WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine attacks Russian navy base near Novorossiysk

Ukrainian sea drones attacked a Russian navy base near the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, a major hub for Russian exports, early on Friday and were destroyed by Russian warships, Russia's defence ministry said.

The attack prompted the Novorossiysk port to temporarily halt all ship movement, according to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium which operates an oil terminal there.

Russian social media users reported hearing explosions and gunfire near Novorossiysk on Friday morning. If confirmed it would be the first Ukrainian attack on one of Russia's main commercial ports.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium which loads oil onto tankers in Novorossiysk said the port has temporarily barred all ship movement. It said its facilities had not been damaged and oil loadings continued onto tankers which were already moored

Videos posted on a local online community and circulated by Russian online news outlet Astra showed the movement of ships just off the coast with the sound of gunfire coming from the direction of the sea.

The emergency services of Novorossiysk have confirmed reports of blasts and security services have been informed, Russia's RIA news agency reported. The port is one of the biggest in the Black Sea.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium is the main exporter of Kazakh crude.

Clashes in the Black Sea and adjacent ports have escalated since Russia refused last month to extend a deal allowing for the safe exports of grain from Ukrainian ports; Russian drones and missiles have struck several Ukrainian port facilities and grain silos on or near the Black Sea.

Russia has also reported an attack by Ukrainian sea drones on its warships which were escorting a civilian vessel.

Russian air defences downed 10 Ukrainian drones over Crimea on Friday morning and suppressed three more with electronic countermeasures, TASS cited the Russian defence ministry as saying.

** Zelenskiy decries 'revolting' practices at recruitment centres

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday decried "revolting" practices exposed during an audit of Ukraine's military recruitment centres and pledged to fix the system by placing in charge people who understood the meaning of war.

Zelenskiy has expressed indignation at corruption uncovered during the audit last month after a high-profile incident of wrongdoing came to light in the Black Sea port of Odesa.

"We had a detailed conversation," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address after meeting Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and the head of the SBU security service, Vasyl Maliuk.

"The investigation is revealing numerous abuses," Zelenskiy said. "And they are frankly revolting."

The probe of recruitment offices is part of a long-running campaign to root out corruption, a critical issue as Ukraine presses a campaign to join NATO and the European Union.

Zelenskiy said all the findings of the investigation would be made public and subject to criminal proceedings.

"The conclusion is clear: the recruitment system needs people who understand the value of protecting Ukraine," he said.

"Recruitment centres must be staffed with people who have seen the war, experienced it," he added. "And those who, sadly, may have lost limbs but not their dignity and not Ukraine. Let me thank them."

The head of a military recruitment centre in Odesa accused of corruption and embezzlement was ordered held in pre-trial detention last month.

The official stood accused of acquiring without explanation funds equivalent to a little more than $5 million. Ukrainian media reports said his family had acquired property in Spain.

** Zelenskiy says Ukrainian strength dominates, top officers report progress

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that Ukraine's military faced difficulties on front lines in the east and south of the country, but were dominant in their campaign.

Senior military officials reported Ukrainian gains in the east -- long the focal point of the 17-month-old conflict - around the shattered Russian-held city of Bakhmut.

Ukraine in June launched a counter-offensive in the east and in the south, where it hopes to advance to the Sea of Azov and sever a Russian land bridge between occupied parts of the east and the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Russian accounts said Moscow's forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks near Bakhmut, farther north where fierce fighting has also flared and on the southern front.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces faced fierce Russian resistance in all frontline sectors.

"There is heavy fighting. They are trying to stop our boys with all their strength. Very fierce attacks," Zelenskiy said, referring to Bakhmut and other centres in the east.

"In the south, everything is difficult. But whatever the enemy does, it is Ukrainian strength that dominates."

Zelenskiy said Russian drone attacks this week, including an assault on shipping infrastructure in the Danube port of Izmail, underscored the need for improved anti-aircraft defences.

"In all, the terrorists have deployed against Ukraine at least 1,961 (Iranian-made) shahed drones and we managed to down a significant number of them," he said.

"Unfortunately, not all of them. We are working on downing more of them -- downing a maximum. We are working so that there will be more anti-aircraft systems."

General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukrainian land forces, said he was meeting officers in the east to speed up Ukraine's advances -- which Zelenskiy and other officials ackowledge have been slower than they wished.

"In the Bakhmut sector, my work is devoted to current problems of accelerating the pace of the advance, the prospects for greater activity and resolution of issues that interfere with the implementation of tasks," Syrskyi wrote on Telegram.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for the eastern group of Ukrainian forces, said Kyiv's troops were advancing "consistently and relentlessly" on the fringes of Bakhmut, captured by Russian troops in May after months of battles.

"Every day we are talking about hundreds of metres and over the week about kilometres," Cherevatyi said in comments reported by Ukrainian media.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had thwarted eight Ukrainian attempts to advance near Bakhmut and nearby areas. Two Ukrainian attacks were countered near Lyman and Svatove farther north and attempted advances in the south were also stopped.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

‘Weeds’ hindering Ukrainian counteroffensive – UK military

Growing vegetation on the battlefield is hampering Ukrainian attempts to breach Russian defenses, the UK Defense Ministry claimed on Thursday.

In its regular intelligence update, the ministry described “undergrowth regrowing” in the southern part of the front as a likely factor “contributing to the generally slow progress of combat in the area.” 

UK officials explained that arable land, which is abundant in the region, has been “left fallow for 18 months, with the return of weeds and shrubs accelerating under the warm, damp summer conditions.”

According to the ministry, this provides extra camouflage cover for Russian troops and complicates Kiev’s mine-sweeping efforts. “Although undergrowth can also provide cover for small stealthy infantry assaults, the net effect has been to make it harder for either side to make advances,” it added.

Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive against Russia along several sections of the front in early summer, but failed to gain any ground and has lost tens of thousands of troops in botched attacks, according to Moscow. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu stated that, in July alone, Kiev’s forces lost nearly 21,000 service members and 2,227 units of military equipment.

Both Ukrainian and Western officials acknowledge that the offensive has developed more slowly than expected, with Kiev blaming stiff resistance from Moscow’s forces, a lack of air support, and delays in arms shipments for the difficulties.

Well-prepared Russian fortifications have also reportedly helped to blunt the Ukrainian attacks. CNN ha described the defenses as consisting of multiple layers, including minefields, tank traps, and other such obstacles. Faced with these hurdles, Ukrainian troops “have resorted to using small groups of military engineers working through forested areas to cut a path through or evade these minefields,” the report said.

On Tuesday, Politico reported that the Ukrainian offensive has “sorely disappointed” Kiev’s supporters in the West. It noted that despite Ukraine committing 150,000 troops to a three-pronged attack, its gains have been measured in the hundreds of meters, with the second and third defensive lines still lying ahead.

The report also said that even when Ukrainian troops manage to clear mines and advance, Russia uses artillery and helicopters to drop more mines in the rear in order to trap the Ukrainian spearheads.

** Air defenses triggered in several Crimean regions, no casualties — authorities

Air defense systems repelled attacks on several regions of Crimea early on Friday, shooting down all targets, an adviser to the region’s head wrote on Telegram.

"Air defense systems were triggered in several districts of Crimea. All targets were shot down," Oleg Kryuchkov said. "No damage or casualties have been reported."

