Sometimes, what separates successful people from everyone else isn’t what they say — it’s what they don’t say.

You might want to avoid jargon in the workplace: phrases like “ducks in a row” or “move the needle” that probably confuse your co-workers, according to research published by LinkedIn and Duolingo last year. Other sayings, like “keep me in the loop” or “just checking in,” can unintentionally come across as passive-aggressive, Slack executive Jaime DeLanghe told CNBC Make It in 2022.

In particular, the best employees typically steer clear from these three phrases and sayings, according to CEOs, psychologists and linguistics experts:

‘It is what it is’

There’s one phrase bosses and colleagues don’t want to hear when they’re facing a problem at work: “It is what it is.”

“People say it when, really, what they mean is, ‘I don’t care,” John McWhorter, an author, linguist and associate professor at Columbia University, told Bill Gates’ “Unconfuse Me” podcast last year. 

You’ve probably heard the phrase before, or used it yourself —perhaps in response to a dilemma or situation that can’t be fixed and just has to be accepted. Using it, however, can appear highly passive to other people and tarnish their trust in you, McWhorter said.

Try swapping the phrase for something less dismissive, psychologist Cortney S. Warren told Make It last year: “I have to see reality for what it is, even if it’s not what I want, so I can move forward.”

‘This is how we’ve always done it’

For Jason Buechel, CEO of Amazon-owned grocery chain Whole Foods, the biggest red flag in an employee is “somebody who thinks they know the answer to absolutely everything,” he told Make It last month.

“I sometimes could have been that person in my past, on certain things,” Buechel said. “And I learned the hard way that you have to be flexible, especially in today’s world. Our customers’ demands are changing all the time, things are always changing the business.”

Executives from JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy say they value employees who are energized by learning new ideas and perspectives and find ways to apply them to the workplace. That means there’s one sentence that can frustrate such CEOs: This is how we’ve always done it.

In contrast, staying curious and embracing new opportunities can help you stay engaged in your career and hobbies, make you happierand help you better manage your professional journey’s twists and turns, research shows.

‘I’ll never be able to get this. Why bother?’

Everyone, at some point or another, is faced with a task that seems impossible. You may try to psych yourself out, telling yourself  “I’ll never be able to get this. Why bother?”

In actuality, your brain “can continue to develop and change until old age,” Emma Seppälä, a Yale lecturer and psychologist, wrote for Make It in April. “You can change careers at 50 and you can start playing the piano at 80. You can learn new things at any point and, with practice, you can get better at almost anything.”

Instead of battering “I can’t do this” into your brain, change your perspective and say, “I need more practice,” Seppälä advised. Thinking about something you can do with ease, and then thinking back to the first time you did that thing, can help reassure you, she wrote.

“The same will be true of the thing you attempted for the first time today — if you keep trying,” wrote Seppälä.

 

CNBC

The row over Air Peace’s flight operations from the United Kingdom has taken another turn with Festus Keyamo, the Nigerian minister of aviation and aerospace development, writing to his British counterpart to lodge a formal complaint, TheCable understands.

In a letter dated August 1, 2024 and addressed to Louise Haigh, the UK secretary of state for transport, Keyamo warned that if Air Peace is not allocated a space at the London Heathrow, Nigeria will be forced to “reciprocate” by denying British Airways and Virgin Atlantic slots at the Lagos and Abuja airports.

Although Heathrow is the UK’s primary airport, Air Peace, the Nigerian carrier, currently operates from the Gatwick Airport, the secondary airport.

All efforts by Air Peace to get a slot at Heathrow, which is closer to the heart of London, have been unsuccessful.

In the letter seen by TheCable, Keyamo expressed “the displeasure” of the Nigerian government over the “consistent denial of slot” by the UK slot office to Air Peace on the Nigeria-London route to fly into Heathrow, its first choice, since it began operations in the UK in March 2024.

“The Airline had made consistent efforts in the past to fly into Heathrow Airport from Lagos, but was denied, and only granted approval to fly into Gatwick Airport from Lagos,” he wrote.

