RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

New US aid package will just kill more Ukrainians – Kremlin

Washington’s $61 billion pledge to Kiev will make little difference on the battlefield, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

The US House of Representatives approved a $95 billion foreign aid package, almost two thirds of which would be spent on Ukraine-related programs. The Kremlin, however, doesn’t appear the slightest bit alarmed.

“Fundamentally, this will not change the situation on the battlefield,” Peskov told reporters on Monday. 

Pointing to the steady Russian advances along the front, Peskov said the dynamics of the conflict are now “absolutely clear to everyone,” and that the money and weapons the US will allocate to Ukraine “will not lead to a change in this dynamic.”

“They will lead to new casualties among Ukrainians, more Ukrainians will die, Ukraine will suffer major losses,” the presidential spokesman said.

Moreover, he noted, the bulk of the aid money is supposed to stay in the US, one way or another. The White House itself argued this to Congress as one of the selling points, saying that the package was a stimulus for the US military-industrial complex and manufacturing base.

“In principle, nothing has changed,” Peskov said, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin fully expected the US lawmakers to vote the way they did.

Reacting to the vote on Saturday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the US was using Ukrainians as “cannon fodder”and hoping to keep Kiev on life support until after the November presidential election. In the end, she said, the US will end up facing a “loud and humiliating fiasco on a par with Vietnam or Afghanistan.”

The newest batch of US aid might help slow down the Russians but won’t stop them, several Ukrainian officers have told Financial Times. No amount of weapons and ammunition from the West can solve Kiev’s biggest problem: the lack of manpower, the outlet noted.

Kirill Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, also predicted “a rather difficult situation” on the battlefield for the Kiev government in the coming months. 

 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian air strike took out TV tower in Ukraine's Kharkiv, Zelenskiy says

A Russian missile strike that broke in half a 240-metre (787-foot) television tower in Kharkiv on Monday is part of a deliberate effort by Moscow to make Ukraine's second largest city uninhabitable, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

Dramatic footage obtained by Reuters showed the main mast of the television tower breaking off and falling to the ground in the city that has been pounded by missile and drone strikes for weeks.

The Ukrainian leader said he told U.S. President Joe Biden about the airstrike that was carried out several minutes before they spoke by telephone.

"It is Russia's clear intention to make the city uninhabitable," he said in a readout of the call published on the Telegram messaging app.

Later, in his nightly video address, the president said the attack was "an obvious attempt at intimidation so that the terror was visible to the whole city and an attempt to limit Kharkiv's access to communication and information".

CLOSE TO THE BORDER

The northeastern city of Kharkiv with a population of 1.3 million lies just 30 km (18 miles) from the Russian border, making it an easy target for ballistic missiles and other weapons as Ukraine's air defences have dwindled.

Its power facilities have been damaged particularly badly since Russia last month began targeting the energy system with massive strikes.

"At the moment there are interruptions to the digital television signal," regional governor Oleh Synehubov said.

There had been no casualties because its workers had taken shelter, he added.

Synehubov later reported a missile attack had triggered a fire at a poultry farm outside Kharkiv, but without casualties. And prosecutors said one person was killed in the shelling of a village southeast of the city.

Reuters footage filmed at the scene of the aftermath showed the collapsed section of the tower lying in a forested strip nearby. Buildings next to the tower had been badly damaged by falling debris.

The Service for State Special Communications said the structure of the tower had been "partially damaged" in what prosecutors said appeared to have been a strike with a Kh-59 cruise missile.

It said there was "temporarily" no television signal and that they were working to restore it, urging residents of the city and region without digital television signal to use cable or online television or the radio.

The footage obtained by Reuters did not capture the impact of a missile, but showed a cloud of smoke rise into the sky as the mast fell.

The video was verified by corroborating video from another angle showing the same moment the top of the tower collapsed.

Russia first attacked Kharkiv's television tower several times in early March 2022 soon after it launched its full-scale invasion. The signal was disrupted at the time.

Moscow has recently stepped up its attacks, while Ukraine is suffering a shortage of air defence capabilities. Kharkiv and the surrounding region have experienced the most intense strikes.

 

RT/Reuters

Josiah Majebi is the fifth chief judge of Kogi State (in North-Central Nigeria) in four years and the fourth to exist almost entirely in the pocket of the state governor. He has been in office as substantive chief judge since the beginning of February 2023, having acted in that role since 26 June 2022, when his predecessor, Richard Olorunfemi, retired.

Henry Olusiyi served in that office for just under seven months from the end of June 2020 until January 2021. Sunday Otuh, who succeeded him, spent eight months in office before retiring in September 2021.

The last Chief Judge of Kogi State who attempted to hold that office with dignity and independence, Nasir Ajanah, paid with his life, un-mourned and exiled from the state. He was the second Chief Judge of the State to be politically lynched by the government of Kogi State in one decade.

At the beginning of April 2008, the Kogi State House of Assembly, defying an order of the state High Court, adopted a resolution asking the state Governor to remove long-serving Chief Judge of the state, Umaru Eri. On that basis, then acting governor, Clarence Olafemi, promptly announced the sack of the Chief Judge on 2 April 2008 and designated another judge, Sam Ota, to act in his place.

