Federal government says it will henceforth adopt the principle of reciprocity in the issuance of visas to citizens of countries with strict visa requirements for travelling Nigerians.

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, made this known at the Business Day Conference on Thursday.

Nigeria was excluded from Turkey’s e-visa application and Ethiopia removed Nigerians from the visas-on-arrival option, while Nigerians were banned by Seychelles from visiting the country for holiday purposes.

Tunji-Ojo said each citizen of a country seeking a visa will receive the same treatment meted out to Nigerians seeking to travel to that country.

“Some of our foreigners might not like this but part of our responsibility is the interest of Nigerians. As much as we have to protect your interest; you must also protect our interest,” he said. 

“Yesterday (Wednesday) the director for the Centre for illegal migration in Turkey, came to my office. And I told him in the next couple of weeks expect reciprocity in terms of travel policy. 

“Any country that does not give me the visa on arrival cannot have visa on arrival in Nigeria. I’m sorry but it is the truth.”

Tunji-Ojo said Nigeria wants to be an equal partner with foreign countries, so the relationship of investment must be on the basis of the principle of reciprocity.

He said a committee will submit a report that will enable his ministry to know how to deal with other countries regarding visa issuance.

The minister said if a Nigerian is charged $100 for a visa, Nigeria will also charge $100 for a Nigerian visa.

“If you give me visa on arrival. I give it to you. If you say the condition for me to enter your country today is that I must have American visa, Schengen visa, UK visa etc, you will have the same conditions to enter my country. It is not fight, it is about the issue of mutual respect,” he said.

Tunji-Ojo added that his “job is interior security and not external. So let’s call a spade a spade. We must change perception”.

He said: “Perception is everything in life. Perception is your reputation, if people have a wrong perception about you, they will have a negative interpretation about who you are. So, for us we’ve been doing that. 

“I told them yesterday (Wednesday), if you have stopped issuing to Nigerians Schengen visa, America visa, etc, please tell your people to change it because on issue of policy on visa reciprocity is my own.”

The minister said relationships with other countries are based on the quality of partnership. He described Nigeria as the biggest economy, but he said the kind of assets Ghana, South Africa and Seychelles have, Nigeria don’t have it.

Tunji-Ojo said he is not demanding that any country open their gates to all 220 million Nigerians, but at least, there should be a meeting point based on mutual respect.

 

The Cable

The so called 'nuclear briefcase' that accompanies Russian President Vladimir Putin was caught on camera on Wednesday (Oct 18) as the president headed to a meeting after his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The briefcase can be used to order a nuclear strike by the Russian president. The nuclear briefcase is rarely filmed.

After his meeting with Xi, as Putin walked to another meeting, he was surrounded by security officers and was followed by two Russian naval officers in uniform. Each of these officers carried a briefcase. One of these was the actual nuclear briefcase.

The briefcase is traditionally carried by Russian naval officers. The briefcase is known as the "Cheget". It is named after Mount Cheget in the Caucasus Mountains.

"There are certain suitcases without which no trip of Putin's is complete," the Kremlin correspondents of state news agency RIA said in a post on Telegram under the footage.

In another clip, Putin walks out of a meeting in Beijing with the naval officers again filmed just a few paces from Putin who grins as he walks down some stairs.

The President of the United States also has such a device. It is called the 'nuclear football'. The satchel contains the codes the US president can use to authorise nuclear missiles in case he is not at the White House.

Tensions between Russia and the US are on the rise in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Even China is seeking to bolster its nuclear arsenal. US-China relations are strained as well.

On Tuesday, the Russian parliament took first steps towards revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Its top lawmaker has even warned US that Russia may even abandon the pact altogether.

What is in the briefcase?

The "Cheget" is essentially a secure communication tool that enables Russian president a link to his military top brass and through them, to the rocket forces. via the highly secret "Kazbek" electronic command-and-control network.

Russia's defence minister has such a briefcase with him. Reuters said that Russian chief of general staff may also have been given a nuclear briefcase.

Footage shown by Russia's Zvezda television channel in 2019 showed what it said was one of the briefcases with an array of buttons.

According to Zvezda, there is a white 'launch' button and a red "cancel" button and the briefcase is activated by a special flashcard.

 

WION

The son of a founding Hamas leader broke his silence on his decision to denounce the terrorist group after he turned on his own family and converted to Christianity when he saw the horrors of the group's reign firsthand. 

Mosab Hassan Yousef, who spied in favor of the Israelis and sought asylum in the U.S., spoke out on his decision to leave the life of terror behind during "FOX & Friends."

"I was born at the heart of Hamas leadership… and I know them very well. They don't care for the Palestinian people. They do not regard the human life," Yousef told Brian Kilmeade Thursday. 

