President Bola Tinubu’s re-election as the chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) presents a crucial opportunity to mend the fractures that emerged during his first term. Under his prior leadership, ECOWAS witnessed the unprecedented withdrawal of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, reducing the 15-member bloc to 12 and marking a significant setback for regional unity. This disintegration stemmed from the heavy-handed approach towards these nations, particularly the ill-advised threats of military intervention and sanctions, which ultimately pushed them further away.

Tinubu’s previous stance, characterized by aggressive rhetoric and punitive measures, proved counterproductive. The people of Niger, in particular, rallied behind their military government, viewing the external pressures as a violation of their sovereignty. The resulting sanctions exacerbated the situation, leading to the formal renunciation of ECOWAS membership by Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. This episode serves as a critical lesson: the use of force and coercion often undermines diplomatic efforts and regional cohesion.

As Tinubu steps into his second term, it is imperative that he adopts a more conciliatory and inclusive approach. Restoring ECOWAS to its full strength necessitates earnest efforts to re-engage with the aggrieved nations. This begins with acknowledging the legitimate concerns of these countries and initiating dialogue aimed at reconciliation and reintegration. Tinubu must prioritize rebuilding trust and fostering a sense of shared purpose within the community.

Furthermore, Tinubu’s continued advocacy for the establishment of a regional standby force is fraught with risks. The experience with Niger demonstrates the potential misuse of such a force, where powerful member states might employ it to enforce subjective standards on others. Instead of promoting stability, this could lead to further divisions and resentment within the bloc. The focus should shift towards enhancing diplomatic channels, strengthening economic cooperation, and addressing security threats through collaborative, non-military means.

The establishment of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) by Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso underscores their resolve to pursue a path independent of ECOWAS. This confederation, born out of shared security challenges and a desire for sovereignty, signals a significant realignment in the region. ECOWAS must recognize and respect this new reality, seeking avenues for cooperation rather than confrontation.

Tinubu’s legacy will be judged by his ability to navigate this complex landscape. He has the opportunity to transform a period of crisis into one of renewal and stronger unity. By prioritizing diplomacy, showing respect for the sovereignty of member states, and fostering inclusive economic development, Tinubu can steer ECOWAS towards a more resilient and cohesive future. The path forward requires humility, wisdom, and a commitment to the founding principles of ECOWAS—principles of cooperation, mutual respect, and collective advancement.

MTN Nigeria Communication Plc reported that it paid N543.9 billion in taxes and levies to the Nigerian government in 2023. This disclosure was made in the company’s 2023 sustainability report, which details its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices.

The report highlights that MTN expanded its network coverage to encompass 92.9% of Nigeria’s landscape and increased its capital expenditure investment by 13.2% to N571 billion in 2023.

Despite posting a revenue of N2.46 trillion for the full year, MTN Nigeria recorded a loss after tax of N137 billion, primarily due to net foreign exchange losses.

In a filing with the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), MTN’s CEO, Karl Toriola, emphasized the company's dedication to creating shared value for all stakeholders through its sustainability efforts. “We are proud of the progress we have made so far, expanding connectivity to 79.7 million people, achieving 92.9% nationwide coverage, and investing N2.6 billion in corporate social investment programs that have impacted over 58,000 lives through the MTN Foundation. Additionally, we contributed N543.9 billion in taxes and levies to the government and invested N571.0 billion in capital expenditure, up 13.2% in 2023,” Toriola stated.

Toriola also noted that MTN’s 4G coverage grew from 79.1% in 2022 to 81.5% in 2023, an increase of 2.4 percentage points. Furthermore, its 5G coverage expanded from 3.2% in 2022 to 11.3% in 2023, an increase of 8.1 percentage points. This growth helped MTN increase its market share to 52.1% in 2023 from 50.8% in 2022.

Hamas chief says latest Israeli attack on Gaza could jeopardise ceasefire talks

A new Israeli assault on Gaza on Monday threatened ceasefire talks at a crucial moment, the head of Hamas said, as Israeli tanks pressed into the heart of Gaza City and ordered residents out after a night of massive bombardment.

Residents said the airstrikes and artillery barrages were among the heaviest in nine months of conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in the enclave. Thousands fled.

