WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia, Ukraine dispute control over devastated village of Andriivka

Russia and Ukraine on Saturday disputed control of the devastated village of Andriivka near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, as Ukraine ramped up its efforts to inch closer to reassert control over the pivotal city.

Russia's Defence Minister dismissed a Ukrainian claim to have recaptured Andriivka, which Kyiv has portrayed as a stepping stone to the larger city.

The commander of Ukraine's land forces posted a video purporting to show the capture of Andriivka amid a landscape of scorched territory and desolation.

And a military spokesperson said Ukrainian troops were making headway in both the east and south -- the two main theatres of Ukraine's counteroffensive in the 18-month-old war against Russian invaders.

The account of fighting by Russia's Defence Ministry said its troops were still holding at least two key villages south of Bakhmut, known in Russia by its Soviet-era name, Artyomovsk.

"The enemy did not abandon plans to capture the city of Artyomovsk of the Donetsk People's Republic and continued to conduct assault operations ... unsuccessfully trying to oust Russian troops from the population centres of Klishchiivka and Andriivka," the ministry said in its daily briefing.

Andriivka lies south of Bakhmut, also largely ruined. The city was a mainly symbolic prize that Russian forces seized in May after the fiercest and longest battle since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The report said Russian forces had, in the past week, repelled 16 Ukrainian attacks in the sector, with enemy losses at more than 1,700 dead and wounded, along with 16 tanks.

Ukrainian General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of land forces, posted a video on Telegram that he said provided evidence Kyiv's forces were in full control of Andriivka.

The video shows Ukrainian soldiers advancing on empty devastated ground marked by the burned remnants of trees and taking cover in the shattered hulks of buildings reduced to rubble. Another video showed trucks driving at high speed down a deserted road.

DESTROYED BEYOND RECOGNITION

A correspondent for Ukraine's Hromadske radio said the destruction in Andriivka made the village unrecognisable.

"We know that Andriivka is so badly destroyed that soldiers do not even know where to place the pole with the Ukrainian flag," correspondent Yanina Lvutina said on the radio's website.

Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said the Bakhmut sector was the theatre of "the most active fighting".

"Offensive action is continuing south of Bakhmut. Things are hot in Klishchiivka and Kurdiumivka," Maliar said on Telegram, referring to two other villages near the city.

"Near Klishchiivka, as a result of offensive action, our defence forces have had successes."

Ukraine's General Staff on Friday had reported the capture of Andriivka after days of uncertainty. It also reported "partial success" near Klishchiivka.

Prominent Ukrainian military analyst Oleksandr Musiyenko told Ukrainian television that capturing Andriivka would allow the military "to advance from the southern flank in the Bakhmut area, gaining control of the heights."

Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield reports.

Maliar also reported that Russian forces had unsuccessfully tried to push through Ukrainian defences near two villages northwest of Bakhmut.

She said Ukrainian troops were holding their positions near two other cities further south subjected to heavy Russian attacks in recent days - Avdiivka and Maryinka.

In the south, where Ukraine's forces aim to push to the Sea of Azov, Maliar said Kyiv's troops were "inflicting significant losses on the occupiers in terms of men and equipment".

Ukraine hopes to sever a land bridge Russia has created between annexed Crimea and territory it holds in the east.

** Five killed, one wounded in Donetsk, Russian-installed official says

Five civilians were killed and one wounded as a result of intense Ukrainian shelling of the Donetsk region on Saturday, said a Russian-installed official in the eastern region of Ukraine.

The five were killed in the Kirov and Kuibyshevskyi districts and a woman was injured in Svetlodarsk, Denis Pushilin, the Russian-appointed head of the region, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Reuters could not independently verify the information out of Donetsk, which with some other parts of eastern Ukraine has been partly controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

On Saturday, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported heavy fighting and partial success of its forces as part of Ukraine's counteroffensive to reclaim land occupied by Russia in its 19-month invasion.

 

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow and Crimea foiled – MOD

Two unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed en route to Moscow in the early hours of Sunday, while at least half a dozen attempts to strike various targets in the Crimean Peninsula, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. 

“The air defense repelled a drone attack on Moscow over the Istra district west of the city,” Mayor Sergey Sobyanin confirmed on Telegram early Sunday morning, adding that the emergency services were responding to the incident.

The military said that a plane-type UAV was detected and destroyed around 1:45am Moscow time in Istra, while another drone was intercepted over the Domodedovo district several hours later. According to preliminary data, there are no destructions or injuries on the ground, authorities added.

As during previous air raid alerts, Moscow’s three main airports – Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, and Vnukovo – were briefly shut down as precaution.

Meanwhile, another “attempted Ukrainian terrorist attack was thwarted” in Crimea, with two drones intercepted west of the peninsula around 1:15am local time, according to the Defense Ministry.

Four more drones were intercepted over the Black Sea in the vicinity of Crimea between 1:45am and 2:20am, the military added in another statement.

Ukrainian UAVs have repeatedly targeted the capital and other Russian regions in recent months, with most of them either shot down mid-air or crashing due to signal-jamming.

Kiev has stepped up attacks on Russian territory as its much-touted ground offensive, launched in early June, had failed to yield any significant victories. Several UAVs crashed in Moscow City, the Russian capital’s business and financial hub, without causing any casualties.

** Training and tactics behind Ukraine's counteroffensive failures – FT

The training given by the US and other Western states to Ukrainian troops has not prepared them for their counteroffensive against Russian forces, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing Western analysts and military sources.

So far, the Ukraine has “not achieved the desired decisive breakthrough,” a source told the outlet, adding that some Western officials believe that Kiev has failed to use the opportunities offered by massive Western military aid at a time of “possibly peak political support.”

