A sea of humanity bid Michael Olasubomi Balogun, founder of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), farewell last week in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. It was grand, the kind of occasion that befitted his sense of grandeur and his love of drama.

The high priests of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) were there in large numbers, for Balogun was an influential and much valued member. He was also the leader of Ijebu Christians and he cherished his church title, Asiwaju Onigbagbo greatly.

Balogun made money - tons of it - but his focus was humanity. When he had made money, he built and equipped the paediatric ward for the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. He built another one for the General Hospital, Ijebu-Ode.

In later years, he built the National Paediatric Hospital in Ijebu Ode, on several acres of land with modern equipment and well-trained personnel. He donated the hospital to the UCH.

Central to Balogun’s relentless philanthropy was his Christian belief. He was born into a staunch Muslim family and both his parents were well-known Muslim leaders.

His father, Ashiru Odutola Balogun, was a man of modest Western education and he, like many Ijebu of that generation, had sought education for their children.

He sent the young Subomi to Igbobi College, Lagos. It was there that Subomi encountered a charismatic teacher, Festus Segun, who later rose to become the Bishop of Lagos. It was Segun who led him to his new Christian faith and he never looked back.

In his younger days, he was a member of the Guild of Stewards at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos, once the Episcopal seat of the legendary Bishop Ajayi Crowther, the man who translated the Bible into Yoruba, Igbo and several other African languages.

As a young lawyer and accountant in the 1960s he had made good money and good friends. He built his house in Apapa where he was living with his young family.

One of his neighbours was a prosperous Igbo architect who was also raising his family. When the Nigerian crisis broke out and the Civil War eventually came in 1967, the young Igbo man fled. When he returned after the war in 1970, he was surprised to see that his house was intact and well-kept. A tenant was living there. Like other parts of Yorubaland, the Igboman was able to repossess his house without any hassle.

Balogun had put a tenant there and he returned the full rent paid by the tenant to the Igbo architect. That was the genesis of the life-long friendship between Balogun and Alex Ekwueme, the first elected Vice-President of Nigeria.

Balogun’s career had been truly colourful and rewarding. After his return from the United Kingdom in 1960, he was employed by the government of the defunct Western Region as a legal draftsman in the Ministry of Justice, Ibadan.

Balogun moved from Ibadan to Lagos and got employed by the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank, NIDB where he rose to become the Company Secretary.

When NIDB brokered the establishment of ICON Merchant Bank, Balogun thought he should be the Managing Director of the new outfit. He approached his friend, Michael Ibru, an industrialist who owned a brewery.

Balogun wanted to be a beer distributor, however, his friend had a different idea.

“Anyone can sell beer,” Ibru told him. “You are a trained lawyer and accountant, why don’t you start something along the line of your expertise?”

It was a challenge that Balogun took up seriously. He started an issuing house, City Securities and plunged into stockbrokerage and other financial services.

In 1979, his friend, Ekwueme, became the Vice-President. Balogun too was thinking of starting his own bank. It was a tall dream. Only few Nigerians had dared to think that way; notably Adekoya Okupe, who started the Agbonmagbe Bank, which eventually morphed into Wema Bank when the government of the defunct Western Region bought controlling shares of Agbomagbe Bank.

Wema Bank, after so many transformations and plastic surgeries, has survived till today.

Now it was the Second Republic and Balogun wanted to set up a financial institution and needed licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He had submitted all necessary documents to the Apex Bank.

One Sunday, he was at the Christ Church Cathedral, Marina, when Vice-President Ekwueme also came to worship.

He accosted the powerful man after the service and the latter gave him an appointment for the next day.

That was the beginning of the First City Group, including the phenomenal First City Merchant Bank, which later became First City Monument Bank (FCMB).

I got to know Balogun through Bola Ige, the first elected Governor of old Oyo State (including the present Osun State).

Ige had special regards for both Balogun and his life-long friend, Kola Daisi, both of whom were successful lawyers and money-makers.

