RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian warplanes sink speedboats with Ukrainian landing force – Moscow

Russian warplanes have prevented yet another landing attempt by Ukrainian forces, destroying four US-made military speedboats and their crews in the Black Sea west of the Crimean Peninsula, the Defense Ministry said on Monday morning.

Russian Black Sea Fleet naval aviation aircraft “destroyed four US-made Willard Sea Force high-speed military boats with landing groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the military said.  

The landing force was reportedly heading towards Cape Tarkhankut, the westernmost part of the Crimean Peninsula, in yet another botched landing attempt, according to the ministry.

Last week, Russian forces foiled several alleged Ukrainian landing attempts. Early Wednesday morning, the Russian military reported sinking “four military speedboats carrying a landing force of Ukrainian special operatives, numbering up to 50 men” at an undisclosed location in the Black Sea.

Later in the day, a Russian Su-30 fighter jet had sunk a speedboat to the east of Snake Island, near the Ukrainian port of Odessa and close to Romanian territorial waters. A few hours later the same day, the ministry claimed the elimination of yet another Ukrainian motorboat by an Su-24 bomber west of the same island.

Last month, the Defense Ministry also published footage of what it said was a Russian fighter jet destroying a US-made speedboat carrying a Ukrainian amphibious team near Snake Island.

** Russian drones destroy Ukrainian oil depot – MOD

Moscow has conducted a drone attack on an oil depot used to supply Kiev’s army in Odessa Region near the Romanian border, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

In a statement, the ministry said the Russian Air Force conducted a group UAV strike on facilities used to refuel Ukrainian military vehicles in the port of Reni, located on the left bank of the Danube River.

“The objective of the strike was achieved. All designated targets have been hit,” the Defense Ministry said.

MOD officials also said Russia had taken out two Ukrainian ammunition depots and a drone command center in southeastern Dnepropetrovsk Region and a Kiev-controlled part of Kherson Region, again using UAV strikes.

This comes after Ukrainian media reported a powerful explosion in Reni in the early hours of Sunday morning. Later in the day, Oleg Kiper, the head of Odessa’s military administration, said that a Russian attack had damaged port infrastructure, and claimed that Ukrainian air defenses had shot down 22 drones.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Zelenskiy moves to replace wartime defense minister

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he had decided to replace his defence minister, setting the stage for the biggest shake-up of Ukraine's defence establishment since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In his nightly video address to the nation, Zelenskiy said he would dismiss Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and would ask parliament this week to replace him with Rustem Umerov, head of the country's main privatisation fund.

Reznikov, defence minister since November 2021, has helped secure billions of dollars of Western military aid to help the war effort, but has been dogged by graft allegations surrounding his ministry that he has described as smears.

The decision comes amid a crackdown on corruption in Ukraine that Zelenskiy has been eager to emphasize. Kyiv has applied to join the European Union and the public has become highly sensitive to corruption as the war rages with no end in sight.

"I've decided to replace the Minister of Defence of Ukraine. Oleksii Reznikov has been through more than 550 days of full-scale war," Zelenskiy said. "I believe the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society as a whole."

Zelenskiy said he expected parliament to approve Umerov's appointment, adding that Umerov "does not need any additional introduction". Zelenskiy has to submit Umerov's candidacy to parliament for review.

A 41-year-old ex-lawmaker and Crimean Tatar, Umerov has led Ukraine's State Property Fund since September 2022 and played a role in sensitive wartime negotiations on, for instance, the Black Sea grain deal.

He has been praised in Ukraine for his track record at the State Property Fund, which oversees the privatisation of state assets and had been embroiled in corruption scandals before he took charge.

RAPPORT WITH THE WEST

During the war, Reznikov's defence ministry lobbied the West to overcome taboos on supplying powerful military gear to Ukraine, including German-made main battle tanks and HIMARS rocket artillery. Kyiv now looks poised to receive U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets soon.

Although Reznikov has had numerous interactions with U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, a Pentagon spokesperson declined comment on the move, saying that it was an internal matter for the Ukrainian government.

Western military aid has played a crucial role in the war, as Ukraine first forced back Russian troops around the capital Kyiv before launching counteroffensives in the northeast and south.

Its troops are now fighting through heavily mined areas and Russian defensive lines to recapture territory in the southeast and east.

An English-speaker, Reznikov is seen as having built up a strong rapport with allied defence ministers and military officials.

One member of parliament has tipped him as Ukraine's possible new ambassador to London.

His apparent exit appears to bring an end to months of domestic media pressure that began in January when Reznikov's ministry was accused of buying food at inflated prices.

Though he was not personally involved in the food contract, some Ukrainian commentators said he should take political responsibility for what happened.

Last month, a Ukrainian media outlet accused his ministry of corruption during the procurement of winter coats for the army. Reznikov denied any wrongdoing and repeatedly said he was being targeted by a smear campaign.

** Russia says Ukraine launched drone attacks on Kursk region

Ukraine launched drone attacks on the Kursk region of Russia overnight from Sunday to Monday, with the Russian defence ministry saying its forces had shot down two drones after midnight on Monday.

The drone attack on the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine to its west, began around 1 a.m. Monday (2200 GMT Sunday), the defence ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

This followed a report Sunday evening by the governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, that debris from a downed drone sparked a fire at a non-residential building in the city of Kurchatov.

One of Russia's biggest nuclear plants is about 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) from Kurchatov, but there were no reports the plant was affected or targeted.

Starovoit did not say which building was damaged in the Sunday evening drone attack, but Russia's Baza news outlet, which has good sources among law enforcement agencies, said drone debris fell on the roof of the security services building.

The full extent of the damage was not immediately reported. Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Drone attacks on Russian targets, especially in Crimea - annexed by Moscow in 2014 - and in regions bordering Ukraine, have become almost a daily occurrence since two drones were destroyed over the Kremlin in early May.

