJudiciary is a neutral slogan that should ordinarily not offend a right-thinking and sincere person in a civilised society,” he said. 

“I can understand someone rejecting a negative slogan like let us turn our noses up at the judiciary’.

“Enough said.”

The Cable

West Africa's main regional bloc on Friday said it had agreed an undisclosed "D-Day" for a possible military intervention to restore democracy in Niger if diplomatic efforts fail, stressing that it would not hold endless dialogue with the defiant junta.

The comments came at the end of a two-day meeting of West African army chiefs in Ghana's capital Accra, where they have been hashing out the logistics and strategy for a possible use of force in Niger. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has said such action would be a last resort.

"We are ready to go anytime the order is given," ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah said during the closing ceremony. "The D-Day is also decided, which we are not going to disclose."

He said a peaceful resolution remained the bloc's preferred option.

"As we speak we are still readying (a) mediation mission into the country, so we have not shut any door... (but) we are not going to engage in endless dialogue."

There was no immediate response from the junta.

Military officers deposed Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 and have defied calls from the United Nations, ECOWAS and others to reinstate him, prompting the bloc to order a standby force to be assembled.

"We've already agreed and fine-tuned what will be required for the intervention," Musah said, declining to share how many troops would be deployed and other strategic details.

Most of its 15 member states are prepared to contribute to the joint force excepting those also under military rule - Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea - and Cape Verde, according to the bloc.

ECOWAS has taken a harder stance on the Niger coup, the wider region's seventh in three years, than it did on previous ones. The credibility of the bloc is at stake because it had said it would tolerate no further such overthrows.

"The decision is that the coup in Niger is one coup too many for the region, and we are putting a stop to it at this time, we are drawing the line in the sand," Musah said.

Any intervention would spell further turmoil for West Africa's impoverished Sahel region, which is already battling a decade-old Islamist insurgency and a deepening hunger crisis.

Niger also has strategic importance beyond West Africa because of its uranium and oil reserves and role as a hub for foreign troops involved in the fight against the insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts continue. The United Nations special envoy for West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Santos Simao, met with the junta's Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine on Friday.

Simao said in comments broadcast on Niger's state television that he wanted to listen to the junta's point of view "to study together a way for the country to return as quickly as possible to constitutional normality and legality too. We are convinced that it is always possible with dialogue."

Reuters

A middle-aged woman, simply identified as Mrs Rebecca Gbaje, broke down in tears after a wheel barrow pusher disappeared with the food stuffs she bought at Kwaita village market in Kwali Area Council of the FCT.

Our reporter, who was at the market, observed as some customers and traders gathered to sympathize with the woman, while some sympathisers walked round the market in search of the barrow pusher.

The woman, while narrating to sympathisers who stood to console her amid tears, said she bought the food items that comprised of Mudus of rice, beans, maize and other ingredients and engaged the barrow pusher to help her take the items to the road side.

She said after the barrow pusher started moving to the road with the items, she stopped over to buy fish and asked him to wait for her.

“After buying the fish, I turned back but could not see the barrow pusher again,” she said.

Gbaje said she came from Fogbe village to Kwaita market to buy the food stuffs, amounting to N23,300.

City & Crime reports that some traders contributted money for the woman, who refused to stop crying, to buy some other food stuffs.

Daily Trust

Some residents of Taraba have started stealing farm pŕoduce to feed their families.

Reports from some communities across the state revealed that incidents of stealing of raw Cassava, Yam and Maize were recorded in recent weeks.

A lady, who owned a cassava  farm in one of the villages in Ardo-Kola local government area of the state, said she caught her neighbours harvesting cassava in her farm severally.

The lady farmer, Lami John, told our reporter that the first person she caught in her farm confessed that he stole cassava from her farm not to sell but to feed his family.

“I told him to go and l did not report the matter to our ward head because l know him as an honest person,” she said.

Lami stated further that she recorded more of such cases in her farm and all those she caught were her neighbours and actually stole the cassava to feed their families.

Further findings revealed that theft of Yam and Maize in the farms is now rampant in villages across the state.

Another farmer, Ibrahim Suleiman, told Daily Trust that he caught his neighbours stealing Maize in his farm four times but did not report the matter to the police or to their ward head.

He said he knew that those he caught were never identified with any criminal acts in the village but probably  the hard time might be the factor behind their action.

According to him,  theft  of farm produce is now being carried out during the day time and those caught confessed that poverty and lack of food at home  pushed them to steal from the farm.

Daily Trust