"I saw their brutality firsthand back in 1996 when I spent about a year and a half in Megiddo Prison… They killed so many Palestinian people at that point, and this is when I decided that I cannot be together with this movement."

"I had to be honest with myself. Even though Hamas gave me advantages…. I was like a prince in that world… but I did not like them," he continued. "I turned against even my own blood… because this is how much I did not like Hamas, and today, 25 years later, they are the rulers of Gaza, and we see what they are capable of doing."

His remarks come almost two weeks after the terror group carried out a massacre on Israeli border communities, murdering and dismembering civilians, including children, and taking hostages. 

They also reportedly have upwards of 200 hostages held in Gaza, which is currently facing dire food, water and medicine shortages. 

Israel declared war shortly thereafter and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have traded airstrikes with Hamas as a ground invasion remains imminent. 

"Hamas is not a national movement. Hamas is a religious movement with a goal to establish an Islamic state," Yousef said. "They don't care for nationalism. Actually, they are against nationalism. But that's my understanding that they are using the Palestinian cause only to achieve their goals, so the long-term goal… [is] transforming the Middle East and the world into an Islamic state."

But Yousef said the real culprit behind the scenes is Iran - a known sponsor of the terror group. 

The country's foreign minister posted an ominous tweet on Wednesday that said time is "running out" for Israel. 

"Iran is the real master in this picture," Yousef said. "Hamas does not serve the Palestinian people, Hamas serves Iran. Those are the masters of Hamas. So their lie about nationalism, that they are a national movement… They are using Palestinian people as a human shield."

"We need to free Gaza from Hamas," he continued. "Israel … is doing the Palestinian people the greatest favor by bringing Hamas down."

At least 4,800 people have been killed on both sides since the war began earlier this month, including at least 30 Americans.

 

Fox News

As Israel readies troops for ground assault, Gaza awaits urgently needed aid from Egypt

Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes Thursday, including in the south where Palestinians were told to take refuge, as the Israeli defense minister ordered ground troops to prepare to see Gaza “from the inside”, though he didn’t indicate when the ground assault would begin.

Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals tried to stretch out ebbing medical supplies and fuel for generators, as authorities worked out logistics for a desperately needed aid delivery from Egypt. Doctors in darkened wards across Gaza performed surgeries by the light of mobile phones and used vinegar to treat infected wounds.

Amid the violence, President Joe Biden pledged unwavering support for Israel’s security, “today and always,” while adding that the world “can’t ignore the humanity of innocent Palestinians” in the besieged Gaza Strip.

In an address Thursday night from the Oval office, hours after returning to Washington from an urgent visit to Israel, Biden drew a distinction between ordinary Palestinians and Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza. He linked the current war in Gaza to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin “both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy.”

Biden said he was sending an “urgent budget request” to Congress on Friday, to cover emergency military aid to both Israel and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, an unclassified U.S. intelligence assessment delivered to Congress estimated casualties in an explosion at a Gaza City hospital this week on the “low end” of 100 to 300 deaths. The death toll “still reflects a staggering loss of life,” U.S. intelligence officials said in the report, seen by The Associated Press. It said intelligence officials were still assessing the evidence and their casualty estimate may evolve.

Biden and other U.S. officials already have said that U.S. intelligence officials believe the explosion at al-Ahli Hospital was not caused by an Israeli airstrike. Thursday’s findings echoed that.

The Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for the devastating Oct. 7 Hamas rampage in southern Israel. Even after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate the north of Gaza and flee south, strikes extended across the territory, heightening fears among the territory’s 2.3 million people that nowhere was safe.

Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israel from Gaza and Lebanon, and tensions flared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

In a fiery speech to Israeli infantry soldiers on the Gaza border, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged the forces to “get organized, be ready” to move in. Israel has massed tens of thousands of troops along the border.

“Whoever sees Gaza from afar now, will see it from the inside,” he said. “It might take a week, a month, two months until we destroy them,” he added, referring to Hamas.

Israel’s consent for Egypt to let in food, water and medicine provided the first possible opening in its seal of the territory. Many Gaza residents are down to one meal a day and drinking dirty water.

Egypt and Israel were still negotiating the entry of fuel for hospitals. Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Hamas has stolen fuel from U.N. facilities and Israel wants assurances that won’t happen. The first trucks of aid were expected to go in Friday.

With the Egypt-Gaza border crossing in Rafah closed, the already dire conditions at Gaza’s second-largest hospital deteriorated further, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel of Nasser Hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis. Power was shut off in most of the hospital and medical staff were using mobile phones for light.

At least 80 wounded civilians and 12 dead flooded into the hospital after witnesses said a strike hit a residential building in Khan Younis. Doctors had no choice but to leave two to die because there were no ventilators, Qandeel said.