The attacks have disrupted flights in and out of Moscow in recent weeks. Ukraine rarely takes direct responsibility for such drone strikes but says destroying Russian military infrastructure helps a counteroffensive Kyiv began in June.

There has been much handwringing about the retreat of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism in recent years – and for good reason. From Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and former US President Donald Trump, we have a growing list of authoritarians and would-be autocrats who channel a curious form of right-wing populism. Though they promise to protect ordinary citizens and preserve longstanding national values, they pursue policies that protect the powerful and trash longstanding norms – and leave the rest of us trying to explain their appeal.

While there are many explanations, one that stands out is the growth of inequality, a problem stemming from modern neoliberal capitalism, which can also be linked in many ways to the erosion of democracy. Economic inequality inevitably leads to political inequality, albeit to varying degrees across countries. In a country like the United States, which has virtually no constraints on campaign contributions, “one person, one vote” has morphed into “one dollar, one vote.”

This political inequality is self-reinforcing, leading to policies that further entrench economic inequality. Tax policies favor the rich, the education system favors the already privileged, and inadequately designed and enforced antitrust regulation tends to give corporations free rein to amass and exploit market power. Moreover, since the media is dominated by private companies owned by plutocrats like Rupert Murdoch, much of the mainstream discourse tends to entrench the same trends. News consumers thus have long been told that taxing the rich harms economic growth, that inheritance taxes are levies on death, and so forth.

More recently, traditional media controlled by the super-rich have been joined by social-media companies controlled by the super-rich, except that the latter are even less constrained in spreading misinformation. Thanks to Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, US-based companies cannot be held liable for third-party content hosted on their platforms – or for most of the other social harms they cause (not least to teenage girls).

In this context of capitalism without accountability, should we be surprised that so many people view the growing concentration of wealth with suspicion, or that they believe the system is rigged? The pervasive feeling that democracy has delivered unfair outcomes has undermined confidence in democracy and led some to conclude that alternative systems might produce better results.

This is an old debate. Seventy-five years ago, many wondered whether democracies could grow as fast as authoritarian regimes. Now, many are asking the same question about which system “delivers” greater fairness. Yet this debate is unfolding in a world where the very wealthy have the tools to shape national and global thinking, sometimes with outright lies (“The election was stolen!” “The voting machines were rigged!” – a falsehood that cost Fox News $787 million).

One of the results has been deepening polarization, which hampers the functioning of democracy – especially in countries like the US, with its winner-take-all elections. By the time Trump was elected in 2016 with a minority of the popular vote, American politics, which once favored problem-solving through compromise, had become a bald-faced partisan power struggle, a wrestling match where at least one side seems to believe there should be no rules.

When polarization becomes so excessive, it will often seem as though the stakes are too high to concede anything. Rather than looking for common ground, those in power will use the means at their disposal to entrench their own positions – as the Republicans have done openly through gerrymandering and measures to suppress voter turnout.

Democracies work best when the perceived stakes are neither too low nor too high (if they are too low, people will feel little need to participate in the democratic process at all). There are design choices that democracies can make to improve the chances of hitting this happy medium. Parliamentary systems, for example, encourage coalition building and often give power to centrists, rather than extremists. Mandatory and ranked-choice voting also have been shown to help in this respect, as does the presence of a committed, protected civil service.

The US has long held itself up as a democratic beacon. Though there has always been hypocrisy – from Ronald Reagan cozying up to Augusto Pinochet, to Joe Biden failing to distance himself from Saudi Arabia or denounce the anti-Muslim bigotry of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government – America at least embodied a shared set of political values.

But now, economic and political inequality have grown so extreme that many are rejecting democracy. This is fertile ground for authoritarianism, especially for the kind of right-wing populism that Trump, Bolsonaro, and the rest represent. But such leaders have shown that they have none of the answers that discontented voters are seeking. On the contrary, the policies they enact when given power only make matters worse.

Rather than looking elsewhere for alternatives, we need to look inward, at our own system. With the right reforms, democracies can become more inclusive, more responsive to citizens, and less responsive to the corporations and rich individuals who currently hold the purse strings. But salvaging our politics also will require equally dramatic economic reforms. We can begin to enhance the well-being of all citizens fairly – and take the wind out of populists’ sails – only when we leave neoliberal capitalism behind and do a much better job at creating the shared prosperity that we acclaim.

Project Syndicate

Are you tired of striving for consistent growth, trying to figure out a hundred different ways to grow your business by 10 or 20 percent year after year? 

Well, here's a radical idea: What if I told you that achieving 10x growth might be easier and more straightforward than you think?

In a world with so many avenues for business growth, I recently stumbled upon a refreshing and truly profound concept in Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy's latest book, 10x Is Easier Than 2x. 

I'll admit the title had me skeptical at first, but knowing that it was devised by Sullivan, considered by many to be the top entrepreneurial coach of all time, and Hardy, an acclaimed organizational psychologist and leadership expert, I figure I'd give it a chance.

And I'm glad I did. I quickly learned a simple mindset shift that every entrepreneur should consider – one which has the potential to revolutionize the way you approach the trajectory of your business.

The Infinite Dilemma of 2x Growth

As an entrepreneur and efficiency consultant, I understand how difficult it is to grow a business, let alone 10x. On a personal level, I'd be happy to double my business – and that sure as hell sounds easier than growing it 10x. 

But the problem with setting a goal of 2x growth or even incremental growth of 10 to 20 percent is that you're often met with an overwhelming array of possibilities. 

It's like trying to choose from an infinite buffet of tactics and strategies. As a result, your focus becomes scattered and your efforts diluted.

10x Clarity

Now, imagine asking yourself, "How can I grow my business by 10x?" Suddenly, the noise clears and the answers become more apparent. 

