Donald Trump was shot in the right ear during a campaign rally on Saturday, sparking panic and streaking the Republican presidential candidate's blood across his face, before he emerged and pumped his fist in the air appearing to mouth the words "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

The shooter was dead, one rally attendee was killed and two other spectators were injured, the Secret Service said in a statement. The incident was being investigated as an assassination attempt, a source told Reuters.

"I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear," Trump said on his Truth Social platform following the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Pittsburgh. "Much bleeding took place."

Trump, 78, had just started his speech when the shots rang out. He grabbed his right ear with his right hand, then brought his hand down to look at it before dropping to his knees behind the podium before Secret Service agents swarmed and covered him. He emerged about a minute later, his red "Make America Great Again" hat knocked off, and could be heard saying "wait, wait," before agents ushered him into a vehicle.

The shooter's identity and motive were not immediately clear. Leading Republicans and Democrats quickly condemned the violence.

The shooting occurred less than four months before the Nov. 5 election, when Trump faces an election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.

Biden said in a statement: "There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it."

Ron Moose, a Trump supporter who was in the crowd, described the chaos: "I heard about four shots and I saw the crowd go down and then Trump ducked also real quick. Then the Secret Service all jumped and protected him as soon as they could. We are talking within a second they were all protecting him."

Moose said he then saw a man running and being chased by officers in military uniforms. He said he heard additional shots, but was unsure who fired them. He noted that by then snipers had set up on the roof of a warehouse behind the stage.

The BBC interviewed a man who described himself as an eyewitness, saying he saw a man armed with a rifle crawling up a roof near the event. The person, who the BBC did not identify, said he and the people he was with started pointing at the man, trying to alert security.

The shots appeared to come from outside the area secured by the Secret Service, the agency said.

REPUBLICANS, DEMOCRATS DECRY VIOLENCE

Trump is due to receive his party's formal nomination at the Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Milwaukee on Monday.

"This horrific act of political violence at a peaceful campaign rally has no place in this country and should be unanimously and forcefully condemned," Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said on social media.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was horrified by what happened and was relieved Trump was safe. "Political violence has no place in our country," he said.

Biden's campaign was working to pause its television ads and halting all other outbound communication, a campaign official said on Saturday.

Americans fear rising political violence, recent Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, with two out of three respondents to a May survey saying they feared violence could follow the election.

Trump, who served as president from 2017-2021, easily bested his rivals for the Republican nomination early in the campaign and has largely unified around him the party that had briefly wavered in support after his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

The businessman and former reality television star entered the year facing a raft of legal worries, including four separate criminal prosecutions. He was found guilty in late May of trying to cover up hush money payments to a porn star, but the other three prosecutions he faces -- including two for his attempts to overturn his defeat -- have been ground to a halt by various factors including a Supreme Court decision early this month that found him to be partly immune to prosecution.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick, who was seated in the front row at the rally, said he had started to go up on stage when Trump said he would have him come up later.

"Within a minute or two, I heard the shots ... It was clear it was gunfire," he told Reuters in an interview. "It felt like it was an assassination attempt ... It was terrifying."

Donald Trump speaks..

"I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania. Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!"

Secret Service responds after security incident at Trump rally

Former President Trump was rushed off the stage by the Secret Service at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, after apparent gunshots rang out.

Gunfire appeared to break out shortly after Trump began speaking at the rally at Butler Farm Show grounds on Saturday evening.

The former president had just begun to fire up the crowd when as many as five shots were heard and he went down, surrounded by Secret Service agents.

"And then the worst president in the history of our country took over. And look what happened to our country. Probably 20 million people [came in illegally]. And, you know, that's a little bit old, that chart... that chart's a couple of months old. And if you want to really see something that sad, take a look at what happened over..." Trump said before gunfire rang out.

"An incident occurred the evening of July 13 at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service has implemented protective measures and the former President is safe. This is now an active Secret Service investigation and further information will be released when available," said Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. 

Biden briefed on Trump rally shooting: 'I'm praying for him'

President Biden released a statement after a shooting at a rally for former President Trump on Saturday, after which Trump had blood on his face and was escorted off the stage by Secret Service agents. 

"I have been briefed on the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania," Biden said in a White House statement around 8 p.m.

"I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information," Biden, who is facing Trump in the 2024 presidential election in November, added. 

"Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it," the president said. 

Former President Obama released his own statement prior to Biden, saying, "There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy."

"Although we don’t yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt, and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics," he said. "Michelle and I are wishing him a quick recovery."

In a statement from the George W. Bush Presidential Center, former President Bush said, "Laura and I are grateful that President Trump is safe following the cowardly attack on his life. And we commend the men and women of the Secret Service for their speedy response."

Fellow former President Clinton reacted on X, posting that "Violence has no place in America, especially in our political process."

"Hillary and I are thankful that President Trump is safe, heartbroken for all those affected by the attack at today’s rally in Pennsylvania, and grateful for the swift action of the U.S. Secret Service," Clinton said. 

Biden addressed the nation from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware on Saturday evening after the shooting, telling reporters, "There’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick. ... We cannot condone this."

** From Jenny Leonard, who is traveling with Biden back to DC: Biden spoke to Trump. The president is also getting updates from homeland security and law enforcement officials, according to a White House official.

** Jeff Bezos says in a post on X that Trump “showed tremendous grace and courage under literal fire tonight.” Bezos owns the Washington Post and is the founder of Amazon.

** A scene tonight from elsewhere, in New York City: Outside of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, a small crowd gathered - mostly media. One man had an American flag draped around his neck, while a woman in a red Trump hat also held a flag. Three people - one of whom wore a Make America Great Again hat - held candles in a vigil. About 10 police cruisers and vans were parked outside, and five officers stood in front of the entrance, which people seemed to walk freely in and out of.

** Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News that Biden and Trump should work together to “reassure the nation that they’re both going to make an effort to change the tone of this campaign.

He said he sent a note to Trump “thanking him for his courage during that event, which was inspirational.”

But Kennedy declined to discuss his own request for Secret Service protection. “I don’t want to make this evening about me. It’s about something bigger.”

** Trump Released From Hospital After Rally Shooting

** Possible security lapses in focus after Trump rally shooting

The attack on Donald Trump raised questions about how the Republican presidential candidate is protected on the campaign trail and what caused the apparent security lapses at Saturday's rally.

While information about the incident is still sparse, at least one person interviewed by the BBC said he had tried to alert police and the U.S. Secret Service, to no avail, to an apparent sniper climbing onto a nearby roof outside the security perimeter of the rally venue in Butler, Pennsylvania.

As a former president and the Republican presidential candidate, Trump is protected primarily by the Secret Service.

During most of Trump's campaign stops, local police aid the Secret Service in securing the venue. Agents from other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security, such as the Transportation Security Administration, occasionally help.

It is no easy task. Many Trump rallies feature thousands of audience members, take place in the open air and last for hours.

Before the event, agents scan the venue for bombs or other threats, and Trump invariably arrives in a fortified motorcade.

Law enforcement officials typically put up barriers as a perimeter, and require all attendees to go through a metal detector to enter the venue. Armed protective agents search all attendees' bags and even wallets. Many rallygoers are patted down by hand.

Saturday's attack, however, appeared to have been committed by a gunman located outside the secured perimeter, according to initial media reports.

A local resident who was present at the Saturday event and asked to remain anonymous, said he saw what appeared to be two Secret Service agents perched on a nearby roof ahead of the event. He said the agents had been scanning the area with binoculars beforehand.

