The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says high energy costs, interest rates, and excessive taxes, are major challenges faced by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.

The PwC highlighted the challenges in its 2024 MSME survey, titled, ‘Building Resilience: Strategies for MSME Success in a Changing Landscape’.

According to the financial services firm, the survey included 567 MSMEs across 13 sectors and 29 states.

PwC said over 50 percent of MSMEs reported falling sales due to high prices and low consumer spending power.

“When asked about the reasons for this decline, 38% of respondents pointed to the high cost of their products, while 36% cited the low purchasing power of consumers,” the report reads.

“Additionally, 12% noted that consumers were switching to alternative products, and 10% attributed the decline to changing consumer preferences.

“These challenges are compounded by macroeconomic headwinds such as inflationary pressures, currency depreciation, and slow economic growth.

“Headline inflation in December 2023 was reported at 28.92%, driven by increased food prices, naira devaluation, high import bills, and rising energy and logistics costs.

“Inflation is projected to decline marginally to 21% in 2024, but MSMEs may continue to face sustained inflationary pressure due to the pass-through effect of rising international oil prices on domestic energy costs and exchange rate pressures.

“This is likely to increase the cost of inputs for MSMEs, which will, in turn, raise the prices of final goods and services, further impacting demand.”

The report also pointed out that MSMEs’ growth potential was stunted by funding gaps, power outages, and over-taxation.

The firm said the business owners surveyed reported that the top factors hindering their growth include inadequate access to finance, poor electricity, multiple taxes and levies, inadequate skilled labour, insecurity, and government policies.

“Funding is a critical enabler of the growth and development of small and medium enterprises, with 35% of the businesses surveyed citing inadequate access to finance as their number one challenge,” the report said.

“Infrastructure challenges, particularly electricity, account for the biggest costs to the daily operations of MSMEs. 

“Unreliable power supply is a major challenge for 21% of businesses. Nigeria’s power sector faces numerous issues, including deteriorating plant capacities, poor maintenance, inadequate gas supply, limited distribution networks, and the commercial viability of DisCos operations.

“These challenges have had an adverse impact on the business environment, contributing to significant economic costs for MSMEs and the broader economy.

“Other structural challenges include multiple taxation (12%), inadequate skilled labour (11%), and insecurity (10%).”

PwC also said Nigerian MSMEs require an estimated $32.2 billion (₦13 trillion) in financing.

The organisation said micro and small enterprises, particularly in agriculture and retail, need loans under $20,000.

The report, however, said limited private sector lending, poor infrastructure, and lack of documentation hinder access to credit.

Commenting on the survey, Sam Abu, country senior partner at PwC Nigeria, said MSMEs continue to contribute significantly to the global economy — creating jobs, generating income, and fostering skills development.

“These contributions make the sector pivotal to Nigeria’s growth, especially now given our country’s current challenges,” Abu said.

“However, the sector’s full potential remains untapped due to persistent challenges that hinder its ability to lift people out of poverty and drive the economy forward. 

“Despite these challenges, Nigerian MSMEs have demonstrated remarkable adaptability in navigating a complex business environment characterised by challenging macroeconomy and government policies, highlighting their potential to drive economic growth.”

The Cable

The recent comments by Nigeria's Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, regarding the removal of the fuel subsidy display a concerning lack of understanding of the real-world implications for the Nigerian people.

Edun's claim that "the poorest of 40 percent was only getting four percent of the value" of the fuel subsidy is simply not supported by the facts. According to official figures by both the Federal Road Safety Commission and the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, commercial vehicles - used by low-income Nigerians for essential daily commutes - account for over 50% of the country's total daily petrol consumption. Out of the estimated 12 million registered vehicles in Nigeria, around 7.2 million are commercial vehicles, with about 90 percent of those (6.5 million) running on petrol. If each of these vehicles consumes just 5 liters of petrol daily, this alone accounts for approximately 32.5 million liters of petrol per day—over 50% of Nigeria's reported daily fuel consumption. This statistic starkly contradicts the Minister’s assertion that the poor were not benefitting from the subsidy.

This doesn't even include the massive fuel usage for powering generators that have become a necessity for households and businesses alike due to the country's unreliable electricity grid.

The minister's assertion that "nobody knows the consumption in Nigeria of petroleum" is equally troubling. How can policymakers make informed decisions about a sector so vital to the economy and the lives of citizens without accurate data on consumption patterns? This speaks to a larger problem of incompetence that has come to characterize the Tinubu administration.

Furthermore, the minister's attempt to justify the fuel subsidy removal by claiming Nigeria is subsidizing neighboring countries is a flimsy excuse. Many countries around the world subsidize fuel for their citizens - this is a common economic policy tool used to support domestic industries and protect the most vulnerable. The fact that some Nigerians may have been exploiting the system does not negate the immense hardship that the subsidy removal has caused for millions.

The devastating impact on the "real sector" of the economy, as well as the daily lives of average Nigerians, is undeniable. Skyrocketing transportation costs, soaring prices of goods and services, and the increased burden on households struggling to power their homes - these are the realities that the government seems intent on downplaying or simply ignoring.