“We can’t save more lives if this keeps happening,” he said.

The Gaza Health Ministry pleaded with gas stations to give fuel to hospitals and a U.N. agency donated some of its last fuel.

The agency’s donation to Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, the territory’s largest, would “keep us going for another few hours,” hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia said.

Al-Ahli Hospital was still recovering from Tuesday’s explosion, which remains a point of dispute between Hamas and Israel. Hamas quickly said an Israeli airstrike hit the hospital, which Israel denied. The AP has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence released by the parties.

The blast left body parts strewn on the hospital grounds, where crowds of Palestinians had clustered in hopes of escaping Israeli airstrikes. The U.S. assessment noted “only light structural damage,” with no impact crater visible.

Near al-Ahli, meanwhile, another explosion struck a Greek Orthodox church housing displaced Palestinians late Thursday, resulting in deaths and dozens of wounded. Abu Selmia, the Shifa Hospital director general, said dozens were hurt at the Church of Saint Porphyrios but could not give a precise death toll because bodies were buried under rubble.

Palestinian authorities blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike, a claim that could not be independently verified. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchy of Jerusalem condemned the attack and said it would “not abandon its religious and humanitarian duty” to provide assistance.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, the majority women, children and older adults. Nearly 12,500 were injured, and another 1,300 people were believed buried under rubble, authorities said.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas’ deadly incursion. Roughly 200 others were abducted. The Israeli military said Thursday it had notified the families of 203 captives.

More than 1 million Palestinians, about half of Gaza’s population, have fled their homes in the north since Israel told them to evacuate, crowding into U.N.-run schools-turned-shelters or the homes of relatives.

For the first time since Israel captured Gaza from Egypt in 1967, a major tent camp arose to house displaced people. Dozens of U.N.-provided tents lined a dirt lot in Khan Younis.

The deal to get aid into Gaza through Rafah, the territory’s only connection to Egypt, remained fragile. Israel said the supplies could only go to civilians and that it would “thwart” any diversions by Hamas. Biden said the deliveries “will end” if Hamas takes any aid.

More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tons of aid were positioned at or near Rafah, according to Khalid Zayed, the head of the Red Crescent for North Sinai.

Under an arrangement reached between the United Nations, Israel and Egypt, U.N. observers will inspect the trucks before entering Gaza. The U.N., working with the Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent, will ensure aid goes only to civilians, an Egyptian official and European diplomat told the AP. A U.N. flag will be raised on both sides of the crossing as a sign of protection against airstrikes, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.

It was not immediately clear how much cargo the crossing could handle. Waleed Abu Omar, spokesperson for the Palestinian side, said work has not started to repair the road damaged by Israeli airstrikes.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Al-Arabiya TV that foreigners and dual nationals would be allowed to leave Gaza once the crossing was opened.

Israel said it agreed to allow aid from Egypt because of a request by Biden — which followed days of intense talks with the U.S. secretary of state to overcome staunch Israeli refusal.

Israel had previously said it would let nothing into Gaza until Hamas freed the hostages taken from Israel. Relatives of some of the captives were furious over the aid announcement.

“The Israeli government pampers the murderers and kidnappers,” the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said.

The Israeli military said Thursday it killed a top Palestinian militant in Rafah and hit hundreds of targets across Gaza, including militant tunnel shafts, intelligence infrastructure and command centers. Palestinians have launched barrages of rockets at Israel since the fighting began.

Violence was also escalating in the West Bank, where Israel carried out a rare airstrike Thursday, targeting militants in the Nur Shams refugee camp.

Six Palestinians were killed, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, and the Israeli military said the strike killed militants and resulted in 10 Israeli officers being wounded. More than 74 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the war started.

 

AP

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

US to divert shells for Ukraine to Israel – Axios

The US will give Israel tens of thousands of 155mm artillery shells that were originally set aside for Ukraine, Axios reported on Thursday. The Israeli military reportedly told the Pentagon that it needed the shells to prepare for a ground invasion of Gaza.

The US maintains a stockpile of ammunition at a facility in Israel, which only US forces have access to. Earlier this year, the US began taking shells from this facility and another stockpile in South Korea in order to meet Ukraine’s massive demand for ammo.

Israeli officials told the news site that the US will now be refilling this stockpile with ammunition from its own stocks that had been earmarked for Ukraine, at the direct request of the Israeli government. The officials said that the shells will arrive in Israel in the coming weeks.

The report comes a day after US President Joe Biden visited Israel. After Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, the latter said that the US president had promised him a “massive, unprecedented” package of military aid. 

It is unclear from his statement whether the Israeli PM was referring to the artillery shells.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas erupted at a crucial time for Ukraine. With its summer counteroffensive over having achieved only minimal gains at an enormous human cost, Kiev is currently lobbying European nations that can’t manufacture the arms it needs, while American officials are reportedly preoccupied with rushing weapons to Israel.