In his defence, Umaru Eri claimed that his crime was that he had declined the request of the politicians to act as go-between in bribing the election petition tribunal on behalf of the then state governor, whose election was in dispute. On 16 May, 2008, Alaba Ajileye, a judge of the High Court of Kogi State, reversed the sack and reinstated Umaru Eri.

Eleven years later, on 18 June 2019, Alaba Ajileye presided again in deciding a case that seemed uncannily to reprise issues in his earlier decision. As with the 2008 decision, the claimant in 2019 was another Chief Judge of Kogi State, Nasir Ajanah with his Chief Registrar, Yahya Adamu. The defendants included the Kogi State House of Assembly, its Speaker, and the State Governor, Yahaya Bello.

At the directive of Governor Bello, the Secretary to the Government of Kogi State wrote on 14 November, 2018 to Chief Judge Nasir Ajanah, asking him to provide “the payroll of judicial staff for the ongoing pay parade of civil servants in the state.”

At the time, the Governor was a defendant in the court of the Chief Judge, so the Chief Registrar responded to the letter and explained that the judiciary is a self-accounting and co-equal branch of government supervised by the state Judicial Service Commission.

An affronted Bello wrote under his own name to Walter Onnoghen, then chief justice of Nigeria and chair of the National Judicial Council (NJC), asking the NJC to find the Chief Judge guilty of misconduct and requiring that he “step aside and (an) Acting Chief Judge (be) allowed to take his place.”

While his petition was still waiting for the attention of the NJC, Bello resorted to political self-help. He referred the perceived effrontery of Nasir Ajannah to the State House of Assembly, which promptly constituted an investigation committee. The Chief Judge sued. While his suit was pending, on 2 April 2019, the State House of Assembly adopted a resolution asking Bello to remove the Chief Judge and also requiring disciplinary action against the Chief Registrar. On 18 June 2019, Alaba Ajileye sitting as the High Court of Kogi State in Kotonkarfe, determined that the Kogi State House of Assembly and the Governor acted unlawfully in seeking to remove the Chief Judge.

The reaction of the governor was bestial. He first went after Ajileye, a man of courage and learning whose judicial record was unblemished. With a doctorate degree in law, Ajileye was an expert in the rarefied subject of digital evidence. Following this judgment, however, Bello’s government made it known that they could no longer guarantee his safety. Yet, when he was put forward for elevation to the Court of Appeal, the same Kogi State government actively blocked it. A man who would easily have adorned the Supreme Court with distinction, Ajileye retired from the High Court in February 2023 and has since then forged a career as a scholar and academic.

Turning to the state Chief Judge, meanwhile, Bello made life unbearable for Nasir Ajannah. He began by banishing the man from official state functions. When Chief Judge Ajannah attended the swearing in of the new Grand Khadi of Kogi State on 21 May 2020, the Chief Security Officer to Yahaya Bello informed him that “the governor gave a directive that he should not be allowed to attend the function.”

In the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bello made Ajannah persona non-grata in the state. As a result, he was forced into internal displacement in Abuja, where his personal arrangements were worse than transitory. While in hiding in Abuja, Ajannah contracted Covid and died in isolation in Gwagwalada, in the Federal Capital Territory, on 28 June 2020. His death went unacknowledged and even the institutions of the judiciary were reluctant to mourn his passing.

The men who followed Ajannah in the office of Chief Judge of Kogi State learnt to stoke the vanities of Bello and avoid his anger. Ahead of his departure from office at the end of eight years as governor of Kogi State in January 2024, Josiah Majebi as chief judge and chair of the Kogi State Judicial Service Commission, prepared a list of candidates for nomination as judges of the High Court of Kogi State. At the top of the list was a wife to Bello, the basis of whose claim to the nomination was the dutiful fulfilment of the duties of connubium in Bello’s bedroom. For the Chief Judge, it was also proof that he had truly abjured any pretensions to a mind of his own.

Alarmed at what they saw as perversion of the system of judicial appointments, a group of seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) from the state wrote to Majebi to dissuade him from this course of action. In January, they sued challenging his judicial nominations. Pending the outcome, the NJC suspended the process of appointment to the Kogi State judiciary. On 18 April, James Omotoso, a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, many of whose judgments usually have something of a smell problem about them, implausibly ruled that these SANs had no legitimate interest in the process of appointment of judges in their state and that, in any case, the discretion of the NJC in appointment of judges was effectively not open to review.

It was the day after Bello’s chosen successor and blood relative, Usman Ododo, chose to turn his predecessor into a fugitive from the legal process and two days after Ododo opened his case in the petition questioning the lawfulness of his election as governor of Kogi State. As a bungling Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) waited to arrest Yahaya Bello in Abuja, one IA Jamil, a judge of the High Court of Kogi State, issued an order claiming to restrain the Commission from doing its job.