Reuters/RT/Tass

Not only are military coups becoming frighteningly frequent in West and Central Africa, virtually all of them, it appears, also speak French. For the fifth time in three years in West Africa, soldiers struck again in Niger, Nigeria’s Northern neighbour, where former President Muhammadu Buhari had teasingly longed for refuge from Nigeria’s hostile press.

With the recent turn of events, however, it appears that Buhari’s speed train to Maradi, Niger’s ancient city, may have to find another destination.

It’s the fifth successful military coup in that country since 1960. Apart from the worn-out reasons of “deteriorating security and poor economic and social governance” given by the coup plotters, other familiar reasons have ranged from jihadist insurgencies to corruption and poverty; and from high birth rate to desertification.

As Nigeria’s president and new chairman of the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Bola Tinubu, rallies the subregion to confront what is now called “Africa’s coup belt”, he would find that the problem in the region’s largest landlocked country, which shares the longest land border with Nigeria, is far more complicated than it appears.

It is heartening that the UN and the AU have condemned the coup and that the US and France have also lent their voices to the call for the soldiers in Niamey to return to the barracks.

Tinubu would find, however, that beneath the veneer of foreign concern lies a web of vested interests and powerplay involving the US, but particularly France and China, that make other well-known complications in Niger look like small potatoes.

Once upon a time – and that was about one and a half decades ago – it was widely assumed that after multi-party democracy was introduced in that country in 2010 following the coup that removed President Mamadou Tanja, Niger would finally have a chance to reset.

In fact, the man who took office after the brief spell of military takeover, Mahamadou Issoufou, acquitted himself so well after two terms in office that he received the Mo Ibrahim Prize for good governance. President Mohamed Bazoum, widely expected to build on Issoufou’s fragile record, had only been in office two years before soldiers removed him on July 26.

However tempting it is to resist the trope of looking for foreign scapegoats, it’s fair to say that the snake of Niger’s problem has its hand buried in the womb of the unfinished problems of Tanja’s confrontation with France.

That confrontation, which finally left Tanja in bed with the Chinese over Niger’s uranium and mineral deposits and, in fact, also produced a refinery built by the Chinese, became compounded by other factors, a number of which were, sadly, self-inflicted, over the years.  

Tanja, a former colonel, was on the verge of serving out his constitutional two-term limit of five years each, when he instigated an extension. When the process appeared doomed to fail, he not only scrapped the constitutional court that ruled that his attempt was illegal, but also scrapped the parliament. But that’s only part of the story.

The other important part was Tanja’s confrontation with French state-owned atomic energy group, Areva, which had enjoyed a de facto monopoly of the country’s rich uranium, a strategic resource for France’s nuclear power. Areva’s profit from uranium is twice Niger’s GDP.

In a multi-million-dollar deal with China in which Tanja did not mind cutting Niger’s nose to spite the face of France, he pulled the plug on Francophone Africa’s most significant player, making the French play second fiddle to the new Chinese bride. When the tables turned following Tanja’s ouster, Paris was more than happy to dance on his political grave. But the story did not end there.

According to Tom Burgis in his no-holds-barred book, The Looting Machine, Niger spent $47 million from the proceeds of the uranium deal on arms to suppress the Tuareg rebels; and when a further $300 million came later from signature payment by China National Petroleum Corporation, to develop an oil block, the question was no longer whether Tanja could afford to make trouble, but how much.

“The military coup against Tanja,” Burgis wrote, “deepens fears in Africa that China’s competition with the old powers for the continent’s resources was giving rise to a new and ruinous rivalry like that of the Cold War which had allowed dictators to play Communist and capitalist suitors against one another.”

It was in these circumstances that after the unravelling of Libya, jihadist insurgents found willing recruits among Tuaregs. With the avalanche of light arms flowing out of the broken North African country, it was not too difficult for power hungry soldiers in Niger to topple Tanja’s corrupt government in 2010, ushering in a brief spell of military rule.

Deposed President Bazoum, who was elected only two years ago, steered Niger back to warm relations with Paris which, obviously, is one of the main grouses of the soldiers.

In a viral statement credited to coup leader, Abdurrahman Tchiani, he accused the president of taking orders from France before deciding what to do with terrorists, without regard for the lives of Nigerien soldiers “falling at the fronts.” And added, for good measure, that regional leaders with dubious electoral records had no moral right to challenge the coup.

The coup is a huge embarrassment for ECOWAS, yet from its record, the likely failure of the one-week ultimatum to the soldiers in Niamey would only compound the misery of the regional body. Already, the military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea, have lined up behind Niger, threatening to quit any regional group that enforces sanctions against Niger.

Apart from Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone and perhaps also in The Gambia, not once in the last nearly 30 years or so has ECOWAS been able to reverse a military takeover in any country.

And sadly, for the region, the Niger coup is coming at a time when its chairman and president of the regional powerhouse, Tinubu, is facing a perfect storm at home: protests by Labour and widespread economic discontent as the president struggles to fix the country.

It does not help also that while ECOWAS is tightening its noose around Niger, the Wagner mercenaries, that French nightmare with Russian roots, is expanding its footprint on the continent, lurking in the shadows and hoping to do for the Nigerien coup plotters what it did for their Malian cousins.

Of course, ECOWAS must do what is necessary to prevent the contagion of military coups, reminiscent of the 1980s and 1990s. But the coup in Niger also highlights the increasing failure of periodic elections and Western-style democracy to deliver value for the swathes of citizens chafing under flawed elections and corrupt governments.

The swift response of the regional body is commendable as it is a clear message that it would not be business as usual for soldiers. Yet, with foreign interests prowling the region and waiting to pounce, it is improbable that the soldiers in Niamey would trade off what appears to be fairly widespread support and return to the barracks with their tail between their legs.

French legacy of namby-pamby in Francophone West Africa well past its usefulness, except for France, appears to have come back to haunt Mère France with a fury. ECOWAS may have to review its ultimatum and adopt a negotiated exit, with former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s example in Sao Tome in 2003, as guide.

Since ECOWAS was founded in 1975, only one country, Mauritania, has left. Tinubu cannot afford to be the president that lost three ECOWAS countries in two months. If the regional body manages to chase away the Nigerien soldier kites, it might also have to return to warn the numerous straying democracy chicks across the region, to mend their catastrophically prodigal ways.

** Ishiekwene is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

I was asked this recently after a talk I gave in Texas: “What’s the difference between a leader and a manager?” My answer was simple: The ability to communicate.
The difference between a leader and a manager is in communication. Don’t believe me? Do a quick image search for managers. I’ll tell you what you’ll find. You’ll find pictures of happy smiley stock-image people shaking hands or high-fiving each other.

Now search for leaders, and you will find a very different group. In those search results, you will find a group of people that changed the world. Those people have one common denominator – their ability to stand up in front of the other humans, fist in the air and sell them a new story about the world that we inhabit. Leadership is communication, and communication matters.

“This is a call to action for you. An invitation to real leadership. This is the signal you’ve been waiting for to find your voice and to share it with your people.”

Don’t take my word for it. A study published in the International Journal of Business and Management found that effective communication is a critical component of leadership. It showed that leaders who communicate effectively are more likely to inspire and motivate their teams, build strong relationships and achieve their goals.