Some US officials have privately complained that Ukrainian troops “failed during training to master modern operations that combine mechanized infantry, artillery and air defense.” Ukraine’s losses early into the offensive were reportedly “unsustainable,” the sources claimed, amounting to “nearly a fifth of the NATO kit provided for the counteroffensive” in late May and early June alone. Such setbacks forced Kiev to change tactics and go back to an “attritional approach.”

The Ukrainian forces found it “impossible” to follow a NATO doctrine of combined arms warfare that involves coordinated actions by infantry, armor, artillery, and air defense, the paper said, adding that Kiev’s military still struggles to run operations “above the level of company (200 men) or even platoon (20-50).”

According to analysts interviewed by FT, Western training of Ukrainian troops was “too short” and poorly adapted to conditions on the battlefield.

One Ukrainian Special Forces unit commander complained that if he had followed the “bad advice” he’d received from Western trainers, he would “be dead.”

Military analysts Michael Kofman and Rob Lee pointed to “a poor understanding of how Ukraine’s military fights, and of the operating environment writ large, may be leading to false expectations, misplaced advice and unfair criticism in Western official circles,” in a report on the issue published in early September.

US officials, in turn, have questioned Kiev’s decision to expend its more experienced troops on a “futile defense” of the Donbass city of Artemovsk (Bakhmut in Ukrainian), which was captured by Russian forces in May 2023 following a months-long battle.

Russian forces, meanwhile, continue to “learn from their foes” and adapt their tactics, analysts said. In addition, Moscow’s forces still have the edge when it comes to drone warfare. Russian Lancet-3 kamikaze drones represent a “particular menace” as they are capable of autonomously tracking their targets, a capacity Kiev's drones lack.

Under the current circumstances, any Ukrainian success will be “slow-going at best” and will continue to depend on Western allies “increasing production of ammunition and other equipment to sustain an attritional war.”

 

Reuters/RT

 

The social and cultural setting in Yorubaland literally exploded last Friday. It almost took the shine off the Oyo State government’s highly commendable inauguration of a 34.85 km Oyo-Iseyin Road and the completed Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Iseyin Campus. The highly disputatious ex-Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, was in his usual sabre-rattling element. At that event, he tongue-lashed Yoruba Obas in the most irreverent display of gross disdain for the traditional stool and institution. As I write this, an inclement anger of the people, like a vulture, is feasting on Obasanjo on the social media. He is minute by minute lacerated with all manner of irreverent words. A group from Iseyin, where the tongue-lash took place, even declared him persona-non-grata in the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State.

The unkindest epithet given to Obasanjo as comment on his Iseyin discourtesy to the Obas is the ar’obafin – disrespecter of the monarchy. It reminds me of Alukoro, a Yoruba movie starring Fuji singer, Saheed Osupa; a man who, to me, sings as if he is an incarnate of my musical idol, Ayinla Omowura. Osupa laces his songs with an effusion of language, culture, depth and native wisdom which all answer to the profound musical calling of Omowura. In the movie, Osupa had played the role of Pela, a village bard. Strapping his agidigbo round his neck, with the musical instrument protruding on his belly, the flick began with him instigating townsfolk against an Ajisafe who he alleged had an incestuous liaison with his daughter. In rousing them up, Pela lectured the people on the boomeranging effect of silence to evil – “t’a ba ni ko kan wa, yi o kan eni ti o kan, ti o pada wa kan wa”, he counseled.  

Then, a scene movie shifted to the palace. The whole village was in attendance, as well as a man called Olowoporoku and his wife. Still in his luxuriating voice and talent, Pela musically narrated Olowoporoku’s boldness of standing up to the monarchy headed by Oba Adewolu Adegoroye. He sang in denunciation of those who rise against the palace which Yoruba approximate as rising against the whole town. Pela announced that the enemy of the palace had been put to shame with the quashing of the conspiracy against the king and that haters of the monarchy were persons of mean repute. He sang this thus: “Ar’obafin, oju ti yin o//b’o je’yin le wa l’oni o//ab’Oba Adewolu… e l’aju le, gbogbo wa ni o s’oju…//ete kuku m’oni ete nwa, iyi m’eni iyi nba r’ode, eni ete mo’ra re l’awujo.”

Pela robed the king in the finest raiment. Oba Adewolu had a purity of character comparable only to the whiteness of a cattle egret (lekeleke) and Olowoporoku, not only was a mean character, but one whose moral standing was in the league of the filth of a pig. “Agberaga won a tun gbe’ra sanle, iru e ki s’eni iyi l’awujo…” Apparently the script to disgrace Olowoporoku having been pre-arranged, a goat that was dressed in exact apparel worn by Olowoporoku was brought to the palace. Pela then sang, asking the people to shout “monkey” – obo – “E ma pe obo ni! (Obo ni!)… eni wo’so bi obo (obo ni!) o de fila bi obo (obo ni!) o nb’oba da’sa (obo ni!)… aso ki le ro, t’e nkile t’e nru gaga?// Aso t’e ro t’e npon gege, s’ohun l’ewure ti nwo yi o!” He ended the musical narration by telling the palace hater that very soon, all those in his class would forcibly realize the majesty of the king – “isenyi le o m’oba//eyin t’e nb’oba l’eyin…”

At Iseyin, as the crowd savoured the occasion, amid effusive showering of praises on Obasanjo’s host governor, Seyi Makinde, the man known for always provoking verbal balls of fire suddenly sauntered into his familiar route. At the first occasion, the road inauguration, I was told that invited traditional rulers sat even when Obasanjo and his host arrived. When Obasanjo got up to address the crowd during the second event at the University of Technology’s opening, and the larger crowd of traditional rulers still sat, something snapped in him and Obasanjo went into his usual tempestuous tirade. If he had talked to the Obas in very civil language, it would have gone down well with Yoruba people. Rather, the ex-president spat out poison like a venomous rattlesnake, talking down on the natural rulers like a teacher does to offending kindergarten pupils. Flaffing his left hand like a salamander does its tail in a moment of extreme anger, Obasanjo then hectored on the rulers to stand up, “e dide!”, in the mode of a Garrison Commander at an army parade. His lips twitched awkwardly, and his countenance was like Sango, the god of thunder’s. He had earlier lectured the traditional rulers on giving honour to whom it is due.