“Following the approval granted the Airline by the Nigerian Government to fly the Abuja-London route, the Airline approached the Slot Office for slot allocation at the London Heathrow Airport, for flight operations planned to commence in November 2024, during the IATA Winter Season. It is highly disheartening that up till this moment, the Airline has not received any favourable response from the Slot Office.”

He reminded the UK that both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are operating into Nigeria’s primary airports in Lagos and Abuja “without encumbrances placed in their ways”.

British Airways, in particular, has been flying into Lagos since 1936.

“Therefore, it is necessary for Nigerian designated carriers to enjoy similar reciprocity that British carriers are enjoying. It is highly unfair on the side of the British authorities and a discredit to the Nigerian authorities and the Nigerian nation as a whole, for slot allocation to Nigerian carriers to be an issue at all times. We feel totally betrayed by the British authorities for not reciprocating the good gesture of the Nigerian State and its people,” Keyamo wrote.

“The slot allocation issue should not be used as an alibi to deny the existence of a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, which hallmark is based on the principle of reciprocity. Whatever concessionary arrangements you have with your airports with third parties, the concessionaire(s) should legally inherit your existing obligations (especially those under Bi-Lateral Services Agreements) in respect of the use of those airports.

“Arising from the foregoing, I wish to emphatically state that if Air Peace is not allocated a slot at the London Heathrow Airport, it might be difficult for British flag carriers to access Nigeria’s tier one airports from the next Winter Season, unless when a frank discussion is opened with us to break the debacle associated with the slot allocation at Heathrow to the Airline and other Nigerian designated airlines.

“While expecting your timely intervention over this pressing issue dear to the hearts of Nigerians, please, accept the consideration of my warm regards.”

TheCable confirmed that the letter has been received by the UK high commission in Abuja.

Keyamo was unavailable for comments when he was contacted by TheCable.

 

The Cable

In response to the ongoing monkeypox (Mpox) outbreak in parts of Africa, Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Health has mandated that all travellers entering the country fill out and submit a health declaration form. This measure, aimed at curbing the spread of the disease, came into effect yesterday, August 11, for passengers arriving at the airports in Abuja and Lagos.

Travellers can complete the form online or opt to print and fill out a physical copy. The ministry has encouraged passengers to submit the form online before departure to avoid delays upon arrival in Nigeria.

According to the ministry's website, "The Nigeria Health Declaration Form must be filled out by all incoming passengers to Nigeria. Paper-based versions will be provided on arrival in Nigeria for passengers unable to fill the form."

The form is designed to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, monitor potential importations, and aid in controlling outbreaks, thereby safeguarding the health of Nigerians. It requires personal information, as well as details about the traveller's recent travel history, health status, and contact history within the 21 days preceding their arrival.

This announcement comes as the Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC) considers declaring a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS) over Mpox, due to the spread of a new variant known as Clade Ib, particularly in Congo. Since mid-July, Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya have also reported cases of this new variant.

Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa CDC, stated on Thursday that reported Mpox cases on the continent had increased by 79 percent from 2022 to 2023 and by 160 percent from 2023 to 2024. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also noted an unprecedented rise in Mpox cases across Africa this year.

President Bola Tinubu's recent mischaracterization of a World Bank loan as a federal grant to states is not just a simple slip of the tongue—it's part of a disturbing pattern of misinformation emanating from the highest office in the land. This latest incident, where the President claimed credit for "releasing" N570 billion to states for livelihood support, only to be contradicted by governors from both the ruling and opposition parties, is a stark reminder of the growing credibility crisis facing this administration.

In a time when Nigerians are grappling with severe economic hardship, the President chose to present a pre-existing World Bank loan as a magnanimous gesture from his government. This deliberate distortion of facts is not only misleading but also deeply insulting to the intelligence of Nigerian citizens. It raises serious questions about the integrity of the information being disseminated by the presidency and its officials.

