Exports of Nigeria's Forcados grade of crude oil resumed on Sunday, a Shell spokesperson said on Monday, roughly a month after loadings of the medium sweet grade were suspended because of a potential leak at the export terminal.

Sources had told Reuters that exports of the grade, which was scheduled to ship 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July, were halted on the evening of July 12 after workers saw fumes near a single buoy mooring where oil was being loaded onto a vessel.

A single buoy mooring is essentially a floating loading facility that allows large tankers to moor offshore to discharge cargoes.

Shell confirmed that injections into the terminal had been curtailed after the report, though no force majeure was declared.

The Shell spokesperson said the cause of the suspension would be determined by a joint investigation between company and community representatives in tandem with government agencies.

The suspension of Forcados loadings contributed to Nigeria becoming the second-biggest contributor to the drop in OPEC crude oil output in July, a Reuters survey showed.

Reuters

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says it would mobilise its members to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike if the current price of petrol increases.

Joe Ajaero, president of the NLC, spoke on Monday at the African Trade Union alliance meeting in Abuja.

On Sunday, oil marketers hinted that the pump price of petrol would rise to over N700 per litre if the Naira continues to depreciate against the dollar, especially at the parallel market.

Currently, petrol is being sold at N617 per litre in many parts of the country and N577 in Lagos.

On several occasions, organised labour had criticised the hike in the price of petrol, saying the federal government must provide palliatives for workers over the removal of subsidy.

At the event, Ajaero said the Nigerian workers will not give any notice of strike if petrol price increases in the coming days.

“As we are here they are contemplating increasing the pump price of petroleum products and the federal ministry of labour and employment, for some time now, will only go to the federal ministry of justice to come up with injunctions to hold the hands of labour not to respond,” he said.

“Let me say this, Nigerian workers will not give any notice if we wake up from our sleep to hear that they have tempered with prices of petroleum products.

“They have started floating ideas of a likely increase in the pump price of petroleum products.”

BACKGROUND

On July 26, NLC issued a seven-day ultimatum to the federal government to reverse all “anti-poor” and “insensitive” policies.

The policies, the union said, included the recent hike in the price of petrol, and the sudden increase in public school fees, among others.

However, the federal government said the unions were restrained by an order of the national industrial court from embarking on any industrial action regarding the removal of petrol subsidy.

The government also said the order prohibited the NLC and affiliates from holding protests across the country.

Despite the government’s stance, organised labour led its members to nationwide protests on August 2.

Consequently, the federal government initiated contempt proceedings against the unions for allegedly defying the order restraining them from embarking on industrial action.

The protest was later suspended on August 3 after leaders of the unions met with President Bola Tinubu at the presidential villa, in Abuja.

The Cable

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says its MI-171 helicopter on a casualty evacuation mission has crashed in Niger state.

Edward Gabkwet, spokesperson of NAF, who announced the incident in a statement on Monday, said the helicopter crashed at about 1 pm near Chukuba village in Shiroro LGA of the state.

Gabkwet said the aircraft had departed Zungeru Primary School en route to Kaduna, but was later discovered to have crashed near Chukuba village.

“A Nigerian Air Force MI-171 Helicopter on a casualty evacuation mission crashed today, 14 August 2023 at about 1.00 pm near Chukuba village in Niger state,” the statement reads.

“The aircraft had departed Zungeru Primary School en route to Kaduna but was later discovered to have crashed near Chukuba village in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger state.

“Efforts are currently ongoing to rescue the crew and passengers on board the helicopter, while preliminary investigations have commenced to determine the probable cause of the crash.”

On July 14, a trainer aircraft of the Nigeria Air Force crashed in Markurdi, the Benue state capital.

According to NAF authorities, the trainer aircraft came down during routine training.

No death was recorded but two pilots who were on board were taken to the NAF base hospital in Markurdi for treatment.

The Cable

A major, no fewer than 10 Soldiers and unspecified number of local vigilantes have been killed by gunmen in Zungeru in Wushshi Local Government Area in Niger state.

Eight others soldiers were seriously injured during the gun duel on Sunday with the bandits.

The Bandits were said to be numbering about 70 and fully armed with sophisticated weapons.

The soldiers were also said to have fought the gunmen to a standstill, eliminating over 30 of them, while several others sustained gunshots injuries and are currently hiding in the bush as the soldiers were said to have reinforced to lunch another offensive against them.