The assault unfolded as senior U.S. officials were in the region pushing for a ceasefire after Hamas made major concessions last week. The militant group said the new offensive appeared intended to derail the talks and called for mediators to rein in Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The assault "could bring the negotiation process back to square one. Netanyahu and his army will bear full responsibility for the collapse of this path," Hamas quoted leader Ismail Haniyeh as saying.

Gaza City, in the north of the Palestinian enclave, was one of Israel's first targets at the start of the war in October. But clashes with militants there have persisted and civilians have sought shelter elsewhere, adding to waves of displacement. Much of the city lies in ruins.

Residents said Gaza City neighbourhoods were bombed through the night into the early morning hours of Monday. Several multi-storey buildings were destroyed, they said.

The Gaza Civil Emergency Service said it believed dozens of people were killed but emergency teams were unable to reach them because of ongoing offensives.

Gaza residents said tanks advanced from at least three directions on Monday and reached the heart of Gaza City, backed by heavy Israeli fire from the air and ground.

That forced thousands of people out of their homes to look for safer shelter, which for many was impossible to find, and some slept on the roadside.

One tank thrust pushed people towards the western road near the Mediterranean, residents said.

"The enemy is behind us and the sea is in front of us, where we will we go?" said Abdel-Ghani, a Gaza City resident who did not give his full name.

"Tank shells and missiles from the planes are falling on the roads and houses like hell from a volcano. People are running in all directions, and no one knows where to go," Abdel-Ghani told Reuters via a chat app.

The Israeli military said fighters with Hamas and allied group Islamic Jihad were hiding behind civilian infrastructure to attack Israeli forces. Israel said it had taken more than 30 fighters out of action.

Later on Monday, it issued new evacuation orders for the Gaza City areas of Sabra, Rimal, Tel Al-Hawa and Daraj, telling people to head to Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. The Israeli military said a route would be opened for civilians to evacuate.

The Palestinian Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said they fired mortar bombs against Israeli forces during the raid in southwest Gaza City.

The war was triggered on Oct. 7 when fighters led by Hamas, which controlled Gaza, attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

Since then at least 38,193 Palestinians have been killed in the military offensive and 87,903 have been wounded, Gaza's health ministry said in an update on Monday. A total of 40 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a statement.

HOPES FOR A PAUSE

The new Israeli offensive comes as Egypt, Qatar and the United States stepped up efforts to mediate a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Hopes among Gaza residents of a pause in the fighting had revived after Hamas last week accepted a key part of a U.S. ceasefire proposal, prompting an official on the Israeli negotiating team to say there was a real chance of a deal.

Hamas has dropped a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before the Palestinian movement would sign an agreement. Instead, the militant group said it would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, a Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday.

Netanyahu insists the deal must not prevent Israel from resuming fighting until its war objectives are met. At the outset of the war, he pledged to annihilate Hamas.

Reaching a deal would jeopardise the coalition keeping Netanyahu in power, which includes far-right parties that have repeatedly vowed to quit if he ends the war too soon.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, from a party representing Israelis who settle on occupied Palestinian land, denounced the potential deal as "a defeat and humiliation of Israel".

"Mr. Prime Minister, this is not an absolute victory. This is total failure. We will not be part of a deal of surrender to Hamas," Smotrich told a meeting of his party on Monday.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said he would back Netanyahu to stay in office if the prime minister faced losing power over committing to a deal. "I promised him a safety net and I will keep that promise," Lapid said.

 

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian missile attacks kill at least 41, hit children's hospital, Ukraine says

Russia blasted the main children's hospital in Kyiv with a missile in broad daylight on Monday and rained missiles down on other cities across Ukraine, killing at least 41 civilians in the deadliest wave of air strikes for months.

Parents holding babies walked in the street outside the hospital, dazed and sobbing after the rare daylight aerial attack. Windows had been smashed and panels ripped off, and hundreds of Kyiv residents were helping to clear debris.

"It was scary. I couldn't breathe, I was trying to cover (my baby). I was trying to cover him with this cloth so that he could breathe," Svitlana Kravchenko, 33, told Reuters.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who stopped in Poland before heading off to Washington for a NATO summit, put the death toll at 37, including three children. More than 170 were injured.