The issue for determination in Iseyin on Friday is, who was the Ar’obafin? The Obas who dishonoured Ijoba (government) by refusing to join the upstanding people to welcome the governor or Obasanjo who upbraided them using a language meant for slaves on royalty?

Like many African societies, the Yoruba venerated their kings, almost to the point of idolatory. Their king was the incarnation of the concept of earthly sovereign. He regulated peace and order, guaranteed harmonic social relations with their fellow beings and was the intercessor who interacted between them and cosmic forces. The palace where the king lives, though owned by the whole town, was the outward representation of the people’s reverence for their king. It is always located at the sacred centre of the town and surrounded by huge walls. The palace’s importance was partly due to the fact that it was the place where decisions of the most important texture concerning town life were deliberated upon and taken. It was where esoteric rituals were performed among a coterie of a narrow circle of initiates.

A number of weird lore and mores were curated to give the king his primus inter pares aura and dread. First, the title of an Alaafin of Oyo, for instance, symbolized his unlimited powers. He was “lord of the universe and life,” “the master of the land” and “companion of the gods,” as well as the Kabiyesi who no one dares contradict his authority. He was a sacred ruler and ideological and political centre of power of his people who holds a dimension of power that was awesome. A number of secrecies, mystery and dread of things unknown and incomprehensible kept alive the oeuvres of sacredness of traditional institution in him. He was the mythical intermediary between his people and the gods and the link that connected the people with all the deities of the land and in whom there was a fulfillment of the desires of the gods in the land of the living. The legitimacy of the king’s royal power emanated from the dread and mysteries that were hoed round him. For instance, he must not see dead body. The belief that begot this was that, as one who symbolized and embodied life and being a life-giving force himself, sighting a dead body detracts from that power. He was also reputed with magical powers that were beyond his subjects’. That is why, upon the enthronement of an Oba, all magic men were required to scramble over one another to donate their amulets and powers to him. This is because the king was believed to be linked with the spirits of his deceased predecessors. As king, his major obligation was the sustenance of the prosperity and fertility of the land which he does by making sacrifices as at when required, engage in innumerable annual rites, as well as magic rituals.

The life and death of Obas in Yorubaland are a testament to their assumed powers. According to Samuel Johnson, not less than 21, out of 36 kings that this respected Yoruba history biographer included in his dynastic list, died by excruciating violence. In Oyo Alaafin, not a single one out of the kings of the 17th century died of natural death at a period regarded as the highest flourish of that kingdom. Indeed, fifteen of them, beginning with the 17th king Odarawu were compelled to commit suicide as a result of sentences passed by the oracle. As a means of implanting the authority and veneration of their kings in their minds, palace griots, who were mainly custodians of historical oral tradition of the people, narrated in poetic renditions the official version of the history of their kingdoms, heroic feats of their kings and stories of warfare, conquest.

However, the conversation between Obierika and Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart seems to sum up the calamity that befell traditional institution subsequently. Dissecting colonial incursion into Igboland and the various queer events that had since transpired, upset by the white man’s total and complete disregard for the Igbo cosmology and the people’s conception of justice, Obierika was stunned that the colonialists didn’t understand the people of Umuofia. Obierika had said: “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” This, to me, equates the calamity that befell traditional institution in Yorubaland, the precursor of the Friday lacerating discourtesy heaped on Yoruba traditional institution by a man whose inscrutable disdain for the other person knows no bounds.

The white man indeed put a knife on the traditional institution that held Yoruba people together. This began with the gale of exiles it unleashed on highly venerated and dreaded monarchical stool. Oba Akitoye of Lagos was about the first. He had ascended the throne of his forefathers in 1841 and attempted to end the inhuman trade in persons. In this bid, he sowed enmity in the minds of local slave traders who contributed to his deposition and eventual exile. After the white men annexed Lagos in 1861 as a British territorial colony, it was time for recalcitrant kings who insisted on the supremacy of their thrones to be dealt with too. Thus, Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, the Oba of Benin, was equally chased off the throne and exiled to Calabar, alongside his two queens, leading to his eventual death in 1914.

Other kings who tasted the sour broths of the white colonialists were the Alake of Egba land, Oba Sir Ladapo Samuel Ademola who ascended the throne on May 28, 1920. He was the father of Justice Adetokunbo Ademola, the first indigenous Chief Justice of Nigeria at the granting of independence in 1960. After 27 years of being on the throne, his power was eroded after a violent protest of about 2000 women against colonial government’s native authority in 1947. Under the leadership of Mrs. Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti, with the assistance of her sister-in-law, Eniola Soyinka, the women virulently protested against taxes for women. Prodded on by colonial disdain for traditional rulers, it was bye to the highly venerated Yoruba monarchy as the women successfully chased Oba Ademola out of the palace.