It is high time the Tinubu administration abandoned the false narrative peddled by international financial institutions and instead prioritized the well-being of the Nigerian people. The government must acknowledge the significant role that fuel subsidies play in supporting the economy and the livelihoods of the poor, and work towards finding more targeted and equitable solutions, rather than pursuing ill-conceived policies that degrade the economy and exacerbate the suffering of the masses.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Students are out in force on the streets of Dhaka, no longer protesting but working to put a city back together after the dramatic events of the past few days. After Monday’s resignation of Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, subsequent looting and pockets of violence meant the initial jubilation quickly turned to concern.

There were reports that the offices of the ruling Awami League party, as well as homes and businesses of the minority Hindu population, were being attacked.

During the past two days, students have been out cleaning up roads and wreckage, while groups of volunteers have formed to protect the religious sites of minorities.

“We’re living in extraordinary times,” one volunteer says, while clearing glass and debris from a destroyed police box at a busy intersection in the city’s Mirpur neighbourhood.

“Protests can lead to unintended consequences, but they’re driven by a cause. Now, it’s our responsibility to help restore normalcy. We’re just doing our part.”

Nearby, students direct Dhaka’s notorious traffic, as police officers have deserted traffic posts or been deployed elsewhere. Holding up handmade signs saying: “Stop! Follow the traffic rules”, the students encourage pedestrians to keep to pavements and footbridges, and motorcyclists to wear helmets.

“Our protests might have ended, but our duty to the nation persists,” says 19-year-old Faiza.

The students are keen to protect their movement’s integrity, something that endeared it to Bangladeshi society and mobilised wider support for the protesters, who many in the country are saying have pulled off a gen Z-led revolution.

“I was there from the very first moment and have stayed with the movement because the quota law was against our rights, it was illogical. Students working by our own merit were being denied jobs,” says Ashin Roy, a 22-year-old student at Dhaka University.
“We really felt good that everybody supported us and in the end, democracy has won,” says Roy. “We celebrated like we got our victory back, just like in 1971, but now I’m worried that the situation in my country is very bad, that minorities are being oppressed. I want an election now so the people can choose leader who truly works for us.”

After weeks of protests and a government response that killed almost 300 people, the military took charge on Monday and has included student leaders in negotiations at the presidential palace, accepting their demand to include the 84-year-old Nobel laureate and entrepreneur Muhammad Yunus to head an interim government.

The wait is an anxious one – there is hope for a break from a political order that has for decades been defined by bitter rivalry between the two established political parties.

“I have no faith in an army-backed interim government,” says Tamanna Islam, 25, an engineering student at a Dhaka university. “I do not trust the military. The revolution should lead to a new interim government that is supported – but not controlled – by the military.”

She says students have been trying to maintain order, including establishing neighbourhood groups in response to attacks on Hindus and other minority groups, but they want to return to their studies.

“We reject the old, corrupt political parties and the religious extremists,” she says. “Hopefully, existing parties will realise that their traditional corrupt practices are no longer viable. Our country has tremendous potential that should not be squandered under unworthy leadership.

“We’ve ousted this regime and will do so again if the new leaders fail to meet our expectations. I hope that future parties will engage with students and civil society to avoid repeating past mistakes.”

Students at Dhaka University began protesting in early July over a quota law that allocated almost a third of government jobs to the families of people who fought for independence in 1971. Other students from other universities joined them but the crackdown was swift.

Student leaders were arrested, an internet blackout was imposed, police used live bullets and the Awami League launched mob attacks. Nearly 300 people were killed, prompting anger that mobilised many others to join the protests.

“The violence against the students woke me up – anybody who was standing for the movement would say the same thing,” says Esrat Karim, 35, the founder of Amal Foundation, a community-development nonprofit.

“I saw people from all walks of life, from a baker to street children to industrialists, coming to the streets to show solidarity with the movement. Anyone with a minimal conscience would do that because this level of killing was intolerable.”

She says the student movement has made her hopeful for the future of the Bangladesh and proud of the generation who will one day lead it.

“The courage they have, the level of dignity, their conscience – hats off to them,” she says. “People tend to think badly of gen Z, they call them self-centred, but actually they are very giving, very conscious, and now they’ve overturned the government. There’s nothing they can’t do.”

Badiul Alam Majumdar, 78, the founder of the civil society organisation Citizens for Good Governance, describes them as “heroes”.

Majumdar witnessed independence from Britain and then from Pakistan, as well as the resistance to military rule in the 1980s. Like many, he likens the outcome of the protests to Bangladesh winning the nine-month war against occupying Pakistan in 1971, and says this is a “new liberation”.

“We have paid an enormous price,” he adds. “We hope the people who will now be running the show will not betray the blood of the people.”

He says the protests were the outcome of years of increasingly autocratic rule from Hasina.

“We were sitting on a powder keg and it was going to ignite at some point. It happened sooner rather than later. People were so angry, so unhappy,” he says. “This quota was like the tip of the iceberg that caused the Titanic to sink.”

The Guardian, UK

A wooden cargo boat, identified as ‘Godbless Dickson’, laden with cargo and over 64 passengers and crew, exploded and was engulfed with flames, leaving 20 dead in the waterways in Bayelsa State, south-south Nigeria.

The tragic incident occurred on Wednesday along the Ezetu 1 community in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa.