But tallies of casualties from the sites of attacks in different regions totalled at least 41.

Writing on the Telegram messaging app, Zelenskiy said more than 100 buildings had been damaged, including the children's hospital and a maternity centre in Kyiv, children's nurseries and a business centre and homes.

"The Russian terrorists must answer for this," he wrote. "Being concerned does not stop terror. Condolences are not a weapon."

The Interior Ministry said there had also been damage in the central cities of Kryvyi Rih and Dnipro and two eastern cities.

The government proclaimed a day of mourning on Tuesday for one of the worst air attacks of the war, which it said demonstrated that Ukraine urgently needed an upgrade of its air defences from its Western allies.

Air defences shot down 30 of 38 missiles, the air force said.

An online video obtained by Reuters showed a missile falling towards the children's hospital followed by a large explosion. The location of the video was verified from visible landmarks.

The Security Service of Ukraine identified the missile as an Kh-101 cruise missile.

Kyiv's military authorities said 27 people had died in the capital, including three children, and 82 were wounded in the main missile volley and a strike that came two hours later.

DAMAGE ACROSS THE CAPITAL

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attack was one of the largest of the war, causing damage in seven city districts. The Health Minister said five units of the children's hospital were damaged and children were evacuated to other facilities.

Eleven were confirmed dead in the Dnipropetrovsk region and 68 were wounded, regional officials said. Three people were killed in the eastern town of Pokrovsk where missiles hit an industrial facility, the governor said.

Zelenskiy, addressing a news conference in Warsaw alongside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, called on Kyiv's Western allies to give a firm response to the attack.

"We will retaliate against these people, we will deliver a powerful response from our side to Russia, for sure. The question to our partners is: can they respond?" Zelenskiy said.

The attack came a day before leaders of NATO countries were due to begin a three-day summit, with the war in Ukraine one of the focuses.

U.S. President Joe Biden said that Moscow's deadly missile strikes in Ukraine, including on the children's hospital in Kyiv, were "a horrific reminder of Russia's brutality".

In a statement released by the White House, Biden added that Washington and its NATO allies would be announcing new measures to strengthen Ukraine's air defences.

Diplomats said the United Nations Security Council would meet on Tuesday at the request of Britain, France, Ecuador, Slovenia and the United States.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, deplored the attacks, saying: "Among the victims were Ukraine's sickest children."

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had launched strikes on defence industry targets and aviation bases.

Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, although its attacks have killed thousands of civilians since it launched its invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General said he discussed the attacks with International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan, adding that his office would be sharing evidence with the ICC.

Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said Ukraine still lacked enough air defences and urged Kyiv's allies to supply more systems promptly to protect cities from Russian attacks.

Air Force representative Colonel Yuri Ignat said it became more difficult to repel Russian attacks as Moscow's forces kept enhancing their bombardment tactics.

"Enemy missiles are equipped with additional means, including radar and thermal traps," Ignat wrote on Facebook.

The missiles flew at extremely low altitudes during Monday's attacks, he said.

DTEK, the largest private power producer, said three electricity substations and networks had been damaged in Kyiv.

The power system has already sustained so much damage from targeted Russian air strikes that began in March that electricity cuts have become widespread.

 

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russia takes out three US-made Ukrainian missile systems – MOD

The Russian military has destroyed three US-supplied Ukrainian High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) along with some of the foreign military personnel helping Kiev operate the missile arrays, Moscow has said.

On Monday, the Defense Ministry stated that the systems were eliminated through the combined actions of Russian warplanes, drones, artillery and missile forces. It added that the strike also killed “up to 10 foreign specialists servicing those systems.”

Officials, however, would not say where the HIMARS – which have a range of fire of about 80km – were destroyed, nor would they provide details regarding the nationality of the foreign personnel.

However, several Russian Telegram channels released a video of the purported strike, claiming it had taken in Russia’s Kherson Region at night. The black-and-white clip shows what looks like aerial footage of three HIMARS arrays maneuvering on the road before being hit by a single powerful missile strike, causing fire and smoke to rise into the air.

Last month, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have destroyed another HIMARS in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region. The attacks came after the US stated in May that it was allowing Kiev to use American-made weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia, with Ukrainian officials confirming that the missiles were used to bombard Russian logistics hubs and artillery positions across the border.