The ease with which falsehoods are peddled from the nation's highest podium is alarming. Whether it's misrepresenting economic figures, overstating policy impacts, or, as in this case, taking credit for initiatives that predate the current administration, the Tinubu government seems to have developed a habit of bending the truth to suit its narrative.

The string of misleading claims began almost immediately after Tinubu took office. His Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, falsely announced the lifting of a UAE visa ban on Nigerians and the resumption of Emirates flights—a claim swiftly debunked by the UAE government itself. This was followed by the erroneous assertion that Tinubu was the first African leader to ring the closing bell at NASDAQ, ignoring the fact that Tanzania's President had done so over a decade earlier.

The administration's cavalier approach to facts extended to domestic appointments, with false claims about "firsts" that a simple fact-check could have prevented. Even more alarming was the premature or false announcement of a $600 million investment from Maersk, damaging Nigeria's international credibility.

This culture of misinformation undermines the very foundation of democratic governance. How can citizens make informed decisions or hold their leaders accountable when they cannot trust the words coming from the President himself? The irony is palpable—a government that campaigned on transparency and renewed hope is now eroding public trust through its own actions.

Moreover, this incident highlights a worrying disconnect between the federal government and the states. For the President to be so misinformed about the nature and source of funds going to states suggests either a shocking level of incompetence or a willful disregard for accuracy in public statements.

The Nigerian people deserve better. They deserve a government that respects them enough to tell the truth, even when it's not politically expedient. They deserve leaders who understand that trust is the currency of effective governance, and that every lie told chips away at the social contract between the government and its people.

Tinubu and his administration must put an immediate end to this dangerous game of misinformation. The challenges facing Nigeria are too grave, and the stakes too high, for the luxury of spin and falsehoods. It's time for the President to demonstrate true leadership by committing to honesty and transparency in all communications with the public.

The credibility of the presidency is not a trivial matter. It's essential for the functioning of the country’s democracy and the trust of the international community. Tinubu must recognize that the path to effective governance lies in transparency and integrity, not in the shallow victories of rhetorical manipulation.

 

 

Bandits have ambushed soldiers on patrol in Gudu Local Government Area of Sokoto State, killing four of them.

Two others were also injured during the attack which occurred last weekend.

The member, representing Gudu at the state House of Assembly, Yahya Gudu who confirmed the attack said the assailants burnt down two patrol vehicles of the operatives.

“Yes it is truth, some gunmen ambushed soldiers on patrol along Kukurau-Bangi road on Saturday and killed four of them while two others were injured. They also burnt their patrol vehicles,” he said.

The member, who described the development as disheartening, said after notifying Governor Ahmed Aliyu about the attack, reinforcement had since been sent to the area.

A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the bandits were seen passing through their area on 20 motorcycles.

“Each motorcycle was carrying two well armed bandits. They didn’t touch or kidnap anybody in our community. They just passed and the next thing we heard were sounds of gunshots.

“It was later that we discovered they laid an ambush for the security operatives patrolling the area and killed four of them. Their bodies were later recovered by their colleagues.

“About a week ago, the bandits while pursuing vigilantes, killed seven persons in our community. They are still in that bush. There is a stream where they meet and discussed everyday. We used to tell security operatives about their presence but they have not being responsive. May be because the bandits are using more sophisticated weapons,” he said

When contacted, the spokesman of the Sokoto state Police Command, Rufa’i Ahmed, referred our reporter to the Public Relations Officer of the 8 Division of the Nigerian Army, Ikechukwu Eze, a Lieutenant Colonel, who could not be reached on phone.

 

Daily Trust

Hamas casts doubt on participation in new Gaza ceasefire talks

Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday asked mediators to present a plan based upon previous talks instead of engaging in new negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire deal, casting doubt on its participation in a Thursday meeting called by the mediators.

Last week, leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar urged Israel and Hamas to meet for negotiations on Aug. 15 in either Cairo or Doha to finalize a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal.