You see, significant growth rarely comes from small changes or doing more of the same things incrementally. Instead, it stems from laser-focusing on one or a few game-changing strategies.

In his book, Hardy references the work of Alan Barnard, a leading expert on decision-making, who calls this phenomenon 10x clarity. 

By setting an audacious goal, you challenge your assumptions and open your mind to new, innovative ideas. With the noise filtered out, you identify the critical few actions that can lead to exponential growth.

When you shift your thinking to 10x instead of 2x, Hardy and Sullivan say it becomes "absurdly and even comically obvious which strategies, relationships, or behaviors won't work." 

And they're so obviously right. I've thought of hundreds of different ways to grow my business, but if I were to consider only those with the potential for 10x, the list gets smaller. A lot smaller.

Pushing the Limits

So, how do you achieve the seemingly impossible? It starts by stretching your goals beyond what you think is feasible. As we've seen, aiming for 10 percent or even 2x growth leaves room for endless possibilities, but 10x growth forces you to think differently.

Operating outside the bounds of past norms and assumptions is what allows true breakthroughs to happen. By daring to test the limits, you become receptive to groundbreaking approaches that were previously overlooked. 

What you'll find is that, really, there are only a few ways to grow any business by 10x. They're typically big game-changing moves that will require significant time and effort from your team. It's going to be scary – but when you consider the potential upside, it's often worth the risk.

Unlocking Your 10x Potential

Ready to unlock your business's 10x potential? Here are a few steps to get you started:

• Identify the one big thing: Analyze your business thoroughly and identify one or a few game-changing strategies that could lead to exponential growth. You may want to brainstorm this with your team.
• Create your roadmap: Figure out what would need to happen to make those strategies work, and map out the projects required to achieve them. This becomes your roadmap for the next few quarters or years.
• Set impossible goals: Implement a goal-setting framework like OKRs to clarify exactly what you want to achieve. Embrace the audacity of setting seemingly impossible goals. Push beyond the boundaries of what you think your business can achieve.
• Weed out distractions: Say no to anything that doesn't align with your 10x vision. Keep the lights on, of course, but push low-priority projects to the side and commit fully to your one big thing.
• Embrace the journey: Remember that achieving 10x growth is a journey, not an overnight miracle. Commit to sustained effort and focus on the long-term results.

See? I was a skeptic too, but when you break it down like this, 10x starts to seem a lot more reasonable than it sounds.

You can't expect a miracle overnight, but the premise is simple: Aiming for 10x growth is the best way to simplify and clarify your business strategy. 

By challenging your assumptions and setting audacious goals, you'll uncover the hidden potential that will drive your business to unparalleled heights.

Inc

President Bola Tinubu has directed the recall of all career and non-career ambassadors serving in different countries.

Yusuf Tuggar, minister of foreign affairs, announced the decision barely 24 hours after the president recalled Sarafa Isola, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK).

In a statement on Saturday by Alkasim Abdulkadir, Tuggar’s adviser on media and communications strategy, the minister said the recall of Isola on Friday was applicable to all ambassadors.

In a letter dated August 31, the minister said Tinubu had recalled Isola and asked him to return to Nigeria by October 31 at the latest, after taking formal leave from his host government.

On Tinubu’s behalf, Tuggar thanked the outgoing High Commissioner for his service and wished him well in his future endeavours.

“Sequel to the inquiries on the letter recalling the Nigerian ambassador to the UK, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tuggar, has clarified that all career ambassadors and non-career ambassadors have been recalled on the instructions of Tinubu,” the statement reads.

“Ambassadors as representatives of the country serve at the behest of the President and it’s his prerogative to send or recall them from any country.”

There was no mention of when their would-be successors would assume office.

The Cable

At least nine worshippers have been reported killed in an attack by suspected terrorists in the Saya-Saya community in Ikara Local Government of Kaduna state.

The member representing Ikara local government at the state’s House of Assembly, Alhassan Muhammed, reported that the assailants attacked two communities.

“The sad incident happened on Friday after Insha’i prayer, the gunmen invaded the Saya-Saya town on a motorcycle with sophisticated weapons.

“They started shooting inside and outside the mosque during the night prayer, killing seven people inside the mosque and two others in the neighbourhood.

“The Kaduna State government, the local government councils and other stakeholders are on top of the situation to prevent the recurrence of the ugly incident,” the lawmaker said.

A witness, Dan-Asabe Ikara, said two other people were killed by the same attackers at Tashin Dauda – a neighbouring community while fleeing from the scene of the attack.

“I was there when the incident happened, we were praying. I was at the mosque premises, and two of the attackers covered their faces and approached the mosque before they started firing.

One of them (attackers) blew a whistle, and one other said “we have arrived” before they started firing indiscriminately at the worshippers.

They killed six people inside the mosque, and the seventh victim died at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, in Kano State, before being attended (to) by a medical doctor,” Ikara said.

Police spokesperson in Kaduna, Muhammed Jalige, could not be reached immediately for comment.

Calls made to his phone number did not connect. He also did not reply to an sms sent to him requesting comment.

PT

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered outside a French military base in Niger's capital Niamey on Saturday demanding that its troops leave in the wake of a military coup that has widespread popular support but which Paris refuses to recognise.

The July 26 coup - one of eight in West and Central Africa since 2020 - has sucked in global powers concerned about a shift to military rule across the region.

Most impacted is France, whose influence over its former colonies has waned in West Africa in recent years just as popular vitriol has grown. Its forces have been kicked out of neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso since coups in those countries, reducing its role in a region-wide fight against deadly Islamist insurgencies.

Anti-French sentiment has risen in Niger since the coup but soured further last week when France ignored the junta's order for its ambassador, Sylvain Itte, to leave. Police have been instructed to expel him, the junta said.

Outside the military base on Saturday, protesters slit the throat of a goat dressed in French colours and carried coffins draped in French flags as a line of Nigerien soldiers looked on. Others carried signs calling for France to leave.