Russian officials have repeatedly accused Ukraine of using Western-made weapons, particularly US-supplied HIMARS and long-range ATAMCS missiles to attack civilians. In this vein, Moscow slammed Washington over weapons deliveries, arguing that in doing so, the US “is encouraging Kiev terrorists to commit new crimes.”

Russia has also said it is well aware of the presence of foreign military personnel in Ukraine, noting that they are regarded as “legitimate targets” for Moscow’s forces. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in late May that those foreign servicemen were suffering casualties.

 

Reuters/RT

In the last week of April, Pastor and Chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, swore that he would “resign as EFCC chairman if embattled former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, is not prosecuted.” Unaccompanied as it was by any calendar or deadline, this undertaking cannot be regarded as having been made with any intention that it should be taken seriously.

Bello lost his constitutional immunity from the legal process when his tenure as governor of Kogi State ended three months earlier on 27 January. In the third week of April, Yahaya Bello’s successor as governor of Kogi State, Usman Adodo, accompanied by a retinue of state-sponsored security assets, swooped on Abuja from neighbouring Lokoja, capital of Kogi State, to spirit him into fugitive-dom under the hapless gaze of the EFCC personnel deployed to arrest him.

Since then, the Inspector-General of Police has reportedly ordered to be withdrawn, security details previously protecting Bello. The EFCC has declared him wanted and the Nigerian Immigration Service has placed him on a watchlist, directing that “if seen at any entry or exit point, he should be arrested and referred to the Director of Investigation….” Despite this synchronised hyperventilation by the combined leadership of Nigeria’s leading security agencies, Bello appears to have vanished into thin air. The completeness of his erasure from the combined radars of Nigeria’s security capabilities beggars belief.

Back in Abuja, repeated efforts by the EFCC to arraign Bello in court on multiple counts of plunder of public assets valued at over N80 billion have met with his absence. On the most recent court date at the end of last month, Bello’s counsel taunted the Commission with an application seeking to relocate the venue for his trial from Abuja to Lokoja in Kogi State, where, according to Bello, the alleged crimes occurred. One notable columnist laments with a touch of acid that “to the chagrin of many, a fugitive like Bello, transmitting from under the rock where he is hiding, is the one attempting to dictate the terms of how the case against him should be prosecuted.”

Bello’s request for his case to be transferred to Lokoja would presumably give him home-court advantage against the EFCC. In his estimation, the people of Kogi State whose patrimony he is accused of having plundered, would nevertheless embrace him as their own home-grown bandit and avatar in the contest for their share of the national loot. The lawyers who make this application on his behalf appear to have secured the complicity of the court in playing along with a script in which they represent a ghost-client who transmits instructions to them through a spirit medium.

If all of this makes the EFCC under its current leadership sound like a cruel joke on the consciousness of Nigerians, it is because that is exactly what the Commission has chosen to become. The week before it embarked on its vain pursuit of Yahaya Bello, the EFCC recorded what in the public imagination has been its most notable success under its current leadership, when it got the Federal High Court in Lagos to convict professional transvestite, Idris Olanrewaju Okuneye – better known as Bobrisky – for the rather ostentatious crime of “Naira abuse”.

The money that Bobrisky supposedly abused was his own. Unlike Bello, the Commission did not accuse Bobrisky of having stolen from anyone or institution. Yet, despite pleading guilty, the Court sentenced Bobrisky, a first offender, to six months in prison without option of fine. Upon securing this conviction, the leadership of the EFCC celebrated what was in fact a deployment of the Commission in pursuit of a bigoted persecution.

While throwing the kitchen sink at Bobrisky, the EFCC Chairman was busy offering private assurances to Bello to accord him the status of an upmarket outlaw. Under severe public criticism for its unconcealed weaponisation and duplicities, the EFCC got hot under the proverbial collar and embarked on what looked like high profile feints. In addition to the case of Bello, it also went after former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and increased motion on its part in the case concerning former governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano. These cases have, however, become performative distractions from the institutional accident that this EFCC has turned into.