Obasanjo’s shout on the Iseyin kings to stand up reminds me of the same call by mercurial deputy leader of the Action Group, Bode Thomas. Born in 1918, Thomas was one of the most brilliant solicitors of Yoruba extraction of pre-colonial Nigeria. In company with Rotimi Williams and Remilekun Fani-Kayode, he established the law firm named Thomas, Willams, Kayode and co. He was however far removed from the indigenous texture of his native Oyo town where he was born. He was also very haughty. So when in 1953, Thomas was appointed the Oyo Divisional Council Chairman, it was obvious that he would find his measure in the father of the recently deceased Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Adeniran Adeyemi II, who reigned on the stool from 1945 to 1954. On November 22, 1953, the day the 35-year-old Thomas made his first appearance in council, just like the Iseyin Obas gathered at the Friday function, Thomas could not countenance why Alaafin Adeniran would sit while others stood for him. Like Obasanjo, he immediately expressed his disavowal at this. He then asked the Oba, who was then in his 60s, “Why are you sitting when I walked in, don’t you know how to show respect?” During one of my discussions with Alaafin Lamidi Adeyemi who just passed, he confirmed to me that his father merely rhetorically demanded if it was him that Thomas was barking at – se’mi lo ngbo mo baun? And then commanded Thomas, to continue in his bark – Ma gbo lo baun! Oba Adeniran was to pay dearly for this as he was deposed and died in exile at Egerton, a mosquito-infested Guest House in Lagos. Thomas continued barking like a dog and passed on in the morning of the second day.

As they say, since then, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. By the constitutions of Nigeria since the advent of colonialism, the palace has always been put under the subordination of political authorities. This has colossally eroded the respect, veneration and contributions to society of kings. As it is now, monarchs are under the subordination of local government chairmen who can instigate their deposition. Respected veteran journalist, Lekan Alabi, sent out a video of an interview conducted by the NTA Ibadan with him as the Producer and presenter, with late Kano State governor, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi. Rimi was having a spat with the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero during this period. In the interview, Rimi exploded: “The way you press and our political opponents (regard) the Emir of Kano is not the way we regard him. As far as we are concerned (thumping his chest) – we the elected government of Kano state – as far as I, the governor of Kano State, is concerned – the Emir of Kano is nothing, nothing, nothing but a public person… he is holding a public office… being paid from public funds and whose appointment is at the pleasure of the governor of the state and who can be dismissed, removed interdicted, suspended if he commits an offence. And there is nothing unique about Ado Bayero, the Emir of Kano… believe me, if he commits any offence which will make it necessary for us to remove him, we will remove him and we will sleep soundly.”

In the explanation of their cosmogony, it is Yoruba’s belief that, as hot and red-eyed as Sango is, not only does it give respect to the blacksmithry and the forge, Ile Aro, it is not in his keel to strike it with its thunder. Why will Obasanjo, a man who has taught culture and tradition overtime, be the hot anvil that will consume the anvil? Don’t Yoruba say that the reverse is unimaginable, in the saying that ina ewu kii jo ewu, ina ewiri kii jo ewiri? Indeed, that Friday event was a mortal blow on traditional institution.

Why the Obasanjo Friday indecorous talk-down on the Iseyin Obas was unusual was that he had always shown the way to go to all political office holders by publicly courtesying to monarchs. He recently, even at his over 80 years old, prostrated to the Ooni of Ife who is younger in age than his first born. This is why, as I said earlier, if Obasanjo had not made a public ridicule of the Obas, he would have had sympathies of the people. First, he was far older than virtually all the kings at the event and thus deserved their respect. Second, as Nigeria’s former leader, who was Nigeria’s Head of State at a time many of them were in secondary school, they should have shown him some measure of honour. Sitting down when an elderly person stands is disrespect of the first order in Yorubaland. I have also confirmed that protocol, especially since the constitutional de-robing of kings of their essences, has since demanded that kings should pay obeisance to political leaders, including even the chairman of their local governments, at public events. However, as they say, if you are sent a message as a slave, you should be knowledgeable enough to deliver it as a freeborn.

To be fair to Obasanjo, though the gradual loss of verve of traditional institution didn’t begin with him, he willingly offered himself as its pallbearer. Many of the traditional rulers on parade in Nigeria today wear such disreputable robes that no one in their true senses should pay them any regard. Nyesom Wike, as governor of Rivers State, publicly dressed down one of them. Today, Yoruba do not venerate their kings any longer and do not see them as embodying their sovereignty. Rather than regulating peace and order of their domains, they are disruptors of the peace therein. The palace has become a den of thieves and fraudsters with many of them kings only to maximize pecuniary interests. No esoteric rituals are performed in palaces any longer but cryptic deals of fraudulence among a circle of fraudulent initiates, with the sacredness of traditional institution grossly destroyed. So, if Obasanjo talked down on them, he must have known that they were reverses of the natural rulers who deserved anyone’s respect.

I am actually interested in an aspect of the speech of Governor Makinde at the said event. On the vacant stool of the Alaafin, which is the subject of intense acrimony and tackles at the moment, Makinde had said: “Those of you fighting over the Alaafin stool should stop. Those who have collected money from people should know that Alaafin stool is not for sale. It is too important to Yorubaland that we will not sell it. For those who have collected money, I will take them to the EFCC”.

The governor’s homily is a representation of what ails traditional institution in Nigeria today. It has gone to the dogs. If it is possible for Makinde and the Oyo Mesi to recreate the profundity in tradition, language and culture of Yoruba people, panache and Yoruba leadership which the late Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi manifested while alive, we probably would have none of those Iseyin Obas lacking the courage to damn Obasanjo’s bark at them to stand up. Kabiyesi, Omo Alowolodu, Iku Baba Yeye Lamidi Adeyemi, would rather die than be led by the nose to surrender as Obasanjo led those kings on Friday.

He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm ~ Psalms 105:14-15.

Introduction

The new creation man is a crowned honourable! He is crowned with glory and honor (Psalms 8:5). Indeed, all true saints of God carry the spiritual substance of honour, but in varying measures (Psalms 149:9).

The world has long known that honour is a quintessential part of life. When you take honour away from any man, his life is done. Success without honor is like an unseasoned dish; it won't taste good even if it looks adorable. Honour is a very important quality of success.