Reuters reporters said it was the biggest gathering yet since the coup, suggesting that support for the junta - and derision of France - was not waning.

"We are ready to sacrifice ourselves today, because we are proud," said demonstrator Yacouba Issoufou. "They plundered our resources and we became aware. So they're going to get out."

By early evening local time, there had been no apparent outbreaks of violence.

France had cordial relations with ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and has about 1,500 troops stationed in Niger.

On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he spoke to Bazoum every day and that "the decisions we will take, whatever they may be, will be based upon exchanges with Bazoum."

Niger's junta denounced the comments as divisive and served only to perpetrate France's neo-colonial relationship.

France is not the only country with concerns. West Africa's regional bloc ECOWAS has slapped sanctions on Niger and threatened military action as a last resort. The United States and European powers also have troops stationed in the country.

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu, who holds ECOWAS' revolving chairmanship, said last week that a nine-month transition back to civilian rule could satisfy regional powers.

Niger's junta had previously proposed a three-year timeline.

Reuters

Niger’s top court approved the immediate expulsion of France’s ambassador, revoking his diplomatic immunity, according to a request addressed to the court’s president.

The development comes after France’s President Emmanuel Macron rejected the ruling junta’s demand to recall his ambassador a month after a coup disrupted relations between the two former allies.

The military junta that ousted Niger President Mohamed Bazoum gave French Ambassador Sylvain Itte 48 hours to leave the country last week. The deadline expired on Aug. 28 without France recalling Itte.

France says it doesn’t recognize the coup-plotters as the country’s legitimate leaders. Since the July 26 coup, France has committed acts that “violates the Vienna convention regulating diplomatic relations, including the violation of Niger’s airspace and other acts that go against the interests of Niger and its people, ”according to the document. Itte “has refused to leave the country after he was declared persona non grata,” it said.

A junta spokesman confirmed the document.

There have been nine military coups across sub-Saharan Africa since 2020.

Macron pledged to reset relations with Africa when he took office in 2017, becoming the latest president to promise to end Françafrique, as the country’s post-colonial political and economic influence system on the continent is known.

Bloomberg

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Two more ships pass through Black Sea corridor, Zelenskiy says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that two more ships had passed through a "temporary" Black Sea shipping corridor established since Russia withdrew from a U.N.-backed grain export deal in July.

"Two ships have successfully passed through our temporary 'grain corridor'," Zelenskiy posted on X, previously known as Twitter.

The president did not identify the vessels involved or say when they had completed their passage. Officials on Friday said two vessels had cleared the corridor -- bringing to four the number that have used it.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine was "restoring true freedom of navigation in the Black Sea. Freedom requires determination."

On Friday, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister said two vessels had passed through the corridor from the port of Pivdenny: one flagged in Liberia, the other in the Marshall Islands. The vessels were carrying pig iron and iron concentrate.

Russia has blockaded Ukrainian ports since it invaded its neighbour in February 2022, and threatened to treat all vessels as potential military targets after pulling out of the U.N.-backed deal.

In response, Ukraine announced a "humanitarian corridor" hugging the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria.

The grain agreement had allowed Ukraine, a major agricultural exporter, to ship tens of millions of metric tons of produce to other countries during Russia's invasion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Monday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi as Ankara and the United Nations seek to revive the grain export deal.

Russia quit the deal in July after it had been in effect for a year, complaining that its own food and fertiliser exports faced obstacles and that not enough Ukrainian grain was going to countries in need.

** Ukrainian tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky detained in fraud case

A Ukrainian court ordered tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky to be held in custody for two months on suspicion of fraud and money laundering on Saturday, a striking move against one of the country's most powerful businessmen.

The detention of Kolomoisky, who is under U.S. sanctions and is a one-time supporter of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy whose election he backed in 2019, comes as Kyiv is trying to signal progress during a wartime crackdown on corruption.

Defence lawyers said Kolomoisky would appeal the ruling, questioning its legality, but that he would not post bail of almost $14 million in order to secure his release, broadcaster Radio Liberty reported.

After a hearing at a district court in Kyiv late on Saturday, Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine's richest men, was shown being led away in a blue tracksuit jacket in television footage. He could not be reached for comment.

The Security Service of Ukraine announced the case against Kolomoisky on Saturday morning, publishing photographs on Telegram Messenger showing him being served documents by security officers and signing them.

"It was established that during 2013-2020, Ihor Kolomoisky legalized more than half a billion hryvnias ($14 million) by withdrawing them abroad and using the infrastructure of banks under (his) control," the agency said in a statement.

After the ruling, Zelenskiy appeared to allude obliquely to the case in his evening address, thanking law enforcement agencies for showing resolve in bringing long-running cases to justice.

"Without a doubt, there will be no more decades-long 'business as usual' for those who plundered Ukraine and put themselves above the law and any rules... The law must work," he said.

WARTIME CRACKDOWN

Kolomoisky is seen as one of the class of oligarchs who amassed huge industrial wealth after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and wielded outsize political and economic influence.

Before Russia's February 2022 invasion, Zelenskiy and his team passed legislation requiring oligarchs to register and to stay out of politics. The war has eroded the oligarchs' power as industrial assets have been destroyed in the east and south, and their television channels have been broadcasting under a centralised signal.

Before winning the presidency, Zelenskiy rose to prominence as a comedian and played the role of president on a show aired on a Kolomoisky-owned TV channel. He denies Kolomoisky has had any influence over the government.

During the war, Zelenskiy has emphasised Ukraine's crackdown on corruption as Kyiv has applied to join the European Union and hopes to secure tens of billions of dollars to help rebuild the country after a war which has no end in sight.

Kolomoisky's detention is not the first wartime move involving him.

Last November, the state took control of stakes in major strategic companies, some of which were associated with the businessman, invoking wartime laws to help the war effort.