Forty-eight hours before it confronted Bello’s application to afford him home-court advantage in the trial over multiple counts of rapine he committed as governor, the Federal High Court in Lagos entered a rather curious verdict in another case of “Naira abuse” instituted by the EFCC with the design to show that its pursuit of Bobrisky was Kosher. The accused this time was celebrity bartender and impresario, Pascal Okechukwu, better known as Cubana Chief Priest. Arraigned in the immediate aftermath of the conviction of Bobrisky on 17 April, Okechukwu – unlike Bobrisky – was able to afford the services of a highly priced Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

In this case, Okechukwu and the EFCC reached a deal under which he agreed to pay N10 million into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation; undertake “intensive and rigorous sensitization” against naira abuse, and “bi-monthly post on his various social media handles a minimum of two video clips of his sensitisation/campaign against abuse of naira and sundry offences.”

After taking cognisance of this deal, the trial court reportedly cautioned Okechukwu and thereafter “struck out” (the) charge against the celebrity bartender. How a court can possibly have jurisdiction to caution a suspect in a case that it has struck out, only the judge and the EFCC can divine. The design, it seems clear, is to ensure that Okechukwu, a well-connected Nigerian unlike the much-maligned Bobrisky, doesn’t end up with a criminal record. There is only one word to describe the kind of settlement that the EFCC engineered in this case; it was egregiously corrupt and the Commission knows it.

The fact that a Commission created to fight network corruption and racketeering has now degenerated into dealing in the currency it was supposed to liquidate is something Nigerians had suspected, but most people did not expect such brazenness about it. As if to gloat about its evolution into an institutionalisation of misadventure, personnel of the EFCC have recently been caught in different states around Nigeria rampantly assaulting poor citizens who were going about their lawful work and lives.

In response to these, some citizens thought about mobilising to protest against the commitment of the EFCC to the abuse of the public trust. Rather than welcome this as an act of concerned solidarity, the Commission defaulted characteristically to bluster and intimidation, and went public to proudly advertise its credentials as a threat to the constitutionally entrenched rights of Nigerians. In a release during the past week, it bloviated that it “will not tolerate any breakdown of law and order anywhere in the country especially around its office locations across Nigeria.” Not done, the EFCC also warned that  it was “in concert with sister security agencies,…. taking necessary measures to deal with possible threats to the peace and security of Nigeria.”

Evidently, the EFCC under its current leadership has made a mission of fiddling while the country careens. The tragedy of their latest statement was clearly lost on the leadership of an institution that seems incapable of looking at itself in the mirror. If they were able to do so, they would have seen quite easily that the self-imposed incapacities of the Commission have now become one of the biggest threats to Nigeria’s peace and security. It’s time to remind Pastor Olukoyede of his promise to resign.

** Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a professor of law, teaches at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and can be reached through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Employment scams surged last year, as criminals leveraged artificial intelligence to steal money and personal information from unsuspecting job seekers, experts said.

Consumer reports of job scams jumped 118% in 2023 from the prior year, according to a recent report by the Identity Theft Resource Center.

Thieves generally pose as recruiters and post fake job listings to entice applicants, then steal valuable information during the “interview” process.

Often, they put these phony listings on reputable websites like LinkedIn and other job search platforms, ITRC said, making it tough to disentangle truth from fiction.

The typical victim loses about $2,000

A chief danger is divulging information about financial accounts or sensitive personal data (like a Social Security number) that criminals can then use to steal a job seeker’s identity.

Consumers reported losing $367 million to job and business opportunity scams in 2022, up 76% year over year, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

The typical victim lost a “whopping” $2,000, the FTC said.

Job scams aren’t the most prevalent fraud: They accounted for only 9% of total identity scams in 2023, second to Google Voice scams, which totaled 60%, ITRC said. (Google Voice scams trick people into sharing a Google verification code, which scammers can use for nefarious ends. They often target people on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.)

However, employment scams are an “emerging” threat, said ITRC president and CEO Eva Velasquez.

“Job scams have been around since there were jobs,” Velasquez said. ”[But] they’ll continue to grow because of a number of external factors that are occurring.”

AI and remote work fuel job-scam growth

AI advancements are one of those factors: They allow scammers to generate job listings and recruitment messages that look and feel more legitimate, experts said.