Israel said it would send negotiators to take part in the meeting. Hamas initially said it was studying the offer but has now hinted it may stay out of the new round of talks.

"The movement calls on the mediators to present a plan to implement what was agreed upon by the movement on July 2, 2024, based on (President Joe) Biden's vision and the UN Security Council resolution," Hamas said in a statement.

"The mediators should enforce this on the occupation (Israel) instead of pursuing further rounds of negotiations or new proposals that would provide cover for the occupation's aggression and grant it more time to continue its genocide against our people," the statement said.

Hamas said it has shown flexibility throughout the negotiating process but that Israeli actions, including what Hamas has said was its assassination of the group's leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late last month, indicate that it is not serious about pursuing a ceasefire agreement. Israel has not denied or claimed responsibility.

President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have run into repeated obstacles.

There has separately been an increased risk of a broader Middle East war after the recent killings of both Hamas leader Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukrin Beirut drew threats of retaliation against Israel.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry.

** Palestinian gunmen kill Israeli in West Bank attack, Israeli military says

An Israeli was killed and another wounded on Sunday by Palestinian gunmen who opened fire on a main road in the occupied West Bank, Israel's ambulance service and military said, with the armed wing of militant faction Hamas claiming responsibility.

The Israeli military said it was pursuing the suspected assailants, blocking routes and conducting searches.

Later in the day, Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades said its West Bank-based fighters killed an Israeli soldier at point-blank range near the settlement of Mehola in the Jordan Valley and "returned to their bases safely."

It said the operation came in retaliation for Israel's strike on a school where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in Gaza City on Saturday, which the civil defence service said had killed at least 90 people.

The Israeli military said it had struck a Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant command post in this attack and killed 19 militants. The Hamas and Islamic groups rejected the Israeli military statement.

Violence in the West Bank, already on the rise before the war in Gaza, has escalated further, with stepped-up Israeli military raids, settler violence and Palestinian street attacks.

 

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Kursk attack will pressure Russia and 'restore justice,' Zelenskiy says

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine had launched an incursion into Russian territory to "restore justice" and pressure Moscow's forces, in his first acknowledgement of Kyiv's surprise offensive into the western Kursk region.

Moscow's forces on Sunday were in their sixth day of intense battle against Kyiv's largest incursion into Russian territory since the start of the war, which left southwestern parts of Russia vulnerable before reinforcementstarted arriving.

Russian authorities rushed to evacuate residents and imposed a sweeping security regime in three border regions on Saturday, after the attack which military analysts say caught the Kremlin off-guard. Belarus, a staunch ally of Moscow, also sent more troops to its border with Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of violating its air space.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said he had discussed the operation with top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, vowing to respond in kind after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

"Today, I received several reports from Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi regarding the front lines and our actions to push the war onto the aggressor's territory," he said late on Saturday.

"Ukraine is proving that it can indeed restore justice and is ensuring the exact kind of pressure that is needed - pressure on the aggressor."

Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday it had destroyed 14 Ukrainian drones and four Tochka-U tactical ballistic missiles overnight over the Kursk region, and 18 drones over other Russian regions that Ukraine frequently attacks.

In a statement, it called the ground incursion "barbaric" and said it made no military sense.

Ukraine has at most occupied several tens of square kilometres of Russian territory without laying claim to it, while Russia controls more than 100,000 sq km of Ukraine's internationally recognised territory.

Russia's top general, Valery Gerasimov, said on Wednesday the attacks had been halted, but Russia has not pushed the Ukrainian forces back over the border.

Russian military bloggers said the situation had stabilised after Russia's reinforcements, though they said Ukraine was swiftly building up forces.

INJURIES AND EVACUATIONS

Zelenskiy said on Sunday Russia had launched nearly 2,000 cross-border strikes on Ukraine's Sumy region from the region of Kursk this summer and that such strikes deserved a Ukrainian response.

"Artillery, mortars, drones. We also record missile strikes, and each such strike deserves a fair response," the Ukrainian leader said.