Earlier this year, security officials searched Kolomoisky's home in connection with a separate investigation into embezzlement and tax evasion at the country's two largest oil companies partially owned by him.

Kolomoisky is a former owner of leading Ukrainian bank PrivatBank, which was nationalised in late 2016 as part of a clean-up of the banking system.

He has owned assets in the energy, banking, and other sectors, including an influential television channel.

The United States imposed sanctions on Kolomoisky in 2021 "due to his involvement in significant corruption". U.S. authorities have also alleged Kolomoisky and a business partner laundered stolen funds through the United States. Kolomoisky has denied any wrongdoing.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine’s Western backers are ‘pro-Nazi coalition’ – Medvedev

Washington and its allies in Europe and elsewhere continue to support Kiev despite it acting increasingly like the Nazis during World War II, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a Telegram post on Saturday. Moscow should abandon hope of reconciling with the West and see it for what it is, he believes.

The leaders of Ukraine are “increasingly talking about ‘holding all Russians accountable’,” Medvedev said, adding that Kiev sees all Russian citizens as ‘Russians’ regardless of their ethnic background. In a thinly veiled reference to the Nazis’ plans for the Soviet Union, the former president said that the world had already seen similar aspirations.

Medvedev noted that Ukraine is still being supported by almost every single Western leader, as well as by the heads of Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. All of them “are direct and obvious Nazi accomplices,” he stated, adding that “they should be treated as the leaders of a pro-Nazi coalition.”

The former president, who now serves as the deputy head of Russia’s National Security Council and the Military Industrial Committee, then insisted that Russia should not “lapse into sweet daydreaming” about achieving reconciliation with the West and joining what he called a “big polyamory family of non-binary genders.”

Medvedev had earlier condemned what he called open glorification of Nazism in Ukraine, pointing to an initiative calling for the establishment of the Stepan Bandera Order that would supposedly be awarded to Ukrainian servicemen. Bandera was a notorious Ukrainian nationalist leader during World War II whose organization was responsible for mass killings of Jews and Poles in Ukraine.

The petition requesting the creation of such an order in Ukraine appeared on the official website of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in May. It has since received nearly 2,300 signatures of the required 25,000.

Medvedev blasted the initiative by comparing it to Germany establishing an order of Adolf Hitler or Italy introducing an order of Bennito Mussolini. “What is there to be ashamed of?” Medvedev mockingly wrote on Telegram at the time. “Let’s just glorify all European Nazis at once. This appears to be the new European ideology,” he added.

** Battlegroup Dnepr hits UAV control center, storage site for Ukrainian forces’ weapons

Servicemen of Russia’s battlegroup Dnepr hit the control center of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Kherson area, as well as the storage site for weapons and armored combat vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces, the head of the battlegroup’s press center Roman Kodryan told TASS.

"Fire damage was inflicted at the place of storage of weapons and armored combat vehicles and the control point of unmanned aerial vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces," Kodryan said.

He also said that an American-made M777 howitzer was destroyed near the settlement of Ingulets.

In total, according to him, over the past day, in the course of counter-battery combat units of the battlegroup Dnepr carried out more than 50 fire missions against Ukrainian positions.

"Mortar crews and D-30 artillery pieces were destroyed in the area of the settlements of Goncharnaya, Burgunka, Verovka and Otradokamenka," Kodryan added.

Reuters/RT/Tass

Akinwumi Isola’s Efunsetan Aniwura, (1981) his first play written in 1961-62 while he was a student at the University of Ibadan, is highly celebrated. It is a historical drama which reflects proceedings of the 19th century reign of the heroine, second Iyalode (Queen of women) of Ibadan, Efunsetan Aniwura. Aniwura – one with a surplusage of gold – a fiery, Egba-born but wealthy Ibadan slave owner and merchant, held the title from 1867 – 1874. The unwritten law among the coffle of slaves she kept was that no female slave must get pregnant. Thus, when Adetutu, one of her female slaves was audacious enough to get impregnated by a fellow slave called Itawuyi, upon hearing the news, Efunsetan’s immediate but fierce retort was, afefe ti fe, a ti ri’di adiye! Translated, it means, the wind has blown and the hidden rump of the fowl has been exposed.

So many reasons have been adduced by historians for Efunsetan’s outlawing of procreation among her over 2,000 slaves. One was the emotional instability she emerged with from the death during labour of her only daughter child in 1860. This necessitated an absence of a progeny to inherit her tremendous wealth. This powerful Ibadan woman chief, aside her many slaves, also owned several farms, exported agric produce to Porto-Novo, Badagry and Ikorodu and traded in tobacco, while also manufacturing a local product called Kijipa which she exported to America. Efunsetan also traded in arms and ammunition and was on record to have granted credit facilities on ammunition she sold to Aare Latoosa and his warriors in 1872 while they were on military expeditions.

As a result of the psychotic depression she got from her barrenness, Efunsetan took out Providence’s denial of a child on her slaves. She inflicted unbridled injury on them through verbal abuse, corporal punishment, threat of killing them – Orun la’la! – and in some cases, cold-blooded murder. To God, who she regarded as the architect of the tragedy of her barrenness, Efunsetan vented her spleen on every of His creations, the society He created and her neighbours. She once ordered her slaves to beat Old Ogunjinmi, a palm dresser, to death, his crime being encroachment on her property. Efunsetan also punished her male slaves for tardy execution of their daily chores by tying them to trees. She also blatantly refused to assist anyone in need (reference to the brusque maltreatment she gave Akinkunle, who sought financial assistance for his ailing son). All in all, historians claimed that Efunsetan ordered the decapitation of over 41 slaves, including pregnant Adetutu. This cruelty was one of Aare Latoosa’s three-count charge against Efunsetan, leading to her deposition as Iyalode on May 1, 1874. Though she paid all the fines levied against her for these obviously politically motivated allegations, she was murdered in what was regarded as state murder, orchestrated by Latoosa, through two of her slaves, on June 30, 1874.