"They kept looking over to the left behind the event, before Trump came on stage. They seemed very focused on that area,” said the attendee.

The Secret Service said shortly after the shooting that it has begun an investigation and briefed Democratic President Joe Biden, though the agency did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment regarding its protocols.

The Pennsylvania State Police referred questions to the Secret Service, which did not immediately respond.

In the moments after Trump was injured, the former president was quickly surrounded by Secret Service personnel who formed a human shield, while heavily armed agents in body armor and toting rifles also took to the stage and appeared to scan the area for threats.

Trump was whisked by the agents to a black SUV, and taken to a local hospital, according to the campaign.

Reuters/Fox News/Bloomberg

The Nigerian Police Force (NPF) says it will commence the enforcement of the digitalised central motor registry (e-CMR) by July 29.

In a statement on Saturday, Muyiwa Adejobi, the force spokesperson, said the move is part of efforts to curb vehicle theft and crime in the country.

Adejobi said the e-CMR is a real-time online archive of vehicle data designed to support police investigations and combat vehicle-related crimes.

“As part of the efforts of the inspector-general of police, Kayode Egbetokun, to enhance the security of lives and property, the Nigeria Police Force is set to commence the enforcement of the digitalised central motor registry (e-CMR) within the next 14 days, specifically on the 29th of July, 2024, — to rejuvenate and digitalize the motor vehicle registration system, significantly bolstering our nation’s safety and security framework,” the statement reads.

“The e-CMR is an advanced, real-time online repository of motor vehicle data, designed to support police investigations, operational activities, and combat vehicle-related crimes, including terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and armed robbery.”

The police spokesperson urged vehicle owners and users to obtain the digitalised CMR certificate online at cmris.npf.gov.ng.

“Following the directives of the IGP, services such as change of ownership, change of license number, change of engine, and change of chassis/body would become seamless as the e-CMR system would ensure the validation of vehicle genuineness and ownership, enhancing the ability to track and recover stolen vehicles effectively, and preventing the purchase of stolen vehicles by innocent buyers,” Adejobi said.

“Prior to the enforcement itself, the IGP has ordered full publicity of the e-CMR and its enforcement to all members of the public intimating them of the requirements, processes, and the enforcement procedures.”

The Cable

The Nigeria Bar Association Section on Public Interest has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to stop the directive requiring vehicle owners to register and obtain a Central Motor Information System Certificate for a fee of not less than N6,000.

NBA-SPIDEL questioned the legal basis for the Nigeria Police Force’s issuance of the CMRIS Certificates, stating that no law had granted the police the authority to issue such licences or certificates to vehicle owners following vehicle registration at the appropriate offices.

It demanded an immediate halt to the issuance and enforcement of the CMRIS Certificates, urging the Inspector General of Police to issue a directive stopping the practice nationwide.

The association also called for the shutdown of the registration website and physical registration centres, with refunds to be made to those who had already paid.

It made the call in a letter addressed to the Inspector General of Police, and co-signed by NBA-SPIDEL Chairman, John Aikpokpo-Martins; and Secretary, Funmi Adeogun.

It stated, “Any such certificate being issued by the Nigeria Police Force without legal backing is outright illegal, null, and void, and therefore of no consequence.”

It emphasised that the police’s duty to protect citizens and enforce the law does not extend to collecting money or issuing certificates to vehicle owners.

They condemned the exploitation of Nigerians’ ignorance, resulting in extortion during road searches.

The letter warned, “Failure, neglect, or refusal to comply with this lawful demand within seven days of receipt of this letter will compel NBA-SPIDEL to seek appropriate sanctions in court against your esteemed office and the Nigeria Police Force.”

Punch

Luxury cars, private helicopters, mounds of cash. The lavish lifestyles of Kenya's lawmakers, splashed across TikTok and X, added fuel to anger simmering last month among a young, plugged-in population over proposed tax hikes.

Weeks-long protests about the tax measures have increasingly drawn attention to the large salaries, perks and ostentation of members of parliament (MPs) in a country where three quarters of the population is young and well-paid work is scarce.

Fury boiled over on June 25, when protesters stormed parliament and set it ablaze, pelting fleeing politicians' vehicles with stones. Since then, private residences and businesses of several MPs, mainly those associated with the ruling coalition, have been attacked.

Now, TikTok and X are being wielded as protest tools. Politicians' videos are edited and reposted with negative comments. The platforms are awash with allegations of mismanaged funds and discussions on next steps for the as-yet largely leaderless youth movement.

Activists are sharing advice how to use recall powers to topple representatives and have even built an AI-powered chatbot that spits out media reports of corruption allegations when a politician's name is entered.

In April and May during the build-up to the protests, ruling party MP Zaheer Jhanda posted videos of himself on TikTok admiring his gleaming Range Rover, a Mercedes G Wagon and a Lexus, triggering angry online commentary.

Protesters have since tried to storm his home, in the western town of Kisii.

Jhanda did not respond to requests for comment.

"Why would you show us your lavish lifestyle and still not do your job as a leader?" said artist and activist Rachel Stephanie Akinyi, referring to politicians' social media posts.

"What are you trying to show us? 'We have the power to use your money the way we want to, to take care of our own needs.' But what about us?", said Akinyi, who goes by the stage name 'Spontaneous The Poet'.

In a sign of the pressure the protests are keeping on President William Ruto, on Thursday he said that after listening to Kenyans and reflecting, he had dismissed his entire cabinet apart from the foreign minister, with the aim of setting up a new "broad-based government."

Last week, Ruto, 57, said some officials displayed "obnoxious opulence." He announced austerity measures including cuts to his own offices budget and ordered a review of pay rises MPs and other officials had been due to receive in July.

Didmus Barasa, the ruling party MP for Kimilili in Western Kenya, told Reuters the protesters had valid concerns about what he called the "insensitivities" of the government's handling of economic development. He did not give further details.

Barasa denied MPs were overpaid.

His personal wealth, including a private helicopter, was a reward for legitimate business activities, he said. Barasa, who is a former soldier and not widely known as a businessman, said he owned a hospital in Turkey.

"Yes, I have a helicopter. I have a helicopter that I purchased," he said. "I am an inspiration of very many young people in this country."

Barasa, after being questioned by a senator about the helicopter, previously said in online comments that he could afford it because he chose to maintain only one wife and believed in God.

Caroline Gaita, Executive Director of Mzalendo, an organisation that monitors parliament, said young Kenyans previously disinterested in politics are re-engaging, aware of the impact legislation has on their daily lives and demanding lawmakers listen to them.

Calling the protests an "awakening of Gen Z," Tom Mboya, an expert on politics and corruption in Kenya, said there was a perception that politicians were rarely, if ever, held to account since Ruto took office in 2022.

"They have become bolder in their flashy and opulent lifestyles at a time when Kenyans are being taxed to their limit," Mboya said of officials and MPs, some of whom have been filmed handing out wads of cash to people in their constituencies.

In 2023, Kenya ranked 126 out of 180 countries in the world by Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, down three places from 2022.

Ruto's office did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

LAWMAKERS FACE RECALL

On June 26, Ruto scrapped the tax hikes that triggered the unrest. At least 39 people have been killed in violence related to the protests.

But the anger did not fade.

Having faced little opposition since his 2022 election, Ruto and MPs must now contend with smaller but ongoing country-wide protests that transcend political and ethnic divides that have historically shaped social movements in Kenya, a regional power and Western ally.