According to the order of the judge, the case which was filed over two months earlier on 8 February, was hurriedly assigned while the siege was on going in Abuja, argued, heard and decided and the judge quickly signed the order and handed it to Governor Ododo to take with him to Abuja, from where he spirited his cousin away from the legal process in a blaze of gunfire. The court was almost assuredly disingenuous about the date of filing. In all likelihood, the case was filed the same day on 17 April and then back-dated.

The EFCC now claims it has declared Yahaya Bello a fugitive but the real question will be how a compromised and complicit judicial leadership will now treat the nomination of his unqualified wife as a judge and the petition against the declaration of his violent cousin as governor of Kogi State. The judges who currently control Nigeria’s criminal politics now must show how much they owe Bello.

** Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a lawyer, teaches at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and can be reached through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Exceptional talent will do exceptional work when their personal values align with their workplace values.

Business leaders across the globe worry about attracting and retaining top talent, especially as remote and hybrid workforces are becoming the norm. In their responses to surveys they often list it as a main inhibitor of profitable growth into the future!

Despite this, most business leaders and managers prioritise other tasks over recruitment and talent selection rather than seeing it as a vital part of their jobs. In addition, many business leaders and managers do not have the skills required to ensure that the right people are found and placed in the right jobs.

Statistically, using traditional recruitment methods has a 60% failure rate, resulting in an enormous waste of time and money. Getting recruiting right is therefore something that can’t be left to an HR department or line manager alone, business leaders have to get personally involved.

Getting the right people for the right jobs as a four-stage process with each step being of equal importance:

Specify

Before advertising a vacancy, business leaders must be crystal clear about the job specification as well as the attitudes and behaviours of the person needed for the job. This, in turn, needs to align with the purpose, vision and values of the company. The best talent has a choice these days and will simply not work for an organisation whose values they don’t share, another reason why leadership needs to be actively involved in recruitment.

These specifications should be written down and be clear enough for anyone to understand. This will help to prevent two common recruitment mistakes, deciding what the job specifications are based on the available talent or hiring based on chemistry rather than true fit.

The popular saying “hire for attitude, train for skill” is very noble in its intent, but business owners and leaders adhering strictly to this sentiment might run the risk of not achieving the optimal mix of behavioural competencies needed for peak performance.

Find

Owners and leaders of smaller organisations often fall into the trap of thinking that they won’t be able to attract top talent, so they approach the vacancy listing process with a timid attitude. Top talent isn't always the most expensive people or the most qualified. Instead, they are the people who are the absolute best fit for a specific role in a specific organisation.

It is therefore of utmost importance that a vacancy listing is not just a list of required skills and experience, to attract the appropriate talent, the vacancy listing must reflect the true culture and values of the business and what it’s like to be part of the team.

To access the top talent pool, business leaders must involve those who are experts in selling the benefits of the company in creating the vacancy listing. Marketing people are often a better choice for this task than an HR department or even recruitment agencies.

That is the best for a business to attract top talent – that might be currently employed – rather than limit itself to a talent pool of despondent job seekers.

During the interview process of shortlisted candidates, top talent will most likely ask questions to help them determine whether the values of the business align with their own values.

If they can’t get a clear idea of what the values are or how the business practically lives those values, or they feel that their values do not align with those of the business, they’ll go look for employment somewhere else.

Assess

It is astonishing that many companies around the world still rely on an impressive CV with one or two interviews as the only activities to recruit talent. Even references can’t be guaranteed as a mark of quality as they can be influenced by litigation around labour disputes.

True top talent will be able to prove that they are the best during an assessment that must form part of the recruitment process. The difficulty of the assessment will of course differ depending on the job level recruited for, and businesses must never abuse the assessment process to gain free insights or labour.

Assessments may appear to be time-consuming and costly, but the cost of getting recruitment wrong has been estimated as about four or even five times the employee’s annual salary! It’s therefore much less expensive to use assessments than to recruit and train an employee who was never right for the job or whose aspirations conflicted with those of the business.

Negotiate

The final stage in the recruitment process should be a discussion and negotiation between the selected candidate and their potential direct manager on the exact details of the role and remuneration package.

People can truly make or break a business – irrespective of its size or shape. With economic pressure rising and an increase in leadership burnout, no business leader can afford to stand back and allow mediocre talent to come on board.

** Juanita Vorster is a speaker and entrepreneur

 

Inc

Over 11.5 million electricity households and customers in Nigeria, who account for about 85 per cent of grid connected electricity, have been thrown into darkness as the electricity supply industry moves to implement at least 20-hour power supply to some customers.

With electricity generation wobbling around 3,000 megawatts, there are indications that the Generation Companies (GenCos) may insist on a bilateral bulk trading agreement with the Distribution Companies (DisCos) to prioritise band A customers outside of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET).

Already, most band A customers, who are expected to get at least 20 hours of power supply daily for being charged an exorbitant rate of N225 kilowatt per hour (KWh), are complaining of poor supply. 

Sadly, the situation may linger as the extant challenges of the power industry are worsening the regular blame game in the sector, especially between government-owned Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which holds one of the world’s worst records for grid collapse and ramping down of generators, and the DisCos.