We became closer during the crisis that rocked the FCMB over the accusation that the bank was involved in round-tripping with foreign currencies.

The CBN stepped in and it almost led to a run on the bank. Balogun rode the storm and when the Tsunami came during the Charles Soludo era at the CBN, the FCMB was fully prepared.

Despite his stupendous wealth and vast influence, Balogun was an engaging and accessible fellow. He was at my 50th birthday thanksgiving service, which was held on a Monday morning at the Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, Ikeja.

This brought me closer to him. I visited him in his office on Lagos Island, where I was always well received by Mrs. Busola Adekusibe, Balogun’s long time office manager.

I also visited him in his Victoria Island home (which is now a branch of the FCMB called the Founder’s Place) and his new palace in Ikoyi.

But it was in Ijebu-Ode, his country home that Balogun truly love to hold court. There he lived like a real royal with his personal chef, Kofi, always at his beck and call. There, his beloved wife, Abimbola Adetutu, has turned into a real haven.

It was in this sprawling palace that Balogun use to hold his New Year thanksgiving service every January. This year was no exception.

Resplendent in a white agbada, with an embroidered walking stick to match, he danced before his creator during the Thanksgiving service this January. Someone recorded this happy moment and posted it on the social media. It soon went viral with different captions and narrations. I called to congratulate him.

“It was not my birthday,” he said. “I was dancing and giving thanks to almighty God for his benevolence towards me.”

He said his 90th birthday would be coming up next year and it would be good if we update the book Gaskia Media Ltd did to celebrate his 80th birthday. He said we have to work on it, but he would have to travel first. He had been having problems with his health lately. He knew the darkness of mortality was beckoning to him when he would be admitted into the marvelous and eternal light of Christ. He has led a good life.

When you enter his palace at Milverton Street, Ikoyi, you will see a giant picture on the wall. I think it was taken when Baba celebrated his 80th birthday.

In that picture, you will see Balogun, his wife, their four boys and their wives and the grandchildren. That picture summarises the life and times of Balogun, the great patriarch.

My condolences to Mama, Abimbola Balogun and the family, especially Balogun’s only surviving sister, Olaronke. In truth, he lived a good and fruitful life. He started as a bicycle-riding school-boy and ended up as an empire builder. He was larger than life.

You may have seen it. The list, of course. Those who think that President Bola Tinubu is not moving fast enough to appoint ministers have offered to help. They have composed their own ministerial list for him and shared it on social media. It’s trending now.

Just one look at it, however, and you would know that it’s an improbable list, even for a Banana republic. It didn’t make sense. Going by the list, not a few commentators are already relishing the prospects of Adams Oshiomhole as Minister of Works; Nasir El-Rufai as Minister of Interior; and Nyesom Wike as Police Affairs Minister, among other fabrications.

It might appear silly to ask, but why the desperation? It’s partly because in many respects, we don’t want anything that resembles a return to the Muhammadu Buhari era. It took Buhari one-eight of his first term of four years or roughly the time General Murtala Mohammed spent in office to compose his cabinet. While Buhari was scratching his head, trying to find his footing, the country ran on voodoo, psychedelically called body language, which really meant nothing.

When Buhari finally came round to it, especially in his second term, he appointed a number of ministers – and some non-ministers, in fact – that made people regret that he made any appointments at all.

I stopped obsessing about ministerial lists long before Buhari appointed ministers. A number of his ministers and appointees made the office a joke to see. Yet, never lacking in the ingenuity of self-help, they managed to make it serious business for themselves.

When he reconstituted federal boards in 2017, Buhari appointed three dead people into positions. I guess the anxiety about the next ministerial list is partly because the public is genuinely concerned that Tinubu must avoid these mistakes of the past.

In some ways, Abuja sets the tone for governance, regardless of many years of the bad habits it has foisted on a failing federal structure. Forming an early cabinet might help not just the rest of the country, but also partners outside, to have an idea where the country is headed and how to engage the continent’s largest and perhaps one of its most intractable enigmas.