“We need some support from the leaders,” Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said during an impromptu visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels last week. “It’s important there are long-distance missiles, or long-distance weapons ... The problem: How to get it?”

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has insisted that Washington can afford to fight two foreign wars. However, funds allocated to Ukraine by Congress are drying up, and President Joe Biden is now reportedly trying to convince an increasingly Ukraine-skeptic Republican Party to okay $60 billion in military and economic aid for Kiev by tying it to a $10 billion package for Israel, which the GOP would traditionally be more amenable to supporting.

Israel has not yet made heavy use of artillery in its war against Hamas, opting instead to pound Gaza with airstrikes while artillery and tanks engage in sporadic exchanges of fire with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and the Golan Heights. However, Israeli troops are currently massed along the Gaza border in preparation for a ground operation, which Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Thursday would take place “soon.”

Artillery would be “urgently” needed for such an offensive, Israeli officials told Axios.

** Putin visits command post of Russian armed forces in Rostov-on-Don

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the command post of the Russian armed forces in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, where he was briefed about the special military operation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

"While returning from Perm, President Putin made a detour to Rostov-on-Don, where he visited the command post of the Russian armed forces," he said.

Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov briefed the Russian president about the current situation in the special operation zone.

"Conversations with other high-ranking military commanders were held as well," Peskov added.

Later, Gerasimov reported to Putin that Russian troops kept fulfilling their objectives in accordance with the plan of the special military operation.

"The combined group of forces is fulfilling objectives in accordance with the operation’s plan," Gerasimov reported.

Putin regularly visits the command post of the Russian special military operation in Rostov-on-Don. In particular, he held a meeting here and heard the military’s reports on August 19. He also made a stop in Rostov-on-Don in mid-March, at the time when he visited Mariupol. Putin also was at the building on December 31, 2022, when he addressed the country on New Year’s Eve.

 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian troops face new Russian assault on eastern town of Avdiivka

Ukrainian troops are facing a new Russian onslaught in the largely destroyed eastern city of Avdiivka, while making some progress on their counteroffensive in the southern theatre, senior military officials said on Thursday.

General Valery Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's commander-in-chief, posted a video on Telegram in which he appeared to be conferring with officers in Avdiivka and in Kupiansk, a town further north where Russian forces have intensified attacks in recent weeks.

"The enemy is not relenting in attempts to break through our defences and surround (Avdiivka)," Zaluzhniy wrote in a commentary attached to the video.

"The enemy is actively bringing in assault units and large amounts of armoured equipment and using aircraft and artillery."

Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesperson for the southern group of Ukrainian forces, told national television there was constant pressure on Avdiivka, about 20 km (12 miles) west of the Russian-held city of Donetsk.

"They regrouped and launched new assaults there," he said.

Russian forces subjected Avdiivka to fierce attacks last week, but the shelling had tapered off in the last few days.

Avdiivka has become a watchword for Ukrainian resistance. The town, known for its large coking plant, held out in 2014 against Russian-backed separatists who secured swathes of eastern Ukraine and it.

And like Bakhmut to the northeast, captured by Russian forces in May, it has endured months of attacks since Russia's full-scale February 2022 invasion. Officials say some 1,600 residents remain from a pre-war population of 32,000.

Kupiansk was recaptured by Ukrainian troops late last year in a lighting advance through the country's northeast, but Russian forces have stepped up attacks in a bid to retake it.

Zaluzhniy said Ukrainian forces around Kupiansk were "maintaining their defence in the most difficult of conditions".

Russia's accounts of the fighting said its forces had destroyed a command point near Avdiivka and repelled 11 Ukrainian attacks near Kupiansk.

Spokesperson Shtupun said Ukrainian troops engaged in the country's four-month-old counteroffensive had made a degree of headway in the southern theatre, where they are trying to advance to the Sea of Azov to sever a land bridge linking Russian positions in the east and south.

He said troops had advanced 400 metres (a quarter mile) to the southwest of the village of Verbove in Zaporizhzhia region.

Verbove is a few kilometres east of Robotyne, a village recaptured by Ukraine last month in the southward drive.

The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. think tank and non-profit research group, said Ukrainian forces appeared to have broken through on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in the southern Kherson region. Kyiv did not comment on the report.

When Ukrainian troops retook parts of Kherson region last year, Russian forces abandoned its biggest city, also called Kherson. They now shell the city from the opposite bank.

 

RT/Tass/Reuters

I grew up thinking that a judicious mix of crime, sex and money might not only help a publisher turn a good profit but could also be the catalyst for a better society. But my friend, the Publisher/Editor-In-Chief of NaijaTimes,Ehi Braimah, subscribes to a slightly different model.