Pegging an increase in electricity tariff on the volatility of the naira, exchange rate, gas price and inflation without having a control over availability of electricity, NERC had increased tariff for band A consumers from about N66 KWh to a flat rate of N225 KWh in an attempt to reduce government subsidy on the sector. Struggling to meet up with required hours of electricity for band A, most consumers and the larger segment of the country, who are meant to enjoy between 16 to about four hours of electricity under band B to E, have been thrown into darkness.

Recall that in 2022, NERC had introduced the Service Based Tariff (SBT) under the former administration thinking that the sector would mature into an industry where customers can at least have predictable hours of electricity from band A, which has 20 hours and above of constant supply and band E with at least four hours of constant power supply.

Seeing that the supply was a largely unrealistic yardstick in some areas, most of the feeders on band in the latest review were downgraded to band B; but still customers are raising concerns.

On one hand, the band A customers are not satisfied despite the fact that DisCos have now shifted attention to them; on the other hand, electricity supply is now worse for consumers whose tariffs are yet to be increased.

A customer in Kubwa area of Abuja, Damilola Bashirat, who is under band B, said that for over a week, she had barely enjoyed six hours of electricity daily, adding that the supply situation was better before the new tariff was introduced.

Also, in some parts of Dawaki, where electricity was very stable, the power supply has gone from better to worse.

Some customers in the Ajao Estate area of Lagos State served by Ikeja Electric, who are under band C, said the supply only comes by midnight and disappears before dawn. These customers are supposed to get a minimum of 12 hours of electricity per day.

In Utako area of Abuja, where customers are under band B, a small business owner, Rauf Hassan, said the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) barely provides six hours of constant electricity supply.

Former President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Segun Ajibola, said the complaints were growing from electricity consumers, adding that the plight of those claimed to be on band A is more pathetic.
Ajibola, who is a Professor of Economics at Babcock University, said: “Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, is on band A. On the average, some of the areas enjoy supply of electricity for about six hours daily since April 1. Yet the consumers are subjected to the nerve cracking tariffs just introduced,” Ajibola said.

He noted that the electricity value chain is overdue for total overhaul, adding that categorisation into bands A to E is a mere distraction away from the real problems.

According to him, the GenCos, the TCN, the DisCos and their regulators need to go back to the drawing board.

The economist noted that unless and until the sector develops the capacity to generate, transmit and distribute electricity to both households and businesses in the country, it would continue to be ‘motion without movement’.

“Raising tariffs for whichever band or for all bands is mere divisive tactics and may not stand the test of time. I strongly believe that it is a way of hitting hard the soft targets represented by the helpless and hapless Nigerian consumers.

“If some less endowed African countries with about a quarter of Nigeria’s population can generate 10 to 20 thousand megawatts, I hasten to ask, what exactly is the problem with the managers of Nigeria’s power sector?” Ajibola queried.

President of Nigerian Economic Society (NES), Adeola Adenikinju, said it was obvious that the DisCos do not have enough power to distribute to customers. He noted that with the higher tariff rate, band A consumers are likely to be more negatively impacted, except there is an overall improvement on electricity generation.

“DisCos should not be allowed to implement any tariff increase until they are ready to meet the number of hours required under each tariff band.
“Overall, the current band category should be transitional. It is also discriminatory. Every customer should be entitled to stable, reliable, affordable and constant electricity supply,” Adenikinju said.

Energy scholar, Wunmi Iledare, noted that Nigeria must come to terms with the fact that N68 per KWh is significantly below the market clearing price of electricity.

“In fact, N68 is also not anywhere close to the fair return price of an economic good with decreasing marginal cost and average cost curve like electricity powered majorly by thermal plants.

“The social optimum price of electricity is also not N68 either. So, NERC had to do something long before now but for political expediency. So, it is better late than never,” he said.

Iledare stated that the accuracy of the band A tariff is, however, conjectural because of the many unknowns.
He noted that as more facts become available, the pricing model is expected to be recalibrated in a self adjusting manner, stressing that some customers badly affected because of affordability and metering issues would be resolved to protect consumer surplus.

“If what I am reading in the media is correct, there is a price discrimination application based on daily supply hours for selected users. Such a mechanism is not unusual in the power market. We have it also in the airline industry. But looking at everything done so far, the presidential Executive Order 40, the increase in wellhead natural gas price by the Nigeria Petroleum Authority, and this discriminatory electricity tariff by NERC; the benefits seemed skewed to optimise producer surplus than consumer surplus,” he said.

Iledare expressed worries about the implementation plan of the tariff bands, saying there appears to be no penalty attached to the delimitation to supply 20+ hours of quality electron delivery services to customers.

Energy lawyer, Madaki Ameh, said the band categories are illegal and a justification for the inefficiencies of the power sector.

“Every consumer of electricity in Nigeria is entitled to regular power supply like others. Creating different bands serves as justification for denying those on lower bands of regular power supply, in a bid to blackmail them, as if the amount they pay is too small for them to expect any regular supply, thereby unfairly justifying the laziness and inability to perform on the part of the DisCos,” Ameh said.