There is a growing push for lawmakers to be removed now rather than wait until elections in 2027, with guidelines published online on how to do it, in what would be the first use of recall powers introduced in 2010.

The process involves collecting signatures of at least 30 percent of registered voters in the constituency and then presenting them to the election commission.

Voters in Kabete constituency near Nairobi have collected 5,000 of the 10,000 signatures they need to recall their MP, Ndungi Githuku, a human rights activist involved in the process said.

"I'm hoping that Kabete will be able to inspire the rest of the country to take action" Githuku said. "We are taking this country back."

Kenya's opposition, wary of being caught up in the wave of discontent, has named six of its own members to be recalled, subject to the same process.

Even if the MPs who are under pressure escape being ousted, they have lost legitimacy in the eyes of Kenyans, said Senator Richard Onyonka, who was an MP for 15 years.

“I think they are heavily damaged,” he said.

DISHING OUT MILLIONS

Kenyan MPs earn around 33 times the national average wage, and are no strangers to accusations of corruption and waste.

Basic pay for MPs is currently 725,502 Kenya shillings ($5,650) per month in a country where annual per capita income is about $2,000, making them among the best paid in the world compared to average incomes.

They can claim extra money for sitting on committees, cheap loans for houses and extra vehicles, and thousands of dollars per month for travel to constituencies.

Every year, each of Kenya's 290 MPs is given over $1 million under a scheme called Constituency Development Funds (CDF) set up to promote local development. The programme has long been plagued by accusations from Kenya's Auditor-General (AG) and the national media that the money is inefficiently spent or embezzled.

Kenya's Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that the scheme was unlawful but it has not been scrapped, providing MPs with cash to hand out on building classrooms, subsidising education or improving security.

A Reuters analysis of 100 audits of constituency spending by the Auditor-General found 42 constituencies where a total of about 1.7 billion shillings ($13 million) of spending under the CDF scheme on bursaries for school children could not be fully accounted for in the 2021/22 financial year.

The remaining 58 audits reviewed did not mention the bursaries.

The Speaker of the National Assembly did not reply to requests for comment.

MPs have long justified high pay saying that they are expected to distribute cash in their constituencies.

A 2021 report by UK and Dutch think-tanks the Westminster Foundation for Democracy Limited (WFD) and the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy found aspiring members of Kenya's parliament had to spend over $180,000, mostly out their own pockets, to campaign in 2017, a figure likely to have risen in 2022, according to anti-corruption expert Mboya, one of the authors.

At weekends, it is not unusual for lawmakers to return home in fleets of SUVs or by helicopter.

"People are angry and hate us as leadership because every weekend, helicopters crisscross the sky, all of them going to functions where these millions are being dished (out)," Boni Khalwale told fellow senators on July 3.

Reuters

Gaza officials say 90 Palestinians killed as Israel targets Hamas military chief

An Israeli airstrike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza on Saturday, the enclave's health ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it remained unclear whether Deif and another Hamas commander had been killed and promised to continue to target Hamas leadership, saying more military pressure on the group would improve chances of a hostage deal, even as three days of ceasefire talks separately halted on Saturday.

"Either way, we will get to the whole of the leadership of Hamas," Netanyahu told a news conference.

The militant Islamist group Hamas denied Deif had been killed, according to a senior Hamas official on Al Jazeera TV. Hamas earlier said Israeli claims it had targeted leaders of the group were false and aimed at justifying the attack, which was the deadliest Israeli attack in Gaza in weeks.

Displaced people sheltering in the area said their tents were torn down by the force of the strike, describing bodies and body parts strewn on the ground.

"I couldn't even tell where I was or what was happening," said Sheikh Youssef, a resident of Gaza City who is currently displaced in the Al-Mawasi area.

"I left the tent and looked around, all the tents were knocked down, body parts, bodies everywhere, elderly women thrown on the floor, young children in pieces," he told Reuters.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, in a statement, said he was "shocked and saddened" by the civilian deaths, which underscored "nowhere is safe in Gaza," and said international humanitarian law must be upheld.

The Israeli military said the strike against Deif also targeted Rafa Salama, the commander of Hamas' Khan Younis Brigade, describing them as two of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the nine-month war in Gaza.

Deif has survived seven Israeli assassination attempts, the most recent in 2021, and has topped Israel's most wanted list for decades, held responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings.

The Gaza health ministry said at least 91 Palestinians were killed in the strike and 300 injured, the deadliest toll in weeks in the conflict-shattered enclave.

Al-Mawasi is a designated humanitarian area that the Israeli army has repeatedly urged Palestinians to head to after issuing evacuation orders from other areas.

Reuters footage showed ambulances racing towards the area amidst clouds of smoke and dust. Displaced people, including women and children, were fleeing in panic, some holding belongings in their hands.

The Israeli military published an aerial photo of the site, which Reuters was not immediately able to verify, where it said "terrorists hid among civilians".

"The location of the strike was an open area surrounded by trees, several buildings, and sheds," it said in a statement.

The Israeli military official said the area was not a tent complex, but an operational compound run by Hamas and that several more militants were there, guarding Deif.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday to discuss Israel's Gaza operations and emphasized the need to minimise civilian harm, the Pentagon said.

Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Union's Foreign Affairs and Security Policy representative, called for an independent probe and condemned any potential violation of international law, posting on social media site X that the "end can’t justify all means."

HOSPITAL 'FULL OF PATIENTS'

Many of those wounded in the strike, including women and children, were taken to the nearby Nasser Hospital, which hospital officials said had been overwhelmed and was "no longer able to function" due to the intensity of the Israeli offensive and an acute shortage of medical supplies.

"The hospital is full of patients, it's full of wounded, we can't find beds for people," said Atef al-Hout, director of the hospital, adding that it was the only one still operating in southern Gaza.

Gallant was holding special consultations, his office said, in light of "developments in Gaza".

At ceasefire talks underway in Doha and Cairo, two Egyptian security sources, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said negotiations had been halted after three days of intense talks. They cited the behaviour of Israeli mediators as revealing "internal discord".

Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, in a statement said the group had been in contact with mediators in Egypt and Qatar as well as Turkey and Oman, and cited the attacks on Saturday, calling for an ed to "these massacres against our people".

Netanyahu, in his televised remarks Saturday evening, said he had not moved away from the framework presented by U.S. President Joe Biden.

A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said Israel told U.S. officials it had targeted senior Hamas officials and that the Biden administration was seeking to learn more about the reported civilian casualties.

As the prime minister spoke, protesters continued to rally in Tel Aviv, singing songs and waving signs calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Thousands of protesters also marched outside Jerusalem earlier in the day.

"Maybe it's good, maybe it's not good. I don't know about Mohammed Deif, I know that keeping the war is bad for all of us," said Ayala Metzger, the daughter-in-law of an Israeli hostage who took part in the hostage solidarity march near Jerusalem.

Also on Saturday, at least 20 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on a prayer hall at a Gaza camp for displaced people in west Gaza City, Palestinian health and civil emergency officials said.

Critics have accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians, which Israel denies. It characterises its actions as self-defense to prevent another attack like the one on Oct. 7, though the International Court of Justice ordered Israel in January to take action to prevent acts of genocide.

Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in the cross-border raid into southern Israel on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel has retaliated with its military action in Gaza that has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, medical authorities in Gaza say.

** Palestinian president blames Hamas for continuing war in Gaza

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel and the United States were responsible for an attack that killed dozens in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, but the Western-backed leader also blamed Hamas for the continuing war in Gaza.