Earlier, Kursk officials said 13 people were injured in the city after debris from a destroyed Ukrainian missile fell onto a nine-storey residential building.

An image posted by Kursk's mayor showed flames rising through a shattered apartment block surrounded by charred debris.

It was not clear whether there was further damage. Moscow and Kyiv rarely disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by attacks on them unless there are injuries or damage to residential buildings.

Alexei Smirnov, Kursk's acting governor, ordered local authorities to speed up the evacuation of civilians in areas at risk. On Saturday, Russia's TASS state news agency reported that more than 76,000 people had been evacuated.

Kyiv and Moscow deny targeting civilians in their attacks in the war, which has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of Ukrainians, and has no end in sight.

Russian military bloggers say fighting is taking place as deep as 20 km (12 miles) inside the Kursk region, prompting some of them to question why Ukraine was able to pierce the Kursk region so easily.

A few dozen Russian soldiers, including fighters from Chechnya, who were captured allegedly in Kursk were shown in a video posted by "I want to live," a project which is linked to Ukraine's military spy agency. Reuters could not immediately verify the video.

After a father and his 4-year-old son were killed near Kyiv in what Zelenskiy said was a Russian air attack using a North Korean missile, the Ukrainian leader asked Western partners for "strong decisions" allowing his troops to strike deep inside Russia with Western weapons.

"When Ukraine's long-range capabilities have no limits, this war will definitely have a limit," Zelenskiy wrote on X.

Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said she had sent an appeal to the United Nations demanding it condemn Ukraine's actions in Kursk.

In a Telegram post, Moskalkova said she was asking the U.N. Human Rights commissioner to "take measures to prevent gross mass violations of human rights".

 

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Aftermath of night shelling: what is known about situation in Kursk region

Debris from a Ukrainian missile fell on a residential building in Kursk on Sunday night, injuring 13 people.

The Russian army is continuing its operation to destroy Ukrainian armed groups in the border areas of the Kursk region. The head of the Belovsky district of the Kursk region called on residents to remain calm after sabotage groups entered the territory.

TASS has assembled all of the main facts about the events in the region.

Situation in Kursk region

- The situation in the Belovsky district of the Kursk region after the entry of Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups is stable, but tense, the head of the district Nikolay Volobuyev reported.

- Volobuyev called on residents to remain calm. He asked citizens who left the territory of the Belovsky district to remain in the places where they arrived.

- He recommended that those who want to leave the district contact the heads of village councils, the administration of the Belovsky district, or call 112.

- The situation in the Lgovsky district of the Kursk region is stable as of Sunday morning, the head of the district, Sergey Korostelev assured.

Consequences of the shelling of Kursk

- Pieces of a downed Ukrainian missile fell on a residential building in Kursk at night.

- Later, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the Kursk region announced that the fire that broke out there as a result of the incident has been extinguished.

- There are no casualties after the fall of missile debris on a nine-storey residential building in the Zheleznodorozhny district of Kursk, said the acting governor of the region, Alexey Smirnov.

- 13 people were injured, two of them are in serious condition.

- They were taken to hospital.

- The city mayor Igor Kutsak announced that the residents of the house will be evacuated to a temporary accommodation point located in a camp outside the city.

- The Kursk authorities have begun compiling lists of residents of a nine-storey building in the Zheleznodorozhny district who were injured as a result of the fall of debris from a Ukrainian missile on Sunday night.

- A special commission will estimate the damage.

Border operation

- Russian air defense systems destroyed four Ukrainian Tochka-U missiles over the Kursk region overnight.

- Russian military personnel destroyed a T-80 tank of the Ukrainian armed forces by using a Lancet loitering munition.

- Crews of Su-25 fighter aircraft, Ka-52 helicopters, as well as crews of T-72B3M tanks of the Russian troops destroyed a concentration of manpower, mobile armored groups, and automobile military equipment of the enemy in the border area of the region, the Defense Ministry reported.