“AI tools help refine the ‘pitch’ to make it more believable as well as compensate for cultural and grammar differences in language usage,” according to the ITRC report.

What’s more, the rise of remote work during the pandemic era have made workers and job seekers more comfortable with digital-only transactions, Velasquez said.

Job seekers may never see a physical person during a phony hiring or interview process: They may interact with a supposed recruiter only via text or WhatsApp message, Velasquez said, which amounts to a “big red flag.”

Recent college grads, immigrants or other people new to the U.S. workforce may think such digital-only hiring normal, especially for fully remote jobs, she said. But hiring generally doesn’t work this way, she added.

How job scams can rip you off

Con artists will “push you for money” during the hiring process, the FTC said.

They may send an invoice for advance payment of on-the-job equipment (like a computer ) or job training. They promise to reimburse you, but won’t, according to the federal agency.

Scammers may also ask for your personal information — like a driver’s license, Social Security number or bank account details — upfront in order to fill out “employment paperwork,” the FTC said.

“Scammers will promise you a great job, but what they really want is your money and your personal information,” New York Secretary of State Robert Rodriguez said in a consumer alert this year.

Job seekers should not expect to have to hand over personal information until after they’ve received and accepted a job offer, Velasquez said. (While this is a good screen for legitimacy, it may not provide a safety guarantee in all cases, she said.)

How to protect yourself from job scams

Ultimately, “there’s no sure-fire way to detect” job opportunity scams, according to the FTC.

Here’s what you should know and how you can better protect yourself, according to Velasquez and the FTC:  

• Don’t have a false sense of security on well-known job search platforms.
• Independently verify the company exists and is hiring. Don’t accept a job offer until you’ve done your own research.
• Be wary if you didn’t initiate contact with a prospective employer or recruiter. Instead, reach out to the company directly using contact information you know is legit.
• Only limited personal information is generally required during the application process: name, phone number, job and education history, and perhaps email and home address, Velasquez said.
• Digital-only interactions are a red flag. However, phone calls are also not a guarantee of security.
• Honest employers won’t send you a check to buy supplies or anything else, then ask you to send back the leftover money. This is a fake check scam.
• Be wary of something that sounds too good to be true. For example, a job ad for 100% remote work that requires few skills and a huge salary “is not realistic,” Velasquez said.

 

CNBC

The Informal Economy Report 2024 has shown that only 1.3 per cent of Nigerian informal businesses reach over N2.5 million profit on a monthly basis.

The report, which was compiled by financial technology provider, Moniepoint, revealed that the network of unregistered businesses, which contributed over half of the country’s GDP with teeming street vendors, artisans and service providers, appeared prosperous based on revenue figures.

The report, which was launched over the weekend in Abuja, also showed that businesses in the informal market contributed over half of Nigeria’s GDP as 72.3 per cent of informal businesses surpassed the N1m mark in monthly revenue.

“Put together, businesses in the informal market contribute over half of Nigeria’s GDP. This is evident in their revenues with the bulk of them (72.3 per cent) hitting monthly revenues of over N1,000,000 monthly. But their actual profit deviates from these high figures. Individually, most of them make less than N250,000 monthly. On the higher end of the spectrum, only about 1.3 per cent of businesses in Nigeria’s informal economy earn above N2.5m monthly,” it said.

The report also revealed that a significant portion (68.2 per cent) of their income went towards feeding and family expenses. This was followed by reinvestment in the business (29.7 per cent), with only a small percentage (3 out of 10) prioritising reinvestment.

Doris Anita, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, expressed confidence that the report would help the government to better understand the informal sector to know their needs and enhance growth and inclusion in the country.

She said, “We will see how we can take every recommendation and move the report forward. We will support you to do much better. We will rely on this report to better understand the informal sector and know their needs.”

On his part, Charles Odili, Director General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), said, “The numbers support this reality as reaffirmed by this report. The vast majority of Nigeria’s approximately 40 million small businesses reside in the informal sector. They are all around us, from the unregistered beauty shop that began with a simple stool under a tree for customers to sit while the stylist worked her magic to the fruit store that grew from a wheelbarrow. Born of both necessity and entrepreneurial zeal, they exemplify the famous ‘hustling’.”