However, a feminist re-reading of Akinwumi Isola has accused him of recuperating and contextualizing, within the Yoruba socio-political and economic narratives of the late18th and early 19th centuries, a continuation of the masculinist oligarchy of traditional Africa in the play. The unbridled cruelty which he painted of his eponymous protagonist and heroine, Efunsetan Aniwura, is perceived to be a fictionalized misrepresentation of the great heroine, especially taking into consideration the unequal relations of power between the male and female gender of the time. Indeed, several studies have vilified Isola for unfairly reinforcing this image of a wicked, atheist and self-centred woman in his perceived pejorative representation of Efunsetan.

The Efunsetan Afefe ti fe, a ti ri’di adiye expresses excitement at the final unraveling of a long-held secret, the denouement of a cryptic play whose ultimate exposure ends in tragedy. Literally, the hen’s naked and ugly rump is hidden from view by feathers that give it a seeming aesthetic beauty. The moment the breeze blows the feathers, exposing the contours of the rump, the hen is presented to the world in its original form – the bumpy, uneven surface – as opposed to the smooth, feathery assemblage of quills that the world saw hitherto.

Last week, Ogun State quaked like a city afflicted by a thunderstorm. Respected journalist-turned politician and Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government, Wale Adedayo, was the wind that blew the feathers off the Ogun hen’s rump. As the thunderstorm raged, it left hanging in the space a foul and smelly tang that was offensive to the nose. In a petition addressed to former governor of Ogun state and a leader of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) Olusegun Osoba, copies of which were sent to the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Adedayo called for the investigation of Governor Dapo Abiodun, alleging that he was a kingpin of the mismanagement of local government funds in the State. Specifically, the now suspended chairman claimed that Abiodun withholds statutory allocations paid to councils in the state from the federation accounts. He also alleged that this blind thievery began immediately Abiodun took over the reign of office in May, 2019, leading to “zero allocation” of funds to develop the councils.

Adedayo also claimed that ecological funds due to the councils too had “developed wings without trace” as well as an N8 billion sum released by the Buhari government to the 20 local governments under the SURE-P assistance. This, he said, was also swallowed by the Abiodun administration, with no single payment to the councils. Adedayo claimed that upon enquiry from the state government, the councils were reportedly told that the deductions were due to funds the councils reportedly owed the state government, to which Adedayo said, “But I know for a fact that my Ijebu East Local Government is NOT owing Abeokuta one Naira!”

Allegations of theft of local government monies by state governors in Nigeria have had a long gestation. Several scholarly offerings in the area of local government administration have contextualized the local government as where the elusive redemption of the poorest of the poor of Nigerians can come from. This is because of its centrality and proximity to the grassroots of locality administration. However, local government administration is itself suffocating under the strangulating hold of corruption and fief grips of state governments who see them as cash cow where they can get easy largesse, allegedly filching the bulk of their heists from them and resulting in total asphyxiation of grassroots governance. Farida Waziri, former EFCC Chairman, in discussing this blight of corruption, once noted that “…waste of government resources at the council level had reached monumental proportions. The local government council in the country could not explain the mismanagement of over N3.313 trillion allocated to them in the last eight years. ...a whopping sum of N3,313,554,856,541.79 was allocated to local government across the country.”

Local governments did the magic of the highly talked about developments in Nigeria during the First and second republics. From locally sourced revenues like tenement rates, motor park fees and allied taxes, councils raked in sufficient money to construct roads, bridges, award scholarships to deserving students in their localities and had enough for other social services. However, since the Ibrahim Babangida government, local governments have gradually lost steam, arriving at this lamentable intersection where governors have collectively offered to be pallbearers of the remains of council administration. The most dispiriting aspect of cries about massive bleeding of the blood of local governments is that successive federal governments, though aware of this fraud, have kept silent.

To ensure that their thievery of local government funds goes undetected, many of the 36 state governors perfected several methods of hiding the sleaze and the loot. In a Premium Times report, the authoritative newspaper was told by sources among local government chairmen in Ogun State that monies enter council accounts in the morning, and they develop wings by evening.

The other pattern adopted by some state governors, which I have on good authority is also deployed in Ogun State, is swearing council chairmen to traditional oath. The recitation of the oath is that anyone who swears to it would never reveal the cryptic details of the local government heists. A traditional African justice system concept, oath-taking involves some curse and attracts the wrath of the gods for sanction against breaking of allegiance. Promises and covenants made during recitation of the oath must never be broken and if this is done, curse is believed to land heavily as recompense upon the perjurer for breach of promise.

I was told that the Ogun chairmen, shortly after they took office, were made to swear to the oath of non-disclosure of details of the council heists. Adedayo, known by the sobriquet, Babalawo, steeped in the practices of traditional Africa, must have been persuaded to squeal by his conscience and the means he possessed to unlock the code of the oath he took alongside the other chairmen.

But for the fact that EFCC and ICPC are perceived to be either dead as dodo or gasping for breath, some characters should be in the cell now. State governments are alleged to have so compromised operatives of the commissions that they can only bark but would never go after well-heeled and federal government-connected state governments like Ogun to bite them. Otherwise, the modus operandi of discovering the veracity or otherwise of the suspended Ijebu local government chairman’s claims against the Ogun State governor are too clear for any feigning of pretense.

Baring its fangs, the state government deployed over 100 policemen and thugs to storm the secretariat of Ijẹbu-East Local Government Area last Thursday. The instruction from above to councilors was to form a quorum to suspend Adedayo as chairman. The Department of State Services was to later detain the Chairman. The Ogun State House of Assembly also began to probe the alleged diversion of Local government funds, directing the state Accountant General and all members of the State Joint Account Allocation Committee to appear before it.