The soldiers, it was gathered were ambushed by the bandits while on their way to respond to a distress call from Akare community where the bandits had gone to rustle cattle.

The soldiers, it was further gathered, were given wrong information as to the movement of the bandits, hence they ran into ambush by the bandits.

According to a source close to the community, about 30 of bandits were killed in the encounter with their bodies left in the forest while those that were injured were ferried away by members of their gang to the bush.

It was further gathered that the bodies of the slain soldiers were deposited at the Federal Medical Centre Zingeru before they were evacuated Monday morning to unknown destination.

As a result of the incident civilians in Akere, Wushishi and neighboring communities have abandoned their homes and are now taking refuge in Zungeru town.

Efforts to get confirmation of the incident failed as the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Security Tareek Abdulrahim did not pick several calls to him.

Sun

A Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City, Edo State capital, has affirmed Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.

This was disclosed in a statement issued Monday evening by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh.

The case with No: CA/B/93/2023, which was filed by Lucky Shaibu against Abure and five others, was dismissed after a unanimous decision by three Justices - Abadua, Fatima Akinbami and Sybil O. Nwaka-Gbagi.

The plaintiff, Shauibu who was a member of the Labour Party Executive in Ward 3 in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State, had allegedly suspended the chairman of the Labour Party.

However, in his lead judgment, Abadua affirmed the decision of the High Court of Edo State and held that one man cannot suspend the national chairman of LP in line with Articles 13 and 17 of the Constitution of the Party and the extant Electoral Act of 2022.

In a swift reaction to the judgment, an excited Abure eulogised the judgment and team of justices who he said refused to close their eyes to the justice of the case.

He said, “I thank the Obidient movement who tarried with me and Peter Obi while the impostor Lamidi Apapa and his adherents who tried to trade off the mandate freely given to the Labour Party with billions of Naira expended by his paymasters in the opposition parties”.

Also, Abure’s lead counsel, Prest Aigbokhan applauded the judgment describing it as a sound and courageous decision.

“It is a landmark judgment that will stand the test of time. Anybody still associating with impostors parading themselves as factional leaders of the party does so at their own peril. Political parties must remain watchdog of national conscience,” he stated.

Hours after the news of the appeal court judgment went viral, the Lamidi Apapa faction of the party kicked against the report, saying the Benin court only ruled on his suspension.

The statement signed by the spokesman of the LP faction, Abayomi Arabambi, insisted that the Abuja High Court Restraining order that recognised Apapa as acting national chairman remains in force.

Arabambi said, “Our party’s attention was drawn to misleading information that has been peddled around by some criminal elements loyal to the police-indicted former National Chairman of Labour Party Julius Abure. Labour Party wishes to state categorically that our complaint in the appeal filed before the court of appeal bothered on his suspension as a member in Article 19(2)A of our party constitution which the three justices of the court of appeal did not take cognisance of and refused to make findings on.

“We are aware of the capacity of Peter Obi and Abure Julius to tamper with court proceedings and documents as evidence in the forgery perpetrated in Abuja FCT high court where the signature and seal of judges were forged by Abure Julius and which he boasted yesterday in Lagos with Peter Obi that nobody in Nigeria can probe or arraigned him in court and three others indicted by the police.

“Surprisingly, the same Abure has a pending appeal in the Supreme Court against this same set of justice which has been filed and served on us to arrest today’s judgment. But since they know it may not fly in the face of the law, Abure resorted to his trademark by engaging the services of unscrupulous elements in the Edo state high court to tamper with the records transmitted. What we don’t know is if Abure has now become the Chief Judge of Edo state to be able to commit any crime and get away with it

“The said missing document is in the transmitted copy with our lawyer and duly paid for, but unfortunately this singular criminal act that aided Julius Abure today at the court of appeal was the reason the three justices base their judgment on the suspension of Julius Abure.”

Punch

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia strikes western Ukraine in large-scale air attack - officials

Russia launched a large-scale air attack on Ukraine's western region of Lviv and the northwestern region of Volyn, hitting a number of buildings, wounding people and forcing evacuations, officials said.

"Many missiles were shot down, but there were also hits in Lviv," city mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that orders were given to evacuate at least one burning apartment building.