His comments signal rising tension between Abbas's Fatah faction and the Islamist Hamas group, which accused the Palestinian president of taking Israel's side.

Israel said the attack was aimed at killing the Hamas military chief Mohammad Deif and his aide. It remained unclear whether Deif or his deputy were killed in the strike that left at least 90 Palestinians dead and 300 wounded, according to Gaza health ministry.

"The Palestinian presidency condemns the slaughter and holds the Israeli government fully responsible, also the U.S. administration that provides all kinds of support to the occupation and its crimes," said Abbas in a statement published by his office.

But Abbas, whose authority maintains a limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, assigned some blame to Hamas, whose Oct 7 attack inside Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others were abducted, kicked off the nine-month war in Gaza.

"The presidency sees that by escaping national unity, and providing free pretexts to the occupation state, the Hamas movement is a partner in bearing legal, moral and political responsibility for the continuation of the Israeli war of genocide in Gaza Strip," the statement said.

Hamas has run Gaza since its 2007 takeover of the coastal territory from Abbas loyalists.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters Abbas's statement meant the Palestinian Authority "has chosen to be in the same trench with the occupation".

"Such an attitude will not succeed in blackmailing the resistance or pressuring it," said Abu Zuhri.

Efforts by Arab mediators, led by Egypt, have so far failed to reconcile power struggles between the two sides.

Another Hamas leader, Basem Naim, who took part in previous reconciliation talks with Abbas's Fatah faction, said Abbas was to blame for the failure to reach a unity deal.

Naim said Abbas's comments made him and his authority "partner to the Zioinist enemy and its crimes not only in Gaza but also in all of the Palestinian land."

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Kremlin responds to Ukraine’s threats to assassinate Putin

Russia is aware of the dangers coming from the “Kiev regime,” including its threats to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

The spokesman was approached for comment on assassination threats against the Russian leader that had been voiced by the head of Kiev’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), Kirill Budanov, in a recent interview. Moscow is aware of the threats and takes measures accordingly, Peskov said.

“All the threats coming from the Kiev regime are obvious. Therefore, the security of the president is established at the proper level,”the spokesman told Russian media outlet Life on Saturday.

Budanov, who had been placed on Moscow’s terrorist and extremist list over his activities, revealed Kiev’s efforts to kill Putin in an interview with Ukrainian news outlet NV published earlier in the day. His service has made several attempts to assassinate the Russian president, he claimed, without providing any further information.

“[The attempts to assassinate Putin] took place, but, as you can see, they were unsuccessful thus far,” Budanov claimed.

Amid the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, several Western media outlets reported attempts on Putin’s life, attributed to Kiev. In September 2022, British tabloid The Sun reported an explosion near the Russian president’s motorcade, while, in early 2023, several German media outlets claimed the president was unsuccessfully attacked by a drone. At the time, the Kremlin dismissed such reports as empty sensationalism with nothing behind it.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Two dead in Russian 'double tap' attack on town near Ukraine's Kharkiv

Russian forces launched a "double tap" missile attack on Saturday on a small town near Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, killing two people, an emergency services official and a police officer, officials said.

Officials also reported four dead in a series of attacks in Donetsk region to the southeast and two more in southern Kherson region.

Prosecutors said the mid-afternoon missile attack targeted the railway station in Budy, southwest of Kharkiv. After rescue teams arrived, a second missile hit the area.

They said 25 people were injured in the incidents, including two children.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the head of the Kharkiv district emergency services was killed, along with a police officer from a rapid reaction unit. Among the injured were three emergency workers, a policeman and about 20 civilians.

Reuters could not verify independently the accounts and Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians. But Russian forces have used the "double tap" tactic to devastating effect.

Kharkiv remained out of Russian hands in the initial advance of the Kremlin's forces after the February 2022 invasion.

The city and surrounding area have since come under constant attack, though Ukrainian officials say the frequency has diminished since U.S. supplies of weaponry to Ukraine resumed after a break of several months.

Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin said an attack by multiple rocket launchers hit a multi-storey apartment building killed one person in Chasiv Yar -- a town targeted by Russian forces as a staging point in advancing through Ukraine's east.

A guided bomb, increasingly used in Russian attacks, killed one person near the town of Kurakhove, where some of the heaviest fighting is taking place along the 1,000-km (600-mile) front.

Two bombs dropped on a village further west near the town of Komar killed two people. Ten buildings and a shop were damaged.

In southern Kherson region, regional governor Oleksander Prokudin said Russian shelling had killed a couple in a village outside the main administrative centre, also known as Kherson.

Prokudin said Russian forces had shelled Ukrainian-held positions throughout the day. Russian forces seized Kherson region in the early days of the 2022 invasion, but Ukrainian forces recaptured many areas later in the year.

RT/Reuters

I’ve written this before. Ten years ago, but this man's story is new every time. To me. And to many who have crossed his path. On his 80th birthday on July 14, I’m repeating this story with the zeal and delight I shared it ten years ago: 

If the lot had fallen on Ajibola Ogunshola to be the undertaker, not many would have blamed him for the fate of PUNCH. 

He was 40 when he was appointed director. Though he was a star in the insurance world (former Managing Director of Niger Insurance) and one of Africa's leading actuaries (a consultant to the UN on pensions), he did not know jack about newspapers, if you get what I mean. 

For the three months that I worked in PUNCH as an intern in 1986, after Olatunji Dare's note paved the way, our paths did not cross. The Aboderin family was still in turmoil after the passing of the founder, James Olubunmi Aboderin, in 1984 at 49 years of age. 

Aboderin, an accomplished accountant at National Bank, was an extraordinary man whose presence and legacy were legendary. At the time, co-founder Sam Amuka (fondly called Uncle Sam) had left, but a relic of his time, like the famous armchair tucked away in a room in the last office at the old wooden building, was still there.

After the founder's death, Ogunshola's half brother, Moyosore Aboderin, who took over, invested quite a fortune to turn the company around, but the prospects remained bleak. The destiny of the Aboderin publishing empire – quite formidable in its heyday – now rested mainly on the shoulders of a 43-year-old non-newspaperman.

I returned in 1989, this time as a reporter. At that time, you could gauge the public mood or government temperament by the writings of newspapermen, whether in the Tribune, Sketch, Triumph, Daily Times, New Nigerian, Newbreed or 

Newswatch.

PUNCH was also a significant force. On the Board were the likes of Lekan Are and Lolu Forsythe, who, together with those in the editorial department, especially Najeem Jimoh and Ademola Osinubi, would be instrumental in helping Ogunshola rebuild in the years ahead. However, the company's redemption was squarely the burden of this non-newspaperman.

He turned this "disadvantage" into an incentive. He became an avid consumer of the news and how it is produced, distributed and consumed, letting facts and figures show the way. Most of all, whenever decisions were made, he ensured execution with ruthless efficiency.

I learnt of one rare occasion when Are – perhaps the most feared and respected in equal measure on the Board – brought an advert for publication. Are handed the copy to the editor (in the presence of Ogunshola) and asked him to publish the next day. There was no discussion of payment. The Editor was afraid to ask. 

When Are left the office, Ogunshola asked the editor about payment. 

“I didn’t ask him, sir,” the editor replied.

“Well, go and tell him it will be paid for.”

The editor rushed after Are, who returned with him to the office, obviously upset.

He asked Ogunshola if he had sent the editor after him.

“I did, boda,” Ogunshola reportedly responded firmly but politely. “You remember that we agreed at the Board meeting that all adverts must be paid, without exception.”

Are opened his wallet and wrote the cheque.