- Russian Armed Forces FPV drone operators neutralized the heavy Baba Yaga drone.

- Russian National Guard fighters destroyed a tank and two armored vehicles in the Kursk region.

Assistance to residents

- About 80 tons of humanitarian aid collected from different regions of the country have been delivered to residents of the Kursk region.

- Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova sent an appeal to the UN demanding that it condemn the actions of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Kursk region in connection with the violation of human rights.

 

Reuters/Tass

Two years after his inauguration in October 2021 as Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT High Court), Husseini Baba Yusuf, decided in November 2023 that it was time to indulge in a sport of institutional mating games with the newly installed Minister of the Federal Capital, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike. By a stroke of coincidence, both men are members of the Body of Benchers, which describes itself as “the legal body of practitioners of the highest distinction in the legal profession.”

To initiate the mating, the Chief Judge relocated to the office of the Minister with the judges of the court where they proudly put their assets on display for the edification of the Minister. At the meeting, he reminded the Minister that “as a judiciary we are part of the government and we expect that we should be able to do things that should make government work….” 

The Chief Judge was desperate to let the Minister know how ready he was to consummate this relationship. To ensure that he got fullest Ministerial attentions, the Chief Judge made it known that he had instructed the Administrative Judges in charge of the various judicial divisions of the FCT High Court that all cases involving the Federal Capital Territory “would only be assigned by the Chief Judge.”

The following quarter, when the FCT High Court went into the market for judicial appointments, they allocated one out of the twelve new vacancies on offer to the FCT Minister, to which he promptly deputed his sister-in-law. As the new judges got inaugurated in July 2024, the Minister quickly announced that the judges in the FCT were proud beneficiaries of new housing development. The relationship between the Chief Judge and the Minister had moved from intent to intercourse. 

Things were going so well between the two institutional lovers that it was clear neither of them would knowingly allow any interloper to get in the way of their romance. When the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria organisers threatened to intrude into this by making Abuja and the FCT a major theatre of their protest, it was time for the lovers to prove their commitment to one another. 

On 31 July, the day before the scheduled commencement of the protest, most people turned in early in anticipation of the disruptions from what promised to be the mother of all protests. Even judicial business was not left out of the sense of apprehension. 

It was in this uncertainty that the Minister of the FCT decided to prove to the world the depth of the intimacy between him and the Chief Judge of the FCT. On 31 July, he initiated proceedings without notice to the defendants (ex parte) asking the court of the Chief Judge to kettle within the confines of the Moshood Abiola Stadium any wannabe protesters who showed up in the FCT.

This was a poorly rationalised decision, suggesting an executive loss of nerve for many reasons. 

First, the Moshood Abiola Stadium is at the neck of a funnel into the city from both southern Nigeria and from the international airport. It was not difficult to see that any significant demonstration would constitute an obstruction to in-coming traffic, if not a risk to travelers. One conclusion from the proposal contained in the filing by the FCT Minister was that the FCT administration had decided to pass the most substantial burden of any risks from the protest to travelers into and out of the FCT, effectively making them expendable. 

Second, in addition to making certain segments expendable, the FCT Administration simultaneously also chose to indicate in this proposal that they were not amenable to according any bandwidth to the protesters’ discontent. Banishing them to the vicinity of the Moshood Abiola Stadium was designed precisely to signal this.

Third, the kind of order that the Minister sought from the FCT High Court was a profound safety risk to both potential protesters and law enforcement officers, whom it required to enforce the cordon. This kind of policing arrangement had been considered and found unlawful in places with more capable policing, including in England.

Fourth, this was shameless evidence of an irresponsible FCT Administration. A more responsible administration could easily have designated the stadium as a viewing centre for the Olympic Games and invited the excluded youth of the FCT to a different experience of what’s possible when government cares.

Even more curious than the nature of the orders that the Minister sought was the identity of the parties against whom he sought them. Omoyele Sowore, the lead defendant, was in New Jersey in the USA. Another leading defendant was called “Persons Unknown.” 

