WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine's army reports new gains against Russian forces near Bakhmut

Counterattacking Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 1,400 metres at a number of sections of the front line near the eastern city of Bakhmut in the past day, a military spokesman said on Saturday.

The advance is the latest in a series of similar gains reported this week by Kyiv near Bakhmut, which Russia said it had fully captured last month after the bloodiest and longest battle since it began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

"We're trying...to conduct strikes on the enemy, we're counterattacking. We've managed to advance up to 1,400 metres on various sections of the front," the spokesperson for the eastern military command said, when asked about fighting near Bakhmut.

Serhiy Cherevaty, the official, said in televised comments that Russian forces were themselves trying to counterattack but that they had not been successful.

Ukrainian forces, he said, had inflicted heavy Russian troop casualties and destroyed military hardware in the area.

Reuters was not able to independently verify that assertion or the situation on the battlefield.

Moscow and Kyiv both reported heavy fighting in Ukraine on Friday, with bloggers describing the first sightings of German and U.S. armour, signalling that Ukraine's long-anticipated counterattack was under way.

Russia, which has built extensive fortifications in Ukraine's occupied east and south, said this week that a big push by Kyiv had failed to break through Russian lines.

Britain's Ministry of Defence said that Ukrainian forces have penetrated the first line of Russian defences in some areas but that Kyiv's progress had been slower in others.

Officials in Ukraine, which has been poised to launch a broad counteroffensive for weeks, denies its much-anticipated push has begun and says that when it does it will be obvious.

** Russian strikes kill three in Odesa, hit Poltava air base, Ukraine says

Russia fired missiles and drones at targets across Ukraine in the early hours of Saturday, killing three civilians in the Black Sea city of Odesa and striking a military air field in the central Poltava region, Kyiv authorities said.

The attacks, in which a 29-year-old was also killed in the northeast Kharkiv region according to officials, were the latest in a spate of overnight strikes that Russia has intensified as Kyiv sets its sights on a major counter-offensive.

The Air Force said the attacks involved eight ground-launched missiles and 35 strike drones. Air defence units managed to down 20 drones and two cruise missiles, it said.

"As a result of the air fight, debris from one of the drones fell onto a high-rise apartment, causing a fire," the southern military command's spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk said of the attack on Odesa.

Firefighters battled overnight to put out the fire in the 10-storey block in a residential area of the city, footage released by the military showed.

The morning light revealed a gaping crater in the ground several metres wide next to the damaged building and a children's playground, a Reuters photographer said.

Three people were killed including a couple who lived on the eighth floor of the building and a man who had been outside at the time of the attack, authorities said.

At least 27 other people, including three children, were hurt, the emergency services said.

The first drone strike came around midnight and was followed by three more. Air raid sirens blared repeatedly through the night.

Russia also fired drones and ballistic and cruise missiles at the Poltava region, inflicting "some damage of infrastructure and equipment" at the Myrhorod military airfield, the regional governor said.

Ten drones attacked two areas of the Kharkiv region, which borders Russia and also backs onto the front line, wounding a 39-year-old man and killing one other person, governor Oleh Synehubov.

Ukraine also shot down two drones over the Dnipropetrovsk region where no damage was reported, its governor Serhiy Lysak said.

** Trudeau announces military aid, addresses Ukraine parliament

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $500 million in new military aid for Ukraine during an unannounced trip to war-time Kyiv on Saturday, as Ukraine girds for a counteroffensive against Russian forces and grapples with regular air strikes.

Trudeau paid his respects at a memorial to Ukrainian soldiers killed fighting pro-Russian forces since 2014, met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and addressed Ukraine's parliament.

"We will be there with (you) as much as it takes, for as long as it takes," he said, in footage of the talks released by Kyiv authorities, as he sat across from the Ukrainian leader.

NATO member Canada, which has one of the world's largest Ukrainian diasporas, has supplied military and financial assistance to Kyiv since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Ukraine wants to join the NATO military alliance as fast as it can, but Zelenskiy has recognised that cannot happen while the war with Russia is raging.

"Canada supports Ukraine to become a NATO member as soon as conditions allow for it. Ukraine and Canada look forward to addressing these issues at the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July 2023," said a joint declaration adopted after the talks.

Trudeau was applauded at length as he spoke in parliament for 25 minutes, denouncing the Russian invasion and praising Ukraine's democratic development.

He said Ukraine's resistance was about "the future of us all. You are the tip of the spear that is determining the future of the 21st century."

Zelenskiy said Ukraine was grateful to Canadians for their support and extended thanks.

As Trudeau visited Kyiv, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced that a Russian-registered Antonov-124 cargo plane was seized at Toronto's airport, Ottawa's first such seizure of an asset aimed at putting pressure on Moscow.

The Canadian prime minister was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, a Ukrainian speaker.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

West doesn’t want to listen to Russia’s concerns – Kremlin

The West’s accusations of Russia are an attempt to cover up its lack of desire to listen to Moscow’s concerns, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Peskov made the statement in an interview with Pavel Zarubin for the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin." program, a fragment of which the journalist posted to his Telegram channel.

"There are accusations from Washington, from European capitals that Russia is aggressive and so on. This is just an attempt to camouflage their unwillingness to listen to our concerns," he said.

** Russian forces eliminate about 60 Ukrainian troops in Krasny Liman area

Russian forces neutralized an enemy subversive and reconnaissance group and destroyed up to 60 Ukrainian troops in the Krasny Liman area and an ammo depot in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) over the past 24 hours, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Saturday.

"A Ukrainian subversive and reconnaissance group was eliminated near Chervonaya Dibrova in the Lugansk People’s Republic. Over the past 24 hours, the enemy losses [in the Krasny Liman area] amounted to over 60 Ukrainian personnel, an infantry fighting vehicle, two armored fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, Krab, Gvozdika and Akatsiya self-propelled artillery systems, as well as a D-20 howitzer," Konashenkov said.

According to the general, Battlegroup Center’s aircraft and artillery hit enemy units near Yampolovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Nevskoye and Belogorovka in the LPR, as well as in the Serebryansky forestry area.

"An ammunition depot of the 66th mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces was destroyed near Petrovskoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic," he added.

Reuters/Tass

Sudanese capital quiet as 24-hour ceasefire takes hold

The Sudanese capital Khartoum was relatively calm on Saturday morning as a U.S. and Saudi-brokered 24-hour ceasefire took effect, providing a window for humanitarian assistance and giving the public a break from the intense fighting.

The short ceasefire follows a string of violated truces between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose power struggle erupted into violence eight weeks ago, sparking a humanitarian crisis.

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia said they shared "frustration" over the violations in a statement announcing the latest truce, and they threatened to adjourn the talks, which have continued indirectly, if fighting continues.

The fighting has turned the metropolitan area including Khartoum and its sister cities Bahri and Omdurman into a war zone, and led to conflict in the Darfur and Kordofan regions to the west.