There is overwhelming scientific evidence that shows the impact of good, consistent dialogue regardless of the channel or form it takes. Time and time again, “effective communication has a positive effect on organisational performance,” the research shows. 

Leadership is communication, and communication is management.

Strategic leadership expert, lawyer and author Toye Sobande writes: “Effective communication is a cornerstone of successful leadership. Leaders with strong communication skills can better guide, motivate, inspire their teams, build relationships with stakeholders, make informed decisions and achieve organisational goals.”

Think about it: Look at your company. You have managers who are not leaders and leaders who are not managers. Being a manager or boss, well, that’s a title you can step into. Being a leader, though, that’s an attribute you own based purely on the fact that you have other people who follow you. So what attribute do we need to get other people to follow us?

A quick Google search for “attributes of leadership” tells me that the most important skill great leaders need is the ability to listen.

This is the lie.

As a leader, you do need to listen. You only need to listen to curate your ideas and draw your conclusions. But in a context of an abundance of fake news and misleading information, everyone else should be listening.

What makes you a leader is not that you have listened so much as that you have synthesised the ideas that you have heard and made meaning of them by sharing them with everyone else in the business. This is what I’d call inspired leadership.

In March 2020, my wee persuasive communication company, which traded largely in the realm of large events, went to revenue zero overnight. What do you think my team wanted me to do then? 

Do you think they wanted me to sit back and listen to them, or do you think they wanted me to stand up and lead? They wanted the latter, and if you were in a leadership position back then, you know this because your team wanted the same from you.

I was chatting to my son a few years ago about his career choices and asked him if he still wanted to join the business when he was older and maybe become a speaker like his old man. “No,” he said. “I want to be an astrophysicist.” I replied, saying cool, and asked him why the change of heart. To which he replied, “I watched a talk by this guy Neil de Grasse Tyson.” 

My son later joined the business.

I told him then what I have told countless people since. In any field, an expert that can speak effectively will have an unfair advantage over one who cannot.

I have had the privilege of working with many top executives from around the world, and while they may not all love public speaking, they all embrace it because they understand that it’s the difference maker. I feel strongly that you should, too.

If there were a single skill I would advise school leavers to embrace today, it would be just this: Learn to communicate effectively. To date, the command of rhetoric is the only real skill still as relevant and undisrupted today as it was 3,000 years ago.

I’d go as far as to say it is even more relevant in our new AI-augmented world.

This is a call to action for you – an invitation to real leadership. This is the signal you’ve been waiting for to find your voice and share it with your people. Become a better communicator and be the leader you were destined to be.

Rich Mulholland has spoken in over 40 countries on six continents. The founder of persuasion powerhouse Missing Link, Mulholland is the author of Legacide, Boredom Slayer and Here Be Dragons.

Inc

A Twitter user with the username @LaseMoye, has described the last moments before the death of Vwaere Diaso, a medical doctor at Lagos Island General Hospital, Odan.

Diaso died on Tuesday after an elevator she was in at the general hospital, fell from the 10th floor.

The deceased was said to have been on her way to the ground floor to pick up a food delivery from a dispatch rider when the incident happened.

Moye, who also works at the hospital, said she was standing in front of the elevator and pressed the open button but didn’t enter because she was on a video call.

She said it wasn’t long after that when she heard a big crash to the floor which made the dispatch rider who brought food for Diaso to run out of the building.

The doctor said someone then raised the alarm that Vwaere was in the elevator, adding that they immediately began seeking help to bring her out of the elevator.

“They tried to use rods to open it, to be sure it wasn’t a joke. They finally opened it and the sight was gruesome. Muffled sounds of excruciating pain and agony became apparent,” she wrote.

“Her forehead had a horizontal cut, her mouth had another one and she had raccoon eyes. She was lying in between the base of the elevator and the ground floor with the engine hanging over her head which meant any miscalculation in movement, she’ll be crushed to instant death!

“She was literally sandwiched in between the hanging engine and below the ground floor with blood on broken glasses and fractured limbs. It’s not a sight to describe.”

‘HELP CAME AFTER 40 MINUTES’

The deceased’s colleague said engineers were called to dismantle the elevator, noting that it took almost 40 minutes for them to arrive.

“I remember telling her to relax that help is coming, she said “Don’t tell me to relax, tell them to get me out of here”. We eventually got her out and she kept saying she thinks she’ll die,” she wrote.

“Emergency care was almost zero and inside a hospital for that matter. There was no blood in the hospital.

“She was eventually wheeled out but she was already weak and kept saying ”I don’t want to die”. They commenced CPR and the finality of it all happened.”

Moye explained that the elevator has been a source of concern to the doctors for years but complaints were never attended to.

“I remember the last time we complained they said we should manage that in their time they were sleeping in call rooms during their horsemanship days and we are lucky we have water, lift and rooms to live in and we aren’t grateful.

“It’s like we are asking for too much? They were not even giving us the barest minimum and they shut us up when we complained.”

The Cable

President Bola Tinubu has set the record for the highest number of ministerial nominees in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic (1999 to date).

This is five ministerial nominees more than the 42 appointed by former president Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

A week ago, Tinubu nominated 28 people to be cleared by the senate to be ministers in his cabinet. On Wednesday, the president sent another list of 19 other people, making a total of 47 cabinet members.

In his first term, Buhari named 36 ministers, and 42 ministers during his second term.

Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 named 33 nominees to be ministers in his cabinet — including nine people from the Umar Yar’Adua administration.

In 2007, Yar’Adua named a 39-member cabinet, which included 32 men and seven women.

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo initially named 42 ministers in 1999 but reviewed his cabinet to reduce the number of ministries and ministers to 27 and 40, respectively, before he left office in 2007.

Tinubu has now gone beyond Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan to name 47 ministers at one go — setting a new record in the country’s 24-year return to democracy.

This is against the backdrop of widespread calls for reduction in costs of governance in the country.

Here is the list of Tinubu’s 47 ministerial nominees:

Organised Labour has applauded Nigerians for their massive solidarity and support in spite of intimidations and blackmails by those it tagged agents of government and forces of retrogression to discourage them from joining the mass protest called to ventilate citizens outrage at the anti-poor and anti-people policies of government.

“Our hats are doffed at your determination and commitment to saving ourselves and indeed the nation from those whose only interest is to foist continuous deprivation and suffering on Nigerians.”

The statement titled: “You have spoken loudly and clearly Nigerians: It resonated and resounded” and signed by Joe Ajaero and Festus Osifo, presidents of NLC and TUC respectively.

They added: “The message you have sent is a strong demonstration of our collective resolve as patriots and owners of the sovereign will to demand that those who occupy the corridors of power must listen to us. You have sent a very strong, loud and clear signal to those occupying the various government houses, be it at the federal or states, that the people remain the sovereign and barometer for measuring that which resides with the trade union movement who have continued to be the bastion of that collective will.”

The Labour leaders said extent of the success of the protest is underlined by the request of President Bola Tinubu to meet with the leadership of the NLC and TUC in a closed-door session.

They noted that the engagement with Tinubu was fruitful as immense mileage was obtained with regards to the issues that bogged down the work of the Presidential Committee on Subsidy removal which necessitated the protest.

They said the president had committed to an immediate restructuring of the framework for engagement in line with the input of the Labour leaders.