Now, a basic rule of civil proceedings is that cases can only be instituted against natural or legal persons. “Persons Unknown”, like spirits or ghosts, does not have capacity to sue or be sued. This does not ordinarily require any particular depth of legal skill or insight to figure out except, of course, before an FCT High Court caught in the throes of deep judicial passion with the FCT Minister. 

In this particular case of the suit against “Persons Unknown”, the FCT Minister retained the services of two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs. Fittingly for a regime whose agents had expended their bigoted propaganda to demonise the Igbo nation over the protest, it seemed appropriate that the judge whom the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court found to assign the case to was known as Chinedu Oriji. From its Igbo language origins, the name roughly translates into “God guides the eating of the yam.”

With little ado, this yam-eating court quickly granted all the orders sought, including “an order restraining the 1st-5th defendants from gathering or parading themselves along any roadway, street, offices and or public premises/property within the FCT between 1st-10th August 2024 or any other day thereafter pending the hearing and determination of” this case. Instead, the Court required all intending protesters from anywhere within the 7,315 km² of the FCT to converge at the Stadium at the entrance into the city where they would be confined by an armed security cordon thrown at the instigation of the FCT Minister and backed by the order from the  judge called Oriji. 

Even before the Court rose for the day, the order was already in the public domain blaring from all government media. It read uncannily as if the order had been granted even before the case was filed. When the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court promised to “do things that should make government work”, he meant just that.

In this case, however, it was doubtful whether the court was in fact making the government work or exposing it instead to irredeemable odium. A proposition more suited to the mass slaughter of protesters would have been hard to invent. If the protesters had not defied the order in the full majesty of its impracticality, it would have been easy for the government to claim that any number of them trampled to death thereby were unknown. The perpetrators would have been unknown too. That would have been fitting for a protest whose leaders the government had judicially designated as “Persons Unknown.” 

All that would have been both foreseeable and yet judicially authored. A court alive to its duties would have spotted this and saved itself and its executive suitors the embarrassment of issuing such an order. The only thing that mattered in this case, however, was how the FCT High Court could prove to the FCT Minister its rampant capacity for heedless intercourse with the executive. In this case, it was spared by the resilience of citizens. Providence, surely, will not always this gladly suffer the excesses of judicial prostitution. The morale of this tale is simple –  there must be more dignified ways to eat the judicial yam.

As someone who meets and speaks about entrepreneurs regularly, there is one sentence I hate hearing and that sentence is: "I want to be an entrepreneur."

A person who says that sentence is most likely to fail at entrepreneurship. You cannot want to be an entrepreneur. You either are or you aren't. And if you are an entrepreneur, you can't work a regular job because you need to be creating and building, not working behind a computer.

So, how do you know if you're an entrepreneur or not? Here are 5 signs that you might be an entrepreneur.

You're willing to work hard without getting paid

This point is so important, hence it being first on the list. Too many people read tech news and assume that starting a company means raising monster rounds of financing and ultimately buying yourself your dream Lamborghini.

Unless you've already been down the entrepreneurial path, you probably don't know what it entails and just how hard it is.

I know of many entrepreneurs who have been building their company for years, have failed to raise capital and are still dedicated to success without any income to support their family.

I have to be honest, I don't know how they do it. But if you're so dedicated to your mission that you're willing to take loans to make sure you have food on the table, there's a good chance you are resilient enough to be an entrepreneur.

When you fail, you celebrate

No one likes to fail, right? Wrong. A good entrepreneur celebrates failure because they can learn from that experience and leverage those lessons to do better next time.

The journey to building a successful company is full of failures, whether it is on the execution side, raising capital, going to market or many other parts of the process.

Anyone who thinks that they'll just build the company and achieve success without failures along the way has never been an entrepreneur and probably will never be one.

The more competition you have, the happier you are

This is yet another very counter intuitive part of being a successful entrepreneur. If you're opening a pizza shop and someone opens another one next door, chances are, you will be upset or at least, worried.

