Israeli forces storm the main hospital in southern Gaza, saying hostages were likely held there

Israeli forces stormed the main hospital in southern Gaza on Thursday, hours after Israeli fire killed a patient and wounded six others inside the complex. The Israeli army said it was seeking the remains of hostages taken by Hamas.

The raid on Nasser Hospital came after troops had besieged the facility for nearly a week, with hundreds of staff, patients and others inside struggling under heavy fire and dwindling supplies, including food and water. A day earlier, the army ordered thousands of displaced people who had taken shelter there to leave the hospital in the city of Khan Younis, the focus of Israel’s offensive against Hamas in recent weeks.

The war shows no sign of ending, and the risk of a broader conflict grew as Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group stepped up attacks after a particularly deadly exchange on Wednesday.

The military said it had “credible intelligence” that Hamas had held hostages at Nasser Hospital and that the hostages’ remains might still be inside. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesperson, said forces were conducting a “precise and limited” operation there and would not forcibly evacuate medics or patients. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian structures to shield its fighters.

A released hostage told The Associated Press last month that she and over two dozen other captives had been held in Nasser Hospital. International law prohibits the targeting of medical facilities; they can lose those protections if they are used for military purposes, though operations against them still must be proportional to any threat.

As troops searched hospital buildings, they ordered the more than 460 staff, patients and their relatives to move into an older building in the compound that isn’t equipped to treat patients, the Gaza Health Ministry said. They were “in harsh conditions with no food or baby formula” and severe water shortages, it said.

Six patients were left in intensive care, along with three infants in incubators with no staff to attend to them. The ministry said fuel for generators would soon run out, endangering their lives.

Separately, Israel launched airstrikes into southern Lebanon for a second day after killing 10 civilians and three Hezbollah fighters on Wednesday in response to a rocket attack that killed an Israeli soldier and wounded several others.

It was the deadliest exchange of fire along the border since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Israel and Hezbollah — an ally of Hamas — have traded fire on a daily basis, raising the risks of a broader conflict.

Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s rocket attack. Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, a senior member of the group, said it is “prepared for the possibility of expanding the war” and would meet “escalation with escalation, displacement with displacement, and destruction with destruction.”

Negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza, meanwhile, appear to have stalled, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until Hamas is destroyed and scores of hostages taken during the militants’ Oct. 7 attack are freed.

SCENES OF PANIC IN HOSPITAL

Nasser Hospital has been the latest focus of Israeli military operations that have gutted Gaza’s health sector as it struggles to treat a constant stream of people wounded in daily bombardments.

Israeli troops, tanks and snipers have surrounded the hospital for at least a week, and fire from outside has recently killed several people inside, according to health officials.

“There’s no water, no food. Garbage is everywhere. Sewage has flooded the emergency ward,” said Raed Abed, a wounded patient who was among those who left Nasser Hospital on Israeli orders Wednesday.

Still suffering from a severe stomach wound, Abed said he initially collapsed as he got out of his hospital bed and tried to leave. He then waited outside for hours as troops made those leaving pass by five at a time, arresting some and making them strip to their underwear, he said. Finally, he walked for miles until he reached the border town of Rafah, where he was put in a hospital. Lying in a bed there, he wheezed in pain from his wound as he spoke.

Overnight, a strike slammed into one of Nasser Hospital’s wards, killing one patient and wounding six others, Dr. Khaled Alserr, one of the remaining surgeons there, told the AP.

Video showed medics scrambling to move patients down a corridor filled with smoke or dust, while in a dark room a wounded man screamed in pain as gunfire echoed outside.

“The situation is escalating every hour and every minute,” Alserr said.

The international aid group Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French language acronym MSF, said its staff had to flee the hospital on Thursday, leaving patients behind, and that one staffer was detained at an Israeli checkpoint just outside the facility.

Hours after troops entered the hospital, military spokesman Hagari said they were still conducting searches. He said dozens of militants were arrested from the hospital grounds, including three who participated in the Oct. 7 attack. He also said troops found grenades and mortar shells, and that Israeli radar determined that militants fired mortars from the hospital grounds a month ago.

NO END IN SIGHT TO THE WAR

The war began when Hamas militants on Oct. 7 burst out of Gaza and attacked several Israeli communities, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage. More than 100 captives were freed during a weeklong cease-fire in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Around 130 captives remain in Gaza, a fourth of whom are believed to be dead. Netanyahu has come under intense pressure from hostages’ families and the wider public to make a deal to secure their freedom, but his far-right coalition partners could bring down his government if he is seen as being too soft on Hamas. Dozens of hostages’ relatives protested and blocked traffic Thursday outside the military’s headquarters, where the War Cabinet also meets.

Israel responded to the Hamas attack with one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history.

At least 28,663 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 68,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Some 80% of the population has been driven from their homes, and a quarter are starving amid a worsening humanitarian catastrophe. Large areas in northern Gaza, the first target of the offensive, have been completely destroyed.

Israeli media reported that CIA Director William Burns flew to Israel to meet with Netanyahu to discuss efforts for a cease-fire.

Hamas says it will not release all the remaining captives until Israel ends its offensive, withdraws and frees Palestinian prisoners, including top militants.

Netanyahu has rejected those demands and says Israel will soon expand its offensive into Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city. Over half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has sought refuge in Rafah after fleeing fighting elsewhere.

Airstrikes late Wednesday in central Gaza killed at least 11 people, including four children and five women, according to hospital records. Relatives gathered around bodies wrapped in white shrouds outside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah before the remains were placed in a truck to be taken for burial.