“He let out a certainty that the Port Harcourt Refinery will commence production by December this year.

“He pledged to ensure that Agreement is reached on the Wage Award for Nigerian workers immediately.

“He promised to unveil a workable roadmap to the CNG alternative next week,” the statement disclosed.

The labour leaders said on the strength of the president’s pledge and commitment, the Congresses had decided to return to a new and reinvigorated dialogue process to allow for full implementation.

They appreciated the timely intervention of the leadership of the National Assembly for their pledge to resolve the issues raised by the Nigerian people and for their deep understanding of the need for government to provide quick wins as succour with short timelines to ameliorate the consequences of the hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) on the citizenry.

However, it revealed that it had received a summon purporting to charge it with contempt of Court and directed all workers to resume at the Courts wherever they may be across the nation on the days of the Court sittings to hear the contempt proceedings against the leaders of trade unions.

“The airports, the seaports, the hospitals, schools; all public and private sector workers will all appear in Court across the nation in response to the Contempt charges.”

Protesters storm NASS

Commercial, academic and social activities were stalled, yesterday, as workers under the aegis of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC as well as Civil Societies Coalitions commenced nationwide mass action to pressurise the Federal Government to address the subsidy removal issue and other perceived anti-poor policies.

In Abuja, protesters marched on the National Assembly to drive home their demands. To calm their anger, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio vowed that the upper legislative chamber would review the issues raised and come up with solutions within one week.

In the FCT, the protest converged on the Unity Fountain and rallied at the National Assembly Complex where they presented a letter containing their demands to the lawmakers.

The demonstration, amid huge security presence of the Police, was led by the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, President of TUC, Festus Osifo and the immediate past president of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, among others.

Akpabio, who was represented by Ali Ndume, Chief Whip, pleaded with the workers to give the Senate one week to come up with solutions after which the Congresses can then decide the next line of action if not satisfied.

He said: “Please, let us take what we are doing seriously. Let us not just come here to wave flags and sing solidarity songs and go back. Let us solve the problem that is in this country. In response to what your leadership has been saying we have keenly followed what is going on. When we realised that there was a breakdown in the discussions between the Presidency and the NLC, the day before yesterday, one of our colleagues brought a motion before us, calling for the Senate to intervene.

“We have a problem, the NLC is discussing with the president. I understand now what he is saying. I have said it before that NLC should be discussing with the president or the vice and if because of their schedule, they are not available, then an acceptable representation should continue the discussion. We stand with you on that.

“Please, have confidence in the National Assembly, give us a trial and let the leadership of the Senate be involved in the negotiations. Let us find a permanent solution to this and the solution can be achieved. Let us find concrete solutions to the issues.”

Ndume promised to summit the letter to the leadership of the Senate for further action.

“Like I said, the senate is going to be involved. Please give us one week and we will make progress and if you are not satisfied with the progress we are making, then you can take further action,” Ndume said.

Ajaero while speaking earlier, accused the Federal Government of being insensitive to the plight of Nigerians who have been facing hardship brought on by the elimination of fuel subsidies. He said the peaceful protest was to register workers’ grievances and safeguard the nation from the catastrophe that could result from Nigerians turning to self-help.

The Labour leader listed the worker’s demands to include: immediate implementation of the resolution it signed with the Federal government and TUC; the immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies of government including the recent hike in PMS, school fees and VAT as well as fixing of the country’s local refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna.

Other demands are: “Appropriate recognition and support to the presidential steering committee and the work of its sub committees as well as putting a stop to inhuman actions and policies of the government.”

TUC boss, Osifo, called for a reduction in the cost of government, saying it was insensitive that the National Assembly would want  to share billions amongst themselves while the masses were suffering.

“The Nigerian masses have been battered. They have gone through excruciating pains but, in all of this, we have not heard what the President has to say about the cost of governance.

“We want you in the National Assembly to show sacrifice. We want you to cut down your budget. We want you to buy Nigerian made cars not imported vehicles because you are creating jobs over there and importing poverty here. We want you to show leadership because we elected you to work for us.”

Academic, administrative activities stalled

Academic and administrative activities were disrupted in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) and Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) participated in the protest.

Some branch unions staged the protest in front of their institutions carrying different placards with inscriptions condemning government decisions and actions.

National President of ASUP, Anderson Ezeibe said his members were fully part of the protests.

“We are not carried away by the tokens extended in the form of palliatives or even the unilateral award of salaries by some state governments. The truth is that the government ought to have put in place appropriate social safety nets including an appropriate wage review through social dialogue before inflicting such pain on the people.”

Niger deputy governor leads protesters

In Minna, Niger State, over 200 placards carrying protesters were led by the state Chairman of the NLC, Idris Abdulkareem Lafene and Deputy Governor, Yakubu Garba who was immediate past state chairman of NLC.

The protesters marched from the Labour House to the State House of Assembly in Minna.

Garba said the upward review of salaries of workers across all levels would better cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal on citizens, than the palliative that would not be sustainable.

“Labour is not against the government. If there is any sincere driver of government policies, it is the organised labour. But workers are not leaders who make policies. So, any policy that government will formulate should have a human face, so that the masses will not suffer,” Garba said.

He noted that while the organised labour was not part of the policy formulators, it must be allowed to check the actions of government at all levels.

Lafene, state NLC Chairman, said there was no going back by the  labour union on its demands, to improve the welfare of workers and the general public.

Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji, Speaker of the House of Assembly, said the Assembly was in support of the protest because of the untold hardships the removal of the subsidy had caused the citizens.

Gridlock as protesters hits Lagos streets

As early as 7am hundreds of protesters gathered at the Ikeja under-bridge before marching toward the House of Assembly.

The protest caused massive gridlock with protesters displaying placards and chanting slogans denouncing the subsidy removal and expressing their grievances against the rising cost of living. The demonstrators demanded immediate action from the government to address the impact of the subsidy removal on ordinary citizens, who were already grappling with economic challenges.

Obafemi Hamzat, deputy governor, addressed the protesters, stating: “We have heard you, and the letter has been given to us.”

His statement implied that the concerns raised by the protesters had been acknowledged and would be taken into consideration by relevant authorities.

Katsina NLC vows to shutdown country if…

Trailed by a squad of armed security personnel, members of NLC held a peaceful protest march through some major streets in the metropolis.

Led by its Chairman, Hussaini Yanduma, and members of the TUC, the protesters began the march from their secretariat near Lyafa Roundabout through the State Secretariat, Barhim Roundabout, Kiddies Roundabout and the Steel Rolling Mill.

Yanduma, who later addressed the rally described the action as a prelude to a total shutdown of the nation if the Federal Government failed to meet the NLC demands.

“The Federal Government should put a stop to its inhuman actions and policies otherwise Labour will go ahead and hold a mass action which will affect everybody in the country. Nigerians voted for this government and any policy that will bring hardship on ordinary citizens is unacceptable,” Yanduma said.

Banks, court activities shut in Ebonyi

Economic activities were paralysed in the Abakaliki metropolis and environs.

When our Correspondent visited some of the banks in the state capital, they were shut, leaving customers stranded at their gates. The overwhelmed customers who could not carry out their transactions conversed in groups.

A security guard in one of the banks, who pleaded anonymity, said refusal of the banks to open for commercial activities was a consequence of labour issues.