In his remarks, Babatunde Olofin, Managing Director of Moniepoint MFB, noted that the report was focused on the significance of Nigeria’s informal economy, the challenges faced by informal businesses in accessing credit, the impact of credit access on business growth and the challenges in formalising businesses.

 

Daily Trust

The recent declaration of a state of emergency on oil production by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) rings hollow in light of the ongoing and escalating crisis of crude oil theft in Nigeria. Despite the grandiose rhetoric from NNPCL's Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, at the 23rd Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition Week, the reality on the ground tells a starkly different story.

Kyari's proclamation of "war means war" and his assurances that NNPCL possesses the "right tools" to combat the challenges crippling crude oil production are belied by the persistent and worsening theft in the production areas. According to some estimates, the officially declared daily crude production is barely half of what is actually being produced. This discrepancy points to a massive and systematic siphoning off of Nigeria's crude oil by a network of thieves that remains largely untouched by the current measures.

The NNPCL's focus on overcoming procedural delays and engaging partners, while necessary, fails to address the root of the problem: the pervasive and entrenched criminal enterprise that is crude oil theft. It is not merely the occasional foreign oil thieves who should be the targets of law enforcement; the major culprits are often prominent players within the industry itself, who operate with impunity.

The current management of NNPCL, despite their public declarations and posturing, has proven woefully inadequate in curbing this menace. There has been a glaring lack of accountability and transparency. Not a single major figure within the industry involved in oil theft has been prosecuted or even named. This points to either a severe incompetence or, more alarmingly, a collusion between the management and the thieves.

The financial repercussions of this failure are profound. Nigeria is hemorrhaging valuable foreign exchange earnings, the value of the Naira continues to decline, and local refineries struggle with insufficient crude supply. Each day that the NNPCL fails to effectively address oil theft is a day that Nigeria’s economic stability and development are further compromised.

It is time for a significant overhaul in the leadership of NNPCL. The current management, having demonstrated an inability to combat oil theft effectively, must be relieved of their positions. Fresh leadership, untainted by past failures and with a genuine commitment to transparency and accountability, is urgently needed. This new leadership must prioritize the identification and prosecution of the major players in the oil theft network, irrespective of their status or connections within the industry.

Only through decisive action and true accountability can Nigeria hope to stem the tide of crude oil theft. Empty threats and hollow declarations will no longer suffice. The NNPCL must move beyond words and take real, concrete steps to safeguard Nigeria's oil assets and restore integrity to the industry.

Netanyahu: Gaza deal must let Israel resume fighting until war goals met

Any Gaza ceasefire deal must allow Israel to resume fighting until its objectives are met, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, as talks over a U.S. plan aimed at ending the nine-month-old war were expected to restart.

Five days after Hamas accepted a key part of the plan, two officials from the Palestinian militant group said the group was awaiting Israel's response to its latest proposal.

Netanyahu was scheduled to hold consultations late on Sunday on the next steps in negotiating the three-phase plan that was presented in May by U.S. President Joe Biden and is being mediated by Qatar and Egypt.

It aims to end the war and free around 120 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.

Hamas has dropped a key demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before it would sign an agreement. Instead, it said it would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, a Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday on condition of anonymity.

But Netanyahu said he insisted the deal must not prevent Israel from resuming fighting until its war objectives are met. Those goals were defined at the start of the war as dismantling Hamas' military and governing capabilities, as well as returning the hostages.

"The plan that has been agreed to by Israel and which has been welcomed by President Biden will allow Israel to return hostages without infringing on the other objectives of the war," Netanyahu said.

The deal, he said, must also prohibit weapons smuggling to Hamas via the Gaza-Egypt border and should not allow for thousands of armed militants to return to northern Gaza.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns is to meet with the Qatari prime minister and the Israeli and Egyptian intelligence chiefs on Wednesday in Doha, said a source familiar with the issue who asked not to be further identified.

Burns is also expected to visit Cairo this week, along with an Israeli delegation, Egypt's Al Qahera News TV reported on Sunday, citing a high-ranking source.