When he sent me a collection of the editorials by the online newspaper to review, it was obvious that he believes it is possible to change society – for the better – by using a genre different from my old, familiar mix. Which is a bit of a surprise because in his former life, Ehi was old school.  

He has had such an extraordinarily buoyant social life as a younger man, he appears to be afraid of getting old. That’s probably why instead of reproducing the old school journalism that extolled sex, money and crime, he is charting a different pathway for a better society, as you would find in the new book from the stable of NaijaTimes.

My first impression of the book, For A Better Society – A Compilation of Editorials Published in NaijaTimes from September 2020 to July 2023, published by Bookcraft and released this year, is that it reflects the importance the author puts on newspaper commentary with the notion that it holds a crucial place in the overall objective of news production.

The numbers

Newspapers – print and online alike – use the weight of their editorials to achieve any or all of these three objectives: 1) influence public opinion, 2) promote critical thinking, and 3) cause people to take action.

Perhaps it might be useful to give a sense of the analytics of the NaijaTimeswebsite. According to open-source statistics of the site as of October 13, 2023, it currently ranks 1,142,571 globally, with a country ranking of 12,882 and trending up.

That’s not bad, considering that the brand is still in its infancy. Ten percent of its users, which is the highest percentage, comes from Nigeria; 7.56 percent from Antigua and Barbuda; 2.72 percent from the Maldives; 2.46 percent from the United States; and 2.39 percent from Jersey. Other parts of the world, combined, account for 74.79 percent.

Perhaps a far more relevant statistic would be the demographics of the users of NaijaTimes, especially those who read its editorials. Unfortunately, since I’m not a staff, I’ll need to use a hacker’s ingenuity to reach the backend, a skill that is obviously against the ethos of a better society!

We can argue that traditional newspapers with both hardcopy and online presence appear to stick more to publishing daily editorials as part of their content. Many strictly online news platforms do not dedicate much energy and time to editorial publishing for reasons ranging from mode of operation, a lack of proper editorial board, the virtuality associated with content production, and a lack of commitment. The ones that do, publish editorials at intervals – say, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.

Not NaijaTimes!

In 35 months, NaijaTimes published 115 editorials broadly covering nine areas, each of which constitutes a chapter in this book – governance, politics, economy, education, security, health & environment, international affairs/diplomacy, sports and tributes/obituaries.

The major events that define the period covered by this book are: Covid-19, the #EndSARS protests, the 2023 general elections, and the state of the Nigerian economy. And, maybe we should add notable deaths around the world, and the FIFA World Cup in Qatar to the mix?

#EndSARS and all that

You don’t have to travel far into the pages of For A Better Society before we are thrown right into one of the most defining moments in our recent history. On Page 4 of the book, the editorial: “End SARS protests: Time to address the hard facts,” published on October 18, 2020, the newspaper draws readers’ attention to perhaps why the massive protests eventually yielded little.

It reads: “While those in the South are in support of a complete disbandment of SARS, those in the North are not; rather, they are calling for a comprehensive reformation of the squad… Of course, this kind of argument is expected in a plural society like ours, but we call for caution so that the differences in approach do not distract from the essence of guaranteeing the rights and privileges of members of the society and saving them from the brutality of security agencies.”

In Chapter Six, four out of the nine editorial publications under the Health and Environment deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. No single event highlighted 2020 like the pandemic, and because NaijaTimes itself was launched just around the peak of it, the newspaper rightly uses it as the peg of its evaluation of the year.

The other editorial “Crisis in APC and PDP: Do Nigerians need an alternative in 2023?”, published on August 15, 2021, captures the exasperation with the two dominant parties, which set the stage for the emergence of Peter Obi of the Labour Party. Obi’s eventual performance as the best third-place finisher in decades in the election was probably a vindication of the newspaper.

One of the most controversial issues in Nigeria’s economy has been the removal of subsidy on petrol announced by President Bola Tinubu in his inauguration speech on May 29, 2023. The newspaper supports the call for subsidy to be removed and for the government to speedily deregulate the oil and gas sector to allow “free but monitored market interactions to determine exploration, exploitation, processing and supply of petroleum products in the country.”

You know the rest of the story: Subsidy is gone! Subsidy is back!

Mind your language

Perhaps it would be useful to talk briefly, at this point, on the use of language. In my experience, apart from their general staleness and lack of authority, one of the other reasons why a number of readers tend to ignore editorials is the use of ponderous language, like the one I have just used – ponderous!

You may say this collection of editorials looks at the government of Tinubu with rose-tinted glasses. But you cannot say its language is ponderous or ambiguous. It adopts clear, straightforward language and examples in making its case for a better society.