The gate of the state High Court was equally locked.

Oyo workers, ASUU shut major roads

Major roads around Agodi Government Secretariat, Mokola and Agodi Gate in the Ibadan metropolis were shutdown for hours.

Though, the national mass protest declared by the NLC leaders started yesterday, workers in Oyo State had begun their protest since Monday July 31, against Govenor Seyi Makinde-led government over issues that bordered on deductions from workers’ salaries, and purported failure to remit the deductions to approximate quarters, including cooperative societies.

The protest was joined by a human right activist, Femi Aborishade, who argued that policies being evolved by Tinubu had been about the rich and not the masses.

Abia, Imo grounded

Official activities at the state and local government secretariats in Abia were paralysed as only a few workers were seen around.

At the Umuahia North Local Government secretariat, all the offices were locked but some security men and a few council workers were seen within the premises.

Also, banks in Umuahia were not open but markets, shops and motor parks opened for business. Commercial vehicle operators, including tricycle and commuter bus operators, were on the road, which was practically scanty.

The leaderships of NLC and TUC led a mammoth crowd of workers on a peaceful protest march along major roads in Umuahia.

The protesters, who were escorted by a team of anti-riot police personnel, marched from Michael Okpara Square to Government House.

In Imo, protesters converged on the popular Assumpta Catholic Cathedral Roundabout, near Control Post, Owerri spotting placards with inscriptions, such as “Let Nigerians breathe”, “Fuel price increase suffocating the poor” and “Naira devaluation killing local industries and jobs”, amongst others.

Acting Chairman of the NLC in Imo, George Ogoegbu, appealed to the Federal Government to rescind its recent economic policies.

“Nigerian workers are one of the least paid in the world. We cannot fuel our vehicles. The cost of living is alarming and we can no longer continue this way,” Ogoegbu said.

Delta: Tinubu’s policies anti-people

In Delta State, Chairman of NLC, Goodluck Ofobruku urged the president to allow Nigerians breathe.

“We are saying that Federal Government should stop increasing our burden and giving more money to themselves by approving N70 billion for legislators and N35 billion for a hundred judges, we say no to increase in poverty in the land, people should hit the streets to protest against some Federal Government policies.”

Governor Oborevwori, represented by his Senior Policy Adviser, Solomon Funkekeme, said the state government knew the pains of the people and every policy is geared towards ensuring that their interest come first before any other interest.

Kano: Why we opted for demonstration instead of strike

Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress in Kano State, Wednesday. embarked on a peaceful protest against the removal of fuel subsidy and a range of unpopular policies currently being implemented by the Federal government

The protest, led by the Chairman of the Congress, Kabiru Inuwa, flagged-off in the morning from  Ahmadu Bello Way by Murtala Mohammed Library and proceeded straight to the Government House, where they presented their petition to the  State Governor,  Abba Yusuf.

Shadowed by a number of security personnel, the unionists marched,  sang solidarity song and carried placards which depicted their pains and protest.

Rivers’ll implement policies to cushion challenges

Rivers State government has promised to implement policies and programmes that would cushion the challenges experienced by residents occasioned by the subsidy removal.

This was disclosed by the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chidi Anadi, when he received and addressed members of the organised Labour on behalf of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

The governor stated that beyond the subsidy intervention buses released recently, the administration would take prompt and positive steps to address the pains experienced by residents.

He appealed to Labour to be patient, assuring that the governor (Fubara) was “restless and willing to do anything humanly possible, to make sure that the current challenges faced by the generality of Rivers people are properly and promptly addressed.”

State NLC chairman, Alex Agwanwor, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, said the citizens had taken enough from the Nigerian government and the body could no longer keep quiet.

Ogun seeks repairs of refineries

In Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, protesters armed with various placards marched from the NLC Secretariat in Leme Area to the Governor’s Office in Oke-Mosan and obstructed vehicular movement.

Some of the inscriptions on their placards read: “Let the poor breathe, don’t suffocate them”, “Stop importation of petrol, revive the refineries now!!!”, “Stop the looting, tax the rich and subsidise the poor” and “Give workers what is due.”

They demanded repairs of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries and immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies of President Tinubu’s administration.

Addressing the workers, the NLC chairman, Hammed Ademola said: “We have to be on the street, we must not wait until we die, our destiny is always in our hands and now is the right time for us to tell the government of Tinubu that we Nigerians are suffering. The fuel subsidy removal has caused a lot of hardship, untold hardship onto the masses of this nation. We are suffering, we have crude oil yet we are still buying abroad, enough is enough.”

TUC chairman, Akeem Lasisi, said instead of government to remove corruption in the subsidy, they removed the subsidy itself.

We can’t feed, members have developed high BP

In Benue State, workers defied early morning showers and marched from NLC office along the Makurdi/Aliade Highway, through major streets of Makurdi to the Government House where they were received and addressed on behalf of Governor Hyacinth Alia, by his Chief of Staff, Paul Biam.

Chairman, Action and Implementation Committee of the organised rally, Umaja Aloysius, said they were protesting the hardship faced by Nigerians in Benue and across the nation.

“When the subsidy was removed, we were all happy and jubilating but before we know, we began to see that there was no way we can even transport ourselves to our working place again…We can no longer breathe again and so it is on that condition that the national leadership has directed that we have a peaceful protest to the government House for them to address us and send our messages to Nigerians.”

Kogi workers lament

In Kogi State, protesters trooped out in their large numbers as early as 7am to converge on Ganaja junction, Lokoja and and marched through some major streets armed with various placards in which they lamented the high cost  of living as a result of removal of fuel subsidy and called on the Federal Government to reverse all  its anti-people policies that caused hardship on Nigerians.

Chairman of the NLC, Gabriel Amari, who read the letter and handed it over to Governor Yahaya Bello, said removal of fuel subsidy without commensurate palliative for the masses has caused untold hardship.

He called on the federal and state governments to take steps to ameliorate the pain and suffering of Nigerians before the get out of hand.

Bello, who was represented by his Deputy, Edward Onoja,  appealed for patience, noting that government feels the pains of the masses occasioned by recent development in the country was putting measures in place to address the matter.

Plateau

As early as 8am, protesters gathered under the flyover at the Plateau State junction from where they marched to the state secretariat and the federal secretariat at Tudun Wada before returning to the Cenotaph of the unknown soldier opposite the state secretariat where they were addressed by Commissioner of Police, Bartholomew Onyeka.

He told the protesters he was there to see things for himself and ensure no worker was molested in the course of expressing themselves.

“Remember, it’s your right to protest, but what we are saying is that let it be peaceful so as not to disturb the fragile peace in the state because if there is any breakdown of law, everybody suffers the consequences.”

Kebbi seeks release, of palliatives

Kilani Abdulwaliyyu, acting chairman of NLC, Kebbi chapter, appealed to the state government to urgently release and distribute the palliatives supplied by the Federal Government.

He made the plea while leading protesting members of NLC to convey their message to the state Governor, Nasir Idris, at the Cabinet Office in Birnin Kebbi.

“We heard that the consignment is in your custody but we don’t have any confirmation in respect of that. We have confidence in you sir, please if this palliative is released, do not hesitate to allow this palliative to reach the vulnarable people.”