Musa Mohammed, the police spokesperson in Bayelsa said that 20 people have been so far confirmed dead, while rescue efforts by the Marine Police unit were still ongoing.

The ill-fated cargo boat, laden with farm produce from a rural settlement, was en route to Swali market in Yenagoa.

Ogoniba Ipigansi, chairperson of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Bayelsa Chapter, also confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with a NAN Correspondent on Thursday.

He said that a rescue team of the union, consisting of two speedboats, had been dispatched to the scene to assist the passengers on board.

Also, he said that the exact number of casualties was yet to be ascertained, as the rescue was still underway and several people on board were yet to be accounted for.

A speedboat operator, Augustine Amayoro, who participated in rescue efforts, said he rescued 10 persons from the scene, leaving other passengers stranded in the nearby fishing camp.

The wooden cargo boats were exempted from the state government’s ban on night navigation on waterways.

Because of the slow pace of navigation, the cargo boats set sail a day ahead of the targeted weekly market day of Thursdays when farm produce flood the Swali waterside in Yenagoa.

The chairperson of the Southern Ijaw Local Government, Target Segibo, who bemoaned the loss of 20 persons in the incident, described the disaster as regrettable.

He called for concerted efforts by stakeholders to strengthen safety regulations in the marine transport sector.

PT

Israel kills 40 Palestinians in Gaza airstrikes amid fears of wider war

Israeli forces stepped up airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 40 people, Palestinian medics said, in further battle with Hamas-led militants as Israel braced for potential wider war in the region.

Israeli airstrikes hit a cluster of houses in central Gaza's Al-Bureij camp, killing at least 15 people, and the nearby Al-Nuseirat camp, killed four, medics said. Nuseirat and Bureij are among the densely populated enclave's eight historic camps and seen by Israel as strongholds of armed militants.

Israeli aircraft also bombed a house in the heart of Gaza City in the north, killing five Palestinians, while another airstrike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed one person and wounded others, according to medics.

Later on Thursday, 15 Palestinians were killed and 30 injured in Israeli bombings of two schools east of Gaza City, the territory's Civil Emergency Service said in a statement.

The Israeli military said it struck Hamas command and control centres embedded in the Abdel-Fattah Hamouda and Al-Zahra schools in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, where Hamas militants were operating.

It accused Hamas of exploiting civilians and civilian properties for military purposes, an allegation Hamas denies.

Footage circulated on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed casualties being brought to a hospital on donkey carts.

The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they were firing anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs at Israeli forces operating across Gaza, causing deaths and injuries among them.

Israel's military said it had struck dozens of military targets across Gaza over the past 24 hours, including rocket launching pads.

Hamas-led militants set off the Gaza war on Oct. 7 last year with a shock, cross-border rampage into Israeli communities, killing 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and seizing some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, at least 39,699 Palestinians have been killed, including 22 within the past 24 hours, and 91,722 injured in Israel's devastating air and ground war in Gaza, the Gaza health ministry said in an update on Thursday.

The ministry in the Hamas-run territory does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its death lists.

As Gaza's war churns on, Israel has been battening down for another attack expected in the coming days following vows from Iran and its Lebanon proxy Hezbollah to retaliate for the assassinations last week of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.

A relatively contained conflict between Israel and Hezbollah along its northern border, a spillover from the Gaza fighting, now threatens to spiral into an all-out regional war.

MORE BURIALS IN GAZA

On Thursday dozens of Palestinians rushed into Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis to bid farewell to slain relatives before carrying them away for burials.

Reuters footage showed relatives moving out the bodies of their loved ones in plastic bags with names written on them, and holding special prayers before the funerals.

The Israeli military renewed evacuation orders to Palestinian residents in several districts in eastern Khan Younis, saying it would act forcefully against militants who had unleashed rockets from those areas.

The army posted the evacuation order on X, and residents said they had received text and audio messages.

Residents said dozens of families had begun to leave their homes and head west towards Al-Mawasi, a humanitarian-designated area but one that is overcrowded by displaced families from around the enclave.

On Thursday, the World Central Kitchen (WCK), a U.S.-based, non-governmental humanitarian agency, said that a Palestinian staff member, Nadi Sallout, had been killedwhile apparently off duty on Wednesday near Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza. The WCK said it was seeking further details.

The Israeli military said it did not know of any such incident, adding that it had been in contact with WCK.

In April, seven WCK employees were killed in an Israeli airstrike, spurring it to suspend operations for nearly a month.

Israel said then its inquiries had found serious errors and breaches of procedure by its military, and that two senior officers had been dismissed and senior commanders reprimanded.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia battles Ukrainian troops for third day after shock incursion

Russian forces were battling Ukrainian troops for a third day on Thursday after they smashed through the Russian border in the Kursk region, an audacious attack on the world's biggest nuclear power that has forced Moscow to call in reserves.

In one of the biggest Ukrainian attacks on Russia since the war began in February 2022, around 1,000 Ukrainian troops rammed through the Russian border in the early hours of Aug. 6 with tanks and armoured vehicles, covered in the air by swarms of drones and pounding artillery, according to Russian officials.

Heavy fighting was reported near the town of Sudzha, where Russian natural gas flows into Ukraine, raising concerns about a possible sudden stop to transit flows to Europe.