To sustain the speed and momentum of a number of the far-reaching decisions taken by Tinubu from his first day in office, also, he needs to get his cabinet in place as quickly as possible. But surely not on the timeline of speculators who have not only named his cabinet for him on social media but have also assigned portfolios and given them a resumption date.

I have learnt, over the years, to pay some attention to what is happening in states and local governments, too. A lot going on in Abuja could be undone by governors who, for example, decide to run amok. And we’ve seen them before.

We saw how the wellbeing of the whole could be severely impaired by the sum of the parts, for example, when Ahmed Sani Yerima was governor of Zamfara State. The introduction of “political Sharia law” in that state and its distorted application watered the seed of radicalism not only there but also in many parts of the Northwest.

Apart from militancy in the Southsouth, President Olusegun Obasanjo spent a chunk of his time dealing with the serious security fallouts of Yerima’s rascality, not to mention the supercharged testosterone of the former governor that could not be restrained until it found a consort in a 15-year-old Egyptian girl. The fellow appears to be back in circulation.

It’s not funny. Once Yerima stoked religious tensions in Gusau, the flames leaped across 12 other states in the North, raising an army of angry people, especially among the young population, for whom problems common to new democracies, such as corruption and inequality, were framed as moral questions to be addressed by the religious police.

Sadly, a high court in the state gave a bizarre ruling that circumscribed the freedom of adherents of other faiths or even non-faithers resident in the state guaranteed in the Constitution. “Political Sharia” became a convenient distraction for political leaders who deflected accountability after collecting billions of naira from Abuja that they squandered on themselves.

No template of ministers by Obasanjo could have foreseen the monster that this zealotry would morph into years later. Boko Haram, ISWAP and other franchises of insurgency found recruits from this religious hotbed from which the country has still not recovered.

Of course, the North did not have a monopoly of such cautionary tales. When a junior minister in Obasanjo’s government, Nenadi Usman, decided to publish a monthly account of what state governments were getting from the federation account, for example, it turned out to be a scam-fest of who is who. There was very little to show for the billions collected. Governors up and down the country had gone rogue, helping themselves to the treasury and stashing abroad whatever was left.  

A report by Matthew T. Page, entitled, Dubai Property: An Oasis for Nigeria’s Corrupt Political Elite, said, “A 2014 report, for example, claimed that Nigerian buyers accounted for 60 percent of all serviced apartment sales in Dubai. Likewise, in 2012, the sales manager of a Dubai real estate firm claimed Nigerians had invested up to $6 billion in Dubai property over the three previous years.”

Beyond the description of the buyers as “politically exposed persons”, the general descriptive classifications contained in the report showed that “security sector leaders” and “governors” were high at the top of the list of the Nigerian owners of Dubai.

While we obsess about the coming ministerial list, we need to keep an eye on what is happening in the states, too. It might be useful not only to be interested in what the governors are doing, but also in who they’re appointing to do what and how, especially with rubber-stamp assemblies.

Of course, it would be unfair to tar all states with a dirty brush. Lagos, especially since 1999, Ekiti (under Governor Kayode Fayemi), Kaduna, and Rivers have made significant strides and will do well to stay on course. I understand, too, how what happens at the centre– what ministers do or fail to do once bitten by Abuja-mylitis – can affect how states are run, especially in areas of procurement and sovereign guarantees.

But for too long, states have been on a long leash because Abuja’s poor reputation has made it the trough of every rogue. That’s why we’re obsessed with who is the next minister and who’s not.

Nobody knows more than Tinubu that even though he carries the same party flag with Buhari, he does not have the luxury of Buhari’s honeymoon period. And should he make any wrong choices – hopefully not – given the scale of the challenges facing the country, he must immediately remove such appointees, instead of indulging them like his predecessor, as if it was some complicated conjugal misery.

Perhaps by Tuesday when the official list is finally released and laid before the Senate, appointment mongers on social media would take their business elsewhere; maybe to the ethno-religious market, where the tribe and religion of the new appointees would almost certainly become the new articles of trade.

** Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

Traditional advertising, typified by television ads, radio spots, and print media, is grappling with the challenge of how to reach new generations. 

Both Gen-Z and the forthcoming generation are proving elusive targets, owing to their shifting entertainment preferences and evolving receptiveness to commonplace marketing techniques. 

This shift prefaces an inevitable shift in strategies, where innovation is required to connect with these tech-savvy, forward-thinking consumers.

Turning off the TV and tuning into the digital world

Statistically speaking, Gen-Z and the subsequent generation are significantly less engaged with traditional television viewing than their predecessors. 

According to a report from Morning Consult, Gen-Z makes up only 9 percent of linear TV viewership. Comparatively, Millennials make up 26 percent, and Baby Boomers make up 39 percent.

Moreover, according to a study by GlobalWebIndex, over half of Gen-Z individuals use ad-blocking software on their computers, demonstrating an increasing aversion to traditional and interruptive forms of advertising. 

This clear shift away from traditional media and ad methods is a clear signal that brands and advertisers need to adapt to keep up with these digital natives.

Missteps and misunderstandings in the digital arena

Despite these shifting trends, many businesses continue to lean on the crutch of traditional advertising methods. These outdated strategies struggle to reach younger audiences, especially with so many ways to bypass the usual forms of digital advertising.

Furthermore, there's a general misconception among businesses that simply having a digital presence equates to successful marketing to these younger demographics. 

However, digital saturation does not necessarily translate to consumer engagement. Gen-Z and the next generation seek authenticity, engagement, and a sense of shared values from brands, beyond their mere digital existence.

Gaming: the new frontier for advertising

An incredibly promising emerging avenue for reaching these elusive audiences is the rapidly growing games industry. With the global gaming market projected to reach in excess of a staggering $250 billion by 2025 according to a report from Mordor Intelligence, this is a space teeming with potential.

Gaming integrations present a unique opportunity for nonintrusive, immersive advertising. For example, musicians such as Grammy-nominated Poppy continue to partner with experiences on the Roblox platform to reach new audiences. 

Through Roblox, Poppy was able to partner with several games to launch a listening party experience for her latest album, resulting in a new audience being exposed to her music, and a huge reach in a short amount of time to this demographic. This demonstrates the vast potential of the reach available in gaming realms and offers a way to reach younger demographics in their preferred environment.

By designing in-game brand integrations or sponsoring events within these platforms, brands can align themselves with the interests and passions of their target audience, thereby forging stronger, more authentic connections.

Reimagining advertising for the future

To create impactful connections with Gen-Z and the next generation, we must meet them on their preferred platforms and engage in ways that add value and excitement to their experiences. 

Gaming integrations and advertising is a frontier ripe with potential, providing a stage for immersive, interactive brand exposure that far outshines the static nature of traditional TV ads. We are standing at the precipice of an advertising revolution. 

As we embrace the challenge and shift our strategies to align with the digital world's realities, we will continue to uncover innovative ways to connect with younger audiences. This transition, while potentially daunting, promises to reward businesses with a knack for swift change, who are ready to engage with the digital generation on their terms. 

The future of advertising is not only digital, it's immersive, interactive, and deeply linked to the virtual world.

Inc

Debt Management Office (DMO) says Nigeria has redeemed a $500 million Eurobond on its due date, July 12, 2023.

Eurobond is a debt instrument that’s denominated in a currency other than the home currency of the country or market in which it is issued.

In a statement on Wednesday, the DMO said the successful redemption of the Eurobond shows the country’s commitment to meeting its debt service obligations.

The debt management agency said the Eurobond was issued in July 2013 (as part of a dual-tranche USD1 billion Eurobond) for a tenor of ten years at a coupon of 6.375 percent per annum.

“Nigeria had previously redeemed a USD500 million Eurobond in July 2018, another USD500 million Eurobond in January 2021, and a USD300 million Diaspora Bond in June 2022,” the statement reads.

“These, together with the USD500 million Eurobond redeemed today, bring the total amount of securities redeemed by Nigeria in the International Capital Market (ICM) to USD1.8 billion.