He presented some requests to the governor to include request for the payment of workers’ leave grants, payment of uniform allowance to health workers and rejuvenation of workers’ transportation system, to enable to go to work regularly.

Others requests, Abdulwaliyyu said, were the need for review of salary structure in the state, introduction of peculiar allowance to judicial workers, implementation of new maternity leave for nursing mothers and implementation of promotion and payment of arrears to workers.

Obaseki tells workers to reject FG’s fraudulent palliative

Governor Godwin Obaseki, yesterday, announced that his government would give N500 million to the poorest of the poor. 

He made the promise when he received members of the organised labour led by Odion Olaye, Edo State chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), during a protest in Benin City.

He also directed the labour unions to decline the palliative proposed by the President Tinubu-led administration.

“The so-called money for the palliatives should be given to the local government areas to take care of people. 

“So, we must stop this palliative fraud from the Federal Government. I want to call on labour to reject this palliative, let them give the local government areas the money to give the people because the government that is closest to the people is the local government. Federal Government has no business buying grains or palliative across the 774 local government areas in Nigeria,” Obaseki said.

Anambra NLC rejects FG’s N8,000 palliatives

Anambra State’s chapter of NLC has rejected the N8,000 palliative proposed by the Federal Government as part of its packages to cushion the harsh effects of subsidy removal.

Chairman of NLC in the state, Humphrey Nwafor, disclosed the position of the union. “We are not accepting the N8,000 palliative. As I speak, the cost of living here in Anambra State is very high. The current house rent in Awka is higher than other state capitals of the federation while workers’ monthly salaries remain the same.”

Borno, Adamawa, Yobe workers stage peaceful rallies

Normal business activities continued in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states as workers in the state observed peaceful rallies in compliance with NLC’s directive for nationwide protest over the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

In Borno, workers who gathered at the state NLC secretariat walked along the streets holding placards and chanting slogans to NUJ secretariat while police provided tight security to guard against miscreants hijacking the protest.

Addressing workers, the Vice Chairman of the state NLC, Mamman Bukar, and other labour union leaders, lamented the hardship caused by the removal of fuel subsidy and urged government to meet labour demands on the issue.

In Adamawa, workers who gathered at the NLC secretariat, marched to Government House to present their letter of demands to the Governor.

Addressing the workers, Amos Edgar, Chief of Staff to Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, said government understands the hardship being experienced and is working on measures to ameliorate the situation.

In Yobe, similar peaceful procession and lectures took place in Damaturu while normal business activities continued across the state.

Sun

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has countered President Bola Tinubu over the claim that N1 trillion has been saved since his government stopped payment of fuel subsidy.

In a nationwide broadcast on Monday, the president had said a total of N1 trillion had been saved since subsidy payment was stopped.

“In a little over two months, we have saved over a trillion Naira that would have been squandered on the unproductive fuel subsidy which only benefitted smugglers and fraudsters. That money will now be used more directly and more beneficially for you and your families,” he had said.

But speaking during the ongoing nationwide protest of labour, Joe Ajaero, NLC President, said the committee that the Federal Government set up to negotiate with the unions disclosed that not a single kobo had been saved since subsidy was removed.

Ajaero spoke when he. alongside Festus Osifo of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), led protesters to the national assembly complex on Wednesday.

“Mr President talked about N1trillion saved. The committee where we meet, they told us that no one kobo has been saved so far. Therefore, we have not agreed on what to pay anywhere,” he said.

During his inaugural speech on May 29, President Tinubu had announced removal of fuel subsidy, leading to increase in the price of petrol from N195 to N540 per litre.

Later in July, the price was increased to N617 per litre.

Nigerians have been lamenting the effect of subsidy removal on their lives, but the Tinubu administration has repeatedly promised relief.

Daily Trust

Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has asked Google to delete 18 digital money lending companies’ (DMLs) apps from the Play Store, over violation of registration rules.

The commission spoke in a statement issued on Wednesday, signed by Babatunde Irukera, its chief executive officer (CEO).

The DMLs include; Getloan, Camelloan, Cashlawn, Nairaloan, Eaglecash, Moneytreefinance Made Easy, Luckyloan Personal Loan, and Joy Cash-Loan Up to 1,000,000.

Others are Cashme, Easynaira, Swiftcash, Crediting, Swiftkash, Hen Credit loan; Nut loan; Cash door; Cashpal, and Nairaeasy gist loan.

FCCPC said the aforenamed companies, although registered, will cease to operate unless they provide a proof of compliance with the limited interim regulatory/registration framework and guidelines for digital lending, 2022.

The commission, therefore, gave the DMLs five days to submit proof.

“The commission entered an order to Google LLC (Google) to remove the same from the Play Store, and prohibited payment gateways or services from providing or continuing services to the affected businesses,” the statement reads.

“The commission, as part of its continuing investigation and audit, has identified additional apps operating on the Google Play Store without regulatory approval or in violation of the guidelines.”

As a result, the FCCPC said it asked “Google to immediately remove, withdraw or drawdown” the aforementioned apps.

“The commission will continue engaging Google to clarify how and why apps that have not received relevant regulatory approvals are available on Google’s platform (Play Store),” the consumer agency said.

“Under the guidelines, only DMLs that have been subjected to regulatory scrutiny and compliance evidenced by written approval from the commission are allowed on Play Store.”

FCCPC DEMANDS COMPLIANCE EVIDENCE FROM DMLS

The FCCPC, speaking further on compliance, said some DMLS have resorted to the use of Android package kits (APK) file formats to reach consumers outside of Google’s Play Store.

This, the commission said, appears to be a device by some of the DMLs to evade or avoid regulatory compliance.

“Compliance with the guidelines is mandatory for all DMLs regardless of whether they intend to be placed on Play Store, operate by APK file formats or any other means for that matter,” FCCPC said.

“Failure to comply with the guidelines is a violation of law, and renders any such operation illegal. DMLs operating by any means or on any platforms whatsoever are, hereby, required to provide evidence of compliance with the guidelines within five days from the date of this release.”

The consumer body also urged all existing and approved DMLs providing digital lending services through APK file formats in addition to Play Store, to provide evidence that such APK operations are in compliance with the law.

The FCCPC added that all previously approved DMLSs or otherwise must “revalidate the information provided to the commission by filling DL form 001 and resubmit the same to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.“.

The commission said companies that refuse to adhere to the directive will be permanently delisted and prohibited, and subjected to a law enforcement action, including prosecution.

The Cable

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says Russians fail to advance but are well dug in

Russian forces have made no headway along the front lines, but are entrenched in heavily mined areas they control, making it difficult for Ukrainian troops to move east and south, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday.

Russian accounts of the fighting on the frontline said 12 Ukrainian attacks had been repelled in Donetsk region - a focal point of Russian advances for months.

Much of Russian military activity focused on air attacks that damaged grain infrastructure in Ukraine's Danube port of Izmail. Russia's Defence Ministry also said its forces had destroyed a Ukrainian naval drone that tried to attack a Russian warship escorting a civilian vessel in the Black Sea.

Ukrainian forces launched a drive in June to retake occupied areas and have been pressing southward toward the Sea of Azov to sever a land bridge between occupied eastern Ukraine and the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.

Kyiv also says it has retaken areas near Bakhmut, an eastern city seized by Russian forces in May after months of battles.