Tribute editorials, for which global brands such as the Times of London and The Economist, are well-known appear to be going out of fashion in our province. Chapter Nine, the final chapter of this book, has a rich array of tributes and obituaries not only because many iconic personalities coincidentally died within the time of its compilation, but also because there is the consciousness to document their journey. From JP Clark to Jerry Rawlings, Diego Maradona to Pele and Queen Elizabeth in-between, For A Better Society got them all covered.  

Except, of course, for brevity and uniformity of length, the book is a compilation of what an editorial should be. The newspaper set for itself, the lofty goal of seeking a “better Nigeria with strong institutions, respect for the rule of law and defending the public interest.” This is not a three-year goal, never mind one that can be achieved easily in a society where almost everyone is talking, few are listening, and fewer still are doing right.

A good editorial

But let me borrow the words of Singh A. and Singh S. (2006), in their book, What Is A Good Editorial? “A good editorial should express an opinion without being opinionated. It should teach without being pedagogic. It should transform without being evangelical. It should engulf without drowning. It should motivate to action without making you dictatorial. It should enlighten without getting you dogmatic, prejudiced and egotistical.”

This book is a solid reference material for policymakers and those who seek knowledge in various fields or those who simply want to read balanced and informed commentaries about specific topics. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re the old school of Ehi’s variety or a product of the Arab spring!

And when Ehi has made his money, he should not forget to pay tithe to Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, whose newspaper, Champion, has the proprietary right of the mantra, “Towards a better society!”

Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP  

In the fast-paced business world, "leadership" often brings images of boardrooms, power suits, corner offices, and strategic plans to mind. However, at its core, leadership is all about people. It's about understanding, empowering, and inspiring them to achieve their full potential.

Let me raise the bar even further. If you're in a leadership capacity now, you should know that leadership at its very best is about investing in people's development and looking after their needs so they are equipped to succeed and deliver excellence.

There's a term for that in the business lexicon: servant leadership.

The highest measure of success for a servant leader is the impact you're making on others under your care. As a starting point to shift your leadership style to a more high-impact, serving model that puts people first, we need daily reminders to keep us on track to be the very best leader we can be. 

One reminder that should be at the forefront of every leader's mind is in the form of a question – a powerful, hold-up-the-mirror question: 

How will I be remembered by my peers, colleagues, and employees?

Would anyone who's ever worked for you put you on their short list of "best bosses?" Would anyone share stories of how being led by you changed their life? How being led by you helped them grow personally and professionally? 

Yes, the bar is pretty high for servant leaders, and not everyone measures up. Why do I say that? Because servant leaders are known to be selfless givers. 

They give of their time, they share their wisdom and knowledge, they pour into their people, and they place their followers' interests ahead of their own. They do all of this because they have a genuine, intrinsic desire to see people succeed.

Becoming a Servant Leader

The opportunity to learn the skills of servant leadership is there for the taking; it's accessible to anyone willing to elevate their leadership game. 

The benefits also are tremendous. When you arrive at the moment where your servant leadership is crystalized, people will respond with uncommon loyalty and commitment. From a purely business standpoint, this means higher performance and employee engagement.

Here's the bottom line: If you want to watch your own leadership growth and likability skyrocket, do the courageous act of placing others in the position to be and do their very best. When you do that, you are on your way to becoming an exceptional and respected servant leader. 

 

Inc

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has asked the supreme court to grant his application seeking to tender fresh evidence against President Bola Tinubu.

Abubakar also asked the court to overlook technicalities to allow him to present the evidence in the interest of justice.

The former vice-president and his party are challenging Tinubu’s victory at the presidential poll and the verdict of the election tribunal upholding the outcome of the February 25 election.

Abubakar had alleged that Tinubu’s academic records were fraught with discrepancies and forgeries.

His request for the US court for the northern district of Illinois to compel Chicago State University (CSU) to release Tinubu’s academic records has since been granted.

The PDP candidate is now seeking to introduce these records at the apex court.

However, in a counter affidavit and written address filed through his team of lawyers, led by Wole Olanipekun, Tinubu gave several reasons why his academic records obtained from CSU cannot be considered by the supreme court.

Responding on points of law, Abubakar said the issue before the court has grave consequences and should be considered in its merit.

“The supreme court, as the apex court and indeed the policy court, has intervened time and again to do substantial justice in such matters of great constitutional importance, as it did in the case of AMAECHI vs. INEC (2008) 5 NWLR (Pt. 1080) 227 and OBI vs. INEC (2007) 11 NWLR (Pt. 1046) 565,” he said.

“The supreme court applied the principle of ubi jus ibi remedium to ensure substantial justice is done in such novel scenarios.