The incursion has come as a shock to Russia, nearly 2-1/2 years after President Vladimir Putin sent his army into Ukraine.

Putin has cast the Ukrainian offensive as a "major provocation". Sergei Mironov, the leader of a Kremlin-loyal political party, called it a "terrorist attack" and "the invasion of an internationally recognised foreign territory".

Kursk's regional acting governor, Alexei Smirnov, said thousands of residents had been evacuated.

The White House said the United States - Ukraine's biggest backer - had no prior knowledge of the attack.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said Ukraine's move on the Kursk region was consistent with U.S. policy.

"They are taking actions to protect themselves from attacks that are coming from a region that are within the U.S. policy of where they can operate, our weapons, our systems, our capabilities," Singh told reporters.

She said Ukraine's move was not escalatory because "Ukraine is doing what it needs to do to be successful on the battlefield."

Russia's defence ministry said on Thursday that the army and the Federal Security Service (FSB) had halted Ukraine's advance and were battling Kyiv's units in the Kursk region.

"Units of the Northern group of forces, together with the FSB of Russia, continue to destroy armed formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Sudzhensky and Korenevsky districts of the Kursk region, directly adjacent to the Russian-Ukrainian border," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian military has remained silent on the Kursk offensive, though President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised the Ukrainian army on Thursday for its ability "to surprise" and achieve results. He did not explicitly reference Kursk.

Some Russian bloggers said Ukraine's forces were pushing towards the Kursk nuclear power station, which lies about 60 km (37 miles) northeast of Sudzha.

Yuri Podolyaka, a popular Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, said that there were intense battles about 30 km from the Soviet-era nuclear plant, which supplies a large swathe of southern Russia with power.

CRITICAL JUNCTURE

Ukraine's energy minister said gas transit via Sudzha was functioning, despite reports of hostilities there. Most EU nations have reduced dependence on Russian gas, but Austria still receives most of its gas via Ukraine.

The Center for Information Resilience (CIR), a non-profit open-source analysis organisation, said it was unable to visually confirm any damage to the gas metering station as a result of the incursion, but had verified significant damage to the border checkpoint about 500 metres (550 yards) to the south.

"This, combined with footage verified by CIR of several Russian soldiers surrendering to Ukrainian soldiers near the entrance of the gas metering plant, makes it likely that the plant has been affected by the Ukrainian incursion, however, the level of damage cannot be verified at this time," it said.

The battles come at a crucial juncture in the conflict, the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two. Kyiv is concerned that U.S. support could weaken if Republican Donald Trump wins the November presidential election.

Trump has said he would end the war, and both Russia and Ukraine are keen to gain the strongest possible bargaining position on the battlefield.

Ukraine wants to pin down Russian forces, which control 18% of its territory, though the strategic significance of the border offensive was not immediately clear.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the Ukrainian attack was an attempt to force Moscow to divert resources from the front and to show the West that Ukraine could still fight.

As a result of the Kursk attack, Medvedev said, Russia should expand its war aims to include taking all of Ukraine.

He said Moscow's "Special Military Operation" should acquire an "openly extraterritorial character", with Russian troops moving on Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mykolayiv, Kyiv "and beyond".

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian troops destroy first British-made Spartan armored vehicle in Ukraine operation

Russian troops destroyed the first British-made Spartan armored personnel carrier of the Ukrainian army over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.

Russia’s Battlegroup Center units "destroyed a British-made Spartan armored personnel carrier" in their area of responsibility over the past 24 hours, the ministry said.

Russia’s Battlegroup North strikes Ukrainian army in Kursk, Sumy, Kharkov Regions

Russia’s Battlegroup North struck Ukrainian troops in the borderline Kursk Region and Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkov Regions and inflicted roughly 415 casualties on the enemy over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup North units inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 22nd and 25th mechanized, 36th marine infantry, 88th, 103rd and 123rd territorial defense brigades in areas near the settlements of Zhuravka, Belovody and Yunakovka in the Sumy Region, Volchansk in the Kharkov Region and Daryino in the Kursk Region," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 415 personnel, four tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles, 14 armored personnel carriers, 12 pickup trucks, three 152mm D-20 howitzers, two 122mm D-30 howitzers and two Bukovel-AD electronic warfare stations, it specified.

Russia’s Battlegroup West inflicts over 460 casualties on Ukrainian army in past day

Russia’s Battlegroup West improved its tactical position and inflicted more than 460 casualties on Ukrainian troops in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup West units improved their tactical position and inflicted casualties on formations of the Ukrainian army’s 14th, 44th, 67th and 116th mechanized, 3rd assault, 110th and 241st territorial defense and 1st National Guard brigades in areas near the settlements of Sinkovka, Petropavlovka, Novoyegorovka and Tabayevka in the Kharkov Region, Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and Novosadovoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic. They repelled a counterattack by an assault group of the Ukrainian army’s 116th mechanized brigade," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to more than 460 personnel, an infantry fighting vehicle, a Kozak armored combat vehicle, a US-made MaxxPro armored fighting vehicle, 13 motor vehicles, a US-made 155mm M777 howitzer, a 122mm Gvozdika motorized artillery system, three 122mm D-30 howitzers, two Czech-made Vampire multiple rocket launchers and a Bukovel-AD electronic warfare station, it specified.