He called for the immediate scrapping of the ‘artificial’ bands, adding that there is a need to expand the consumer base to reduce the unit cost and also get the GenCos to increase power generation from the paltry average output of 3,000 MW, which the country has experienced for decades.

Electricity market analyst, Lanre Elatuyi, said the infrastructure at the distribution end cannot support the reliability that would ensure the service level agreements under each band.

Elatuyi also called for a comprehensive study by all DisCos to ascertain the average load for all classes of customers and see if total allocated loads would be enough or there is a need to procure more capacity.

“Take for instance the 613MW allocated to AEDC; this assumes a flat load profile and AEDC will not be able to meet load demands during peak hours when real time demand rises to say 700MW and there is no extra procured capacity.
“The fact is that there are constraints in the distribution networks and there is a need for the regulator to carry out a study on the networks to ascertain what is possible to avoid customers being shortchanged,” Elatuyi said.

A stakeholder in the power sector, Bode Fadipe, said the prevailing situation in the supply to bands B – E remains a source of worry because it is only tariff adjustment that has taken place and not load increase for Band A end users.

To have a situation where other end users in other bands are complaining, according to him, could mean that affected DisCos have opted to concentrate all their resources on band A end users.

“If that is the case, it is against the spirit and letter of the tariff adjustment. They (DisCos) owe customers in the other bands as much responsibility as they do to their prime customers.

“But let it also be said that this is not unexpected. The resources to meet the service level commitment whether it is a technologically or a manually driven sector is huge,” he said

 

The Guardian

The Board of Directors of First Bank has appointed Segun Alebiosu, the Executive Director and Chief Risk Officer, as the acting Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer following the sudden resignation of Adesola Adeduntan.

Alebiosu, with over 28 years of experience in the banking and financial services industry, will serve in this interim role until clearance from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is obtained. The decision came after a board meeting convened to address the rapid developments following the cancellation of an extraordinary general meeting and Adeduntan's unexpected resignation.

Adeduntan, who communicated his resignation from Washington, is expected to formally hand over to Alebiosu on April 29 upon his return from the World Bank/IMF spring meetings.

Speculation surrounding Adeduntan's departure suggests a connection to the cancellation of the planned extraordinary general meeting aimed at approving capital raise plans. Despite expectations for Adeduntan to assume a Managing Director position at the HoldCo level, uncertainties arise due to regulatory approval status. Notably, Adeduntan's tenure faced scrutiny in 2021 when former directors voted for his retirement, only for him to be reinstated after the board's dismissal by the CBN Governor at the time, Godwin Emefiele.

Fleeing residents from Bini community in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara sought refuge at the Government House in Gusau, urging the government to protect them from bandits.

The villagers, predominantly women and children, fled their homes after the withdrawal of military security personnel from the area.

Umar Salisu, one of the fleeing villagers, recounted how the absence of security forces prompted their exodus, citing ongoing threats from bandits. Aisha Usman and Wakkala Gurgu echoed the urgent need for government intervention to address the escalating security concerns in their community. Commissioner for Science and Technology, Wadatau Madawaki, reassured the villagers of the government's commitment to restoring security, emphasizing its refusal to negotiate with bandits. Madawaki pledged efforts to facilitate the safe return of the displaced villagers with the accompaniment of security personnel, underscoring the administration's resolve to resolve the state's security challenges.

ISRAEL’S REPORTS

IDF: Following the initial report regarding a shooting incident at the Beit Einun Junction, a short while ago, two terrorists arrived at the junction. One of the terrorists attempted to stab IDF soldiers that were in the area, who responded with live fire and neutralized him.

At the same time, the other terrorist opened fire at the soldiers, who responded with live fire and neutralized him too.

No IDF injuries were reported.

IDF soldiers are deployed in the area.

Attached is a photo of the gun used by one of the terrorists: https://IDFANC.activetrail.biz/ANC210420248934765

** IDF: Overnight, IAF fighter jets struck a number of Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon, including an observation post in the area of Odaisseh, and two military structures in the area of Khiam.

During one of the strikes, a terrorist was identified operating inside a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Tayr Harfa. Shortly after the identification, fighter jets struck and destroyed the structure.

Attached is video footage of the strikes: https://bit.ly/3UoX3eU

** IDF: On Sunday, terrorists fired shots toward Kibbutz Meirav. No injuries were reported and light damage was caused to a compound. IDF soldiers are blocking off routes and searching for suspects in the area. During searches in the town of Jalbun, terrorists hurled an explosive device toward the soldiers operating in the area. No injuries were reported and no damage was caused.

IDF soldiers are continuing the searches for the terrorists.

** IDF: The IDF Netzah Yehuda Battalion soldiers are currently participating in the war effort in the Gaza Strip. The battalion is professionally and bravely conducting operations in accordance to the IDF Code of Ethics and with full commitment to international law. In recent years, the battalion's soldiers have been at the heart of operational duties working around the clock in order to protect Israeli civilians, while being a leading battalion with regards to recruitment of ultra-Orthodox citizens to the IDF.