“The need to rebuff, eschew and reject technicality and the duty of court to ensure substantial justice is very germane in this matter, given the gravity of the constitutional issue involved in deciding whether a candidate for the highest office in the land, the office of president of the country, presented a forged certificate or not.

“Presenting forged documents by any candidate, especially by a candidate for the highest office in the land, is a very grave constitutional issue that must not be encouraged.”

Meanwhile, in a 20-paragraph affidavit deposed to in support of the application, Abubakar argued that if the apex court grants the application, there would be no need for “any further argument other than the written address in support of same showing that the second respondent is in violation of the provisions of section 137 (1) (j) of the constitution by presenting a certificate disclaimed by the institution from where he purportedly procured same”.

The PDP candidate told the court that he is not contending whether or not Tinubu attended the Chicago State University but that the president submitted a forged certificate to the electoral commission.

“That the case is not whether the 2nd respondent attended Chicago State University but whether he presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),” he said.

 

The Cable

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, is insisting that Peter Obi, candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 Presidential election, defeated President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Lawal had raised dust when he said the candidate who came third according to the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) won the election.

Felix Morka, National Publicity Secretary of the APC, had asked Lawal to refrain from peddling falsehood.

Morka, who described Lawal as a burden to himself, said the former SGF was in need of counselling.

In a lengthy statement on Wednesday, the former SGF, who at a time was the APC National Vice Chairman, North East, said some key allies of Tinubu’s administration had reached out to him for peace.

The statement was titled: “Political Discourse: The APC reaction and its castigation of my person”.

While describing APC as a self-centered party, Lawal said, “The thief knows who stole the item”.

“I woke up this morning to a very pathetic social media trending write-up, apparently a response to my article on the current political discourse by one Felix allegedly of the APC. I suspect he was assigned this role because it is in the nature of sycophants and people consigned to second class status to be assigned roles that their masters are wary of taking on.

“Usually, the dirty, unsavoury jobs are contracted out to such. In the bible, a certain Felix ( after which this Felix was probably named), was a freed slave who had a reputation of cruelty as the ruler of Judea in order to please his master, the emperor Claudius (of whose mother Felix was a slave).

“When we founded APC way back in 2013/2014, we envisaged it would be a national party that would carry along all the different socio-political and religious tendencies of the nation. In those days, we were careful not to sideline any of the religions or tribes of the country in the composition of the membership and leadership of the party. We wanted a party that would embrace all Nigerians. It was this that informed the principle that both the National Chairman and Secretary would not be of the same religion, tribe or region.

“All that is now left for the party is a change of name, but even this may not take long since it already has the Kadmul Islam as its National Chairman, and a Muslim as National Secretary. The Deputy National Chairman North (who acts in the absence of the Chairman), National Organizing Secretary, National Legal Adviser, and three National Vice Chairmen and more, are Muslims. Good for them.

“And talking of electoral value, both the National Chairman and the National Secretary just dramatically lost in the May election. I suspect Mallam Felix didn’t do well in his own constituency either. Mark my words, all critical decisions will be taken behind his back during the afternoon prayers sessions which he will be unable to attend.

“As to the substance of the response itself, I find it deliberately obtuse, skirting around the real issues raised in my press statement. It was empty of substance and logic; a true product of a sycophantic mind that has no capacity to understand the subtle nuances underlying a message delivered to a discerning audience.

“Mallam Felix, your masters got the message loud and clear because some of them have reached out to me for dialogue on the issues raised. But in line with your lower status in the scheme of things you are not aware that all the issues I raised were designed in a manner to deliver a message to a discomfited government that is populated by longstanding friends of mine who appear to have abandoned common sense and patriotism for unbridled personal goals and filthy lucre. And they got the message; which you cannot. In this discourse, you are a remote outsider, so shut up.”

 

Daily Trust

Israel will let Egypt deliver some aid to Gaza, as doctors struggle to treat hospital blast victims

Israel said Wednesday that it will allow Egypt to deliver limited humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The first crack in a punishing 10-day siege on the territory came one day after a blast at a hospital killed hundreds and put immense strain on Gaza’s struggling medical system.

The announcement to allow water, food and other supplies happened as fury over the blast at Gaza City’s al-Ahli Hospital spread across the Middle East, and as U.S. President Joe Biden visited Israel in hopes of preventing a wider conflict in the region.

There were conflicting claims of who was behind the explosion on Tuesday night, but protests flared quickly as many Arab leaders said Israel was responsible. Hamas officials in Gaza blamed an Israeli airstrike, saying hundreds were killed. Israel denied it was involved and released a flurry of video, audio and other information that it said showed the blast was instead due to a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad, another militant group operating in Gaza. Islamic Jihad dismissed that claim.

The Associated Press has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence.