Before the start of the truce at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT), residents reported anti-aircraft missiles firing in southern Khartoum and the Sharg el-Nil district across the Nile, which also saw air strikes.

The fighting has displaced more than 1.9 million people, 200,000 or more of whom have crossed the border into Egypt.

Those who have taken the long journey have complained of poor conditions and long wait times.

On Saturday two people attempting to cross the Ashkeit border said they had been turned back as a new rule had come into effect requiring all Sudanese to obtain a visa before entering Egypt, reversing a longtime exemption for women, children, and the elderly.

"We spent two nights in the neutral territory and now they are turning us back," said Sundus Abbas, a doctor speaking to Reuters by phone from between the countries' checkpoints. "Some people are refusing to leave," she said.

Confirming the new rule, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said authorities had detected "the spread of unlawful activities by some individuals and groups on the Sudanese side" including issuing fraudulent visas.

Egypt did not aim to prohibit entry but to organise it, he said, adding the necessary equipment had been provided for the visas to be issued promptly.

SATELLITE MONITORING

In the week since the last ceasefire lapsed on June 3 there has been intense fighting, including around crucial army bases.

The U.S. State Department said late on Friday it was supporting a platform called the Sudan Conflict Observatory that would release results of satellite monitoring of the fighting and ceasefires.

An initial report by the observatory documented "widespread and targeted" destruction of water, power and telecom facilities.

It also documented eight "systematic" arson attacks that razed villages in Darfur and several attacks on schools, mosques and other public buildings in El Geneina, country's westernmost city, which has seen fierce militia attacks amid a telecom blackout.

A doctors' union in the city called it a "ghost town" and alleged several human rights abuses, including blockading the city, depriving civilians of water, and killing the elderly.

Citizens have said that some of the men who have attacked the city wore RSF uniforms.

Previous ceasefires had allowed some humanitarian access, but aid agencies reported still being impeded by the fighting, bureaucratic control and looting.

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Medical aid agency MSF said on Saturday its staff had been stopped by RSF soldiers and "obliged" to make a statement that was later circulated by the forces.

Sudan's army and the RSF, a parallel force that has operated legally since 2017, fell out over plans to integrate their troops and reorganise their chain of command as part of a transition toward civilian rule four years after a popular uprising ousted strongman President Omar al-Bashir.

Reuters

The Batá is a Yoruba drum that is in a class of its own. It used to be highly venerated in social and political circles as its percussion impacted virtually all spheres of life. It is a double-faced drum shaped by its crafters to look like an hourglass, with one end of it bigger than the other. In the olden days, Bata got deployed mainly during traditional and religious festivals – it occupied a special place in the heart of Alaafin Sango, all his descendants and devotees. In its outstanding place of social pride, the Bata shared spatial recognition with Gbedu, the drum of royalty. In those early years spanning centuries, the Bata’s uniqueness was based on its deployment to connect with the ancestors and the other world. It often cosseted local politicians on outings in village administration. In Cuba where it later migrated to in the 1800s, Bata has played a major role in a religious worship known as Santeria. In the 1950s, Puerto Rico and the United States of America adopted it too as their major drum. Though it has lost its savour today as it is drummed in semi-religious musical entertainments in secular and popular music, whenever the Bata enters a gathering, it distinguishes itself because of its unmistakably unexampled voice and symphony.

However, as unique as the Bata drum is, when it makes its powerful, penetrating rhythm, Yoruba preach caution and warn the drum and its drummer to dance carefully. They say, bi bata ba le l’ale ju, yiya ni ya – when its delicate goat skin leather gets torn, it is cast aside and becomes utterly useless. It is a lethal warning to power-mongers on the slippery terrain of power.

Like Bata, man, no matter how respected, if he wears the alaseju (one who over-flaunts) dress, it gets torn too. Many have wondered why the Bata got the kind of veneration it has had, outside of its unique moulding. Is it its magisterially unique voice that is a rarity among other drums? The black substance gummed on the Bata’s leathery face, or its amoebic but rare make? Made by suturing goat skin on an Omo wood, the Bata’s playing head is uniquely structured from the goat skin. It also has tension straps that are not only durable cowhide but which have proved to be the mastermind of its unique, penetrating and almost ear drum-shattering rhythm. The Bata’s penetrating power at occasions is so pervasive that it instantly becomes the Lord of the Manor. 

Three Bata drums got torn midstream last week. At the apogee of their power and majesty, these drums shared essences with the Bata drum. They were sought after for their penetrating percussions. No gathering was complete without them. They shattered eardrums with the power of their presence. However, like all Bata drums that fail to heed words of advice, these Bata drums got turn and the irritancy that the torn drums provoked got to its highest decibel. As their Bata got brutally torn, gradually, they hit the butt of people’s reckoning, gravitating from being gadflies into wet-flies.

Godwin Emefiele, erstwhile Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor; Nasir El-Rufai, ex-Kaduna State governor and Rauf Aregbesola, ex-Minister of Interior and former governor of Osun State, were poster-boys of power. At the apogee of power, the flaunting of their brawns was legendary. They were the epitome of the grandeur of the top. From another prism, they were the unique masquerade, the Eegun Alare. When this masquerade appears at the market square, there is frenzy. The Bata drummer sustains the frenzy of the Eegun Alare by drumming, in melodic symphony, Oo le se bii baba re – I dare you to match the feats of your forebears; exhibit their uncanny dancing mastery and ferocious hounding of their vicinity. The masquerade, roused to the zenith of his exhilaration, pushes the beast behind the Egungun mask and elasticizes himself beyond limits. In the process, he outdoes himself. He then assumes a level of invincibility that is unearthly, something in the mould of the Friedrich Nietzsche Superman; after all, the Eegun Alare is mythically assumed to be a resident of heaven come to earth. The Egungun then gets transfixed. He operates at the realm of the celestial. His whip trounces without border, even upsetting sacred bounds, including somersaulting in overreaching, dangerous stunts.

In different ways and manners, as Emefiele, El-Rufai and Aregbesola snatched the klieg and became the most negatively talked about persons in Nigeria last week. Their power odyssey points to that English proverb which counsels that the evil men do lives after them. On a lighter note, perhaps what they mirror, the thread that runs through them, is how they signify that classical Shakespearean Caesar and Cassius dialogue. Though unempirical, the dialogue strikes at the core of the relationship between physiognomy and evil. Wary of Cassius and his capacity for treachery, Caesar had said, “Let me have men about me that are fat; Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o'nights: Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.” You would think Caesar was describing the Nigerian trio. 