However, when building a company, especially a technology company, competition should be celebrated. If another company is trying to solve the same problem as you, that means that the problem is a real one and there is demand for a solution.

If you are alone in your landscape and there is no other company addressing your market, that is a real red flag for anyone who is going to engage with the company whether it is an investor, a potential partner or anyone else.

The word 'impossible' gets you excited

When you tell a regular person that something is impossible to do, they move on to the next thing. When you tell an entrepreneur that something is impossible, they will respond: "Hold my beer."

Every service you use today was once deemed impossible. Do you think that when the founder of Uber pitched investors that they thought it was possible to change laws and build a successful company by turning all drivers into taxi drivers? They didn't.

A good entrepreneur is actually motivated by the words: "That is impossible." A good entrepreneur makes the impossible, possible.

When you hear of a problem, instead of complaining, you aim to solve it

We all experience challenges in our lives, some bigger than others. Most people, when faced with adversity might complain and enter victim mode.

A good entrepreneur, when facing a challenge, focuses on how to build a product that will help overcome that challenge.

A newbie entrepreneur focuses on their solution. A seasoned entrepreneur obsesses over the problem they are trying to solve. Before pitching your solution to an investor, focus on the problem, the pain point and how many people around the world have that same problem.

Once you've established that the problem is significant and widespread, then, and only then should you focus on your solution.

It has been said that entrepreneurs are wired differently than most people and I believe that to be the case because if you examine the behavior of an entrepreneur without context, good chance you'd be confused and even dismissive.

 

Inc

On August 10, 2024, Nigeria witnessed the culmination of a 10-day nationwide protest movement against economic hardship and government policies. The protests, which began on August 1, reached their peak with a planned "one-million-man march" across the country, particularly in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

Key Developments:

1. One-Million-Man Hunger Protest:

   - Protesters in Abuja commenced their march early Saturday morning.

   - Demonstrators carried placards and chanted slogans such as "we are hungry" and "End hunger."

   - The protest aimed to highlight the high cost of living and demand changes in government policies.

2. Protest Locations and Strategies:

   - In Abuja, protesters strategically avoided heavily policed areas like the MKO Abiola National Stadium and Eagle Square.

   - Demonstrations were reported in Apo and Lokogoma districts, starting as early as 7 AM.

   - Protesters called for an end to hunger and the reversal of fuel subsidy removal.

3. Police Response and Confrontations:

   - In the Galadimawa area of Abuja, police used teargas and live ammunition to disperse protesters.

   - The confrontation occurred around 9:30am, about three hours after the protest began.

   - No casualties were reported, but protesters were forced to flee for safety.

4. Arrests and Tensions:

   - In Ondo State, several protesters, including Kunle Ajayi Wizeman, the gubernatorial candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), were arrested.

   - Human rights activist and lawyer Tope Temokun condemned the arrests, describing them as unnecessary and deceitful.

   - Temokun called on the Ondo State Governor to order the unconditional release of those arrested.

5. National Context:

   - The protests are a response to President Bola Tinubu's economic policies, particularly the removal of fuel subsidies.

   - Earlier in the week, President Tinubu addressed the nation, calling for an end to the protests, but many remained unsatisfied with his speech.

   - Amnesty International reported that over 20 people were killed across the country during the first days of demonstrations.

6. Regional Variations:

   - In Kano, instead of protests, special prayer sessions and Qur'anic recitations against hardship and hunger were held at various locations across the state.

7. Ongoing Concerns:

   - Protesters continue to demand drastic solutions to the prevailing economic hardship.

   - There are fears of potential violence and further clashes with security forces.

   - The right to peaceful protest remains a contentious issue, with activists asserting it as a constitutional right.

Conclusion:

As the planned 10-day protest period comes to an end, tensions remain high across Nigeria. The government faces increasing pressure to address economic concerns, particularly regarding the cost of living and fuel prices. The use of force by police and the arrests of protesters have raised concerns about the state's response to civil dissent.