In addition, Russian troops destroyed two ammunition depots of the Ukrainian army, the ministry said.

Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicts 660 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day

Russia’s Battlegroup South struck six Ukrainian brigades and inflicted roughly 660 casualties on enemy troops in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup South units gained more advantageous frontiers and positions and inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 23rd, 24th and 67th mechanized, 5th and 10th assault and 10th mountain assault brigades in areas near the settlements of Chasov Yar, Grigorovka, Ostroye, Ivano-Daryevka and Viyemka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. They repulsed two counterattacks by formations of the Ukrainian army’s 5th assault brigade," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 660 personnel, two armored personnel carriers, including a US-made M113 armored troop carrier, nine motor vehicles, two US-made 155mm M777 howitzers, a Polish-made 155mm Krab self-propelled artillery system, a British-made 155mm AS-90 self-propelled artillery gun, a British-made 155mm FH70 howitzer, a 152mm D-20 howitzer, two 122mm D-30 howitzers, a British-made 105mm L119 artillery gun and two Anklav-N electronic warfare stations, it specified.

Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicts 360 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day

Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicted roughly 360 casualties on Ukrainian troops in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup Center units continue conducting active operations. They inflicted casualties on formations of the Ukrainian army’s 1st tank, 31st, 32nd and 117th mechanized, 95th air assault, 109th and 111th territorial defense brigades in areas near the settlements of Nikolayevka, Tarasovka, Toretsk, Grodovka and Panteleimonovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. They repelled two counterattacks by assault groups of the enemy’s 25th air assault and 142nd infantry brigades," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 360 personnel, a British-made Spartan armored personnel carrier, three armored combat vehicles, eight motor vehicles, a US-made 155mm M777 howitzer, a 152mm Giatsint-B field gun and a 122mm Gvozdika motorized artillery system, it specified.

Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicts 105 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day

Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicted roughly 105 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed two enemy infantry fighting vehicles in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup East units improved their forward edge positions and inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 72nd mechanized and 58th motorized infantry brigades in areas near the settlements of Vodyanoye and Ugledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic. They repelled a counterattack by an enemy assault group," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 105 personnel, two infantry fighting vehicles, 10 motor vehicles, a British-made 155mm FH70 towed howitzer, a Polish-made 155mm Krab self-propelled artillery system, a US-made 155mm Paladin self-propelled artillery gun, a US-made 155mm M198 howitzer and a US-manufactured AN/TPQ-50 counterbattery radar station, it specified.

In addition, Russian troops destroyed two ammunition depots of the Ukrainian army, the ministry said.

Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr strikes three Ukrainian brigades over past day

Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr struck three Ukrainian army brigades and inflicted roughly 110 casualties on enemy troops in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup Dnepr units inflicted casualties on formations of the Ukrainian army’s 128th mountain assault, 35th marine infantry and 124th territorial defense brigades in areas near the settlements of Stepnogorsk in the Zaporozhye Region, Novotyaginka and Antonovka in the Kherson Region," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 110 personnel, two infantry fighting vehicles, seven motor vehicles, a 152mm Giatsint-B field gun, three 152mm D-20 howitzers, a 122mm Gvozdika motorized artillery system, a British-made 105mm L119 howitzer and two Bukovel-AD electronic warfare stations, it specified.

Russian troops wipe out Ukrainian UAV assembly workshops over past day

Russian troops destroyed Ukrainian UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) assembly workshops over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Operational/tactical aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groups of forces destroyed workshops for the assembly of unmanned aerial vehicles and struck massed enemy manpower and military equipment in 164 areas," the ministry said.

Russian air defenses down Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter, 80 UAVs over past day

Russian air defense forces shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet, 12 rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and 80 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Air defense capabilities shot down a Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 plane and destroyed 12 US-made HIMARS rockets and 80 unmanned aerial vehicles, including 21 UAVs outside the area of the special military operation," the ministry said.

Overall, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 636 Ukrainian warplanes, 278 helicopters, 29,402 unmanned aerial vehicles, 563 surface-to-air missile systems, 16,937 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,398 multiple rocket launchers, 12,976 field artillery guns and mortars and 24,528 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation, the ministry reported.

Reuters/Tass

Almost everyone thinks they know what is wrong with President Bola Tinubu and his government, except Tinubu himself. And to show that it’s not just bellyaching, there are plenty of examples to beat the president over the head.

Headline inflation has risen from 22.2 percent in April 2023 to 33.7 one year after – and is still growing – while attempts by the government to tame it have been largely ineffective. Food inflation has nearly doubled. The naira has been devalued by 70 percent in one year, and poverty levels, even among the once-comfortable urban population, have risen dramatically. Hardship has never been starker.

But that’s not all. Where Tinubu promised leaner government parastatals, they have increased. The talk about cutting the cost of governance is being crushed under the wheels of longer executive convoys and a parliament out of touch.

Events around the continent, especially in West Africa, where Nigeria is supposed to be a powerhouse, offer little comfort. On Tinubu’s watch, and some might even add, because of his mishandling, three countries – Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso – have pulled out of ECOWAS and formed a band of rebellious Sahelian states.