“Nigeria’s successful redemption of its Eurobonds and Diaspora Bond in the ICM over the past six (6) years is a demonstration of its strong debt management operations and planning.”

The Cable

President Bola Tinubu asked lawmakers to approve N500 billion ($638 million) of spending to cushion the impact of the removal of gasoline subsidies in the West African nation. 

The money will be sourced from a supplementary budget of 819.5 billion naira approved earlier by lawmakers, according to a letter read on the floor of the House of Representatives by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas on Wednesday. 

The cost of transportation and food prices have soared in Africa’s most populous nation after Tinubu announced the end of fuel subsidies in his inauguration speech on May 29. Labor unions have demanded higher pay and other forms of compensation to cushion the higher cost of living caused by the subsidy cuts. Lawmakers will consider the request on Thursday. 

Bloomberg

Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have thumbed down the N500bn palliative proposed by President Bola Tinubu, stating that it is grossly inadequate to assuage the hardships confronting workers sequel to the fuel subsidy removal.

They are demanding a 300 per cent salary increase to enable workers to cope with the challenges imposed by the deteriorating economic situation that came with the removal of the controversial fuel subsidy.

But unimpressed by the amount contained in the President’s letter, the NLC noted that the money would not be enough to cater for 133 million Nigerians who are believed to be living in poverty.

National Treasurer of the NLC, Hakeem Ambali, who spoke in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja, questioned the extent to which the palliative would cover.

When asked if the amount would be sufficient, he said, “Definitely not. We have over 133m Nigerians that are technically poor. To what extent can this cushion the effects of this economic hardship?”

Speaking on ways by which the President can mitigate the effect of subsidy removal, the NLC official asked for “Minimum wage review of 300 per cent to all workers; granting licences to individuals for modular refineries to refine petrol locally; granting economic stimulus loan to SMEs  at 15 per cent rate.’’

He added, ‘’The government should provide social benefits for aged and unemployed youths; agric loans to farmers and youths through the Agric Bank and community banks at single digit rate; provide alternative energy supply such as massive investment in solar power and Compressed Natural Gas to motorists.

“Fix the refineries; reverse the privatization of electricity back to the state due to poor performance; Execute metro rail line projects in all state capitals and reduction of school fees for students of tertiary institutions.”

Punch

Total number of issued Bank Verification Numbers rose to 57.96 million as of July 3, 2023, according to data obtained from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc.

This was as the Central Bank of Nigeria planned to close bank accounts without BVNs. According to the NIBSS, the increasing incidents of compromise on conventional security systems (password and PIN), had increased the demand for greater security for access to sensitive or personal information in the banking system.

It stated that in recent times, biometric technologies have been used to analyse human characteristics as an enhanced form of authentication for real-time security processes.

It stated that BVN gave a unique identity that could be verified across the Nigerian banking industry (not peculiar to one bank), and ensured that customers bank accounts were protected from unauthorised access.

It said, “It will address issues of identity theft, thus reducing exposure to fraud. The BVN will enhance the banking industry’s chances of being able to fish out blacklisted customers.”

It noted that the BVN is an acceptable means of identification across all Nigerian Banks. Since launching in 2014, 57.96 million Nigerians have now got BVNs.

According to the apex bank, BVN is part of its overall strategy of ensuring the effectiveness of the Know Your Customer principles, and the promotion of a safe, reliable, and efficient payments system.

As of December 26, 2021, there were 51.7 million BVNs.  Recently, the CBN, through its Director, Risk Management Department, and Chief Risk Officer, Blaise Ijebor, noted that the CBN was working to remove accounts not linked to BVNs from the financial system.

According to him, this was to clean up the sector and reduce the growing incidence of fraud.

A recent report by FITC revealed that bank customers in Nigeria lost N472m to fraud in the first quarter of 2023. It noted that there was a total of 12,553 cases of fraud recorded within the three months.