Adedayo deserves commendation by all lovers of truth, accountability and traceability of Nigeria’s joint patrimony for his audacity to be different. This is why, with his graphic revelation of the alleged pattern of stealing of council funds by the Ogun State government, Nigerians should be egged on to equally, severally and jointly ask that the federal government drills down on the truth or otherwise of the allegations. If the Abiodun government is thereafter found not guilty, Adedayo deserves censure for defamation. If the reverse is the case, government should be made public example of so that other governors can loosen their vice grips on the neck of council administration in Nigeria. The Bola Tinubu presidency must show that it has zero tolerance for the incubus of corruption by showing interest in the Wale Adedayo allegations. If it does not, it will be an ugly optic of connivance by government at the federal with its “good boys” in the state to steal the people blind. That Abiodun is a member of the APC as the president makes this need to double down on the allegation of corruption more pressing and auspicious.

Having said this, the twist that immediately occurred after Adedayo had leveled the allegation has not stopped confounding those who had raised cymbals in celebration of the anti-corruption credential of the now suspended council chairman. Shortly after the news of the petition hit town, local government chairmen in Ogun State, led by their leader, Babatunde Emilola-Gazal, were reported to have filed down to beg Governor Abiodun who has the Swords of Damocles hanging over him. In a viral video, the chairmen, like a conquered fiefdom, prostrated to the governor “to forgive” their colleague.

As part of the twist, Adedayo was also said to have been part of the begging crowd, donning agbada. He was alleged to have made spirited attempt to beg the governor to forgive him, saying it was ise Esu, devil’s work. This is why I am personally afraid for the suspended chairman. I doubt if he had heard the fable of afi fila p’erin – the man who killed an elephant with his cap? Fully translated, it is afi fila p’erin, ojo kan ni’yi re mo, meaning the man who kills an elephant with his cap enjoys the adulation of his exploits only for a moment. Gbemisola Adeoti, in his article entitled “‘Border-neutering devices’ in Nigerian home video tradition: A study of Mainframe Films” in the book, African Theatre: Media & performance, edited by David Kerr and Jane Plastow, further drills down on the afi fila p’erin concept. It is a fable of a man who was carried shoulder high for his magical exploit of killing an elephant by merely swinging his cap at the animal. No sooner he had done this than the villagers began to run away from him. “The man who kills an elephant with his cap will soon earn the reputation of a murderer…It is a lesson in moderation, a value that is grossly lacking in post-independence politics in different parts of Africa,” said Adeoti.

If Adedayo didn’t understand this, he should then race down to I. B. Akinyele’s highly authoritative Iwe Itan Ibadan which contains a far more believable and relatable story with same teaching. Akinyele was Olubadan of Ibadan from 1955-1964. In the late 19th century, Ibadan took wars to neighbouring Yoruba towns, one of which was to Ilesa in today’s Osun State. The war was called Ogun Ilesa and it occurred in the late 1860s. Balogun Akere, highly resented among other warriors, led the battle for the Ibadan. There was thus mutiny among the Ibadan forces who perfected plans to get rid of their army General. As the warriors sat on how best to commit the regicide, one of them called Ajobo Seriki, originally from Ikire, cleared his throat and told them that if the Ibadan warriors would promise not to pay him with evil, he would help rid them of their General. According to him, he had a loin cloth, bante which, upon wearing it, and if he prostrated even to an Iroko tree, it “would fall before daybreak.” If he thus wore it to prostrate for Balogun Akere, within three days, he would die. When he was given a collective go-ahead and he went on all fours before the Balogun, the General died on the third day in 1869. His friend, Oyewo, also died the third day and it was reckoned that Ajobo Seriki prostrated to him as well. From the war front, Balogun Orowusi was appointed as his successor and he later became Baale, the head chief of Ibadan.

When the war ended and they got back home in Ibadan, an inner conspiracy among the chiefs of Baale Orowusi erupted and it was directed at Ajobo who had now been made Balogun. Ajobo had become stupendously rich and highly loved for his generosity and philanthropy. This further incensed the other chiefs, coupled with Ajobo’s own arrogance of power. For instance, when an Owa of Ilesa was to be appointed and emissary was sent to Ibadan to pick a nominee, it was to Ajobo the emissary went and he handpicked a nominee. This riled the other chiefs who ran after the emissary and the nominee and killed them. This became the main charge against Ajobo, reified by the chiefs and Baale Orowusi who ordered Ajobo to leave town or commit suicide in June 1871. Ajobo however enlisted kings like the Alaafin, Awujale, Alake and Aseyin to help him make peace with Orowusi and the chiefs. The Ibadan monarchy had already acceded to this mediation, especially when Ajobo promised to come the following day to prostrate to them for atonement when, overnight, someone went to the chiefs to ask if they had forgotten that it was Ajobo who prostrated to Balogun Akere which led to his death. The next day, the conspiracy thickened and Ajobo was asked to leave Ibadan or commit suicide. He chose the former and early in the morning of a day in August 1871, on his way out on exile to the Ijebu area, to hand over the staff of office back to Baale Orowusi, he prostrated to him. Orowusi died that month.

The two stories of Afi fila p’erin and the fall of Ajobo should tell the suspended chairman of Ijebu East local government that, as commendable as his anti-corruption fight is, it contains gross implications. First, in a Nigerian politics that shares physiognomy with cesspool, it may mark the end of his sojourn with politicians at the top because he has killed elephant with a cap and murdered Ogun State’s Balogun Akere with his bante. Second, such fights as his, akin to biting the bullet, are battles of no return. Only proper valiant undertake them. No one fights such battles haphazardly. Once a fighter places their hands on the plough, it would be a fatal mistake to turn back. As the Yoruba say, he who differently seeks the head of an ahun – tortoise and its legs cannot but have the totality of the ahun. The chairman should ask the biblical Lot’s wife why she turned to a pillar of salt. It was half measure determination. Again, no one stands under a roof and throws stone at the rooftop. After writing such damning petition, the now suspended chairman should have tendered his letter of resignation. The rest battle should have been fought from without.