And on the continental stage, Nigeria has dropped from Africa’s largest economy to number four, a blow that a country with an oversized ego can still not reconcile with.

Crucify him

If one called for nails to crucify Tinubu, volunteers would supply more than enough to cover every inch of his body, with bags of it to spare. You will be reminded that this was self-inflicted misery when he removed the petrol subsidy on day one and attempted to merge the exchange rate without a clear plan.

That’s just as well. I can’t wrap my head around some of the events that happened in the last year. And I can’t remember how often I have asked if this is the same Tinubu I’ve known since 1998. Well, it’s the same Tinubu, more or less. It’s the same Tinubu, seasoned and buffeted almost equally from age and circumstance in a country that has also changed by far greater measure in the last nearly three decades!

Tinubu asked for the job, so there can’t be excuses for why the country is in such misery. It’s, however, fair to say, almost at the risk of attack, that those who judge Tinubu harshly underestimate the determined, active efforts of interest groups – both from within and outside his government – to ensure that he fails, despite his best efforts.

The heart of the matter

His government's two most consequential decisions – announcing the removal of petrol subsidy and attempting to create a more transparent exchange rate system – touched a raw nerve. The biggest beneficiaries, primarily wealthy, powerful and deadly people across the country, but particularly in the North, are determined to fight his government to a standstill.

The pattern of last week’s #EndBadGovernance protests showed where poverty was starkest. But it also showed the locus of misdirected anger and resistance to change.

The anger was against Tinubu’s policies. But much more than that, it implicated sections of the Northern elite who have, over the years, underdeveloped and impoverished the region, primarily by playing the ethnic and religious card and refusing to be held to account. This same elite was on a roll last week, issuing Russian flags to protesters and pontificating how Tinubu had lost his way.

North’s misery

Things didn’t become suddenly hard for the North under Tinubu. As Kingsley Moghalu said four years ago, when Nigeria displaced India as the world’s poverty capital under the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, the North, regrettably, also became the poverty capital of the poverty capital, with the incidence of poverty up to 80 percent in the North-west.

Decades of the elite prioritising politics and a sense of entitlement over production and accountability have radicalised millions of young people without hope or a future. Their anger should have been directed at the elite responsible for the mess.

Unfortunately, the same elite stoked the discontent, capitalised on it and managed to frame it as evidence of Tinubu’s unfitness for office. And people who used soldiers to crush swathes of the civil population when they were in power are now teaching us lessons on civil management of public protests. The truth is more nuanced.  

The handling of the protests in several states was incompetent, disgraceful and indefensible. Nothing justifies using live rounds against primarily unarmed people expressing their right to dissent. It’s a disgrace that live rounds were used to disperse mostly unarmed crowds, as a result of which about 13 people were killed.

However, the suggestions that people with a sinister agenda sponsored the violence in several Northern states to destabilise Tinubu’s government and divert attention from their complicity in our current mess should not be dismissed out of hand.

Elite wars

It only takes a cursory look at the sections of the elite worst hit by the removal of the subsidy and the attempts to streamline the forex market chaos to understand why they won’t give up without a dirty fight, whatever the cost. Those who think it’s in their power to determine who rules and how long took advantage of the protests to fire warning shots about what they’re determined to do, if not sooner, then by the next election.

Kenya, the UK, and, later, Bangladesh have been touted as models for managing dissent and examples of what may happen if a government fails to listen to the people. While economic hardship is the common thread, those who cite these examples in Nigeria ignore the sinister role of interest groups that fear a prolonged loss of political power.

Insects within

Yet, suggesting that outsiders caused all of Tinubu’s woes would be foolish. Amid the chaos of last week, there were members of his cabinet who were more than delighted that the pressure might finally compel the president to review his government’s “tight-fistedness”. Under Buhari, the Ministry of Finance released quarterly capital votes to ministries and government departments, and they didn’t have to account for it.

Under Tinubu, however, the Ministry of Finance tightly controls releases. Payments are only made after projects have been verified and certificates of completion issued. It’s not the kind of thing people who are used to easy money would be happy about. Beneficiaries of the previous order will resist this change or stand idly by when the government is under attack.

What team?

The part of the whole business that I find troubling is the quality of Tinubu’s cabinet and inner circle. If it was a joke to please certain interest groups when he came to power last year, it has become an embarrassment. He has paid them what he owes, with interest.

With a few exceptions, his team is neither valuable for the country nor serviceable for a president in an emergency. Where did he find these people? And how long will he keep them as passengers on a train to nowhere, putting at risk his reputation as an excellent talent hunter?

I guess that the #EndBadGovernance protest will not be the last. One can only hope that lessons have been learnt and concrete steps will be taken to implement them for the benefit of citizens. That would be the biggest test of his presidency.

** Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book Writing for Media and MonetisingIt

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been chosen to head the Bangladesh’s interim government after the nation’s longtime prime minister resigned and fled abroad in the face of violent unrest against her rule.

Known as the “banker to the poorest of the poor” and a longtime critic of the ousted Sheikh Hasina, Yunus will act as a caretaker premier until new elections are held. The decision followed a meeting late Tuesday that included student protest leaders, military leaders, civil society members and business leaders.