Recently, the CBN said that it had placed 6,047 BVNs of bank customers under a watch list for fraudulent transactions. It stated that the number of BVN-linked accounts was 130.57 million out of 148.46 million active accounts.

It disclosed this in the CBN Financial Stability June 2022 report published in December 2022. It said, “The number of accounts linked with BVNs was 130,569,656 out of 148,462,947 active customer accounts, while the numbers of watch-listed BVNs associated with fraud and deceased persons were 6,047 and 11,871, respectively.”

Punch

Elon Musk on Wednesday launched his own artificial intelligence company, xAI, as he seeks to compete with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT -- a program he accuses of being politically biased and irresponsible.

The xAI website said the Tesla tycoon would run the company separately from his other companies but that the technology developed would benefit those businesses, including Twitter.

"The goal of xAI is to understand the true nature of the universe," the website said.

Musk on Twitter added that the new company's aim was to "understand reality" and answer life's biggest questions.

The startup is staffed by former researchers from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Tesla and the University of Toronto.

The team is to be advised by Dan Hendrycks, who currently leads the Center for AI Safety, a San Francisco-based organization that warns against developing AI too quickly.

Hendrycks also initiated the open letter to global leaders in June that warned AI was a risk to human existence on par with pandemics and nuclear war.

Musk has repeatedly warned about the dangers of AI, having called it "our biggest existential threat," and saying that moving too fast was like "summoning the demon."

He has claimed to have cofounded OpenAI in 2015 because he regarded the dash by Google to make advances in artificial intelligence as reckless.

He left OpenAI in 2018 to focus on Tesla and later said he was also uncomfortable with the profit-driven direction the company was taking under the stewardship of CEO Sam Altman.

Musk also argues that OpenAI's large language models -- on which ChatGPT depends on for content, as is the case with other AI programs -- are overly politically correct.

Musk in April shared details of his plans for a new AI tool called "TruthGPT" in an interview with Fox News, the conservative broadcaster.

In the interview he said his new AI company would come very late after OpenAI and Google DeepMind, both of which have made great strides in recent years.

"I think I will create a third option, although it's starting very late in the game. Can it be done? I don't know, we'll see," he said.

The launch of an AI company on the scale of OpenAI or Google DeepMind would come at an enormous expense, especially in regards to the necessary semiconductors, known as GPUs, which are mainly built by California company Nvidia.

Tuko

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

NATO allies offer Ukraine security assurances as Biden hits out at 'craven' Putin

President Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having a "craven lust for land and power" at the end of a NATO summit on Wednesday where Ukraine won new security assurances from the U.S. and its allies for its defence against Moscow.

Members of the world's most powerful military bloc offered the prospect of long-term protection a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy decried as "absurd" a refusal to offer an invitation or timetable for Ukraine's entry into NATO.

Ukraine has been pushing for rapid membership while fighting a Russian invasion unleashed in February 2022 that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.

Instead, a declaration by the G7 group of the world's most industrialised countries launched a framework for bilateral negotiations to provide military and financial support, intelligence sharing and a promise of immediate steps if Russia should attack again.

"Our support will last long into the future. It's a powerful statement of our commitment to Ukraine," Biden said alongside Zelenskiy and leaders of the G7, which is made up of the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

Speaking in Vilnius, Lithuania, at the end of the two-day meeting on Russia's doorstep, Biden said Putin had badly underestimated the resolve of the U.S.-led military alliance.

"NATO is stronger, more energized and yes, more united than ever in its history. Indeed, more vital to our shared future. It didn't happen by accident. It wasn't inevitable," Biden said.

"When Putin, and his craven lust for land and power, unleashed his brutal war on Ukraine, he was betting NATO would break apart ... But he thought wrong."

Swallowing his disappointment over the lack of a membership timetable, Zelenskiy hailed NATO's "practical and unprecedented support for Ukraine" and said that at the summit Ukraine had obtained "unambiguous clarity that Ukraine will be in NATO".

He tweeted: "I believe we will be in NATO once the security situation stabilises. Put simply, when the war is over, Ukraine will be invited into NATO and Ukraine will clearly become a member of the Alliance. I felt no thoughts of any other sort."