Lean-look Emefiele was a financial egg-head. An economist and banker of note, Goodluck Jonathan appointed him as Nigeria’s CBN Governor in 2014. Though a native of Agbor in Delta State, some chicanerous folks claim Meffy, his street name, garnered his wiles from the ruff-and-tumble slums of Lagos. Meffy grew in Lagos, even attending the Ansarudeen Primary School and Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School in Lagos. It was only while pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Banking and Finance that he left the shores of Lagos, proceeding to the University of Nigeria in Nsukka. He was said to have come tops in his 1984 class. Meffy’s street wisdom, mixed with mastery of the wizardry of the marketplace, as Bob Marley sang, was his only carriage that pushed him through.

Early in his banking odyssey, Emefiele got to unravel the key that unlocks the hearts of the Nigerian men of power. Its acronym is GGG – Graft, grits and genuflection. Immediately Jonathan exited as president, Meffy effortlessly meandered into the hearts of the next holders of the reins of power. Muhammadu Buhari’s mythic asceticism and incorruptibility had yet to be perforated. So, to Mamman Daura, the president’s cousin and Ismaila Isa Funtua, he gravitated. He was ready to carry their can of excrement to have his space cemented at the apex bank. In a viral photo shot, the CBN Gov was pictured genuflecting by the feet of Funtua. It was a euphemism for the sequestration of the Bankers’ Banker bank. He was alleged to have opened the vaults of Nigeria’s CBN to Buhari’s acolytes and sidekicks, especially with the multiple exchange rate regime he operated by creating a renteer forex system for them. They could round-trip and emerge therefrom with billions of Naira in a jiffy. It was a shock to Nigerians when, on Thursday, May 16, 2019, Meffy became the first CBN Gov since 1999 to get a second term reappointment into office.

Like the Bata drum and the Eegun Alare, Emefiele then began to sound and dance in uncanny dancing steps, ferociously wounding the Nigerian economy as he pandered to the Buhari Villa marionettes. Roused to the zenith of power play, he pushed the beast behind his mask up and bit bullets that no one ever did. His Anchors Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), which, on its face presentation, was targeted at providing loans in kind and cash to smallholder farmers to boost their agricultural production, create jobs, reduce food import bill towards conservation of foreign reserve, became a veil to cover public eyes and siphon Nigeria’s scarce forex into the purses of some Villa rats. While claiming to have benefitted hundreds of farmers, most especially from Buhari’s north, a heist of monumental proportion was alleged to be afoot.

Perhaps, Emefiele’s most damaging bravado was his venturing into partisan politics even as a sitting CBN Governor. As confirmed by the APC Chairman of his ward, he registered as a card-carrying member of the party and purchased the presidential form, hiding behind an amorphous group of friends he claimed purchased it on his behalf. Pronto, as the American slang says, branded vehicles with his name embossed on them appeared in the social media, with no disclaimer from his office. Then, his campaign posters flooded the nooks and crannies of Abuja. It was the most blatant exhibition of Buhari’s final castration by the Villa power cabal and a clear display of his mummified presence in Aso Rock. Not only was the Emefiele move the most unprecedented by any chief of the Nigerian apex bank, it was daringly audacious. This was in vagrant disobedience of the Central Bank Act which frowned at an occupant of such exalted office peeling themselves of their apolitical, independent and nonpartisan apparel. There was not even a single whimper from Buhari.

The last straw, as the cliché goes, which broke the camel’s back, was Emefiele’s Naira redesign policy. While the intent behind it, to wit to frustrate politicians warehousing cash for election purposes, was commendable, its raison d’etre, it was said, was against those who snuffed life out of his presidential bid. In the process, Emefiele literally and metaphorically killed Nigerians in their hundreds and exerted optimal pains on the people. Very many people died due to lack of access to cash while, at the end of the day, the Nigerian politician, who was always a step ahead in chicanery, eventually sidestepped Emefiele’s wiles. The policy, which Buhari openly sheepishly owned, was rumoured to have been an outcome of Emefiele and the cabal’s plan to frustrate Bola Tinubu whose excrement they couldn’t countenance nor stand, even in the toilet. Emefiele’s sack last Friday was thus celebrated on Nigerian streets as a typical example of a Bata drum which over-exaggerated its relevance, exceeded the decibel of its symphony and an Eegun Alare who, in his moment of frenzied stunts, flew inside a burning fire.

The fundamental question to be asked is however that, was Emefiele cut from the zenith of power out of vengeance or the culmination of his numerous atrocities? If it is on the basis of the latter, an impartial investigation into his tenure would suffice. Will the presidency have the guts to invite Emefiele’s rumoured accomplices too, from Buhari himself to the Villa cabal and Abubakar Malami, the man said to have shrouded him with a legal shawl? If however he is being hounded simply out of vendetta, the president would be missing a key point in human philosophy. When you are enveloped by vendetta and the burning need to administer comeuppance on your nemesis, you wake up lost.

Nasir El-Rufai parades a history of political whoredom since his appearance on the Nigerian political scene as DG of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). He was in bed with Atiku Abubakar, the man who brought him out of the brier of obscurity and hoisted him on the political space. The moment Abubakar’s political matrimony to his boss, Olusegun Obasanjo, suffered schism, the young Nasir flew to the next bed for consortium. He crouched beside Obasanjo who in turn rewarded him with ministerial appointment. Then to Yar’Adua and Jonathan he wagged his amorous buttock for the next dalliance.

El-Rufai’s governorship of Kaduna State for eight years paraded a horde of admirable developmental firsts. It however was nil in democratic credentials. Emperor Shaka the Zulu and Nero were his unprofessed mentors, even as he demonstrated palpable lack of human feeling. El-Rufai sent bulldozers to homes of his political traducers at flimsy excuses. In a Nigeria where the fad is for the leadership to ethnicize politics and politicize ethnicity, El-Rufai blandly mirrors this narrow-mindedness. He habours separatist, ethnic and religious superiority, an aberration in a democracy. In a recent five-minute 43 seconds video of his that is currently generating uproar on the social media, he remorselessly narrated how Kaduna would continue to be a totalistic Muslim state, something of the hue of Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran, in a metropolitan environment where there are adherents of other faiths. The Premium Times translated this audio from Hausa. That El-Rufai exhibited such narrow mindset is not the calamity that befell Kaduna; it is the recklessness and the you-can-go-jump-inside-River-Niger mindset behind it. If Shekau or Bin Laden had professed what El-Rufai mouthed as Kaduna state’s ideology under him in that audio, no one would have bothered. Certainly, a self-professed democrat should not have anything to do with such obvious democratic philistinism. When you read that Caesar-Cassius dialogue and compare the description with El-Rufai’s physiognomy, his attendant treachery and weird evangelism, you would wonder whether Shakespeare was a prophet.