Hasina was forced to flee on Monday after weeks of protests and her departure has plunged Bangladesh into a political crisis. The army has temporarily taken control, but it is unclear what its role would be in an interim government after the president dissolved parliament on Tuesday to pave the way for elections.

Student leaders who organised the protests had wanted Yunus, who is now in Paris for the Olympics as an adviser to its organisers, to lead an interim government.

He could not immediately be reached by the Associated Press for comment, but key student leader Nahid Islam said that Yunus agreed to step in during a discussion with them.

‘To poverty as Bill Gates is to computer software’

The 83-year-old is a well-known critic and political opponent of Hasina. Yunus called her resignation the country’s “second liberation day.” She once called him a “bloodsucker.” In January, Yunus was convicted of violating Bangladesh’s labour laws in a trial decried by his supporters as politically motivated.

Last year, more than 100 Nobel laureates signed an open letter calling for the charges to be suspended. Amnesty International said the case was “emblematic of the beleaguered state of human rights in Bangladesh, where the authorities have eroded freedoms and bulldozed critics into submission”.

Yunus was born in 1940 in Chattogram, a seaport city in Bangladesh. He received his PhD from Vanderbilt University in the United States and taught there briefly before returning to Bangladesh.

In a 2004 interview with The Associated Press, Yunus said he had a “eureka movement” to establish Grameen Bank when he met a poor woman weaving bamboo stools who was struggling pay her debts.

“I couldn’t understand how she could be so poor when she was making such beautiful things,” he recalled in the interview.

An economist and banker by profession, Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering the use of microcredit to help impoverished people, particularly women. He is credited with lifting millions of people out of poverty. The Nobel Peace Prize committee credited Yunus and his Grameen Bank “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.”

A Guardian profile of him written when he won the prize described him as “to poverty as Bill Gates is to computer software. Only that Yunus’s business exponentially flourishes in a business environment infinitely harsher than leafy Seattle.”

Yunus founded Grameen Bank in 1983 to provide small loans to entrepreneurs who would not normally qualify to receive them. The bank’s success in lifting people out of poverty led to similar microfinancing efforts in other countries.

He ran into trouble with Hasina in 2008, when her administration launched a series of investigations into him. In an interview earlier this year, Yunus wouldn’t be drawn on the reasons for Hasina’s enmity but it has been linked by others to his aborted attempt to launch a political party in 2007.

During the investigations, Hasina accused Yunus of using force and other means to recover loans from poor rural women as the head of Grameen Bank. Yunus denied the allegations.

Hasina’s government began reviewing the bank’s activities in 2011, and Yunus was fired as managing director for allegedly violating government retirement regulations. He was put on trial in 2013 on charges of receiving money without government permission, including his Nobel prize and royalties from a book.

He later faced more charges involving other companies he created, including Grameen Telecom, which is part of the country’s largest mobile phone company, GrameenPhone, a subsidiary of Norwegian telecom company Telenor.His supporters say the charges are all politically motivated.

Yunus told Indian media on Tuesday that “today should be about celebration”. He played down any fears over instability in Bangladesh and called the ridding of Hasina “a revolution”.

“We got rid of a very authoritarian government,” he told NDTV. “We are enjoying it, we are enjoying our freedom and a new era is opening for Bangladesh.”

The Guardian, UK

Sepsis occurs when one's immune system has an extreme response to an infection. It's a life-threatening condition: globally, it accounts for about 11 million deaths—20% of all deaths per year.

And it doesn't just affect adults. In 2020, 2.4 million newborn babies died of sepsis in the first month of their lives. Most of these deaths happened in sub-Saharan Africa.

The main treatment for sepsis is antibiotics. However, the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in human medicine and agriculture has led to antimicrobial resistance—a process in which bacteria, fungi and parasites have developed the ability to resist the action of medicines.

The World Health Organization describes antimicrobial resistance as one of the top global public health and development threats.

This growing resistance is due to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in both human medicine and in farming. They're used in large quantities to grow crops and in animal feeds to treat and reduce the risk of infection in livestock.

It has been forecast that, by 2050, more people will die from antimicrobial resistance than both cancer and diabetes combined.

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the regions with the highest rates of deaths associated with antimicrobial resistance (including sepsis) in the world, with 23.5 deaths per 100,000 people.

In our latest study we found that samples taken from mothers and newborn babies younger than one week in Nigeria already had colistin-resistant bacteria present in their bodies. But neither the babies nor their mothers had been treated with colistin.

Colistin is one of the last remaining antibiotics that is still effective in killing bacteria and fighting infections such as pneumonia. It is deemed critically important for human medicine by the World Health Organization.

We surmise that mothers may have picked up these colistin resistant bacteria from the environment. We cannot speculate on the specific mechanism. The babies, meanwhile, could have picked up the bacteria from the hospital, the community, or from their mothers. It's not yet known if these colistin-resistant bacteria stay in the mothers or babies—but if they do this may increase their chances of acquiring future drug-resistant infections.

How we did our study

The samples from newborn babies and their mothers in our study were collected between 2015 and 2017 from three hospitals in Kano and Abuja. This research is the largest ever screening of intestinal microbiota for colistin resistance in Nigeria.