Israel shut off all supplies to Gaza soon after Hamas militants rampaged across communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7. As supplies run out, many families in Gaza have cut down to one meal a day and have been left to drink dirty water.

The bloody devastation at al-Ahli threw the siege’s impact into sharp relief. Video from the scene showed the hospital grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children. Hundreds of wounded were rushed to Gaza City’s main hospital where doctors, already facing critical supply shortages, were sometimes forced to perform surgery on the floors, often without anesthesia.

A steady stream of ambulances, taxis, cars and at least one motorcycle also arrived at a hospital in Khan Younis. Men jumped from the vehicles and scrambled to open doors, with hospital staff and bystanders helping carry the injured.

One man rushed in carrying a limp child in his arms. A girl with her head wrapped with a makeshift bandage was helped from a car. Many injured had to be carried by multiple men or hoisted onto gurneys.

As soon as one vehicle was unloaded, another arrived to take its place.

Biden said Egypt’s president agreed to open the crossing and to let in an initial group of 20 trucks with humanitarian aid. If Hamas confiscates aid, “it will end,” he said. The aid will start moving Friday at the earliest, White House officials said.

Egypt must still repair the road across the border that was cratered by Israeli airstrikes. More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tons of aid are positioned at or near the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to Egypt, said the head of the Red Crescent for North Sinai, Khalid Zayed.

Supplies will go in under supervision of the U.N., Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Al-Arabiya TV. Asked if foreigners and dual nationals seeking to leave would be let through, he said: “As long as the crossing is operating normally and the (crossing) facility has been repaired.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the decision was approved after a request from Biden. It said Israel “will not thwart” deliveries of food, water or medicine from Egypt, as long as they are limited to civilians in the south of the Gaza Strip and don’t go to Hamas militants. The statement made no mention of fuel, which is badly needed for hospital generators.

Relatives of some of the roughly 200 people who were taken hostage and forced back to Gaza during the attack reacted in fury to the aid announcement.

“Children, infants, women, soldiers, men, and elderly, some with serious illnesses, wounded and shot, are held underground like animals,” said a statement from the Hostage and Missing Families Forum. But “the Israeli government pampers the murderers and kidnappers.”

Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel resumed Wednesday after a 12-hour lull. Israeli strikes on Gaza continued, including on cities in the south that Israel had described as “safe zones” for civilians.

In his brief visit, Biden tried to strike a balance between showing U.S. support for Israel, while containing growing alarm among Arab allies. Upon his arrival, Biden embraced Netanyahu, said the hospital blast appeared not to be Israel’s fault and expressed concern for the suffering of Gaza’s civilians. He also announced $100 million in humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

The Israeli military held a briefing Wednesday laying out its case for why it was not responsible for the explosion at the al-Ahli Hospital.

Spokesman Daniel Hagari said the military was not firing in the area when the blast occurred. He said Israeli radar confirmed a rocket barrage was fired by Islamic Jihad militants from a nearby cemetery at the time of the blast. Independent video showed one rocket in the barrage falling out of the sky, he said.

The misfired rocket hit the parking lot outside the hospital, he said. Were it an airstrike, there would have been a large crater there; instead, the fiery blast came from the misfired rocket’s warhead and its unspent propellant, he said.

Hamas called Tuesday’s hospital blast “a horrific massacre” caused by an Israeli strike.

Islamic Jihad said Israeli orders issued days before for al-Ahli to be evacuated, and a previous strike at the hospital, proved the hospital was an target. The group added that the scale of the explosion, the angle of the explosive’s fall and the extent of destruction all pointed to Israel.

The Anglican bishop of Jerusalem, Hosam Naoum, said the hospital, run by the Episcopal Church, received at least three Israeli military orders to evacuate in the days before the blast. Israeli shelling hit it Sunday, wounding four staff, he said. Israel ordered all 22 hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate last week. The Israeli military accuses the militants of hiding among civilians.

Hundreds of Palestinians had taken refuge in al-Ahli and other hospitals in Gaza City, hoping to be spared bombardment after Israel ordered all residents of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate to the south.

On Wednesday morning, the blast scene was littered with charred cars. One man who had been sheltering there with his family, Mohammed al-Hayek, said he was sitting with other men in a hospital stairwell Tuesday night when he stepped away for coffee.

“When I returned, they were torn to pieces,” he said.

The death toll was in dispute. The Health Ministry initially said at least 500 had died, but revised that number to 471 on Wednesday. Al-Ahli officials said the toll was in the hundreds.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, and more than 12,000 wounded, mostly women, children and the elderly. Another 1,300 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas’ deadly incursion. Militants in Gaza have launched rockets every day since toward cities across Israel.

Israel has been expected to launch a ground invasion into Gaza, though military officials say no decision has been made.

 

AP