I am trying to remember which of my stories or feature articles first caught Ogunshola’s attention. I was a small fry, unconcerned about what was happening at the top. But, somehow, Ogunshola noticed. 

After I had been in the PUNCH for nearly one year, the Editor, Osinubi, told me that the chairman was gathering materials for a book. He wondered if I could help with research. 

I was confused. At the time, Ogunshola had the reputation of a taskmaster amongst staff. When he took over as Chairman, he sacked 400 or so of the 600 staff members in one day. I thought sending me to his Ajele, Lagos office was putting me on the supplementary sack list.

But I met a completely different man. He is challenging, deep and engaging - a man who calls a spade by its first name. I spent the next 18 months in his office researching, asking questions and taking notes. This was the inside story of how court battles, family feuds and not a few frenemies brought Aboderin’s dream dangerously close to the edge.

We toyed with a few names for the book, and I think he finally settled for Against All Odds – a fitting title for a book that never was.

If he didn’t restart the book on his 70th birthday, it’s improbable he would do so now. 

“I have cleared my library substantially,” he told me at the height of Covid-19 in 2021. “I do only essential reading and retain the most important records.”

He has left a trove of living words in my heart with chapters to read for a lifetime. I still have one of his lectures, “Lessons from the 2014 National Conference,” delivered at the Second Chris Ogunbanjo Lecture Series on May 18, 2017.

I believe there is no better summary of the National Conference than the one provided in Ogunshola’s 16-page lecture. I have carried it in my bag for seven years and used it very often, especially on matters related to restructuring.

Before measurement became a hot topic at international journalism conferences, Ogunshola insisted that "what cannot be measured cannot be rewarded". He infused PUNCH with the values of innovativeness and a near-obsession for rational thinking. His work ethic makes you strong if it doesn't kill you. 

He is a man of strong views. He resents tardiness, collectivism and all shades of intermediaries in a way that reminds me of Thomas Sowell’s contempt for collective bargaining.

He waged trade wars against newspaper agents and advertising agencies for fairer commissions or more transparent practices. Some of these were solo wars, which earned him powerful enemies, while a few were under the umbrella of newspaper publishers, of which he was president.

Apart from the crisis after the death of the founding chairman, perhaps one of the most challenging wars was the one against the military. PUNCH was shut down thrice, the third and longest under General Sani Abacha, which lasted 18 months.

There was pressure on Ogunshola to beg Abacha. He refused, insisting that the newspaper had done nothing wrong. It was a very, very tough call. I remember him saying afterwards, "If the closure had continued for another three months, the paper would have gone down irretrievably." 

But he stood his ground, and the rest is history.

At 80, he is slowing down. But thanks to a lifestyle of moderation, contentment, and empiricism – a decent amount of money to keep him as well as he can be at 80 – he looks good for another 10, at least. 

The non-newspaperman has paid his dues, with some change to the bargain. 

Long may your legacies endure, Baaroyin of Ibadan!

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

The Iloko, offspring of Arelu, (Iloko Omo Arelu) are held in awe in Yorubaland. For a people who fought one another in internecine wars that began in 1793 and lasted for almost a century, Yoruba give effusion of reverences to people with unusual bravery. Their reverence for the Iloko however comes from this clan’s queer and odd brand of bravery: Spillage of blood. The Iloko earned their renown from decapitation of heads. They cut off human heads with magisterial finish, holding the familial history of being the king’s executioner. In ancient England, as execution of enemies of the monarchy was done through the guillotine, in the Oyo Empire, it was done by the Iloko with sword. Iloko harvested multiple cognomens on account of their deft beheadings. They were the meticulous Cutter of heads, the Bé’ríolá (one who relishes decapitation) and whose swords guzzle blood. The Iloko is one who, even if the sword is as pint-sized as a Kèmbè short, masterfully uses that sword to decapitate his in-laws. His rationalization for beheading one with whom he shares matrimonial bloodline is, whoever gives one their child to marry is the rightful one to behead.

A verse in Iloko’s cognomen recitation depicts their bloodthirstiness. When other farmers cultivate yearly hectares of plantations of maize, okra, yam and “òsìbànbà tí ńbe l’órùn ebè”, the Iloko mock these farmers’ naivety of true essence of farming. To demonstrate how farming should be done, the Iloko dug thousands of heaps. Therein, he buried decapitated heads like yam heads. Unfortunately, the heads refused to sprout. When his attention was called to the barrenness of his planted seedlings, the Iloko’s excuse was that every human creation, including animals, has their own setbacks! The paradox came when the Iloko ran afoul of the king’s laws and he was slated for execution. The Iloko then stretched his legs and hands pleadingly and demanded from the executioner which of his body parts would be cut off: the hands or legs?

Last week, in my J. F Odunjo and the hunger this time, I reflected the acute hunger ravaging Nigeria. It is an understatement to say that many of our countrymen are dying of hunger. Some wander aimlessly on the streets, uttering indecipherable monologues, dialogues with God-knows-who. Some are locked up in sanatoria, their sanity dispossessed off them as a result of social de-masculinity. Once cohesive homes lose the social glue that gums them in amity; no thanks to the emptiness of their pantries. Financial impotence is leading to husbands losing their manhood, causing katakata in homes. Many once prude wives are now delectable prawns on adulterous beds of men with money. Female children are forcibly dispossessed of age-long home values at money-point, becoming easy preys to the lures of Sodom. In the midst of this social upheaval, Aso Rock’s tepid and Babelian answers to our affliction of hunger appear like a kick-and-go children community football. Its policies stagger and somersault like a village Burukutu local alcohol drunkard.

Before the ink of my pen dried last week, however, Aso Rock had provided answer to Nigerians’ hunger. The First Lady of Nigeria, Remi Ahmed Tinubu (RAT), immediately moved to her backyard inside her expansive powerhouse abode. Therefrom, she emerged with solutions. She planted okra, ewedu, waterleaf, green vegetable, lemon grass and bitter leaf. She even suddenly became a doctor. Like a knowledgeable medic, RAT clinically told us how measles can be cured by eating ewedu. For ulcer, said the medic, plenty waterleaf is answer. No contribution to the national food drive could be greater.

Less than a week after, the Nigerian president, Bola Ahmed-Tinubu (BAT) also came up with government’s response to the stasis in Nigeria’s agriculture. Last Tuesday, he announced the creation of a new Ministry of Livestock Development. Its establishment was part of the recommendations of ex-Kano State Governor and Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje-led National Livestock Reforms Committee. Then, he appointed a herder in academic gown, Attahiru Jega as co-chair of the committee. With Ganduje and Jega, Tinubu is prepared for the hara-kiri of sacrificing a child of Ore to the Ore deity.

President BAT and Madam RAT’s responses to the acute hunger in the land possess features similar to the Iloko. Is this couple of Iloko descent? It is only Iloko who plant human heads in heaps in the guise of yam seedlings. The way the Aso Rock couple is going about this hunger quench drive, rather than okra, ewedu, waterleaf, green vegetable, lemon grass and bitter leaf, they may need to dig more millions of heaps and furrows. Dry heads of hungry Nigerians may occupy those heaps. Does Madam RAT not know that home gardening is too tokenistic, too tiny an offering to propitiate to the god of acute hunger that ravages Nigeria? I also see the Iloko paradox in BAT’s Ministry of Maalu (cows). In demanding from his executioner which of his body parts would be cut off, the Iloko executioner conflated a process he jolly well knew to be wrong. He then deliberately chose to sell a dummy of personal naivety to his nemesis. Does President BAT actually believe that a ministry of livestock is response to our hunger? And it is a response to the farmer-herder crisis that has ravaged Nigeria for close to a decade now? Do BAT and RAT, like Iloko, take pleasure in hunger literally decapitating Nigerians?