The scale of the attack and the full extent of the damage in Lviv were not immediately clear. Earlier, the Lviv region's governor, Maxim Kozitsky, said that "groups of Russian missiles" were headed towards the region.

Until July, the Lviv region which is far from the front lines and which borders NATO-member Poland to its west, had been spared most Russia's air attacks. But in July seven people were killed when a missile slammed into a residential building.

Ukrainian media reported that according to preliminary information, Tuesday's attack was the largest air assault on the Lviv region since the start of Russia's invasion in Ukraine in February 2022.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports and the attacks on the region.

A business enterprise was also hit, injuring at least two people, in Russia's air strike on the city of Lutsk, in the Volyn region, local authorities said on the Telegram.

The Volyn region, north of Lviv, also borders Poland.

Air raid alerts were issued for entire Ukraine for about two hours, staring at around 2 a.m. (2300 GMT).

At least one person was also wounded as a result of Russia's attack on Ukraine's southwestern region of Dnipropetrovsk, where an enterprise was hit and a fire broke out, Serhiy Lisak, the governor of the region said on the Telegram.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces wipe out Ukrainian naval drone production sites in precision strike

Russian forces delivered a multiple strike by seaborne long-range precision weapons against Ukrainian naval drone production and storage sites, destroying all the designated targets over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Monday.

"Last night, the Russian Armed Forces delivered a multiple strike by seaborne long-range precision weapons against the sites for the production and storage of naval drones used by the Ukrainian military for terrorist attacks. The goal of the strike was achieved. All the designated sites were destroyed," the spokesman said.

Russian forces repel six Ukrainian attacks in Kupyansk area over past day

Russian forces repelled six Ukrainian army attacks and counter-attacks in the Kupyansk area, destroying about 65 enemy troops over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Kupyansk direction, six enemy attacks and counter-attacks were successfully repelled as a result of army aviation strikes, artillery fire and courageous actions by units of the western battlegroup," the spokesman said.

The enemy’s losses in the Kupyansk direction in the past 24 hours amounted to "as many as 65 personnel, three armored combat vehicles, two pickup trucks, a German-made Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery system, two Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery guns, a Gvozdika motorized artillery system, a Msta-B howitzer and a D-30 howitzer," the general reported.

Russian forces eliminate 90 Ukrainian troops in Krasny Liman area over past day

Russian forces eliminated roughly 90 Ukrainian troops in the Krasny Liman area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"The Ukrainian army’s losses totaled as many as 90 personnel, three armored combat vehicles and two pickup trucks," the spokesman said.

Russian forces also repulsed two Ukrainian army attacks as a result of professional operations by units of the battlegroup Center, the general reported.

Russian forces destroy 150 Ukrainian troops, two tanks in Donetsk area over past day

Russian forces destroyed roughly 150 Ukrainian troops and two tanks and repulsed six enemy attacks in the Donetsk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Donetsk direction, six Ukrainian army attacks were successfully repulsed by active and well-coordinated actions of units from the southern battlegroup with the support of attack and army aircraft near the settlements of Belogorovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Vodyanoye, Krasnogorovka and Nevelskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

"The enemy’s losses amounted to 150 Ukrainian personnel, two tanks, three armored combat vehicles, five motor vehicles, a UK-made FH70 howitzer and a Msta-B howitzer," the general reported.

In addition, Russian forces destroyed an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian army’s 53rd mechanized brigade near the settlement of Avdeyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the spokesman said.

Russian forces wipe out 240 Ukrainian troops in south Donetsk area over past day

Russian forces destroyed roughly 240 Ukrainian troops in the south Donetsk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the south Donetsk direction, units of the battlegroup East, operational/tactical aircraft, artillery and heavy flamethrower systems inflicted damage on enemy forces in areas near the settlements of Urozhainoye and Staromayorskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic. As many as 240 Ukrainian personnel were destroyed in the battles," the spokesman said.

Russian forces also destroyed three armored combat vehicles, three motor vehicles, two US-made M777 artillery systems and a French-made Caesar self-propelled artillery gun of the Ukrainian army in the south Donetsk direction over the past 24 hours, the general reported.