There was no letup in fighting inside Gaza, where late on Sunday the Israeli military renewed orders for residents and displaced families in several districts in Gaza City to leave their homes. Some residents said they were surprised by the sounds of tank shells and gunfire from Israeli drones, as some managed to flee and others were trapped at home.

"This is the sixth time we have been displaced, we don’t know where we should go. To be honest, I don’t know. I have a three-storey building and now it was hit, I just got the news," a displaced woman who asked not to be identified told Reuters in Gaza City.

"My husband is an amputee and he is stuck in Shejaiya. We have heard no news about him," she said.

Palestinian health officials later said an Israeli air strike on a house in Jabalia on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip had killed at least 10 people, with many wounded and others still missing.

The new talks follow months of failed attempts to reach a ceasefire in stop-start negotiations that several times led nowhere after Washington said a deal was close.

A Palestinian official close to the talks said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the war.

"We have left our response with the mediators and are waiting to hear the occupation's response," one of the two Hamas officials told Reuters, asking not to be identified.

Another Palestinian official with knowledge of the ceasefire deliberations said Israel was in talks with the Qataris and that a response was expected within days.

PROTESTS IN ISRAEL

In Israel, protesters took to the streets across the country to press the government to agree to the Gaza ceasefire deal, which would bring back hostages still being held in Gaza.

They blocked rush-hour traffic at major intersections across the country, picketed politicians' houses and briefly set fire to tyres on the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway before police cleared the way.

In Gaza, Palestinian health officials said at least 15 people were killed in Israeli strikes.

Among them were Ehab Al-Ghussein, the Hamas-appointed deputy minister of labour whose wife and children were killed in May, and three other people killed in a strike at a church-run school in western Gaza City sheltering families, Hamas media and the Civil Emergency Service said.

The Israeli military said that after it took steps to minimise the risk of civilians being harmed there, it struck militants hiding in the school and a nearby weapon-making facility.

In central and northern areas of Rafah, on the southern Gaza border with Egypt, Israeli tanks deepened their raids. Health officials there said they had recovered three bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire.

The Israeli military said its forces had killed 30 Palestinian gunmen in Rafah in the past day, and that one of its soldiers was killed in combat.

In Shejaia, an eastern suburb of Gaza City, the military said its forces had killed several gunmen and located weapons and explosives. It published a drone video showing gunmen, some appearing to be wounded or dead, in a house.

Reuters could not immediately verify the video.

The conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when fighters led by Hamas, which controlled Gaza, attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military onslaught, according to Gaza health officials, and the coastal enclave has largely been reduced to rubble.

 

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Iskander crew strike destroys two launchers of Patriot air defense system near Odessa

The crew of the Iskander complex destroyed two launchers of Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems and a Giraffe radar in the Odessa region, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"The crew of the Iskander operational-tactical complex attacked the position of a battery of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system of the Ukrainian armed forces near the village of Yuzhnoye in the Odessa region. As a result of the strike, two Patriot air defense missile launchers and a Giraffe radar were destroyed," the ministry said.

 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia claims strikes on two Ukrainian Patriot systems that Kyiv says were decoys

Russia said on Sunday it struck two Patriot air defence launch systems, but Ukraine said Moscow had hit decoy targets designed to squander expensive enemy missiles.

Russia's defence ministry said in a statement the attack took place in the area of the Black Sea port of Yuzhne, adding that a radar station was also destroyed. It said Iskander-M ballistic missiles had been used.

Commenting on videos of the attack circulating on social media, Ukraine's air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a post on Telegram on Saturday evening, that Russia had hit Ukrainian decoy Patriot systems.

Reuters could not independently verify either side's claims.

Ukraine has previously exhibited cheap decoys built to look like multi-million dollar western air defence and missile systems for which Moscow is hunting in Ukraine.

The Patriot system, which has proved extremely effective in this war and of which Ukraine has very few, is at the top of Moscow's target list.

Oleshchuk added that Russia had also hit decoy planes in a missile attack on a Ukrainian military airfield on Wednesday.

"Thank you to all who help with quality decoy planes and air defence systems. The enemy now has fewer Iskanders, but we will bring up more decoys."

A video released on Telegram by the Russian ministry showed daylight explosions on uninhabited land near a coastline, after zooming in to identify objects.

 

RT/Reuters