It looks like this is a season when our own bat is being smoked out by owls, hawks and snakes, the bat’s greatest predators. Chiropterologists (scientists who study bats) reveal that, apart from these predators, the greatest threat to the bat is a disease called the white-nose syndrome. It is a white fungus that perches on the muzzle and wings of bats and which affects their hibernation. In Canada, white-nose has killed 90% of one of bat’s species. It was detected in 37 states and seven Canadian provinces. In Nigeria, the cause of our unprecedented inflation in history is ascribed to a disease called white-nose. It afflicts our BAT and its prognosis is Bretton Woods’ economic prescriptions.  With them, the beak-nosed economists hold our bat by its balls. Brian Tamuka Kagoro, Zimbabwean human rights activist and constitutional lawyer, defines this as political elites “getting into cahoots with foreign interests and are willing to sell their children, great grandchildren and grandmothers in exchange for expensive cars, for investments overseas, for little shining trinkets, never factories that produce… a splendid display of foolishness.”

Within Nigeria, the bat is also facing demonic predators. They come too in the form of owls, hawks and snakes. It is Northern Nigeria. For a man who said his life-long ambition was becoming the Nigerian president, the North is intent on putting sand-sand inside BAT’s second term gari. The northern anger is manifest. Afro-haired Twitter minstrel, Shehu Sanni, alerted us to this. That northern adder – Nasir El-Rufai, and his irreverent-tongued legislator child are fighting like a decapitated venomous snake. While the father is sending cryptic messages laced with apocalypse on X, the son is spitting venom like a badly-brought-up puppy spits saliva. BAT is their target. His northern enemies are also coalescing. Recently, we saw an elésìnrìn (worthless) pilgrimage to Daura, where the most effete of Nigerian leaders in modern history lives. Nasir, the adder, was also there to offer his infamous kneeling before powerful leaders. Shakespeare predicted this coalesce in Julius Caesar: “It is the bright day that brings forth the adder and that craves wary walking.” BAT’s bad governance of the last one year has brought forth the adder of flip-flops that dog his path.

Not minding its ambiguity, the north is also using the Samoa agreement as ploy for re-grouping of bile. In the senate last week, the north had scathing words for BAT. Ali Ndume, who in 2021 was quizzed for his alleged romance with Boko Haram, complained that the Lagos Boy runs a government that blocked access to quality advice. So also Ahmad Lawan who complained that Tinubu’s policies “have caused hunger and unbearable hardships.” Wonders seem to have ended! Like sharks that can smell blood hundreds of meters ahead, the north has smelled a BAT wall with huge cracks opened by mis-governance. This was a region that kept mute for eight years as Buhari picked his teeth and drifted into deep sleep. It preened its feathers like an Odidere bird when BAT announced a presidential Muslim-Muslim ticket. What it didn’t know was that BAT is just a jolly good fellow who enjoys good life. Full stop! Those Islamic religious prescriptions the sons of Uthman Dan Fodio thought he would help them fight mean nothing to him. 

The kitchen is now getting hotter. The North’s opportunist alangba (lizard) must poke its nose inside this man-made crack to feed on ants. What could not be achieved under a Muhammadu Buhari whose greatest joy on earth was to own cows in his ranch is now being pushed under a man who hails from where the philosophy is not to bow for the cow for the sake of its meat. For the jolly good fellow, to dobale (prostrate) to the maalu so as to have access to its meat is a moral non-starter. It is immaterial. Establishing a Federal Ministry of Maalu is a dobale to the maalu. Perhaps this will appease the children of Fodio?

The wisdom in establishing a Maalu ministry is very far between. If the motive is to placate the north for a second term, does the Iloko know that blackmailers, all over the world, are insatiable? Blackmailers are akin to the proverbial wastrel child, the Omolokun, who won’t rest until it demands his parents’ life. Second, as has been revealed over the years, herders are terrorists who do not deserve human pity. The kernel in that alleged statement from Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is eternal: “It is God’s prerogative to forgive terrorists but my own business is to dispatch them to Him.” Yes, insecurity has decimated food security in Nigeria, with food inflation cruising at frightening altitude. What Nigeria needs now isn’t a beatification of terrorists, nor pandering to a set of people by a government afraid of re-election. It is strategic planning, emergency measures that can tackle insecurity and cross-border pressure on our food production. The minister of agriculture was quoted recently to have said that our silos are empty.

The hugest problem the Maalu ministry will face is that southern governors will still not allow herders graze on their soil. It is a truism that nowhere in the world are herders allowed to graze openly and brazenly as they do in Nigeria. It is obvious that in its conception of this Maalu ministry, FG didn’t reckon with the poultry and grains sector, as well as other livestock animals like piggery which are currently facing the most horrendous policy hemorrhages. Should we now have a ministry for each of them? By the way, which brand of federalism do we practice in Nigeria where a federal government that has no livestock under its umbrella, creates a ministry of livestock?

As last week got set to wind up, the Iloko got decked in victory regalia. The Supreme Court announced that the executioner has secured yet another 774 heads to plant on his heaps. Thirty-six heads of state governors were already in the kitty, demonized and tar-brushed as enemies of the struggle for a better Nigeria. We must thank the Iloko for this victory against our governor-vassals who have turned local governments into their backyard farming? It is to the 774 heads we must look up to for redemption of our decadent infrastructure, impassable roads, payment of teachers’ salaries, council workers’ salaries, gratuities, new minimum wage and others. It is the greatest victory yet for the Iloko whose sword is law. As the Oyo state governor, Seyi Makinde, brilliantly remarked, “The Supreme Court’s judgment…is a distraction; we need to face the real issues we have. Nigeria is not productive. There is hunger and anger in the land.”

We hope, with this judgment, Betta Edu will now be taken to the court to answer to the charge of allegedly siphoning N585.2 million from the Humanitarian Affairs ministry and that gari will now be within the reach of the common man. God bless this Supreme Court judgment that will make hunger a thing of the past in Nigeria. 

The god at 90

When I wrote Is Soyinka, the god unraveling?, (April 9, 2023) many people thought I belonged to the rank of those misbegotten children who make a pastime of casting aspersions on the literary avatar, Wole Soyinka. As Yoruba will shout while expressing their indignation, can an epileptic, who makes serial pun of dying, ever be compared to one who dies once and totally? – “taa l’ó ńjé omo akuwárápá níwájú omo akúyányán?” What equation will come on earth that will make a small fry like me look into the eyes of a god like Soyinka?

The truth is, very few human beings are capable of unbuckling the sandals of that literary god. We must however keep the tradition of keen interrogation, fearless x-ray of personas and personages which Soyinka himself taught us through his non-conformist and iconoclastic essays, plays and public interventions. Kongi never taught us that gods were beyond fallibility. As fiery as King Sango was in old Oyo Empire, his major flipside was his scorching temperament which led to his suicide at Koso. Soyinka has his’ and his children-sans-biology like us owe him the responsibility of bringing out what we consider the mucks in his eyes.

Several parts of Soyinka the elephant have been explored and I am not ready to regurgitate them here. However, I am sure Soyinka cannot die. While here with us in human form, his deeds have transited him from mere mortality into enduring immortality. He will live like the Great mythic musician, Orpheus and his wife, Eurydice. Soyinka has left the realm of the human. He is a mythical being who, when this Isara god eventually transits, would just transmute into an imaginary myth recited in incantations. As a hunter, his guild would sing the Iremoje, hunters’ recitals at their colleague’s passage.