Russian forces repulse two Ukrainian attacks in Zaporozhye area over past day

Russian forces repulsed two Ukrainian army attacks and neutralized an enemy reconnaissance group in the Zaporozhye area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"Units of the Russian battlegroup supported by artillery repulsed two enemy attacks near the settlement of Rabotino in the Zaporozhye Region and neutralized a Ukrainian subversive and reconnaissance group in the Zaporozhye direction over the past 24 hours," the spokesman said.

Russian forces destroy over 50 Ukrainian troops in Zaporozhye area over past day

Russian forces destroyed over 50 Ukrainian troops, a tank and a US-made artillery system in the Zaporozhye area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

The enemy’s losses in the Zaporozhye direction over the past 24 hours "amounted to over 50 Ukrainian personnel, a tank, two infantry fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, a US-made M777 artillery system, a French-made Caesar self-propelled artillery gun and a Polish-manufactured Krab motorized artillery system," the spokesman said.

Russian forces cripple Spanish-made mortar in Kherson area over past day

Russian forces destroyed a Spanish-made Alakran self-propelled mortar in the Kherson area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Kherson direction, the enemy’s losses in the past 24 hours amounted to 30 Ukrainian personnel, three motor vehicles and a Spanish-made Alakran self-propelled mortar," the spokesman said.

Russian air defenses down 28 Ukrainian military drones over past day

Russian air defense forces intercepted two rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and shot down 28 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"Air defense capabilities intercepted two rockets of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system," the spokesman said.

In addition, Russian air defense systems destroyed 28 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Verkhnekamenka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Donetsk, Gorlovka, Yegorovka, Komsomolsky and Volodino in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Tavolzhanka in the Kharkov Region, Peremozhnoye, Pologi, Kopani and Ocherevatoye in the Zaporozhye Region, the general reported.

Russian forces destroy Ukrainian S-300 air defense battery in Nikolayev Region

Russian forces struck a Ukrainian S-300 air defense battery in the Nikolayev Region over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"Operational/tactical and army aircraft, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groupings of forces inflicted damage on enemy manpower and military hardware in 152 areas. In addition, a battery of S-300 surface-to-air missile systems was destroyed near the settlement of Zelyony Gai in the Nikolayev Region," the spokesman said.

In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 458 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 246 helicopters, 5,736 unmanned aerial vehicles, 430 surface-to-air missile systems, 11,291 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,144 multiple rocket launchers, 5,877 field artillery guns and mortars and 12,225 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.

Reuters/Tass

This will reveal the leader's true intent.

Hundreds of books, articles, and podcasts are published each year offering the answer to the question: How do I lead well?

To really grasp the principles of effective leadership that will lead to results, one primary lesson that many of those books and podcasts won't teach comes down to one short sentence:

Leadership is a heart matter. If the heart is not right, your leadership isn't going to be right.

The heart of a leader has to be focused on serving others first. This will reveal the leader's true intent. It is not a heart motivated by self-interest, status, position, or power. It's a heart that is driven by service and the overarching life philosophy of "How many lives can I impact for the better?"

Time for a tune-up?

To that end, there are things to being a good leader that just cannot be ignored. If you are too busy to put these practices into daily motion, it may be time for a leadership tune-up. Here's what I would recommend getting you running on all cylinders.

1. Be open to feedback

Many autocratic managers view feedback as a threat to their power, self-worth, and position, which explains why they are opposed to it and often react fearfully and defensively to feedback. Great leaders, on the other hand, view feedback as a gift to improve upon their leadership so they can serve others and their mission better. They value truth and honesty and diverse perspectives for bettering themselves and their businesses. Even when feedback is negative, it prompts an exercise in curious exploration to find out where things went wrong so that it doesn't happen again. This is setting your heart right.

2. Develop self-awareness

So many high-level managers get caught up in situational dramas in which they're typically the main character. Since toxic fear or insecurity and false pride operate in tandem to protect their self-interest, it hijacks their thinking and potential for healthy relationships. Great leaders don't react to people or situations, they respond to them by being quick to listen and understand. They apply self-awareness and curiosity to get varied perspectives and won't get riled up or let their emotions sabotage their thought process. They take a step back, assess what happened, and get clarity before their next move. Whatever that next move is, their integrity steps in to end a conflict, help others, and make things better.