Most importantly, the Bible also teaches that honour is living the virtues, and it commands us to trade with it in our everyday affairs of life (Exodus 20:12; Leviticus 19:32; Romans 13:1-7). It goes further to instruct us never to despise honour, equating anyone that does so to a dying beast (Psalms 49:20).  

What Is Honour?

Honour can mean completely different things to different people, depending on who you are and where you’re looking at. Honour is an elusive word, and it depends on “who” is viewing “what”.

Some people consider that being a noble philanthropist, a generous giver, or a brave soldier is very honourable. Some others opine that being a gospel missionary, because of the deep selflessness involved, is the most honourable adventure in life.

While those instances are uniquely different, all have one thing in common: the actions involved are incident on a moral conviction to do what is considered right and necessary.

Honour is an assumed appearance of nobility, dignity of mien, and a certain substance of reverence, admiration, regard, exaltation and distinction (1Kings 3:13). It is a privileged rank that promotes the reputation or good name with which a person is known.

Succinctly, to honour means to respect or treat someone with awe, esteem and submission, manifesting the highest regard or most exalted thoughts, in words and actions.

The man honoured is the one whose “face” is lifted up for notice and acceptance (2Kings 5:1; Job 22:8). Those who enjoy honour are dignified and are usually raised to distinction, which they may or may not even merit.

Generally, honour comes with authority and, as such, social capital and spiritual weights are automatically added to “honored people”, as was the case with Mordecai (Esther 6:1-10). They are usually treated with courtesy and due respect, even in the ordinary everyday intercourse of life.

The weight of honour that is upon your life will also determine the value and gifts you will attract. In fact, what you own, which is a function of what you have attracted, is determined by the weight of honour upon your life.

Above all, your spiritual authority and the level of obedience you can command in the spiritual realm are largely determined by the weight of spiritual honour that rests upon you (2Corinthians 10:4-6).

Understanding and Accessing The Garb of Honour

Honour is a piece of spiritual apparel that covers the entire personality (Psalms 104:1-2). Aaron the High Priest had one in those days. For as long as he was clad with it, no evil touched him, but immediately the garb was removed from him, he died there on Mount Hor (Numbers 20:23-29).

The words and the presence of “honourable personalities” are generally weighty (Genesis 34:19; 1Samuel 9:6). However, the divine cloak of honour varies in weights from one individual to another (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Now, the abundant substance of honour primarily comes from God’s gracious imputations (Numbers 27:18-20; 1Chronicles 16:26-27; 29:12). Honour is ever copious in His presence (Psalms 96:6).

By the hand of Moses, God honoured Joshua to an eminent degree through his separation and presentation as a leader in Israel (Number 27:18-23). This promoted the spiritual endowment requisite for the governmental office to which he was called.

God had said to Joshua: “This day will I begin to magnify thee” (Joshua 3:7). He just needed the public honour to make him respectable among the people, for the discharge of his duties.

It is particularly enthusing to note that there’s a subsisting divine promise to all God’s covenant people: “I will glorify the house of my glory” (Isaiah 60:7). More so that the Lord’s imputations are ever sure to provoke victory, riches and honour (2Chronicles 17:5; 32:27).

Secondly, honour can be accessed by labouring with diligence and prudence to do good to people everywhere, including the churches of Christ wherein we do various gospel works (1Timothy 5:17).

Honour is earned through deeds and reputation. No person was ever honoured for what he received; honour has always been the reward for what people gave or did for others. Those who serve and do good to others can never lose their honour (Esther 6:3).

It was a peculiar honour for Aaron, and his sons, to be separated unto the office of the high priest (Hebrews 5:4). Great respect was shown them: but their principal honour lay in the work they were called to perform in their services to God’s kingdom.

Very importantly, a passionate spiritual walk with God always provokes supernatural honour (Psalm 26:8). This may call for a lifestyle of aloneness with God in prayers, righteousness, humility and holy awe (Psalms 91:15; Proverbs 15:33; 21:21; 29:23). But, we cannot do less!

Walking in wisdom generally provokes immeasurable honour (Proverbs 4:7-8; 8:18; Proverbs 25:2). Developing your gifts and charismatic pull to attract friends, and to make christian disciples to the glory of God, will bring much honour any day (Proverbs 14:28; Daniel 2:6).

Now, we are charged to honour everyone (1Peter 2:17; Romans 12:10). And, above all, we are commanded to honour God (Proverbs 3:9). He is the Most Highly Valued Personality in our lives — our Creator, Owner, Ruler, Savior and Sustainer.

Honouring God means giving Him genuine worship, reverence, submission and adoration (John 5:23). It also means to love Him with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength (Mark 12:29-30). And, to love Him is to obey and serve Him (John 12:26; 14:21). That way, we will be able to attract more of His honour (1Samuel 2:30).

On a final note, honour is a very subjective right. It is single and indivisible from responsibility, and it can be lost. Hence, we must always ensure, through our lifestyle of pure faith and patience, that we’re never bereft of honour (2Timothy 2:21). Anyone that loses honour can only live at the mercy of virulent evils.

Beloved brethren, keep in mind that divine honour without measure was what our Lord Jesus Christ enjoyed in His earthly walk, and it is what His Name is still attracting till today. No one could kill Jesus; He rather laid down His life for us, freely.

This honour is made available to all believers in Christ Jesus. It is certainly heavy, eternal and supernaturally potent against sin, Satan, diseases, poverty, demonic assaults and premature death (Psalms 149:5-9). Yes, we’re too honoured to be overlooked, and too weighty for any devil to handle (Job 28:7-23).