And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi …. And straightway the damsel arose ~ Mark 5:39-42.

Introduction

Every good thing that has ever happened in your life happened because something changed. By the same token, every good thing that will yet happen to you will wait until you create an atmosphere conducive for it. Certain things must change in your life-space before the untoward situations around you can change.

George Eliot said: “it is never too late to be what you might have been". Nonetheless, if you want to enjoy supernatural interventions, you must defiantly refuse to be a captive of any negative environment in which you ever find yourself (Isaiah 30:15). This is a regular fact in the realities of life!

Undoubtedly, the spiritual environment and the spiritual atmospheric conditions around you play major roles in your capacity to receive divine intervention, and to maintain the blessings of God.

Whether you want personal miracles, or you’re hoping to become significantly relevant to God with great impacts on your trail, the demand remains strong for you to follow the Master in the spiritual art of regulating spiritual environments (Mark 5:40). You must long to know what to allow or forgo in life.

The spiritual atmosphere you create (or allow) in your habitation determines the quality of life you will live. Why? The atmosphere around you creates what grows inside of you and, hence, determines the future of your spiritual strength or weakness.

Recently, a friend sent me the following beautiful lines via a cyberspace messenger. Even though the author is unknown, but I think it's worth sharing.

It reads: “When God created the fish, He spoke to the sea; when He created trees, He spoke to the earth; but, when He created man, He spoke to Himself”.

It states further: “Take a fish out of the water, it will die; pull a tree off the ground, it will also die. Hence, when man is disconnected from God, he dies spiritually”.

The major takeaway from the above is that God is our native environment, our natural habitat, and we were created to live in His presence. As His offering, we must stay closely connected to Him. In Him is the essence of our lives: “in Him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

Meanwhile, God normally reveals Himself to us in our solitude: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalms 46:10). We seldom get the Word of the Lord in the midst of a noisy crowd.

The influence of the Lord in our lives is proportional to the quality and quantity of time we spend with Him (1 Samuel 9:27). We must, therefore, condition our life-spaces, our habitations and the spiritual firmament around us to host the presence of God.

This is both possible and achievable! More so, it’s a responsibility, which we must accept enthusiastically. Quite unfortunately, however, just like Ed Silvoso observed, "For far too long, we have left control of the spiritual climate in the hands of the devil".

Even if we cannot outrightly change the spiritual atmospheric conditions, we can significantly alter their harsh impacts upon our lives. Like we normally regulate our physical atmosphere with air conditioners, air dryers and heaters, whenever it becomes unfavorable, we must also accept responsibility to regulate our spiritual atmosphere (1Corinthians 11:14).

We must eliminate doubt, hypocrisy, unbelief, godlessness, levity, etcetera, and replace them with faith and confidence in the integrity of the spoken Word (Genesis 19:17). Then, the destruction of the present shall be simultaneously eliminated, and our tomorrow shall be a beautiful wonder to behold (2 Kings 19:30).

The Price of Changing the Atmosphere

Meanwhile, whenever you decide to create a spiritual atmosphere conducive for God’s intervention around you, there are certain irreducible minimum atmospheric conditions to consider. These include the ambience of healthy relationship with God’s Word, love and compassion, eagerness of faith, genuine worship and positive actions.

The Word of God is a living entity (John 6:63). Hearing, reading or speaking the Word opens you up for the supernatural intervention (Psalms 33:6). Speaking God’s Word sparks the atmosphere with light and power.

Each time the Word is spoken from a sincere heart, divine light is turned on, and our destinies find engagement with supernatural illumination. This is vividly demonstrated in the creation details. God said, "let there be light: and there was light" (Genesis 1:3). Divine light automatically terminates darkness and its nefarious work.

There is creative power in the spoken Word (Matthew 21:21-22). We must stay on top of this if we want our spiritual environments to become rich in God’s glory, power and abundance.

This may call for some cost and, especially, painstaking devotion to deploying spiritual arsenals of truth. But, it is worth the cost! We’re enabled to put under any situation that’s incongruent with God’s agenda, or any element that attempts to work against our expected miracles (2 Corinthians 10:4).

It may even call for a wrestle (Ephesians 6:12). However, our victory is assured. When Jesus changed the atmosphere, the dead damsel arose, and walked to the amazement of all (Mark 5:41-42). Alleluia!

The Arena of Our Flight Is Here

Brethren, I firmly believe that the angels of God are swinging into the mode of dramatic interventions on our behalves, right now.(Ezekiel 1:14). They’re ready to impart strength for dizzying testimonies, but, we must never refuse Him that speaks from heaven (Hebrews 12:25).

You were blessed, raised and seated in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3; 2:6). You were empowered to be whomever God has called you to be, to do whatever He has chosen you to do, and to have whatsoever He has positioned you to enjoy.

These include victory, health, wealth, promotion, on-time supernatural intervention, good marriage, eternal bliss, etcetera. These facts remain unchanged whether you feel or look blessed or not.

Friends, shake off those old mindsets right now. Continuously adjust the spiritual atmosphere around you, ensuring it’s ever favorable for supernatural intervention. Firmly believe and act as you declare God’s truth over your life with faith and confidence.

Live a lifestyle of holiness, obedience and discipline. Be sincere. Be generous. Stand rightly in God’s presence; surely you’ll soon begin to enjoy the fullness of His supernatural provisions, and every negative cycle in your life will break off by fire (Luke 8:40-56).

Today, I sack every spirit that contradicts your joy and miracles. I put an end to every devil that secretly works against your supernatural expectations. You won’t miss this, in Jesus Name. Amen. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

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