3. Pump the fear out of the atmosphere

When fear, uncertainty, and lack of direction permeates the workplace, you begin to see fewer risks being taken and fewer problems being solved. Team members need to feel psychologically safe to be at their best. To create a safe environment for your employees, managers need to do what great leaders do consistently well: pump the fear out of the work environment. First, honor your team's voice by allowing them the space to present ideas and express objections. Second, invest in their success and regularly communicate that their development is a top priority. Finally, set high expectations for team members by giving feedback that ensures they know how valued and valuable they are.

Inc

Oil marketers, on Sunday, indicated that the cost of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, would rise to between N680/litre and N720/litre in the coming weeks should the dollar continue to trade from N910 to N950 at the parallel market.

They also hinted that dealers seeking to import PMS were being forced to put the plans on hold due to the scarcity of foreign exchange to import the commodity.

The warning came barely one week after the local currency crossed the N900/dollar ceiling, with the naira selling at over 945/dollar at the parallel market on Friday.

Oil dealers said the CBN Importers and Exporters official window for foreign exchange, which boast of a lower exchange rate of about $740/litre, had remained illiquid and unable to provide the $25m to $30m required for the importation of PMS by dealers.

This, they said, had led to the suspension petrol importation by dealers who were initially eager to import the commodity.

Operators said that the only marketer, Emadeb, who imported the commodity recently, was now finding it tough to recoup its investment due to the depreciation of the naira.

Senior officials of major oil dealers, who spoke to our correspondents in separate interviews on Sunday, said PMS price hike was imminent unless the local currency appreciates in the coming weeks.

Leaders of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria of Nigeria, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, and Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria said there was a need for the Federal Government to intervene to address the crisis.

The National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, explained that the price of petrol was now driven by the fluctuations in forex, hence Nigerians should expect a hike soon.

Asked whether oil marketers were considering an increase in petrol price, he replied, “Once there is a slack in the naira against the dollar, there is going to be an effect. The demand and supply of forex is a key factor. We should also understand that it is not only petroleum products that use forex.

“Other manufacturers who import one thing or the other are also searching for dollars. So, the surge for dollars has continued to increase. So now that the dollar is hitting N910 to N940, and approaching N1,000, you should expect to buy PMS at the rate of N750/litre.

“It is simple mathematics, once the dollar is going up, have it in mind that the prices of petroleum products would definitely increase because the products are dollar-driven.”

Ukadike stated that oil marketers were still sourcing dollars from the parallel market, as the CBN’s Importers and Exporters official window was illiquid.

“Nigerians should brace for a price regime of between N680 to N720 if the exchange rate stays around N910 to N950/$, but the price is going to hit N750 once the dollar rises to N1,000.

“This is because marketers still source dollars from the parallel market, and not only marketers but virtually all importers in Nigeria. There is no subsidy any more on petroleum products, so you expect the cost to fluctuate with the dollars,” he stated.

The IPMAN PRO also stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited was still the major importer of petrol into Nigeria, though another importer, Emadeb, imported the commodity recently.

“NNPC is still the major importer for now. One other company, Emadeb, imported products recently, but because this product is being sold in naira, getting back their funds is another issue since the naira keeps depreciating, while PMS imports is in dollars.

“This is why it is often difficult to go back and buy again as an independent importer. That is the problem we are facing,” Ukadike stated.

On when Nigerians would start seeing the price increase, he said, “NNPC is like the sole distributor of petroleum products now, so once you see a change in the price of petrol at their outlets, then other marketers will implement it.”

Marketers not importing

Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, alluded to the fact the dealers were not importing petrol despite the fact that the government recently issued licences to about six marketers to bring in products.

Asked to speak on the import of PMS by other marketers and whether they were sourcing forex from the I&E window or the parallel market, Isong replied, “The I&E window is illiquid. There’s no money there.

“To buy products, it costs you between $25m to $30m. You can’t find it in the I&E window. So it doesn’t work and that is why people are not importing.

“We can’t find dollar again, you can’t find it right now. Nigeria has to sort out the security issues in the Niger Delta so that we can increase our daily crude oil output. If we increase it to 1.8 or two million barrels per day, then there’ll be dollar in the market. So we need to stop oil theft.”

FG should intervene

On the apprehension of a possible hike in petrol price, Isong stated that this was inevitable if the dollar continued to rise against the naira, but noted that the government might have to intervene.

“Well, the President himself said in his speech that if they find petrol prices moving too high, they would intervene. We don’t want prices to move too high, nobody wants that.