By reason of this honour, throughout the remaining part of this year, and henceforth, your enemies shall run when no one is pursuing them. The gatekeepers shall favour you with abundance, and the holy watchers shall keep you safe by the power of the Most High God. You won’t miss it, in Jesus’ Name. Amen. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

SMS/WhatsApp: +234 802 318 4987

A man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by armed robbers, stripped of his belongings, and left lying half-dead on the road. Divine providence ensured that first a priest, and then a Levite, passed by. But instead of helping the dying man; both quickly moved to the other side of the road and went away.

Finally, a Samaritan came along. Unlike the priest and the Levite, he had compassion on the hapless man, bound up his wounds, took him to the hospital, and paid for his medical expenses.

Good Samaritan

Jesus’ story of this Good Samaritan is deliberate. It is incredible how, as Christians, we fail to recognise its full implications. The first mistake we make is in the identity of the Good Samaritan. When we situate the story in the contemporary setting, (as we should with all scripture), we assume that the Good Samaritan must be a Christian.

However, Jesus deliberately excludes that possibility by providing two characters representative of believers in any age. Today, the priest is easily identifiable as a pastor, while the Levite is a Christian worker.

Who then is the Good Samaritan? Let me repeat this for emphasis: The Good Samaritan cannot be a Christian. The Christian is already adequately represented by the priest and the Levite. The Good Samaritan can only be Jesus Himself.

Jesus’ story eloquently sets forth the goodness and kindness of Christ our Saviour towards sinful, miserable, and defenceless humanity. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Christ comes to give life and to give it abundantly. (John 10:10). 

But if Jesus is the Good Samaritan, then Jesus is not a Jew; for Samaritans were not accepted as Jews. As Paul points out:

“He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29).

If Jesus is the Good Samaritan, then Jesus is a Samaritan. If Jesus is not a Jew but a Samaritan, then Jesus cannot be a Christian, for it is the Jew that represents the Christian of today in the Scriptures.

Jesus’ killers

By the time some Jews observed Jesus, they concluded that He was not a Jew. In the first place, He refused to be regarded as a disciple of Moses but claimed instead to have come to fulfil the law. (Matthew 5:17). He did not obey the letter of Jewish laws but claimed to comply with its spirit.

He insisted pharisaic religious tradition was old wine that could not be put into the new bottles He provided for the new wine of the New Testament. (Matthew 9:17). He prefaced a lot of His sermons with the statement: “You have heard that it was said to those of old… but I say.” (Matthew 5:27-28).

Therefore, some Jews insisted Jesus was not Jewish. Their position was that He was a closet Samaritan:

“Then the Jews answered and said to him, “Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honour My Father, and you dishonour Me.” (John 8:48-49).

Note that Jesus did not contest the charge that He was a Samaritan. But He took great exception to the allegation that He had a demon.

But if Jesus identified with the Samaritans and not with the Jews, then it becomes clear he would not identify with most of the Christians of today. Let me be so bold as to say that if Jesus were in the flesh today, He would not be a Christian.

If Jesus had come today instead of 2,000 years ago, pastors and bishops would also have killed Him. Like He did to their forefathers, Jesus would also have exposed the ungodliness of today’s Christian establishments to public ridicule.

Religious Irrelevancies

So, if Jesus would not have been a Christian, what would He have been? He would have simply been Jesus without any specific religious affiliation. Today, Jesus has been replaced by theology, but the real Jesus was not religious. Jesus established no religious institution when He was on earth.

Indeed, if Jesus were to show up physically on earth today, most Christians would not recognise Him the same way the Jews did not. If He came as a woman, we would not recognise Him. If He smoked cigarettes, we would not recognise Him. If He drank whisky, we would not recognise Him. If He wore earrings and a nose ring, we would not recognise Him. If He spoke Pidgin English, we would not recognise Him. Since He did not wear trousers, we would be contemptuous of Him. We would disqualify Him by religious irrelevancies instead of identifying Him by His fruits. (Matthew 7:20).

When Jesus asked the lawyer to identify the neighbour of the man who fell among thieves, the man wisely did not say it was the Samaritan. If he had said that, he would have been wrong. Instead, he correctly defined him by his fruit. He said: “He who showed mercy on him.”

He who showed mercy on him could be anybody, Christian or non-Christian, so long as he believed in Jesus and produced the fruits of Jesus’ righteousness.

Merciless Christians

What then does the story of the Good Samaritan mean if, indeed, the priest and the Levite represent today’s Christians? It means that, prophetically, it is the Christians of today who have no mercy. We despise unbelievers, certain they are going to hell. We speak disparagingly of them. We condemn sinners on the grounds they are ungodly.

We stone them because they are caught in adultery. We fail to appreciate that they are hapless travellers on the road of life who have been attacked by spiritual armed robbers and left for dead. We conveniently forget that we used to be in the same predicament until we were rescued by the grace of God.

Therefore, “God is not a Christian,” declared Reverend Desmond Tutu. “We are supposed to proclaim the God of love, but we have been guilty as Christians of sowing hatred and suspicion; we commend the one whom we call the Prince of Peace, and yet as Christians, we have fought more wars than we care to remember. We have claimed to be a fellowship of compassion and caring and sharing, but as Christians, we often sanctify socio-political systems that belie this, where the rich grow ever richer and the poor grow ever poorer.”

One thing is certain. Both the offending priest and the Levite must have had “compelling” reasons for not attending to the man dying on the roadside. They probably could not stop because they were in a hurry to attend a Bible study. The priest decided that the best thing to do was to pray for the man when he got to church. The Levite was hurrying to get to a meeting of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and could not afford to be late.

Jesus’ parable “kills” the self-righteous believer who thinks he is justified by calling himself a Christian and by going regularly to church. He alerts us to the danger of assuming we are heaven-bound because of our observance of certain religious rites. True Christianity is not legalistic. The love of our neighbour is the emblem of our being Christ’s disciples.

“Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are the children of God.” (1 John 4:7).

** Culled from my new book, Kingdom Dynamics: The God Christians Reject.

Nearly two decades ago, then-30-year-old Ann Johnson had a brain stem stroke, and though she survived, she was left paralyzed and unable to speak with a condition known as locked-in syndrome.

Johnson slowly regained the ability to breathe independently, move her neck, and wink, but after 18 years, her brain hasn't recovered its ability to move the muscles required for her to speak more than a few words.

With the help of a new AI-driven brain implant, she has become the first patient to successfully use a groundbreaking neurotechnology that synthesizes speech and facial expressions from brain signals, the researchers behind the project claim.

In a study published in Nature late last month, researchers at the University of California San Francisco and the University of California Berkeley detailed their findings after implanting a thin layer of 253 electrodes on Johnson's brain and customizing the technology to read her brain signals.

The neurotechnology uses artificial intelligence to decode the woman's brain signals while she tries to speak. Though her muscles don't move, her brain sends a signal perceptible to the electrodes, which decode what she is trying to say, and then synthesizes speech and facial expressions using a computer-generated avatar.

Johnson, who doesn't have cognitive or sensory impairment after the stroke, could previously communicate at roughly 14 words per minute using her old typing method involving a device that responds to small head movements, per a University of California San Francisco news article about the breakthrough. With her new implant, her digital avatar speaks almost 80.

"Our goal is to restore a full, embodied way of communicating, which is the most natural way for us to talk with others," Edward Chang, chair of neurological surgery at the University of California San Francisco, said in the UCSF publication about the research. "These advancements bring us much closer to making this a real solution for patients."

Chang did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

While the UCSF and UCB researchers claim Johnson's case is a scientific first for allowing people with locked-in syndrome to communicate using neurotechnology, two researchers from Austria's Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering claimed last year they had achieved a similar feat.

Though their results working with a 34-year-old man to regain his ability to speak after being paralyzed were promising, the Austrian researchers previously had a paper on the subject retracted, and "several cases of scientific misconduct" were identified in a 2019 investigation conducted by the German Research Foundation (DFG), which funded some of the work.

Despite neurotechnology facing controversy and ethics concerns, developments in the public and private sectors have been identified by groups like the United Nations as among the fastest-growing fields with the possibility to improve human lives.

As for Johnson, the benefits of being involved in the UCSF project are far more expansive than just offering her the opportunity to speak again after all these years.

"When I was at the rehab hospital, the speech therapist didn't know what to do with me," Johnson said, per the UCSF publication. "Being a part of this study has given me a sense of purpose, I feel like I am contributing to society. It feels like I have a job again. It's amazing I have lived this long; this study has allowed me to really live while I'm still alive!"

 

Business Insider

Nigeria’s inflation rate jumped to a more than 18-year high on rising energy and food prices, increasing the odds of a rate hike this month.

Consumer prices climbed an annual 25.8% in August, compared with 24.1% the previous month, according to data published on the National Bureau of Statistics’ website on Friday. That’s the highest level since August 2005 and above the 25% median estimate of eight economists in a Bloomberg survey. Monthly inflation soared to a 15-year high of 3.2%.

The uptick was broad-based. Annual food inflation quickened to 29% in August from 27% a month earlier and core price growth, which excludes farm produce and energy costs, accelerated to 21% from 20.5%.

Nigeria's Inflation Is at Highest Level in More Than 18 Years

The acceleration continues to be fanned by the removal of costly fuel subsides in May, security issues in Nigeria’s food-producing regions, a 40% depreciation in the naira against the dollar since the authorities allowed the local unit to float more freely in June and the continued weakness of the currency on the parallel market.

The drop in the naira and second-round effects on inflation from the removal of the fuel subsidy may persuade the central bank’s monetary policy committee to raise interest rates at its Sept. 25-26 meeting for an unprecedented ninth consecutive time.

“There is only one tried and tested way to end the depreciation on the parallel market: tighten monetary policy and allow price discovery on the official FX market,” said Razia Khan, chief economist for Africa and the Middle East at Standard Chartered Bank. “Nigeria’s inflation rate speaks to the urgency of doing so.”

The MPC has lifted rates by 725 basis points since May 2022 to 18.75% to combat inflation that’s exceeded the top end of its 6% to 9% target range for more than eight years.

 

Bloomberg

President Bola Tinubu has approved the nomination Olayemi Cardoso to serve as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for a term of five (5) years at the first instance, pending his confirmation by the Senate.

The approval, according to Tinubu, is in conformity with Section 8 (1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, which vests in the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the authority to appoint the Governor and Four Deputy Governors for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), subject to confirmation by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The President has also approved the nomination of four new Deputy Governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for a term of five years at the first instance, pending their confirmation by the Nigerian Senate, as listed below: Mrs. Emem Nnana Usoro, Muhammad Sani Abdullahi Dattijo, Philip Ikeazor, and Bala M. Bello.

A statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, explained that Tinubu has further directed the nominees to implement critical reforms at the CBN which will enhance the confidence of Nigerians and international partners in the restructuring of the Nigerian economy toward sustainable growth and prosperity for all.

In 1999 upon return to civilian democratic rule, Cardoso was appointed by Tinubu as his first commissioner for economic planning and budget for Lagos State.

It would be recalled that Tinubu had similarly appointed two of his commissioners, Olawale Edun and Dele Alake, when he served as governor of Lagos State Minister of Finance and coordinating Minister of the economy, and Minister of Solid Minerals respectively.

 

The Guardian/NewsScroll

A United Arab Emirates (UAE) official has contradicted the claim by President Bola Tinubu that it has lifted the visa ban imposed on Nigerian travellers.