At a meeting with Zelenskiy, Biden promised him the U.S. was doing everything it could to meet Ukraine's needs and acknowledged Zelenskiy's frustration about the scale and speed of support.

"Your resilience and your resolve has been a model for the whole world to see," Biden said. "I look forward to the day when we're having the meeting celebrating your official, official membership in NATO."

"The bad news for you is, we're not going anywhere. You're stuck with us," Biden joked, prompting laughter from Zelenskiy.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan had said Biden would discuss the issue of long-range missiles with Zelenskiy when they met.

Speaking to reporters later, Biden said: "One thing Zelenskiy understands now is that whether or not he's in NATO now is not relevant" as long as he has the commitments that have been made at the summit. "He's not concerned about that now."

Zelenskiy told Biden he wanted to thank "all Americans" for the billions of dollars in aid his country had received.

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he had told Ukraine that its international allies were "not Amazon" and Kyiv needed to show gratitude for weapons donations to persuade Western politicians to give more.

Zelenskiy said: "We were always grateful to the UK, prime ministers and the minister of defence because the people are always supporting us."

Britain, France, Germany and the U.S. have been negotiating with Kyiv for weeks over a broad international framework of support, encompassing modern advanced military equipment such as fighter jets, training, intelligence-sharing and cyberdefence.

In return Ukraine would pledge better governance, including through judicial and economic reforms and enhanced transparency.

The first sitting of a new NATO-Ukraine Council was also held on Wednesday, a format designed to tighten cooperation between Kyiv and the 31-nation alliance.

'POTENTIALLY VERY DANGEROUS'

NATO is built around mutual security guarantees whereby an attack on one is an attack on all, and it has carefully avoided extending any firm military commitments to Ukraine, worried it would risk taking it closer to a full-on war with Russia.

Ukraine has been wary of any less-binding security "assurances", given Russia's invasion already trampled the so-called Budapest Memorandum under which international powers committed to keeping the country safe in exchange for Kyiv giving up its Soviet-era nuclear arms.

Speaking earlier alongside Zelenskiy, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine was closer to the alliance than ever before, and brushed aside new warnings from Russia about the consequences of supporting Ukraine.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the security arrangements for Ukraine were not designed to be a substitute for full NATO membership and said the commitments at the summit marked a high point for the West's support for Kyiv.

Russia, which says NATO's eastward expansion is an existential threat to its own security, swiftly lashed out.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was "potentially very dangerous" for the West to give Ukraine security guarantees.

The Russian foreign ministry said the summit showed that NATO was reverting to "Cold War schemes" and added that it would respond "in a timely and appropriate manner, using all means and methods at our disposal."

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Moscow reacts to NATO summit

The North Atlantic alliance intends to use Ukraine as a proxy for endless war while expanding into the Arctic and Asia in pursuit of neocolonial objectives, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, after a NATO meeting wrapped up in neighboring Lithuania.

“The ‘collective West’ led by the US is not willing to accept the formation of a multipolar world and intends to defend its hegemony by all available means, including military ones,” the ministry said in a statement. 

What the West calls the “rules-based order” is nothing but a “license they granted themselves to violate international law,” and has nothing to do with the UN, which NATO frequently invokes, according to Moscow.

“NATO’s achievements are well known: the growing instability, destruction of countries, rampant terrorism, war crimes that are committed with impunity, the blood of civilians, including children, and the endless flow of refugees,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The bloc is now determined to “NATO-ize” Ukraine, treating the country as an expendable resource in a hybrid war against Russia, supplying Kiev with long-range weapons in order to prolong the conflict for as long as possible, the ministry added. Meanwhile, the US military-industrial complex is “happily rubbing its hands” at the prospect of selling its European allies replacements for weapons destroyed in Ukraine, at exorbitant prices.

The ministry stated that the Western alliance was working to “ensnare”Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Moldova, as well as looking to turn the Arctic into “a zone of confrontation,” and to expand beyond the North Atlantic to the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia-Pacific, in pursuit of a “global NATO.” 