“So if the dollar continues to climb, we are expecting some sort of intervention from the government based on what the President said,” the MOMAN official stated.

He further explained that PMS was different from diesel in terms of pricing because petrol was newly deregulated.

“The dealer that has bulk of the stock is the NNPC. So it influences the price in the market. Diesel, on the other hand, is different, because it has been deregulated for a very long time. So people will sell petrol depending on their cost structure, loans they took from the banks, forex, etc.

“Many things are put into consideration by dealers before coming up with their selling prices. There’s no one person who sets or controls the price. Nobody is controlling the price of PMS. Right now, NNPC, however, will continue to control the flow of the price. But after a while, that will stop,” Isong explained.

Earlier, the President, PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry, while speaking on the matter, had said, “So long as the naira is losing against the dollar, the price of petrol in our retail outlets will continue to increase. To address this, he called on Tinubu to make sure that Nigeria’s refineries were put back to use.

“We have requested that the President should declare a state of emergency on our refineries in order to speed up their repairs.

“That is the one sure way to go, in order to be able to predict the price of petroleum products, because for now, every PMS you buy in any retail outlet is dollarised,” Gillis-Harry stated.

Meanwhile, CBN last week attributed the continued fall of the naira against the dollar to the diversion of Diaspora remittances to the parallel market.

CBN Acting Governor, Folashodun Shonubi, spoke while delivering a lecture titled ‘Diaspora Remittances and Nigeria Economic Development’ at the National Institute for Security Studies in Abuja.

Shonubi said a lot of Diaspora remittances arrived in Nigeria in dollars and end up in the parallel market without being officially documented.

It is still unclear at what point the Tinubu administration plans to intervene in the market to arrest the unfolding crisis.

Punch

Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (formerly Latter Rain Assembly), Tunde Bakare, on Sunday came hard on President Bola Tinubu over the fuel subsidy removal, describing it as “impulsive”.

He said poor people were being made to suffer for the corruption of a few powerful people benefiting from the subsidy regime, noting the President should have gone after those individuals, and not “punish” Nigerians.

In his state of the nation address titled, “Vice, Virtue and Time: The Three Things That Never Stand Still”, Bakare stated that the removal of subsidy is tantamount to killing Nigerians.

In 2012, Bakare convened the Save Nigeria Group (SNG)which protested against the removal of fuel subsidy by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

In his address, the preacher said the President should rather kill corruption and not Nigerians, whom he noted, are now bearing the “brunt of the capricious policies of political actors and the greed of a colluding elite.”

He said, “From a wrongly implemented naira redesign policy to an impulsive fuel subsidy removal announcement, and from a drowning of purchasing power in an attempt to float the naira, to an unbearable increase in the cost of basic amenities, the past and recent months have been particularly excruciating for the Nigerian citizen.

“I am talking about employees who have been forced to trek owing to the unaffordable spike in transportation costs; parents struggling to bridge the gap between their life savings and the cost of living; graduates whose chances of getting a job have become slimmer due to the impact of the economy on the labour market; I am talking about that trader whose meagre daily income has further diminished in value due to the dwindling value of the naira; that farmer who looks on in agony as his produce rots on the farm due to transportation challenges, inflation and insecurity; those children who will invariably be sent home in September due to outstanding fees.”

Bakare noted that the announcement by Tinubu in his May 29 inaugural address that “subsidy is gone” despite not being in his inauguration speech, had “unwittingly plunged” Nigeria into chaos by a very poor change management process.

“Whatever the president’s true motivations were, it is clear that he put the cart before the horse. What is also clear is that the president was economical with the truth by giving Nigerians the impression that he was taking a courageous move to remove the fuel subsidy when the previous government had already taken that step.

“As Nigerians would later learn, subsidy payment had already been ended by the Buhari administration, and no subsidy was paid in 2023 even though there was provision for it on paper up to June 2023.”

According to Bakare, the President “in line with change management principles” should have handled more circumspectly the announcement of such an issue that borders on the livelihood of the Nigerian citizen.

He observed that, that would have spared Nigerians “the reactionary scarcity and price hikes that immediately followed his announcement.”

“Furthermore, what is even clearer is that the president had been handed a month of grace by the previous administration; a month that should have been used to put in place cushioning effects before the official expiration of the subsidised economy.