 

The reports regarding sanctions against the Netzah Yehuda Battalion are not currently known to the IDF. Should such a decision be made on the matter, its consequences will be reviewed. The IDF remains committed to continue to examine exceptional incidents professionally and according to law.

** IDF: Earlier today, two launches from Lebanon were identified crossing toward the area of Rosh HaNikra in northern Israel. The IDF struck the sources of the fire. In response to the launches, IDF fighter jets struck terrorist infrastructure in the area of Qotrani.

Furthermore, earlier today, IDF fighter jets struck two Hezbollah military compounds where terrorists were operating in the area of Ayta ash Shab as well as Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Naqoura and Majdal Zoun.

Attached is a video of IDF strikes: https://bit.ly/44ddIFp

** IDF: Earlier this evening, a surface-to-air missile was launched toward an IAF UAV that was operating in Lebanese airspace. As a result, the UAV was hit and fell in Lebanese territory. The incident is under review.

IAF fighter jets struck the launch site from which the missile was fired.

The IAF is continuing to operate in Lebanese airspace to carry out IDF missions in order to protect the state of Israel.

 

HAMAS’ REPORTS

Hamas:

- The new mass grave that was discovered in the Nasser Medical Complex, and contains the bodies of more than fifty martyrs of different ages, who were executed in cold blood and buried with military bulldozers under the soil of the complex’s courtyards, which is in addition to many mass graves that were found, especially in Hospital courtyards; It reaffirms the extent of the crimes and atrocities committed by the occupation army and raises questions about the fate of thousands of Palestinians who are still missing after the fascist occupation army withdrew from areas in the Gaza Strip.

- The horrific crimes committed by this criminal army, and the mass killings of defenseless civilians, including children, women, and the elderly, in hospitals, shelter and displacement centers and tents, and residential neighborhoods; It would not have continued, had it not been for the unlimited political and military support, and the cover that the administration of US President Biden gives to this fascist entity, which enables it to continue its war of extermination against our people for more than six months.

** Hamas: We condemn the US House of Representatives’ vote on a draft law requiring the provision of military and security assistance to the criminal entity.

- The American administration and its President Biden personally bear political, legal and moral responsibility for the war crimes committed by the criminal Zionist entity against our Palestinian people.

** Al-Quds Brigades - Jenin Battalion: As part of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" battle, and in response to the massacre in the Nour Shams camp, we carried out shooting operations at Salem camp, the "Dotan" checkpoint, and the "Merav", "Mavo Dotan" and "Shaked" settlements.

** The Al-Qassam Brigades bombed from southern Lebanon the “Shomera Military Barracks” in the western sector of the Upper Galilee, north of occupied Palestine, with 20 Grad missiles; In response to the massacres of the Zionist enemy in patient Gaza and the rebellious West Bank

** Mujahideen Brigades: After being able to communicate with our fighters... we announce fierce clashes with the occupation forces during the invasion of Al-Damj neighborhood in Nour Shams camp in Tulkarm.

 

Israel Defense Forces/Hamas Brigade al-Qassam

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

NATO members have military personnel in Kiev – Stoltenberg

NATO member states have service members stationed at their respective embassies in Kiev, performing advisory functions, NATO Secretary General Jens Soltenberg told MSNBC News on Sunday.

In an interview, Stoltenberg was asked whether NATO was planning to send additional personnel to help Kiev in its fight against Russia. “There are no plans for any NATO combat presence in Ukraine. But, of course, several NATO allies have men and women in uniform at the embassies giving advice,”Stoltenberg said.

His comment came after Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told Politico magazine that the US is considering deploying more advisers to its embassy in Kiev. According to Politico, the additional advisers could be tasked with handling logistics and helping with the maintenance of US-supplied weapons systems.

Although French President Emmanuel Macron and several other European leaders are refusing to rule out some NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine in the future, the alliance has so far maintained that it is not a direct participant in the conflict.

The nearly $61 billion aid package passed by the US House of Representatives on Saturday was good news, however, “delay has had real consequences” on the battlefield, Stoltenberg said. “The Ukrainians have now for months been outgunned.”

The much-needed aid bill, which includes the money for the purchase of weapons for Ukraine, had remained stuck in the House for months due to political wrangling. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has complained that the petering out of American aid caused ammunition shortages on the front line, and warned that Kiev could lose if the delays continue. President Joe Biden directly blamed the fall of the Donbass stronghold of Avdeevka to Russia in February on “congressional inaction.”

Moscow has repeatedly warned that deliveries of Western arms and equipment to Ukraine will not stop it from reaching its military goals, including the abandonment of Kiev’s hopes to join NATO. Further arms deliveries from the West only “cause more Ukrainians to die because of the Kiev regime,” and de facto make Western states party to the conflict, the Kremlin has stated.

** Units of South battlegroup fully free Bogdanovka in Donetsk People’s Republic — top brass

Units of the South battlegroup have fully freed Bogdanovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), as well as repelled two counterattacks by the Ukrainian armed forces near Chasov Yar and Krasnoye, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"Units of the South battlegroup have fully freed the Bogdanovka settlement in the Donetsk People’s Republic, improved positions at the forefront and inflicted fire defeat to troops and equipment of the 53rd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces near the settlement of Krasnogorovka of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Moreover, two counterattacks by formations of the 93rd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces near the settlement of Chasov Yar and to the west of the settlement of Krasnoye of the Donetsk People’s Republic have been repelled," the ministry said.