“Washington and its allies are trying to impose their own rules and drain resources along their to proven neocolonial patterns,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry said Russia will respond to threats “in a timely and appropriate manner, using all means and methods at our disposal,” the statement concluded.

The Russian government sent a comprehensive security proposal to the US and NATO in December 2021, asking the bloc to withdraw its troops from Eastern Europe and guarantee Ukraine’s neutrality. Both Washington and NATO rejected Moscow’s request in January 2022. Russia views the bloc’s eastward expansion as a threat and has cited its ties with Kiev as one of the root causes of the armed conflict with Ukraine.

** Wagner Group surrenders heavy weapons

The Wagner Group private military company has surrendered more than 2,000 pieces of military hardware to Russia’s military inventory, the country’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. The transfer process is going “according to plan” and is nearing completion.

The inventory includes hundreds of heavy weaponry pieces, including main battle tanks of various types, multiple rocket launcher systems, self-propelled and towed artillery, anti-aircraft systems, and other combat vehicles, the ministry said in a statement. The military also released a video, showing rows of tracked and wheeled combat vehicles, as well as other equipment kept at undisclosed locations.

Dozens of combat vehicles transferred by the PMC group “have never been used in a combat environment,” the military noted. The group also surrendered over 2,500 tons of assorted ammunition as well as around 20,000 firearms.

Reuters/RT

Number of displaced by Sudan war surpasses 3 million, International Organization for Migration

The number of people uprooted by a conflict between military factions in Sudan that erupted nearly three months ago has surpassed 3 million, according to estimates from the International Organization for Migration.

More than 2.4 million people have been displaced internally and more than 730,000 have crossed into neighbouring countries, data published late on Tuesday said.

Most have fled either from the capital Khartoum, the focus of the power struggle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that broke out on April 15, or from Darfur, where ethnically-targeted violence has surged.

U.N. officials have said Sudan could slide into civil war, as regional and international mediation efforts have failed.

"This war won't end shortly," said United Nations special envoy Volker Perthes, speaking in Belgium. Several ceasefire agreements have been violated and "have basically been used by the parties to reposition themselves," he said.

On Wednesday, residents reported the sound of fighter jets and artillery shelling in Omdurman and Bahri, parts of the wider capital.

Fighting has also been reported in recent days between the army and powerful SPLM rebel factions in South Kordofan State, and in Blue Nile State near the border with Ethiopia, triggering displacement from those regions as well.

The fighting has laid waste to large parts of the capital and led to waves of attacks in Darfur. Civilians have faced widespread looting, power cuts, food and water shortages, a collapse in health services and a spike in sexual violence.

The Sudanese government's Combating Violence against Women and Children unit said on Tuesday it had recorded nine new cases of sexual assault in Khartoum, bringing the total since mid-April to 51, adding that the real number of cases was likely much higher.

Most victims blamed RSF forces for the assaults, the unit, which is seen as impartial, said in a statement. The RSF has called on civilians to report violations and said members found to be involved in abuses will be held to account.

Of those leaving Sudan, the majority have fled north to Egypt or west to Chad, with large numbers also crossing into South Sudan and Ethiopia.

After sharing power with civilians following the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising four years ago, the army and the RSF took full control in a coup in 2021 then came to blows amid disputes over a planned transition towards elections.

FAILED MEDIATIONS

International efforts to broker an end to the fighting have shown little sign of progress, including talks led by Saudi Arabia and the United States in Jeddah that were adjourned last month, and an African-led meeting in Addis Ababa this week.

A summit of Sudan's neighbours will be held in Cairo on Thursday.

Perthes, speaking to reporters in Brussels, said he was concerned that the warring factions were able to resupply from outside the country. He said regional countries should tell the combatants to end the war, and should not resupply them.

Britain on Wednesday announced sanctions on six companies linked to the two forces it said were fuelling the conflict by providing funding and arms, expanding on a previous action by the United States.

Reuters