“What is further clear concerning our domestic challenges is that, by imposing hardship on Nigerians without going after those corrupt individuals, corporations and government officials who have plundered Nigeria over the years in the name of subsidy, the president has picked the wrong fight,” he added.

He recalled that the 2012 protest against subsidy removal, saying the fight then was against the corruption in the system, adding, “This was our fight when, amid the threats to my life and family, right there at Ojota and live on national and international television, I called out by name those individual and corporate entities who had allegedly ravaged our nation.

“Mr President, given the complexity of the Nigerian economy, we are not thoroughly convinced that your palliatives will be sufficient to cushion the effect of your policies on the Nigerian citizen.”

He said the demand 11 years ago was for the current occupant of the Office of the President, to “Kill Corruption, Not Nigerians.”

“Some might say that you, Mr President, are too tainted to fight corruption because you were escorted into the presidency by a retinue of corruption allegations. Some might even describe you as transparently opaquely corrupt because, despite the indicators of state capture allegedly linked to you, no one has proved these allegations against you in any Nigerian court of competent jurisdiction.

“Some might argue that even the road you took to the presidency was itself paved with filth from the cesspool of corruption and that you are, therefore, incapable of mounting any genuine fight against corruption. Mr President, while we admit that, as of today, our nation has transitioned from an administration that came to power on the supposed wings of integrity and anti-corruption to one that cannot be described as such, the fact remains that you are today the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with enormous powers to fight against corruption in its hydra-headed forms.”

The Cable

Coup leaders in Niger are open to diplomacy to resolve a standoff with West Africa's regional bloc, a group of senior Nigerian Islamic scholars said on Sunday after meeting the junta in Niamey.

Their visit comes as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) explores its options to restore civilian rule in Niger, including potential military intervention, following the July 26 ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum - the seventh coup in West and Central Africa in three years.

In a sign the bloc is still pushing for a peaceful resolution, ECOWAS chairman and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu approved Saturday's mission to Niamey by the delegation of Islamic scholars, who had vowed to promote dialogue.

The group's meeting with junta leader Abdourahamane Tiani lasted several hours, said Abdullahi Bala Lau, who led the delegation.

"He said their doors were open to explore diplomacy and peace in resolving the matter," Lau said in a statement on Sunday.

Tiani reportedly emphasised the historic ties between Niger and Nigeria, saying the countries "were not only neighbours but brothers and sisters who should resolve issues amicably".

There was no immediate comment from the junta on the meeting, but Tiani's reported comments are one of few recent signs he is open to negotiation.

The coup leaders' previous rebuffs of diplomatic efforts by ECOWAS, the United States and others had raised the spectre of further conflict in the impoverished Sahel region of West Africa, which is already dealing with a deadly Islamist insurgency.

With diplomacy faltering last week, ECOWAS activated a standby military force it said would be deployed as a last resort if talks failed.

For now, the bloc is pursuing efforts for further negotiations. On Saturday, the bloc's parliament said it would ask Tinubu, who holds the bloc's revolving chairmanship, to get his permission to go to Niger, its spokesperson said.

SHORING UP SUPPORT

Any military intervention by the bloc could further strain regional ties as juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea have voiced support for Niger's new military authorities.

On Saturday, Tiani sent a delegation, led by his defence chief General Moussa Salaou Barmou, to the Guinean capital Conakry to thank leaders there for their support - a sign of the junta's desire to affirm alliances as it stands up to regional and other powers.

"We are pan-African. When our people have problems, we are always present, and we will always be there," Guinea's interim president, Mamady Doumbouya, said at the meeting, according to a video shared late on Saturday night by the presidency.

In the footage, Doumbouya - who led a coup in Guinea in September 2021 - did not say whether Conakry's support for the Niger junta would include military backing if ECOWAS decided to use military force. Mali and Burkina Faso have already said they would help defend Niger.

At stake is not just the fate of Niger - a major uranium producer and Western ally in the fight against the Islamists - but also the influence of rival global powers with strategic interests in the region.

U.S., French, German and Italian troops are stationed in Niger, in a region where local affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State have killed thousands and displaced millions.

Meanwhile, Russian influence has grown as insecurity increases, democracy erodes, and leaders seek new partners to restore order.

Western powers fear Russia's clout could increase if the junta in Niger follows Mali and Burkina Faso, which ejected the troops of former colonial power France after coups in those countries.

Reuters