The enemy lost up to 440 troops, three cars and an Osa-AKM air defense system, a 152mm D-20 weapon, a Grad multiple launch rocket system, two Nota electronic warfare stations, as well as five field ammunition depots, according to the report.

 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says it damaged Russian rescue ship in Crimea

Ukraine's military said on Sunday it had struck and damaged a long-serving Russian rescue vessel in Sevastopol, the headquarters in occupied Crimea of Moscow's Black Sea Fleet.

Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said the vessel, the Kommuna, had been hit in Sevastopol Bay on Sunday morning and it was "clear that the ship is no longer in a state to carry out assignments."

A post on the Ukrainian Armed Forces Telegram channel said the ship was one of the oldest operated by the Russian navy and had been launched in 1913.

News reports said the vessel had been dispatched as part of a rescue operation when Ukrainian forces sank the Russian Fleet's Moskva flagship in April 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has pointed to the military's success in attacking and containing Russia's Crimea-based fleet in the nearly 26-month-old war against Russia. Crimea was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014.

Pletenchuk said earlier this month that Ukrainian operations had taken out of action about a third of the Russian fleet since the start of the war.

Sevastopol's Russia-installed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said earlier that Russian forces had repelled an anti-ship missile attack on one of its vessels in the port.

Razvozhayev said fallen fragments caused a small fire, which was promptly extinguished.

 

RT/Tass/Reuters

Two days after I started taking the medication prescribed by Heba, I could lift myself out of the wheelchair and walk about. By the fifth day, I walked into the hospital, gingerly, but surely, and came face to face with DHeba, who was not even surprised to see me on my feet, on her way to buy a cappuccino, I guessed.

We went to the waiting area and waited to be called in to see her. She soon returned, holding a cup of her drink. She asked me certain questions and, after taking my vitals, sent me to go for a Spirometry Flow-Volume Test, known as Lung Function Test (LFT).

One interesting and commendable attribute of Saudi hospitals, not least the Saudi-German, is that you do not have to come the next day for your test results. Once they admit you, ask fundamental questions and register your vitals, they start conducting tests. It is test upon test because once a result comes out, then another test would be conducted based on that result until they narrow down and nail the ailment. Anytime they start, they can take 24 hours, each team handing your case over to the next shift. And if you got tired and ran off to return the next day, as I once did, they will begin with you from the very beginning, not from where you ran off – the syringe punches, cannula and bandages, x-rays and all! I asked why and I was told, “Anything could have happened in your system since you left that could render yesterday’s results no more tenable.”

Well, back to spirometry. After the result came out, Heba, who had earlier said she would be going for a quick break, decided to postpone it to attend to us. After studying the result, she recommended Pulmonary Rehabilitation which is physiotherapy and hydrotherapy. She decided to send me to the head of the unit whose schedule was full for the month but who decided to accept me nonetheless.

And so we met him. Small built with baldness setting in and a face full of smiles, Amjad Alqurtabi was a sportish, friendly and easy-going fellow who was ever willing to do his job.

One thing with the medical personnel at the Saudi-German Hospital is that, apart from being professional and willing to be of assistance, they are friendly, going a long way to make you feel comfortable, at home, and cared for. A man may be excused to think the female personnel have fallen for him.

And you do not feel any obligation or indebtedness to them. For the first time in my interactions with health workers, all the rest being back in Nigeria, of course, I never felt they were doing me a favour or there was the need to dip my hands into my pockets to “appreciate” a health caregiver.

Amjad, I learnt, is a descendant of the author of a book on fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Qurtabi, written in poetic form. It is one of those primary books studied to deepen knowledge of jurisprudence and also to learn the Arabic language. I got to know this because, out of curiosity, I told him that the name Qurtabi rang a bell, to which he opened up on his relationship with the famed author.

For those who might have read it, the book, Qurtabi, named after the town of the author, Shaykh Allama Yahya bn Ishaq bn Yahya al-Laisi, started with “Yaqulu Yahyal Qurtabiyyud dari; Almurtaji mathubatal ghaffari; Bi’ismil ilaHi abda’ul maqala; Faminhu arjul afwa wal ifdhaala,” which when translated means: “Says Yahya who lives (domiciled) in Qurtabi; A man expecting (desirous of) reward and forgiveness (from Allah); in the name of Allah, I am starting this discussion; From Him, I am expecting sympathy and greatness.”

Qurtabi was the name of Cordoba in Spain, called Andalusia at the time when the country was an Islamic nation.

Alqurtabi went through the process of physically breaking the mucus that filled my lungs so that they could get expectorated and give relief to my lungs and chest. That would also allow me to breathe easily, which will reduce the Shortness of Breath (SoB) I struggled with due to insufficient oxygen.