This mindset may have explained why El-Rufai’s eight years boasted of thousands of butchering of people in Southern Kaduna, with their careless justifications by his government. One of his sworn critics, Shehu Sani, has had a welter of unpalatable words for him, in and out of office. Perhaps the most encapsulating of them, which seems to explain the relentless shedding of blood in the state, came last Wednesday. “Bigotry is (was) a state policy in Kaduna State for the past eight years. Muslim and Christians were set up against each other for political gains. Religious clerics were drafted and paid to propagate hate and divisiveness. The government purport itself as champion of interest of the Muslims while it inflicted suffering and hardships on the same people. The state government maintained a systemic policy of marginalization and repression of the people of Southern Kaduna because of their faith and political choices. Over the years, some of their leaders were arrested for voicing out. The last act was the proscription of one of their groups,” Sani wrote on his Twitter handle.

Now out of power, with rumoured disenchantment with the APC-led federal government over the position of the SGF that escaped him – a la Shehu Sani – El-Rfai’s innate prostitutive inclination may yet be on automated mode. Tinubu may get ready to receive barbs from a man who Julius Caesar described in unexaggerated narrative.

Then, as they did in Shakespearean drama, curtains opened on Rauf Aregbesola last week. This erstwhile Tinubu acolyte slithered into the media like a rude awakening. Dressing calamity in robes of victory, he drove in an open roof. This was garnished by a crowd whose presence stank of monetary purchase. They were there to hail his entrance into an Osun State which still gnashes its teeth as a result of his eight years of calamitous rule. On a “triumphant entry” into a state he almost set alight due to his extremist ideology, he reportedly lauded Tinubu who he said, without him, he would not have been where he is today. It was the same man he breathed the fire of a Chimera upon in Ijebu-Jesa, in February 2022.

“Only God can terrify us, not man. Go and tell them wherever they are, we own this party… We followed him dutifully with all sense of loyalty… Some people even thought that we were no longer Muslims because of how we cooperated with him. We dealt with him without treachery but we never knew he planned evil for us…We exalted him beyond his status and he turned himself to a god over us and we had sworn to ridicule anyone who compares himself to God. God has no competitor; He is enough to be God…” he said, as if he holds the patent to the key that unlocks God’s heart. The innuendo was not lost on the crowd.

The common twine linking Emefiele, El-Rufai and Aregbesola is their gross mis-use of grace, their adulterous disposition to power and failure to realize its transience. They rode so high that they forgot that there is always a tomorrow when man could walk in a descent down the valley of life. Aregbesola’s exceptional fall from the Kilimanjaro of political relevance lies in his arrogant, immodest sense of arrival at the top of the mountain. Even the ocean does not forget to thank the streams, springheads and rivers that feed it.

The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it ~ Proverbs 10:22.

Introduction:

Undoubtedly, divine blessing is one of the deepest mysteries of godliness. Certainty, Jacob knew this when he insisted on being divinely blessed, refusing to let God go until he got the blessing (Genesis 32:26-29). Even though, he obtained it at a cost of great personal pain, his story changed forever after that experience. We all must practically understand the principles of divine blessing and seek to enjoy it in full.

Greatness is more than success. Whereas success is limited to a particular area of one’s life at a particular time, greatness is a wholesome phenomenon that combines several successes, bringing public recognition and personal fulfillment. Greatness is an immeasurable state of achievement in life.

You are not truly great until some other people become blessed through you (Genesis 12:2). This is what I call significance. Notwithstanding, it is the blessing of God that attracts all the diverse and assorted gifts of grace to the blessed (James 1:17).

Perhaps certain things are not working for you the way you expect presently. Don’t be worried about that; what should concern you is whether or not you are connected to the blessings of the Lord. Mercy surrounds the blessed of the Lord; therefore, no matter what happens, they win and laugh at last (Romans 9:16).

A blessed man is by far greater than a rich man. A rich man is like a lake, but a blessed man is like an ocean. A rich man may become poor and may never fully recover again. But, if the possessions of a blessed man are taken away from him, as with a mysterious magnet, more possessions will be pulled to him again.

In the days of his tribulations, it looked like Job was finished. He lost everything: his family, friends, health, wealth, peace, etc. He became like a man forsaken and forgotten. He was troubled on every side, and the enemy thought, “yes, I got him”. But, God’s Mercy said No! In the end, he got double for all his troubles, because he was a blessed man (Job 1:10; 42:10-17).

Understanding the Nature of the Blessing

Blessing is a divine empowerment to succeed in life (Deuteronomy 8:18). It can rest upon a person or a group of people, an environment, a place, an organization, a thing or things.

Basically, to bless is to declare God’s goodness upon an entity, but real blessing is more than mere words. It is an invocation that comes with the power to accomplish it, especially when spoken under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

The initiative and the final control over divine blessings resides with God. No man can live independent of Him; He is involved in every effectual bestowal of gifts upon sons of men, both temporal and spiritual. Hence, the whole creation depends upon God for its continual existence and function.

The blessing of God is an indispensable accompaniment of great destinies. God called Abraham and commanded him to leave his father's house for a strange land. Knowing that it would be virtually impossible for a seventy-five year old man to make it out there alone, He blessed him.

There is nothing like “too late” for a blessed man. When you are blessed of the Lord, everywhere you go, sooner or later, springs will flow in the desert, the barren land will become fruitful, the crooked ways will become straight, because you are divinely equipped to succeed (Isaiah 40:4)!

The blessing from God is full, rich, unstoppable and void of sorrow. It cannot be revoked even by the man who invoked it (Genesis 27:33). And, it is always a misadventure for anyone to curse the man whom God has blessed (Genesis 12:3; Deuteronomy 23:5). Please remember Balaam (Numbers 24:1).

At this stage, it is very important to note that all true believers in Christ Jesus are under a strong positional blessing, capable of attracting tremendous benefits (Ephesians 1:3). Yes, incredible provisions are made available to us, just awaiting our faith to pull through to partake of its gracious benefits (Galatians 3:9).

God had generously heaped His blessings upon His people so we can reflect His original intentions (Genesis 1:28). His blessing empowers us to the utmost bounds, equipping us to possess the gates of our enemies and to make us ever relevant to many generations (Genesis 22:17-18).

One incredible truth in this regard is that the blessing of God is captured and stored in the gene of the blessed, and it could even be retrieved by faith to empower his offspring after him (Psalms 112:2). In other words, all things being equal, the children of the blessed are blessed (Proverbs 20:7)! Alleluia!!

How To Be Rooted In the Blessing for a Distinctive You

God does not struggle to bless; the power is always there to accomplish His purposes in the lives of men. He said to Solomon in a dream, ‘I have also given thee’ (1Kings 3:13). And that was it. The man lived and died without any equal among men in his time. We must tap into this mercy pool by aligning with its required processes.

The first and the most important step to accessing the blessing of God is to become a child of God by repenting and believing in Jesus Christ (John 1:12). That puts the mark of Christ upon you, and most amazingly, it also recodes your spiritual gene for divinity to  pattern it after Christ’s (Galatians 6:17; Matthew 1:1).