According to CNN, the official from the Gulf state disclosed this in a chat.

“There are no changes on the Nigeria/UAE travel status so far,” the source asked not to be named was quoted to have said.

Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, had claimed that the visa ban was lifted after Tinubu met with Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, his UAE counterpart, on Monday.

Tinubu proceeded to Abu Dahbi, UAE capital, from India, where he attended the G-20 Summit.

In a statement issued after the meeting, Ajuri had said, “Tinubu and President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Monday in Abu Dhabi, have finalised a historic agreement, which has resulted in the immediate cessation of the visa ban placed on Nigerian travellers.

“Furthermore, by this historic agreement, both Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are to immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria, without any further delay.”

But the UAE authorities were silent on these issues in a statement they issued after the meeting, fueling suspicion among Nigerians.

In its statement, the Middle East country said Nigeria and the UAE would work together to reinforce their ties and explore opportunities for further bilateral collaborations.

Apparently reacting to the controversy created by his initial comment, Ngelale had said officials from both countries needed more time to finalise agreement details, a pure contradiction of his previous statement that the issue had been resolved.

“Given the agreement struck between the two Heads of State, there is need to allow cabinet officials from both sides to work out the finer details and finalize the cross-sectoral agreements,” he said, adding that “Everyone can now allow the process to work itself out organically, devoid of speculation.”

Asked to react to the visa ban and flight resumption issue during the Aviation Africa Summit in Abuja on Thursday, Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, said there was no timeframe.

He had said: “So, we are beginning to work out all the tiny details. I have met with Emirate before I left UAE, and we are working out the details. We cannot say the time frame. Kicking off an airline operation again on a route, does not mean you will go and grab one empty plane sitting in a place.”

 

Daily Trust

Visit visa to the United Kingdom for less than six months will now cost £115 (about N111,878.28 ) as opposed to £15 (14,592.70) effective October 4, the UK Home Office has announced.

This translates to about 667 per cent increment.

Student visa fee has also been increased from £127 (N123,537.58) to £490 (N476,677.59); representing a 286 per cent increment.

The increase, the government said, would enable it to pay for ‘vital services and allow more funding to be prioritised for public sector pay rises’, adding that the review would take effect on October 4.

The UK government made this known in a statement, ‘New visa fees set to come into effect next month’ published on its website, gov.uk, on Friday, following legislation being laid in parliament on Friday.

“The changes mean that the cost for a visit visa for less than six months is rising by £15 (N14,592.70) to £115 (N111,878.28 ), while the fee for applying for a student visa from outside the UK will rise by £127 (N123,537.58)  to £490 (N476,677.59), to equal the amount charged for in-country applications,” the statement partly read.

In July, the government announced a 15 per cent increase in the cost of most work and visit visas, and an increase of at least 20 per cent in the cost of priority visas, study visas and certificates of sponsorship.

The statement added, “Income from fees charged plays a vital role in the Home Office’s ability to run a sustainable immigration and nationality system. Careful consideration is given when setting fees to help reduce the funding contribution from British taxpayers, whilst continuing to provide a service that remains attractive to those wishing to work in the UK and support broader prosperity for all.”

The changes include fees for up to six months, two-, five- and 10-year visit visas.

The majority of fees for entry clearance and certain applications for leave to remain in the UK, including those for work and study were also increased.

Also increased were the fees for indefinite leave to enter and indefinite leave to remain; convention travel document and stateless person’s travel document; health and care visa; fees in relation to certificates of sponsorship and confirmation of acceptance for studies; the in and out of country fee for the super-priority service and the out of country fee for the priority service.

It noted that the settlement priority service would reduce so it would be aligned with the cost of using the priority service. Applications to register and naturalise as a British citizen and the fee for the User Pays Visa Application service were also increased.

However, the statement noted that subject to parliamentary approval, the immigration and nationality fees would increase from October 4.

“Today’s changes do not include the planned increase to the Immigration Health Surcharge, which is scheduled to be introduced later in the Autumn,” it added.

 

Punch

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says a democratic system that promotes insecurity and poverty must be abandoned.

Obasanjo spoke in Oyo town on Friday during the inauguration of the rehabilitated 34.8-kilometre Oyo-Iseyin road.

The former president said a democracy that nurtures poverty, unemployment and insecurity should be discarded as it only denotes backwardness.

In a recent interview with TheCable, the former president said Nigeria needed to rethink its democracy.

Obasanjo had said the liberal type of democracy practised in the West would not work for the country.

“Democracy that nurtures a lack of peace and security must be thrown overboard. Democracy dividends must involve peace, security, stability, prosperity, wealth creation, employment and the wholesomeness of the society,” Obasanjo said.

“Democracy that nurtures poverty is abortion. Democracy that nurtures unemployment is a failure.”

He charged political leaders to embrace democracy that promotes prosperity, poverty eradication, employment and adequate security for the good of Nigeria.

“That’s when democracy would continue to survive and people will feel that yes, democracy is a worthwhile system of government that must be embraced,” he said.

Obasanjo also commended the governor of Oyo for the rehabilitation, reconstruction and construction of roads linking the five zones in the state.

He said such projects would fast-track socio-economic development across the zones.

He urged the people of Oyo to support Makinde’s government in its efforts to develop the state’s economy.

Speaking at the event, Makinde said the reconstruction of the Oyo-Iseyin road and other ongoing projects were in line with his administration’s vision to connect all the five zones in the state and mitigate rural-urban migration.

The governor promised to fast-track the completion of all the ongoing projects and rehabilitate all internal roads across the state.

The rehabilitated Oyo-Iseyin road was awarded in 2021 at the cost of N8.4 billion to Kopek Construction Limited.

 

The Cable