Deputy Ukrainian Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Russian forces had "tried quite persistently to halt our advance in the Bakhmut sector. Without success."

Russian forces, she wrote on the Telegram messaging app, were beefing up reserves and equipment in three areas further north, where heavy fighting has also been reported in recent weeks.

Oleksiy Danilov, the Secretary of Ukraine's Security Council, said Russian forces had ample time in months of occupation to prepare defences and lay extensive minefields.

"The enemy has prepared very thoroughly for these events," he told national television. "The number of mines on the territory that our troops have retaken is utterly mad. On average, there are three, four, five mines per square metre."Danilov restated assertions by President Volodymyr Zeleskiy that the advances, while slower than hoped, could not be rushed as human lives were at stake.

"No one can set deadlines for us, except ourselves... there is no fixed schedule," he said. "I have never used the term counter-offensive. There are military operations and they are complex difficult and depend on many factors."

Russia's Defence Minister, in its account of the fighting,

said Ukrainian forces had made unsuccessful attempts to advance in several sectors in both southern and northern parts of Donetsk region.

It also said Russian forces had launched strikes on towns around Bakhmut, including Kurdyumovka on the city's southern fringes and Chasiv Yar, the first major town to the west.

** Ukrainians forced to become Russian citizens, US-backed research finds

Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territory are being forced to assume Russian citizenship or face harsh retaliation, including possible deportation or detention, U.S.-backed research published on Wednesday said.

Yale University researchers said that as part of a plan by Moscow to assert authority over Ukrainians, residents of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions are being targeted by a systematic effort to strip them of Ukrainian identity.

A series of decrees signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin compel Ukrainians to get Russian passports, in violation of international humanitarian law, the report said.

The Kremlin has consistently denied allegations of war crimes in Ukraine by forces taking part in a "special military operation" it says was launched to "de-Nazify" its neighbour and protect Russia.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in May that Moscow has given passports to almost 1.5 million people living in the annexed parts of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions since last October.

Ukrainians in occupied territory who do not seek Russian citizenship "are subjected to threats, intimidation, restrictions on humanitarian aid and basic necessities, and possible detention or deportation – all designed to force them to become Russian citizens," the report said.

"What is concerning here is that it represents, basically, a violation of the Hague and Geneva Conventions," said Executive Director Nathaniel Raymond of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health. "It is very widespread and very ongoing."

Ukrainians in areas under Russian control have no choice but to accept a Russian passport if they want to survive, or they face potential detention and, as the team has documented, deportation into Russia if they fail to comply," Raymond said.

Responsibility lies at the Kremlin with Putin, who has been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of deporting Ukrainian children and occupation authorities, he said.

The Kremlin has said that the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin is a sign of the "clear hostility" that exists against Russia and against Putin personally.

The report was released as part of the Conflict Observatory program, with the support of the U.S. State Department and conducted by research partner the Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

West’s plan to cancel Russia going nowhere — Putin

The policy of the Kiev regime and its Western handlers, who seek to destroy everything related to Russia, has no future, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with members of the government.

Touching upon the integration of Russia’s new regions into Russian culture, Putin pointed out, "Strictly speaking, the inhabitants of those new regions have never left this space, as they cherish their native language and have a great interest in Russia’s great heritage of literature. I know that they love the works of our prominent compatriots."

"And this is despite all the attempts of the current Ukrainian authorities to ban Russian classics and contemporary books, to remove them from shops and libraries, and on top of that, to wipe them out. Both they and their Western handlers daydream about doing this to everything or everyone who thinks, speaks or reads in Russian," the president stated.

In his opinion, "such a policy has never had and will never have any future."

"And the people have responded unambiguously," the president said, recalling how people from the four regions had voted on joining Russia.

"The Russian lands of Donbass and Novorossiya since time immemorial have returned home, have come back into the fold. We are rebuilding them step by step, establishing peaceful life in the liberated territories, including in the cultural and educational fields," Putin said.

** Ukraine giving up on Western battle tactics – NYT

The Ukrainian military is abandoning the battle tactics of its Western trainers and returning to a strategy of longer-range stand-offs against Russian forces, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. However, it remains unclear whether Kiev has enough ammunition to sustain such a plan.

Since it began in early June, Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive has been acknowledged by officials in Washington and Kiev as disappointingly slow at best, and a failure at worst. Attacking through Russian minefields without air support, Ukraine’s Western-supplied tanks and armored vehicles have been picked off by Russian aviation and artillery, and Moscow estimates that the offensive has cost Kiev at least 30,000 men.

At the forefront of the offensive were Ukraine’s nine NATO-trained brigades, one of which – the 47th Mechanized Brigade – reportedly lost 30% of its American-made Bradley Infantry Fighting vehicles in two weeks.

In response to these losses, “Ukrainian military commanders have changed tactics, focusing on wearing down the Russian forces with artillery and long-range missiles instead of plunging into minefields under fire,” the New York Times wrote, citing “US officials and independent analysts.”

With training times limited, the Ukrainians struggled to put NATO-standard combined arms tactics into practice, the newspaper noted, citing incidents where one Ukrainian unit strayed from a safe path into a minefield, and another where an infantry unit failed to follow an artillery bombardment with an assault on Russian lines, giving the Russian defenders adequate time to prepare a counterattack.

American military planners began training Ukrainian troops in maneuver warfare in a bid to conserve ammunition. “As they place more emphasis on maneuver… there’s a good chance that they’ll require less artillery munitions,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin explained in February. 

Although NATO military doctrine typically assumes that maneuver warfare will be conducted after Western forces have established air superiority, Ukraine launched its counteroffensive lacking this critical component of the strategy. Nevertheless, Western officials and media outlets heralded Ukraine’s new NATO playbook as a “hidden advantage” that would help “give Ukrainian forces the agility and speed they need to overcome Russia’s preferred war of attrition and to recapture Russian-occupied territory,” according to Foreign Affairs magazine.

The fact that this did not happen “raises questions about the quality of the training the Ukrainians received from the West and about whether tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons…have been successful in transforming the Ukrainian military into a NATO-standard fighting force,”the Times wrote.

With the Ukrainian military apparently returning to an artillery-heavy fighting style, the issue of ammunition will likely return to the forefront. US stockpiles are already depleted to the point where Washington is sending cluster munitions instead of NATO-standard 155mm shells, and the Times stated that by burning through its limited ammo, Ukraine risks “disadvantage” in a “war of attrition.”

** US frustrated with Zelensky – CNBC

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s conduct is a source of annoyance in Washington, CNBC reported on Wednesday. Zelensky angers his American backers by ignoring their orders and issuing ever-greater demands, anonymous officials told the network.

Zelensky lashed out at NATO leadership before the bloc's summit in Lithuania last month, claiming it was “unprecedented and absurd” that the US-led bloc hadn’t offered Ukraine a timeline for membership. His outburst “did not really resonate well in Washington,” an anonymous source “with knowledge of the matter” told the American broadcaster. “The US administration was very annoyed.”

The incident drew sharp criticism from the normally-supportive UK, and left Washington so “furious” that it considered withdrawing its support for Ukraine’s eventual membership, the Washington Post reported.

CNBC’s source said that the pre-summit incident was one of several clashes between Washington and Kiev that have taken place since the conflict with Russia began last year. 