Of the 4,907 samples we analyzed in our Cardiff and Oxford laboratories, we found that 1% of samples had genes conferring colistin resistance, across 41 mothers and eight babies. Although this is a low percentage, it is extremely worrying that any babies were carrying colistin-resistant bacteria within their first week of life.

Colistin is rarely used in hospitals and clinics in Nigeria. Therefore, our findings suggest that resistance may have emerged from the increasing use of colistin in agricultural settings in the country. We are continuing our research with collaborators in Nigeria to further understand the levels of resistance in both the health care system and more broadly.

Dangers of using antibiotics in agriculture

Globally, more antibiotics are prescribed to animals than to humans. Most of this consumption is not to treat infections; rather, it is to prevent infections or promote faster growth in animals.

In 2016 mobile colistin (mcr) genes were discovered in E. coli bacteria from a pig farm in China. These genes carry resistance to the antibiotic colistin, and can spread between bacteria, furthering colistin resistance.

This discovery led to a total ban on colistin's agricultural use in China.

In February 2022, European laws were expanded to make it illegal to add antibiotics to livestock feeds as a precaution to prevent infections before they start.

However, in a study we published in 2023, we found that, while European countries have banned the use of colistin in farming, paradoxically they still actively export livestock feeds that contain colistin to low- and middle-income countries such as Nigeria for agriculture use.

It seems a highly questionable practice to knowingly profit by selling feedstuffs banned for use in Europe to developing countries that lack these regulations—particularly when these countries already suffer from some of the highest rates globally of endemic antimicrobial resistance for common antibiotics and treatment alternatives are either prohibitively expensive or completely inaccessible.

Estimates suggest that globally almost 100,000 tons of antibiotics were used to raise cattle, sheep, chickens, and pigs in 2022. This usage is expected to increase by another 8%by 2030 and will lead to a direct increase in antibiotic-resistant infections.

Call for a total ban

There needs to be a global ban on colistin's indiscriminate agricultural use to preserve this crucial antibiotic for when it is urgently required.

However, this is a delicate balance. A ban without alternative solutions will likely affect food production and adversely affect farmers' livelihoods in already challenging climates. And, with the world's population set to increase by about 2 billion by 2050, demand for affordable meat will only rise.

Urgent investment is also needed in hospital infection prevention and control programs and improved water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in farms to help to limit the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria around these environments.

Animals should be given antibiotics only when they are sick. These antibiotics should be selected from those the World Health Organization has listed as being "least important" to human health rather than from those classified as "highest priority/critically important."

In September 2024, during the UN General Assembly in New York, leaders from governments, industry, financial institutionsand scientific organizations will come together for a UN High-Level meeting on antimicrobial resistance.

This meeting offers a timely opportunity for global leaders to set some targets to reduce antibiotic use in farming and support farmers in low- and middle-income countries to improve farm hygiene practices.

Medical Express

The Federal Government disbursed a total of N1.03tn to fight against insecurity and terrorism between January and June 2024.

In the budget implementation report for the first half of 2024 obtained by our correspondent through Open Treasury, a website that monitors government spending, the amount represents a disbursement rate of 42.80 per cent from its appropriation of N2.41tn and a balance of N1.38tn.

Despite this spending, no fewer than 5,801 Nigerians were killed in terrorist attacks, and 4,348 citizens were abducted in the first seven months of 2024, Findings by The PUNCH showed.

Data sourced from an Indigenous intelligence outfit, Beacon Consulting, revealed that the number of fatalities was recorded during the various attacks witnessed in 574 Local Government Areas across the country.

A breakdown, according to geopolitical zones, showed that 2,223 persons were killed in the North-East, representing 33 per cent of the total incidents, in which 1,609 individuals were killed and 614 kidnapped in 88 Local Government councils.

In the North-West, 125 councils recorded attacks leading to the death of 2,023 individuals while 2,607 were abducted.

No fewer than 96 councils recorded incidents in the North-Central region out of which 1,102 residents lost their lives and 847 were kidnapped.

South-West recorded attacks in 106 councils which led to the death of 434 individuals and 93 were abducted. Also, 275 persons were killed and 145 abducted in 81 councils of the South-South.

While, in the South-East, 358 fatalities and 42 abductions were reported across 78 Local Government Areas

Insecurity has severely hindered socio-economic development in Nigeria, impacting various aspects of life throughout the country. The widespread threat of violence and crime arises from multiple sources, transcending from terrorism into banditry, cattle rustling, and kidnapping for ransom.

Despite the government’s promise to tackle the menace by investing in advanced attack machinery, insurgents continue to operate with relative ease.

Speaking on the insecurity issue, a security consultant and Fellow of the Institute of Security, Nigeria, Chigozie Ubani, said there was a critical need for a comprehensive approach to national security.

He noted that despite repeated recommendations to the Federal Government, current efforts were ineffective.

Ubani lamented the cycle of arrests, detentions, and subsequent bail of suspects without addressing the underlying social and economic factors contributing to insecurity.

“We are running a reactionary police system. When it happens, we then move. We arrest people, detain them, and later bail them. The other day, we charged them to court. It’s just reactionary. What we’ve not done is to look at the social and economic angles to security. We might be lucky, but if not, we might have a bloody situation, because people are hungry. This is one of our major problems,” he stated.

Punch