My ailment, found out to be Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), is a non-communicable, irreversible chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes airflow blockage, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. And so one has to imbibe a lifetime habit of pulmonary rehabilitation. And that was what Amjad Alqurtabi set out to put me through.

After massaging my chest to loosen the mucus, he handed me over to Coach Khalid, the man in charge of both therapies. Even though he is more fluent in Arabic, we hit it off instantly as friends because I saw in him a man enthusiastic to nurse me back to health. I could see happiness in his eyes at my progress and pride all over his face that he was part of it.

The first set of physiotherapy consisted of sessions on the treadmill, spinner bike and exercises on deep breathing. Next was hydrotherapy, where I was made to undergo various sessions and exercises in a heated swimming pool with a Jacuzzi, leading to full swimming and holding my breath for a time underwater.

After about ten days at it, I became strong enough to perform the Umrah and after two weeks, when Heba called for another LFT, it was found out that my lung function had improved by over thirty per cent. No wonder the physiotherapy department of the Makkah Saudi-German is the best in the Saudi-German chain.

I still believe we can have hospitals with the standard of the Saudi-German. And what can hinder us from achieving such a feat? Three things make the Makkah Saudi-German great: adequate infrastructure, modern equipment for service delivery and wonderful, well-trained human resources, with the right attitude in tow.

I believe our states can build at least one great hospital and invite the Saudi-German to equip and manage them for a certain period. While doing that, our citizens will receive the best on-the-job training after graduation and may further benefit from exchange programmes with the franchise.

All these will allow them to internalise the concept of global best practices in health care delivery. That will be a win-win situation for us and will in no small measure galvanise our development individually and as a nation because a healthy nation is a wealthy one.

** Hassan Gimba is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Neptune Prime.

 

To start a company and keep it growing, leaders must get and keep customers. As I will share with students this fall in my Babson College course, Scaling Strategy: Mastering the Four Stages from Idea to $10 Billion, achieving that simple-sounding goal is challenging.

This comes to mind in considering the journey of Saviynt, a privately held El Segundo, Calif.-based provider of identity and access management products.

Founded in 2010, the 545-employee company generated $72 million in revenue, according to Zippia. Savyint defied the current venture capital winter – raising $205 million in growth financing in January 2023, VentureBeat reported.

In a March 3 interview, CEO Sachim Nayyar explained how Saviynt has been able to win and keep customers during its 13-year existence.

Founders must pick the right problem to solve – one that causes considerable pain for customers and that incumbents are not addressing. 

Saviynt aimed to solve such a problem back in 2010.

As Nayyar told me, "In 2010, there was no comprehensive solution to identity and access management. While vendors such as Oracle, SailPoint, IBM, SAP and CyberArk supplied individual pieces of the solution, customers were paying multiple times for these different products. We thought customers were looking for something more efficient; more secure and better integrated."

2. Build the industry's best solution to that problem

To win customers, a vendor must build the industry's best solution to the right problem.

Saviynt says its product and service offerings lead the industry.

"Customers perceive us as providing a world-class product with the most innovation. We offer potential customers access to the accumulated best practices of our user groups, advisory groups and customer learning. We have a deep ecosystem of over 1,000 partners certified in Saviynt which customers can access through a single marketplace."

3. Persuade potential customers to buy your product

It is not enough to build the best product; you must also convince customers to buy it.

Saviynt says that its product wins in competitive bids.

"We win 70 percent to 75 percent of the time. While Okta is a competitor, it provides light identity governance for customers who are smaller than the ones we target. We win because our product better meets the needs of our customers who want to move to the cloud, lower their total costs and reduce risk. Enterprises choose after doing a bakeoff among potential suppliers and then check references," he said.

4. Invent new products that help customers adapt to changing headwinds and tailwinds

Over time, a company's initial products mature. To keep growing, founders must track changes in the external forces creating opportunities and threats for their customers.

In so doing, startups can sustain their growth by investing in new products that will help their customers keep growing.

Saviynt's portfolio consists of some mature and some fast-growing products.

As Nayyar explained, "65 percent of our revenue is from mature products; 35 percent of our revenue is from products that are growing at over 100 percent a year. These include our privileged access management (PAM) and third-party access management products."

Saviynt started developing a PAM offering about three years ago.

As he said, "We began developing a lower-priced, agentless, cloud-based PAM product that protects Internet of Things devices. Our product works better and is less costly than CyberArk's PAM product. Our price is 70 percent of the nearest competitor's. Because of the macroeconomic pressure to do more with less, we will benefit. By 2024, we expect that the balance of our mature and fast-growing products will be 50/50."

5. Empower talent to achieve ambitious goals

Nayyar has learned important lessons about winning and keeping customers since he became a CEO.

"When I was a first-time CEO, I tried to solve everything myself. Now I know that a CEO must bring the right people to the table, give them the information they need, remove obstacles and making sure everyone understands a few key goals."

To hire that talent – winning is essential. "Winners attract winners and we grow through innovation and quality – not by cutting our price below our costs. We never cut corners with customers no matter how small they are. We want customers to refer us so we won't be penny wise and pound foolish," he said. 

Do these five things to help your company get and keep customers.

 

Inc