Happy 90th birthday to the god we are opportune to behold in human form.

Ogunsola: Celebrating the man who wanted my head

In the year 2000, whilst I was Features Editor of the Nigerian Tribune and a budding columnist with the newspaper, a friend from the Punch alerted me that a hunt for my “head” was in the offing. He narrated how it began. Chairman of the newspaper, Ajibola Ogunsola, suddenly walked into one of the newspaper’s editorial meetings and declared me wanted. He was said to have declared his admiration for my writings and asked that I be head-hunted. The man he saddled with that responsibility was the highly respected columnist and editor of the newspaper, Azubuike Ishiekwene.

It was impossible not to have heard of Ogunsola. Mere mention of his name evoked dread and awe in Nigerian newspapers’ newsrooms. Several tidbits about him oscillated in the media firmament. An actuary, this Ibadan, son of the famous Ibadan textile merchant, Madam Janet Alatede, sat like an octopus as head of Punch’s board. To some, his octopus hold on the newspaper was desirable at a time when mediocrity had become a pestilence in newsrooms. To many others, Ogunsola was deserving of general dread. He didn’t allow people to make second mistakes, we heard. You could resume in Punch in the morning and head for the gate before dusk, your infraction being an unconscionable murder of the god of English grammar. More frighteningly, we were told Ogunsola was an atheist. The latter didn’t scare me, having had a romance with atheism, too. My teachers in the philosophy department of the University of Lagos pumped magnum opuses of atheist philosophers into my brain. Teachers like C.S. Momoh, Mama Sophie Oluwole, Joseph Omoregie, Tanu de Peter Bah, (TDP Bah) then doctoral student, Kolawole Olu-Owolabi, (God bless his soul; with his then emerging limping legs!) among others. Martin Heidegger, Albert Camus, Jacques Derrida, French satirist Voltaire and the likes played atheistic hide and seek on our heads. They were only diluted by the faith teachings of hunchback Danish theologian, Soren Kikekergaard.

Not long after, Ishiekwene called me. In those days, if Azu of the highly regarded Azu on Saturday column spoke to you, you had heard from God. It was same with Funke Egbemode, another columnist of the newspaper’s Saturday paper. They were delights, indeed must-read, for their wits and pithy dissection of issues of Nigeria’s contemporary socio-politics. So Azu delivered Ogunsola’s message.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I had committed the gaffe of telling one or two of my colleagues what I heard from the Almighty Chairman of Punch. In those days, Punch and Tribune were like the famous thespian, Oyin Adejobi’s dramatization of his cripple-from-birth life story called Orogun Adedigba – the jealous co-wives. The two newspapers sought to best each other in quality and quantity of their daily sales.

In the process of transmission of the tale, our avuncular Managing Editor, Folu Olamiti heard of my impending club transfer. He never asked me. I just began to get unsolicited pieces of advice from those who surrounded me. I shouldn’t dim my “stardom” by leaving the Tribune. It was better to be a star in a known firmament than being a moon in an uncharted stratosphere. Then, a few weeks after, Olamiti suddenly made some promotions. I became Deputy Editor, with a fatter take-home. So, when Ishiekwene called, I had more of dread of Punch than a desire to port.

Thirteen years or so after, one Sunday morning, I had an opportunity to meet the highly feared, reported atheist in his Lagos home, in company with Olalekan Ali, Oyo State Secretary to the State Government. Our boss, Abiola Ajimobi, felt Punch, owned by his kinsman, one of the greatest scions of Ibadanland, Olu Aboderin, was unfair in its reportage of his administration. So we met Ogunsola who told us that government should deliver its promises to the people and Punch would promote its activities. Ogunsola then gave us a great breakfast. As we ate, I broached the story of his order for my head. Smilingly, he confirmed it. I left him that morning elated to have met one of the strongest pillars of Nigeria’s journalism administration.

Today, Baba Ogunsola clocked 80 years. I got this information from the brilliant tribute to him penned by my sister, Abimbola Adelakun, last Thursday. All I have to offer Ogunsola are the evocative words of our elders called Ayajo. Ayato are incantatory words deployed in esoteric metaphors and similes in Yoruba discourses. They are targeted towards desirable outcomes. They are also known as transcendental words spoken to issues that need magical powers to come to pass. While offering prayers of continuous availability and good health for valuable persons, traditional Yoruba initiates chant, and I chant along with them, for Baba Ogunsola: As’odunm’odun l’awo as’odunm’odun, as’orom’oro l’awo as’orom’oro. Ase!

For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ ~ Romans 5:17.

Introduction:

The subject of dominion is quintessential to the Christian life. It cannot be over-emphasized neither should it ever be overlooked on our journeys of destiny. In fact, failing to give sufficient attention to it may result in being dominated upon by situations one does not understand and may be unable to control.

Since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the possibility of reigning alone eluded man once and for all time. And Satan has also enthroned himself as a big crafty monarch, so much so that no man can free himself from his diabolical rule. Hence, all those who wish to truly reign in life can only do so through Christ Jesus.

From Revelation 5:10, we clearly see that heaven has concluded that “we shall reign on the earth”. The position here, as in some other Scriptures, is that the dominion over the earth has been given to the saints (Genesis 2:28; Exodus 19:6; 2 Peter 1:3).

The word, "reign", in the context above, means that the believers in Christ are exalted to a glorious state of authority that we might be triumphant over all our enemies (Revelation 21:4; 22:5). It denotes a complete freedom from condemnation, and a bestowal of power over sin, sickness, poverty, fear and death.

We reign in life when we reign over all appearances of evil through the victory we have in Christ, wherein Satan is bruised under our feet in our daily encounters. No doubt, reigning in life though Christ provides the believers with certain heaven-on-earth experiences.

Of course, we shall eventually reign with Christ in His thousand-year reign in the new earth, where righteousness will be fully enthroned (Revelation 20:4). And by reason of this, we shall gain the ultimate victory, and partake in the splendors of Christ’s dominion above, where there shall be no more sorrow (Revelation 3:21; Luke 22:30). And, this is the sure estate of all the saints in glory (John 3:36). Alleluia!

Saved to Reign in Life

The settled fact to hold tight at this stage is that, indeed, we are “born-again” to reign again in life, and God has provided abundant grace to put this into effect in our daily experiences (Romans 5:17-18).

Adam transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and this attracted death to the entire human race. But, Jesus died to redeem us, and to restore unto us the lost platform of dominion, to reign in life!

Meanwhile, it is very important that we understand that the reign of saints on the earth is not only in a spiritual sense. Our reign practically covers all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Jesus Christ who called us unto His glory and virtue (2 Peter 1:3).

God expects that His people would gain so much ascendancy, and that the affairs of the nations would be in their hands (Revelation 1:6). Yes, He expects us to have roles in governance, fill places of trust and responsibility, and have controlling voices in the affairs of our societies (Daniel 7:27, Revelation 20:1-6). These are facts to keep, and very basic Bible truth we all must fully internalize!

Validating Your Reign in Christ Jesus

Please observe that nobody makes it big in this world without a very strong connection in the realm of the spirit to start with. This is because our world is a product of the spirit realm.

In addition, you must know that your present identity in life as well as the future status you desire to see are very closely associated with your thoughts and feelings, which are also intrinsic to what you hear, receive and believe.