“So the US is strongly advising Ukraine not to do certain things, but Kiev does them anyway, brushing aside or not addressing US concerns,” the source said. “And [then] they come at the United States, or Washington or the Biden administration, complaining about not being involved in NATO talks.”

The battle for the Donbass city of Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine) was a source of major tension between Zelensky and the US, pro-Ukraine military analyst Konrad Muzyka told CNBC.

“The Americans were encouraging, to put it mildly, the Ukrainians not to fight certain battles in the way that Russia wanted them to fight, as it could have long-term consequences in terms of manpower losses and artillery ammunition expenditure,” Muzyka explained. However, Zelensky insisted on trying to defend the city in the face of mounting casualties, before Wagner Group fighters declared it captured in May.

“The result is that they’ve lost a lot of men,” Muzyka said. “They expended a lot of artillery munitions, which would otherwise be used for this counteroffensive, and lastly, they burned out a lot of barrels for their guns, meaning they are unable to fully support their forces in the Bakhmut area.”

By the time Kiev did launch its counteroffensive against Russian forces in June, the US knew the Ukrainian military was unprepared. Zelensky first insisted that his troops would penetrate Russian lines and cut Russian forces’ access to Crimea. When the battle began to slow as Washington knew it would, he then lashed out at his Western patrons for apparently not providing enough weapons and ammunition to ensure success. 

“As long as the war continues, nothing can be enough,” Zelensky told Brazil’s Globo News broadcaster last week. 

Successive administrations in Nigeria start out by apprehending demons, or enigmatic forces, against which they will test their political strength and define the character of their government. Those forces are the factors on which all evil bedevilling the nation must necessarily be blamed. From coup speeches to inauguration addresses, each administration launches itself by stating what the others have done wrong and how they—the new government, that is—will fix it. Hell is always the previous government. For the eight years the last administration spent in power, they had a favourite demon—the whipping boy of their failures. The name they called it was “16 years of the Peoples Democratic Party.”

Apart from diabolising political opponents, former President Muhamadu Buhari, whose selling point to the nation was “anti-corruption,” accused even legitimate businesspeople of wrongdoing. The anti-elitism he elicited in his devoted supporters morphed into anti-enterprise and anti-wealth attitudes. In their talakawa mentality, everyone who was either doing well (or just not towing their path), was “corrupt” and somehow responsible for the pitiable state of Nigeria. I know some people who lost their businesses because their associates got tired of endless scrutiny of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and folded up the projects they were executing.

Buhari’s populist policies that successfully reduced millions to poverty could not have been implementable without the buy-in of the resentful multitude who thought they were helping him bring down the rich and powerful corrupt.

So, you can understand why Bola Tinubu’s Monday speech where he—finally! —addressed the nation on the direction of his economic agenda piqued my interest. Items three to five of that speech dragged out all the familiar Nigerian demons. He said the money spent on subsidy “was being funnelled into the deep pockets and lavish bank accounts of a select group of individuals. This group had amassed so much wealth and power that they became a serious threat to the fairness of our economy and the integrity of our democratic governance. To be blunt, Nigeria could never become the society it was intended to be as long as such small, powerful yet unelected groups hold enormous influence over our political economy and the institutions that govern it. The whims of the few should never hold dominant sway over the hopes and aspirations of the many.” Then, in item number 10 he added, that “the defects in our economy immensely profited a tiny elite, the elite of the elite you might call them.”

If Tinubu, as the president, cannot identify who these people are, then why did he bring them up for blame? There is no point in giving such information if not followed up with accountability. Even a child born last night already knows that the political class comprises robbers, so what is new? Precisely what stopped Tinubu from either giving us the relevant details of who these people are—plus, their hold over the government and what will become of them now that they are no longer getting stolen money—or leaving it out entirely? Mystifying them suggests an evasion of moral responsibility.

We deserve to know who these “tiny…elites of the elites” whose power not only supersedes that of the current president but every other leader that tried—but failed—to remove the subsidies. Even Tinubu’s chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, contributed some inanity by stating that this mysterious cabal robbing everyone is more powerful than the government and the security agencies. Really? What is the source of their power?

We have had leaders in this country who were not only controlling enough to oversee massacres, but also stood up defiantly to every western institution that intervened in the name of human rights. If those “strongmen” could not remove fuel subsidy, it must mean that the power that this cabal’s power is beyond political and/or economical but also supernatural! How did they get so powerful that they make a whole president, with all the instruments of near unrestrained administrative power at his disposal, comparably impotent? In fact, Tinubu is still so afraid of them that he can only speak of them like he is a conspiracy theorist: deep pockets, select group, powerful yet unelected, the few, the elite of the elite. He might as well call them “spirits”!

Meanwhile, now that their powers have been clipped enough for the subsidies to have been removed, what will they do for a living? I find it hard to accept that the people who could be so powerful that they held down the nation’s destiny for so long control just that one aspect of the economy. They must be into some other affairs through which they are strengthened against the might of the nation; the end of the fuel subsidies cannot possibly be the end of their power over the nation.

By speaking crookedly, these politicians turn apprehensible political characters into metaphysical forces. The trouble with a government official spiritizing economic problems is that the war they will wage against these unseen and unseeable forces will not stay in the spiritual realms. It will get to the physical. So, watch out. Those invisible “elites of the elites” will supposedly be deprived of fuel subsidies, but guess who will bear the material brunt of policies designed to punish their corruption? You! Yes, you, dear gentle reader. You will be asked to endure the indefinite hardship. Even when your material condition remains unchanged, they will ask you to take some vicarious delight in knowing that some “powerful yet unelected” forces somewhere are also being depreciated. That tactic is also going to be their victory declaration. You still do not have electricity to power your home or cannot pay for the supply? Your salary cannot keep up with reality? Worry not, cosmic justice has come for even the “elites of the elites!” That was the narrative the Buhari administration used to pacify people while he wrecked everywhere.

To be clear, this is not a criticism of the fuel subsidies removal policy. I remain convinced that the fuel subsidies should go. One of the reasons was that the woes they predicted would happen if they were removed did while those subsidies subsisted. I also do not believe that the subsidies were maintained because the government did not want the masses to suffer. Fuel subsidies stayed for as long as they did because they served successive governments. When there was nothing left to plunder and no prospect of a windfall coming, they finally let go. Their choices have nothing to do with the masses. Those deep pockets, select group, powerful yet unelected, the few, the elite of the elite Tinubu identified did not dip their hands into Nigeria’s pockets; they were businesspeople who did shady business with a corrupt government that used legitimate tools to siphon public funds.

Tinubu can speak in all the metaphorical terms he likes, but he cannot convince any reasonable person that the corruption merchants he calls the “elites of the elites” are spectres whose names can only be mentioned in codes. A man who has maintained his hold on power since 1999 and amassed enough political capital to become president has no credible ground to stand on to accuse some “elites” of corruption. He cannot morally distance himself from the vast crime scene Nigeria has become; the changing colours of the chameleon deceive only the foolish.

See, when Tinubu describes the corruption of these elites by saying the money was being funnelled into the deep pockets and lavish bank accounts of a select group of individuals, notice his sly use of the passive voice? Good. Using active voice to construct that sentence would have required identifying a subject who would need to be accused of the heist. Not only would such straightforwardness indict his circle, but it is one more responsibility he cannot afford.

Punch