Secondly, you need to recognize, receive and embrace the messenger that God has appointed for you (2 Chronicles 20:20; Hosea 12:13; 1 Samuel 22:23). The general rule is: “the less is blessed of the better” (Hebrews 7:17). In other words, “father-figures” have the positional authority to bless.

“Father-figures” are persons for whose sake God will act to bless other people. Isaac was blessed for the sake of Abraham (Genesis 26:24). And, priests are divinely authorized to bless (Deuteronomy 10:8).

They include your biological or spiritual parents and everyone who has rule over you to guide, instruct, direct, train or teach you in physical or spiritual matters that relate to your progress, growth and development in life.

Meanwhile, as humans, the souls that will courier God’s blessing may require some kind of “excitation”, as it was with Isaac when he blessed his son Jacob after eating the venison (Genesis 27:1-29). The words of a blessing may produce no positive effect unless the spirit-man is engaged (1Corinthians 14:16).

This is how it works: when a great or an anointed soul is made happy, it receives energy (or is provoked) to release the blessing. In that state of enthusiasm, particularly when the soul senses an atmosphere of abiding love, encouragement, care, loyalty and obedience, it releases the blessing (1 Samuel 22:23).

Finally, yield to God’s opinions and show deference to His kingdom matters as a child of God, and you will attract the unassailable blessing of the Most High. Everything you are striving to get is available in a seed form. Obey God, and pour out; serve, give, encourage others, evangelize, and the blessing will suddenly whelm up in your life (Job 36:11).

No one can truly stand out without sacrifice. If nothing burns, nothing moves. When you are mature enough to channel your sacrifice towards God and the demands of His kingdom, you will start to enjoy the power of His Invisible Hand (Matthew 6:33-34).

The blessing of God terminates miseries and woes in the lives of the blessed, and it expressly aborts every satanic operation against them. When a man is divinely blessed, he is blessed, irrespective of who dislikes him or what demerits him. Friends, may you receive the blessing today, and be empowered evermore for God’s glory, in Jesus’ Name. Happy Sunday

** Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

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Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

God is always thinking about us. David says: “How precious it is, Lord, to realise that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!” (Psalm 139:17). 

Therefore, God wants us to be always thinking about Him. God says: “I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.” (Ezekiel 11:5). Indeed, the psalmist provides an essential definition of the wicked: “God is not in all his thoughts.” (Psalm 10:4).

Where is the throne of God? It is not in heaven. It is in your heart. But what sits on the throne of your heart? Anxiety. Worry. House rent. Petrol price. Tinubu. Obi. School fees. Anger. Bad habits. Make room for the Lord in the inn of your heart.

God is so particular; He even keeps a detailed record of how often you think about Him: “Then those who feared and loved the Lord spoke often of him to each other. And he had a Book of Remembrance drawn up in which he recorded the names of those who feared him and loved to think about him.” (Malachi 3:16).

For this reason, one of Jesus’ requirements for discipleship is “Deny yourself.” Stop thinking your own thoughts: “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:7). Accordingly, David prays: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14).

Visible God

God may be invisible to the eyes of flesh, but He is visible to the eyes of faith. Paul maintains that: “Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” (Romans 1:20).

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4).

So, there is no excuse for anyone to deny the existence of God. The scriptures tell us that God’s name is Immanuel, which is translated, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23). He is Jehovah Shamar, the God who is always there. (Ezekiel 38:45). Moses notes that He has been our dwelling place in all generations. (Psalm 90:1). Paul says: “In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28).

John echoes this: “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is made complete in us. We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” (1 John 4:12-13).

He makes His presence felt in us in different ways. He fills us with His Holy Spirit who guides and leads us. He pours His Spirit on us and we dream dreams and see visions. (Joel 2:28). The Holy Spirit sometimes sings all day long in our heart according to God’s word which says: “(God) will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17).

We sometimes feel the warm blanket of His embrace according to the scripture which says: “He shall cover you with His feathers.” (Psalm 91:4). Moreover, God sometimes uses our mouth to speak, and we realise we are not speaking our own words.

He often plays with our emotions. He gives us the peace that surpasses all understanding. He makes us glad and joyful, and He also makes us sad and remorseful when we upset Him. He makes us laugh and He makes us cry. But most of the time, He makes us smile.

Seeing God

It is imperative therefore that we walk in the consciousness of God. To do this, we must: “Not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

This means we must not believe what we see in this world. That rich man boasting on the television is a lie. He does not know that riches are deceitful and that he is actually a pauper. Even the poor man is a lie. He might be a lot richer than he imagines. That powerful president is a lie. All power belongs to God. That successful entrepreneur is a lie:

“Common people are only a whisper in the wind. Important people are only a delusion. When all of them are weighed on a scale, they amount to nothing. They are less than a whisper in the wind.” (Psalm 62:9).

A focus on the vainglories of this world impedes us from seeing the glory of God. This was the predicament of Isaiah. He could not see the glory of God until the vainglory of King Uzziah passed away. So, he says: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.” (Isaiah 6:1).

To live in the consciousness of God, we must embrace the eyes of faith. Do not consider the reports of the flesh. Have no confidence whatsoever in the flesh. Do not pay too much attention to what you see and feel.

The scriptures testify of Abraham, the father of faith, who had his son, Isaac, when he was 100 years old: “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.” (Romans 4:19).

Be like the eagle that can see two miles ahead. Socialise yourself to see things afar off, like the people in the Hebrews Hall of Faith:

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13).

As a result, the scriptures testify that God is not ashamed to be called their God. (Hebrews 11:16).

Be always on the lookout for God. If you are born again, ask Him to open your eyes to see what He is doing in the kingdom of God.

Believing to see

Jesus tells Thomas who refused to believe the report of His resurrection from the dead: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:28). And yet, those who have not seen and believed will see. This is because seeing is not believing. In the kingdom of God, we believe to see.

David says: “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13).  

Jesus told Martha, even though her brother Lazarus was dead and buried: “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:39-40).

When Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of his spirit to be put on him before his departure to heaven, Elijah gave him a simple prescription: “If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” (2 King 2:10).

Promoting God consciousness

To promote God consciousness, we must pray without ceasing. This means having conversations with God about everything and anything. We must be anxious for nothing and fearful of nothing for fear militates against our consciousness of God. Safety does not come from the absence of danger but from the presence of God.

Therefore, David says: “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” (Psalm 16:8). God Himself must be the abundance of your heart. Isaiah says to God: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.” (Isaiah 26:3-4).

God consciousness militates against sin. That is why Paul says: “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16). God consciousness restrains our thoughts, words, and actions. It ensures that the word of God is not just a principle or precept, but a person.

If we have to quote the word of God in crisis situations, it means the word has not been made flesh in us. But if it has been made flesh, we do not have to bring it to our remembrance to apply it in critical situations, the word of God shows up automatically, and speaks to the enemy at the gate.

Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Thus, Jesus said to the devil: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4).

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Tina Hines suffered a nearly fatal heart attack. She was effectively dead for 27 minutes and claims she saw Jesus during that time.

In February 2018, Hines was getting ready to go hiking. Instead, she suffered a heart attack, and her husband Brian jumped to the rescue. He called the ambulance, but it appeared that Tina’s faith was sealed.

The woman from Phoenix was revived six times and spent almost half an hour effectively dead. That’s when she saw the afterlife.

When she finally woke up, she asked for a pen and paper. Her husband recalls, “She just started making marks, and I couldn’t tell what it was, and I was almost shaking. I was fixed. I just held the book steady because I didn’t want it to drop.

He added, “We figured out that she wrote I-T-S-R-E-A-L. ‘What’s it’s real?’ And I go, ‘The pain? The hospital?’… Eyes are closed. She’s fully vented. She’s moving all this. No, and then my daughter goes, ‘Heaven?’ And she goes – she nods yes.”

Tina spoke about the experience, “I just wanted to share that I saw Jesus face to face, and the unbelievable rest and peacefulness of what I was experiencing was Jesus standing there with his arms open wide, and right behind Jesus standing there was this incredible glow it was the most vibrant and beautiful yellow.”

She confidently claims, “Jesus is real. Heaven is real.”

Tina Hines’s niece, Madie Johnson, said, “Her story is too real not to share and has given me a stronger confidence in a faith that so often goes unseen.”

The near-death experiences are rare but not that uncommon. The University of Virginia described it as “intensely vivid and often life-transforming experiences, many of which occur under extreme physiological conditions such as trauma, ceasing of brain activity, deep general anesthesia or cardiac arrest in which no awareness or sensory experiences of any kind should be possible according to the prevailing views in neuroscience.”

NDE or near-death experiences are often life-changing. In 2008, Eben Alexander was induced into a coma. He said he experienced “rebirth” in another reality, with “‘waterfalls flow[ing] into crystal pools” and people dancing.

Betty J. Eadie saw a figure telling her, “It’s not yet your time.”

It was also suggested that people have a flashback of their lives before they die. Ajmal Zemmar speculated if the brain did a flashback, “it would probably like to remind you of good things rather than the bad things.”

He concluded: “I think there’s something mystical and spiritual about this whole near-death experience.”

BuzzLoving

PRESS RELEASE

State of the Nation

We want to seize the opportunity of this major event today to lend our voice to the issues relating to the development of our dear country Nigeria.

It is a critical role of the Church of Jesus Christ within any geographical border to positively impact her system of governance, growth and development, and to clearly contribute towards the delivery of other social outputs that are crucial to nation building.

We thank God for the just concluded election and that Nigeria is on the march again with the new administration to drive the country for better prosperity in the next four years.

But we cannot be oblivious to the facts on the ground which we would like the new leadership to be guided with as it articulates its strategies for the new administration.

Today, it is glaringly observable that, in our beloved nation Nigeria, God’s commandments regarding justice, integrity, humility, love, fairness and equity are being neglected and relegated to the background. This leaves so much room for concern because, as history teaches us, whenever the right religious/moral foundations of a nation are eroded, the glory of such a nation equally follows that pattern.

Of course, vices don’t come without social consequences. In some quarters today, patriotism and due respect for national identities have degenerated into agitations and disillusionment, simply because of real or perceived political injustices, impunity, greed and vain pursuits with which some of our political leaders are glaringly guilty of and we would like the new administration to correct all these anomalies.

2023 Election and Inauguration 

We bless God for the last general election. It was such a crucial one in the history of our dear nation. The issues surrounding it are many and compelling.

We struggled with a Moslem-Moslem ticket which we considered as a slap on the face of the highly and eminently qualified Christians in the nation. We perceived it as a sly way of edging out Christ-based views in governance. It was also apparently seen as a further entrenchment of Islam as a prominent and dominant religion in the nation.

These concerns are founded on past and present blatant infractions on the basic rights of Christians all over the Nation.

Recently, a former governor of Kaduna State, El-Rufai, was carelessly playing to the gallery on this subject when he gleefully referred to what he reportedly termed the “Islamic domination” as a result of the inauguration of the Moslem-Moslem ticket.

I feel like reminding him that anyone that mocks Christ must await his/her spiritual Waterloo, and anyone that ridicules His Body — the Church — must be ready for a just desert sooner than later.

It is worthy of note that the youths also spoke loudly through their votes at a point in the electoral process. Definitely the signs of discontent were quite loud for the wise to note and annotate. 

The inauguration ceremony itself was also held on a background of strong contentions from some sections who felt a great sense of dissatisfaction with the process that set the stage for it.

Albeit, our own take at this stage is that it is time for all parties to bury the hatchet and work together. Let us make this administration work for the collective interest of all Nigerians.

Unity In The Polity

We will all agree that Nigeria’s polity was greatly polarized during the last election. In the history of the nation, no election had a more monstrous effect on the unity of the nation than the last one.

Issues of tribe, religion and other sentiments escalated beyond reason. Tension was heightened and divisions worsened on all sides.

It is quite obvious that key players in the political realm orchestrated these splits, skillfully manipulating and arm-twisting simple minded people in an orchestra of lies and deception.

While these were done to garner some undue advantages, they actually has injured the soul of the nation more. It is our plea that this new administration do the needful in mending fences with all the aggrieved sections of the nation. This is to ensure that true peace prevails in the nation.

Moreover, let’s be reminded that it is within the right of anyone to differ from your political standpoints during the electioneering process. Now that the election period is over, however, we must choose to close ranks as good, responsible and matured Nigerians.

Let’s resist the temptation of playing the games of vendetta in anyway imaginable, keeping in mind that whatever worked for you now could have worked against you if not for the grace of God.

Inclusivity

The last administration created a woeful scene, bedeviled by lopsided appointments and implementation of critical policies in favour of a particular ethnic group.

People from other parts of the nation became mere spectators in a country belonging to every one of us. This injustice was perpetrated with utter disdain for the injured feelings of others.

If Nigeria, in spite of its diversities, is truly a nation where everyone is equal, let this new administration show a clear departure from the past by embracing inclusiveness, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, region or gender.

Rule of Law

Rule of law is a basic principle and a critical bedrock of democracy. In an egalitarian society all should be governed by the same ethics and bound by the same laws. 

No one is above the law, or should be above the law, and governmental decisions must be made by applying across board only known legal and moral principles. 

A situation whereby some are regarded as sacred cows must be abolished. Let the law be applied equally and fairly as it’s done in every sane society.

Subsidy Removal
Since the new administration came in barely two weeks ago, the nation has been engulfed with the issue of fuel subsidy removal and the aftermath effects. 

Fortunately, almost everyone has a clear understanding that the subsidy is not sustainable as only a few rich individuals, as well as some countries bordering Nigeria, have been benefiting from it at our corporate expense.