In order, therefore, to validate our reign in Christ Jesus, it is basic that we fully embrace the gracious truth which defines and empowers it. This makes it imperative, therefore, to believe in Christ Jesus who died for our offenses, and freely offered us His gift of righteousness as a necessary qualification for reigning in life (John 1:12; Jn.13:20).

These above require very dynamic engagements of faith, but we cannot do otherwise because receiving it or not implies either reigning with Christ or being overruled by the mundane circumstances of life. Yes, salvation is the key to becoming enlisted among the approved operators in the realm of the spirit.

Jesus Christ is the One who carries the original signet of authority to dominate and rule this earth (Matthew 28:18). Hence, only He can initiate and establish the believers in the spirit realm of dominion and life (John 3:3).

Notwithstanding, receiving the truth and becoming initiated is just the beginning of the process of reigning in life. The truth must also be retained if we desire to truly reign in life. Moreover, reigning actively strikes the present continuous sense if we go on to daily engage the grace bestowed on us.

Those who receive, retain and engage the abundant grace offered by Jesus Christ are not only redeemed from the empire of death, but are also connected to the throne of God to reign with Him forever (Revelation 1:5-6; 2:7,10-11; 3:21).

Furthermore, in order to engage the grace of God to become successful in our active bid to reign with Christ, living daily as a “meditating Christian” is a practical approach to adopt in our lives.

Why meditation? The Bible posits that your life is shaped by your thoughts, and you would end up becoming what you habitually think of (Proverbs 4:23). Hence, God told Joshua to keep meditating on His Word if he would experience good success in his life and calling (Joshua 1:8).

Dear friends, please keep in mind that while freedom and might are implied in the figure of ‘reigning’, ‘Zoe life’ is the glorious atmosphere for it. God’s kind of life, ‘Zoe’, springs out of justification, in contrast with the death that springs from sin and condemnation.

This is life in its widest sense, and it fills the entire being for the entire duration of the believer’s human existence, and even beyond. This blissful eternal life springs in the human spirit, soul and body out of a loving relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, it is important to consider it that, apart from reigning here on earth, your destination hereafter matters much more. If you maintain a positive connection with God on earth, you will make it to heaven. But, the truth is: real hell for all eternity equally awaits those who reject the life of God, no matter how successful they appear to be here on earth. May God be merciful unto us all, in Jesus Name. Amen. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

SMS/WhatsApp: +234 802 318 4987

One day, as I was reading Jesus’ Sermon of the Mount yet again, I suddenly heard the Lord say to me, deep within my spirit-man: “Femi, the end justifies the means.” 

What does this have to do with the beatitudes? Can we, should we, justify the end by the means? Is it godly to do so? I decided to search the scriptures for the answer.  

Immediately, the whole thing opened to me like a book. I discovered that, in the kingdom of God, the end always justifies the means. 

Does this mean it is okay to rob a bank, as long as you succeed? Yes; that is precisely what it means. But there is a catch-22. It is impossible to rob a bank successfully. No matter who we are; we are all going to answer to God for our actions and inactions. Therefore, if we were to rob a bank we might escape the detection of men; but we cannot escape the judgment of God. 

David thought he had killed Uriah, married his wife, Bathsheba, and gone scot-free. But nine months later, Prophet Nathan showed up to inform him God saw it all. All evil is done in the sight of God. There is no escape for the wicked.   

Wisdom of serpents

Jesus says: “The sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.” (Luke 16:8). 

When the sons of this world have an objective, they go to any lengths to achieve it. Tell them to bury five hundred cows and they will do it. Tell them to bring the foreskins of one hundred Philistines and, like David, they are likely to bring two hundred in order to make assurance doubly sure. Tell them to sleep with ten prostitutes possessed by legions of demons and they will obey.

Paradoxically, God likes this kind of people. They have the raw materials the Holy Spirit can readily work with. They are the ones likely to remove the roof of a building in order to get to Jesus. They are the riffraff, like blind Bartimaeus, who refuse to keep quiet until they get Jesus’ attention. 

Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matthew 11:12). In the kingdom of God, the last become first, and the first become last. The last go all the way, but the first are usually complacent.

Have you never wondered why God loved Jacob so much? Jacob was a master practitioner of the kingdom dynamic whereby the end justifies the means. He knew what he wanted, and he went for it by all means. He refused to be denied. 

If you refused to give Jacob something, he would steal it. If you refused to give him money, he would pick your pocket. If you refused to tell him the time, he would steal your wristwatch. Jacob would climb any mountain and cross any ocean to get what he wanted.

God loves this kind of person. He is the kind of sinner Jesus is looking for in his kingdom. Once converted, he will not be lukewarm but will suffer violence and take the kingdom by force. If you can get this kind of sinner to fall in love with God, you can be sure he will be a man after God’s heart.

What about the sons of light?

We are a bunch of jokers. We say we want to go to heaven but tell us to sell all we have and give the proceeds to the poor, and we are likely to have a change of mind. Tell us to fast, and we will not. Tell us to pray, and we come up with excuses. Tell us to read the bible, and we would rather read “Mills and Boons.” 

But do we really want to go to heaven? Yes, we do. But we do not want to pay the price. Jesus says: “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not weep.” (Luke 7:32).   

Make no mistake about it; the sons of this world give up a lot for success. They give up joy, peace, and love. They murder sleep. Some even mortgage their souls in order to make it. The end justifies their means. In the end, they realise their dreams and become ministers, commissioners, ambassadors, and managing directors.    

But the sons of light have been deceived. We have been sedated into slumber. We have been churched into believing Jesus has done it all and we need to do nothing. Yes, it is the good pleasure of the Father to give us the kingdom. Nevertheless, there are giants on the way to the Promised Land. That means we must go through the wilderness and fight spiritual battles upon battles. But we fight, knowing we will win in the end.

The End

You watch a film and, after about ninety minutes of twists and turns, the hero finally marries the princess, and then “THE END” appears on the screen. But it is a lie. The story did not end there. In fact, at that point, the marriage just began. 

Only Jesus can declare THE END. It is the end that justifies the means. But remember, Jesus is the beginning and the ending. You rigged the election and became President of the Republic. Who told you that is the end of the story? What shall it profit a man if he becomes the President and loses his own soul? 

It does not end with this world. It ends with Christ. It ends with the Lord in heaven and the means to the end is the choice we make, whether to follow God’s narrow road that leads to life.

Way of suffering

A Christian wants to go to heaven, so he goes to the motor-park church. He asks which vehicle is going to heaven. They tell him Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6).  

He asks which vehicle is Jesus? They show him a terrible ramshackle old mammy-wagon. It has neither form nor comeliness. There is no beauty in it that he should desire it. (Isaiah 53:2). On the vehicle is written boldly the caption: “Life of Suffering.” 

But beside it is a Rolls Royce. “Where is that one going?” he asks. “That one is going to Abuja.” The man decides he would rather travel in a Rolls Royce than in a battered mammy-wagon. As a result, he ends up in Abuja where he gets a lot of government contracts and makes a lot of money. But heaven, and not Abuja, is the final destination.

The beatitudes are all unpleasant. There is nothing nice about being poor or mournful. Neither does it feel good to hunger and thirst. The meek are often taken advantage of, and it is not wonderful to be persecuted and reviled. 

Nobody likes it when all kinds of evil things are said falsely against us. But if that is what it takes to confirm our status in the kingdom of God, then the glorious end certainly justifies the suffering means. 

Jesus says: “He who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22).

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