For instance, I just read that some groups of people were protesting the subsidy removal in faraway Cameroon. Shocking, isn’t it?

It is clearly unsustainable for us as a nation to be spending trillions of Naira in the payment of subsidies.

The fact on the ground also shows that the financial situation of this country is in dire straits and the amount of money we are using to service debt is almost becoming higher than our revenue.

In addition, our exchange rate is not stable and these are determinants of import-driven products.

Meanwhile, we all know that with inflation in the system, the removal of subsidy would further worsen the situation and impose more difficulties on the citizenry.

Whereas we commend government for talking about putting in place some palliative measures. Nevertheless, we hold the view that as the new government is just coming in, it should have had a dialogue with the stakeholders before making such a pronouncement which has since thrown the nation into a frenzy.

There's no doubt that until we produce locally what we consume, every other talk is merely political. And, until we refine petroleum products locally, we cannot make a headway.

Hence, we want to emphasize the need for the Federal Government to bring back the Nation's refineries and create an enabling environment for investment in the refining business sector to thrive.

We also support those advocating for the adoption of the NLNG model in the running of the nation’s refineries when fully revamped and the creation of an enabling environment for the establishment and operation of modular and private refineries. 

We use this medium to commend and to congratulate all the major stakeholders involved in the newly commissioned Dangote Refinery.

We believe that this new refinery will bring a significant impact on the fuel supply dynamics, including easing pressure on the economy, especially when combined with the ongoing revamping of the other refineries in the country.

However, we wish to urge them to be wary of the temptation of monopoly and be mindful of the domino impacts of such business concepts on the generality of Nigerians, especially the poor.
A Review of the National Debt Crisis

Evidently, our beloved nation is in a debt crisis. According to reliable sources, by May 2023, Nigeria’s total public debt stock had increased to N46.25 trillion or $103.11 billion.  

While many are looking for debt relief to keep the repayment at a minimum level to enable us sort out some of our investment needs and compelling current obligations such as expenditures on infrastructure, education and health, it does not provide a sustainable or permanent solution because the amount left unpaid will keep piling up as arrears and gets added to the principal amount making the debt larger.

The bottom line is that we cannot afford to service all of our debt unless we are really prepared to commit to very little investment in our physical and human resources for the next two decades.

We cannot also afford to allow the debt to pile up. So, this means that this administration must search for a permanent workable solution to our debt problem. The search for this solution is therefore a key priority and a vital financial and economic issue for the country, not only for the present generation but also for our yet unborn generations.

While we do not outrightly condemn borrowing, we support the school of thought that borrowed funds should not be used for consumption on recurrent expenditure, but rather channeled into productive ventures and infrastructural development. Nevertheless, we expect to see a different approach to borrowing from the current administration.
The Economy

The current state of our economy is of great concern to us as we had hoped to see steady growth in our GDP, increased access to employment for our teeming population and diversification of the economy, but unfortunately, we are yet to achieve that. 

Poor implementation of both fiscal and monetary policies and policy inconsistencies have continued to militate against our projected growth and development as a Nation.

The nation’s economy is confronted with many serious challenges like structural imbalance, corruption, weak human capital development, inequality, security challenges and excessive dependence on oil for revenue.

High youth unemployment, which was recently highlighted by the International Labour Organization (ILO), underemployment and poor infrastructural facilities are some of the key challenges this new government should tackle with sound and coordinated strategy in consultation with relevant stakeholders.

In our previous address, we have extensively discussed diversification of the economy and this is the time for its implementation as a matter of urgency.

Truth is that revenue from the Oil and Gas sector can no longer sustain us as a Nation, and this is the most auspicious time to shift our attention to the Agricultural sector and other areas like Solid Minerals, Tourism, and Technology.
Insecurity
2023 began with sad tales of the burning of a Catholic Priest in Niger state, kidnap of a DPO in Jos, attack on church worshipers in Katsina community and the abduction of 23 train passengers in Edo State.

These, coupled with news of near daily occurrences of kidnappings along the nation’s highways especially the Lagos- Ibadan Expressway, do not speak well of our dear nation, Nigeria.

Citizens of Southern Kaduna and Benue are gradually becoming extinct due to unending attacks, killings and the resulting displacement.

This growing insecurity in the land is heart-rending and therefore a nightmare to citizens, investors and visitors.

The numerous cases of alleged herdsmen attacks even on farms, organized kidnappings, perennial killings and other associated stories on avoidable waste of human lives and property across Nigeria are unacceptable and condemnable.

Nigerians deserve to be adequately protected by the Government against these monstrous marauders.

The fact that it has become sustained not only suggests an orchestration and a strong organization by those sponsoring the upsurge to spill more innocent Nigerians' blood, but also a clear manifestation of leadership challenge at all levels in the country because security of lives and property remains the essence of any Government.

We therefore expect that the new administration should immediately review the current security strategy, rejig the entire security architecture, provide more funding and shift from a reactionary approach to focusing on intelligence gathering that will proactively help to nip such planned attacks in the bud.
Power Sector Crisis

In spite of the fact that electricity is considered a major determinant of economic development, access to electricity, that is, supply to homes and businesses has remained dismal in Nigeria on the backdrop of a flawed privatization exercise. 

Averaging 4,500 megawatts in the past eight years, Nigerians are looking forward to improved electricity supply.  

It is our earnest hope that the new Electricity Act 2023, which replaces the 2005 Electricity and Power Sector Reform Act will promote private sector investments in the Nigerian power sector and break the monopoly of the nation’s electricity generation, transmission and distribution.

If the act really means that the entire process has been decentralized, then we can expect the best for both private and commercial consumers of energy.

The focus on clean, renewable and alternative sources of power generation should also be strengthened and made accessible to all classes of people in the society.

We pray earnestly that the Tinubu led administration will see to the implementation of this Act in a manner that the benefits can be credited to the well-being of our people.

War Against Corruption

Reports of numerous probe panels instituted especially by the two chambers of the National Assembly and other Agencies of Government have been more entertaining to the public than fighting against corruption.

It is more worrisome and embarrassing where key anti-graft personnels are involved in monumental corrupt practices with damaging consequences to the image of the country, especially in the eyes of potential foreign investors.

Consequently, we expect from this government that henceforth appointments into the top echelon of all Anti- Corruption Agencies like EFCC, ICPC and Code of Conduct Bureau be thorough, painstaking and devoid of any political consideration so that the integrity of those at the helm of affairs shall not be called to question as we have seen in recent times.  

The fight against corruption should not only be fought, but must be seen to be fought with prosecutions and convictions with severe sanctions that will serve as a deterrence to anyone planning to toe such a path.
Education
Education is at the center of building human capital. The latest World Bank research shows that the productivity of 56 percent of the world’s children could be better if they enjoyed complete education and full health.  

For individuals, education raises self-esteem and opens up opportunities for employment and earnings. And, for a country, it helps strengthen institutions within societies, drives long-term economic growth, reduces poverty, and spurs innovation. 

It is our expectation that the new administration will do all it can to equip our youths with the skills to keep learning, adapt to changing realities, and thrive in an increasingly competitive global economy.
Agriculture and the Looming Food Crisis

There is disturbing data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) predicting that about 25.3 million people will face food insecurity across Nigeria between June and August 2023. 

FAO in the statement warned that if actions are not taken to avert the crisis, 4.4 million people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States will be severely affected. 

It is a shame that despite our vast arable lands and huge human capital and financial resources, our dear country could be categorized as being unable to feed its citizens.

It is even more laughable that Nigeria is accepting food aids from countries under war situations such as Ukraine.

We expect the government to declare a state of emergency in the Agriculture and Food sector, while establishing farm settlements across all the states of the federation that will convert our teeming unemployed youths into productive ventures to avert the looming food crisis.
Conclusion
In spite of the situations in the nation, we are happy to report that the Church of Jesus Christ is marching on and the forces of hell shall never prevail against it. Amen. 

We will continue to lift up our leaders in prayers as instructed in the Bible in 1 Timothy 2:1-2. It says: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty”.

I seize this opportunity to enjoin all Christians and indeed all Nigerians to remain focused and calm, and to support and pray for the success of our political leaders irrespective of our diverse political persuasions so that the plans of the Lord for the prosperity of this nation can see the light of day.

Prayers still work. And it will work for Nigeria in Jesus mighty name. Amen.
** Bishop Taiwo Akinola,
Apostolic Presbyter, CGN Inc.
Pastor-General & President, RCC&T Int’l delivered this address at the New-Wine/Fresh Fire Conference organized by Christ Global Network on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at Rhema Christian Church & Towers, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria.

President Bola Tinubu has suspended Godwin Emefiele as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The office of the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) announced his suspension.

Willie Bassey, director of information, SGF office, in a statement issued on Friday, said the suspension is with immediate effect.

According to the statement, Emefiele is to transfer his responsibilities to the deputy governor, operations directorate.

Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, the deputy governor, is expected to act as the CBN governor pending the conclusion of an investigation of Emefiele’s office.

“This is sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy,” the statement reads.

“Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of investigation and the reforms.”

Emefiele was one of the top officials who met with Tinubu on his first day in office as president.

During his inaugural speech, Tinubu said the current 18.5 percent interest rate of the CBN is “too high”.

Tinubu said it needed to be adjusted downwards to encourage investment.

He described the interest rate as “anti-people” and “anti-business”.

“Monetary policy needs thorough house cleaning. The Central Bank must work towards a unified exchange rate. This will direct funds away from arbitrage into meaningful investment in the plant, equipment and jobs that power the real economy,” Tinubu said.

“Interest rates need to be reduced to increase investment and consumer purchasing in ways that sustain the economy at a higher level.”

The president also said his administration will review the Naira redesign policy.

In the build-up to the last general election, members of Tinubu’s party — the All Progressives Congress (APC) — accused Emefiele of using the policy to hurt the chances of the president in the poll.

The Cable

President Bola Tinubu has assented to the electricity bill, which empowers states, companies and individuals to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity.

The new electricity law repeals the Electricity and Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 and consolidates the laws relating to the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

The senate passed the electricity bill in July 2022 to solve the sector’s challenges.

On the other hand, President Muhammadu Buhari had signed 16 constitutional amendments in 2022, one of which pertains to the devolution of powers (national grid system) – clarifying the powers of the federal government and states to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity.

Consequently, states have been granted constitutional authority to enact laws that allow them to generate, distribute, and transport electricity within its boundaries, including territories formerly covered only by the national grid.

Speaking on the enactment of the new act, Tinubu, during an interactive session with traditional rulers on Friday, said the constitutional amendment permits Nigeria’s 36 states to generate electricity.

‘‘That’s devolution of power and that should be our contribution to the developmental projects you are looking for and we will continue in ways that will help our people,’’ he said.

NEW ELECTRICITY ACT: AN OMNIBUS FOR POST-PRIVATISATION PHASE

Meanwhile, the newly-signed act provides an omnibus and ideal institutional framework for the post-privatisation phase of Nigeria’s power sector in the areas of generation, transmission, distribution, supply, trading, and general use of electricity.

According to the document, the primary objective of the regulation is to create a comprehensive legal and institutional framework to guide the operation of a privatised, contract, and rule-based competitive electricity market in Nigeria.

It also aims to attract, through transformative policy and regulatory measures, private sector investments in the entire power value chain of the NESI.

Additionally, it provides a framework for the improvement of access to electricity in rural, unserved, underserved, peri-urban, and urban areas through the use of conventional sources and renewable energy off-grid and mini-grid solutions.

Under the law, states would be able to issue licenses to private investors who have the ability to operate mini-grids and power plants, but such licenses would not apply to the distribution of electricity between states or internationally.

FUNCTIONS OF NERC

According to the electricity act, until a state has passed its electricity market laws, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) will continue to regulate electricity business exclusively carried out in those states.

The Electricity Reform Act, 2005, also empowers the NERC to oversee the electricity industry activities, including licencing and regulating persons engaged in the generation, transmission, and system operation.

The new electricity act said NERC would continue this function.

The regulation also states that the commission will promote competition and private sector participation in the post-privatised power sector, “when and where feasible; establish appropriate obligations regarding the provision and use of electricity services”.

The Cable

Nigeria's downstream oil regulator has alleged ExxonMobil Corp was involved in the illegal lifting of petroleum products from an offshore terminal, according to a letter of complaint to the petroleum ministry seen by Reuters.

Exxon denied the accusation, saying in an emailed response that its "operations are carried out in full compliance with the law".

Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said in the letter that Barumk Gas, a shipping vessel, was lifting butane from the ExxonMobil-controlled Bonny River Terminal without its "authorization or participation".

According to the law, the regulator is the only one allowed to have a key to the oil valve and companies need to be accompanied by a member of the regulatory staff to tap the oil.

"The actions of ExxonMobil and Barumk Gas constitute economic sabotage, criminal damage and theft of Nigeria's national resources," NMDPRA Chief Executive Farouk Ahmed said in the letter dated June 8.

He said Barumk Gas should be stopped from sailing out until an investigation was conducted.

Refinitiv data showed Barumk Gas was fully loaded at the Bonny Terminal.

The Petroleum Ministry and NMDPRA did not respond to requests for comment.

In November last year, a Nigerian court charged 26 men with conspiracy to commit a maritime offence and attempting to illegally deal in crude oil after authorities accused their supertanker of sailing in Nigerian waters without authority.

Oil majors in Nigeria have in the past been forced to halt output following the illegal tapping of pipelines.

Reuters