One man struggled to let go, lying down and holding one of the bodies on the truck as he wept.

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine withdraws units from parts of Avdiivka, sends in crack brigade

Ukraine said on Thursday it was withdrawing troops from some parts of the eastern town of Avdiivka to better positions after months of heavy fighting, and battle-hardened reserve fighters from a crack brigade have joined the battle.

Russia is trying to encircle and capture Avdiivka nearly two years after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Kyiv's foothold in the town appears increasingly shaky, with its supply lines threatened.

Capturing Avdiivka is key to Russia's aim of securing full control of the two provinces that make up the industrial Donbas region, and could hand President Vladimir Putin a battlefield victory to hold up to voters as he seeks re-election next month.

"In Avdiivka a manoeuvre is underway in some places to withdraw our units to more advantageous positions, in some places to force (the Russians) out of positions," Ukrainian military spokesman Dmytro Lykhoviy said in televised comments.

"Therefore the key announcement with regards to all this is that supplies to Avdiivka and evacuations from there are difficult."

He said the military had activated a "reserve logistics artery" that had been prepared in advance.

"The situation on the front - Avdiivka, the east in general. We are doing everything possible to ensure that our soldiers have sufficient managerial and technological capabilities to preserve as many Ukrainian lives as possible," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

One of Ukraine's most prominent fighting units, the Third Assault Brigade, said it had been rushed to Avdiivka to reinforce Kyiv's troops there.

The brigade, which comprises assault infantry, said the situation in Avdiivkawas "hell" and "threatening and unstable", but that it had conducted a raid against Russian forces in parts of the town and inflicted heavy casualties.

Reuters could not independently verify the statements.

The brigade took part in a counteroffensive in eastern Ukraine last summer and fought in the battle of Bakhmut, another town in eastern Ukraine that held out for many months before being captured last May.

"The enemy is continuing the active rotation of its troops (around Avdiivka) and is deploying new forces and equipment to the town," the brigade said on the Telegram messenger.

"The situation at the moment the brigade was brought in was extremely critical."

The unit's deputy commander, Maksym Zhorin, said the fighting was much fiercer than the battle of Bakhmut and that Kyiv's forces were outnumbered and outgunned in Avdiivka.

UKRAINE FACES MILITARY CHALLENGES

Russian forces have been trying to advance on the town since October and have surrounded it on three sides, leaving limited resupply routes for the Ukrainian troops dug in there.

Lykhoviy said Russia had concentrated around 50,000 troops on the Avdiivka front, and fighting in the city involved Russian tactical assault groups that were small but growing in size.

"Armoured groups in the form of tanks and other armoured vehicles are joining them," he said.

Ukraine's war effort is facing big challenges and uncertainty over the future of U.S. military assistance.

Tired troops, some of whom have been fighting for almost two years and are deployed along a sprawling 1,000-km (620-mile) front, are facing critical shortages of artillery rounds.

Zelenskiy replaced his popular army chief last week and is set this week to visit France and Germany, where he is likely to seek support for urgent new military assistance.

Avdiivka, where fewer than 1,000 residents are left of a pre-war population of 32,000, lies just north of the Russian-held bastion of Donetsk which Ukraine lost control of in 2014 when Moscow's proxies began an uprising.

The town has a vast coking plant that has stopped functioning during the war.

Both sides see Avdiivka as key to Russia gaining full control of Donetsk and Luhansk provinces and as a gateway to Donetsk city, residential areas of which have been shelled by Ukraine, sometimes from Avdiivka, Russian officials say.

** Three civilians killed in Russian airstrike on Kharkiv region - governor

A Russian airstrike killed at least three people and injured two more in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine on Thursday, local governor Oleh Sinehubov said.

Two bombs hit a car carrying civilians and set a residential building on fire, Sinehubov said. He posted several photographs of a badly damaged burning building and a wrecked car.

Reuters could not independently verify the report or images.

Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched against its neighbour in February 2022.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces strike Ukrainian aircraft engine-, ammo-producing plants over past day

Russian forces delivered a combined strike against Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises rolling out aircraft engines and mortar ammunition over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.

"In the morning, the Russian Armed Forces delivered a combined strike by airborne and seaborne long-range precision weapons against Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises engaged in the production and repairs of aircraft engines, radio-electronic and communications equipment and mortar ammunition, and also against the factories producing fuel for the Ukrainian army’s military hardware. The goal of the strike was achieved. All the targets were destroyed," the ministry said in a statement.

Russian forces destroy more than 100 Ukrainian troops in Kupyansk area over past day

Russian forces destroyed more than 100 Ukrainian troops, a multiple rocket launcher and two artillery guns in the Kupyansk area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"In the Kupyansk direction, units of the western battlegroup inflicted damage on enemy manpower and equipment in areas near the settlements of Berestovoye and Peschanoye in the Kharkov Region and Makeyevka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and repelled an attack by an assault group of the 30th mechanized brigade near the settlement of Sinkovka in the Kharkov Region. The Ukrainian army’s losses amounted to 105 personnel, three motor vehicles, a Grad multiple launch rocket system, a French-made Caesar self-propelled artillery system and a Gvozdika motorized artillery gun," the ministry said.

Ukraine’s army loses 305 troops in Krasny Liman area over past day

The Ukrainian military lost roughly 305 troops and 15 armored vehicles in the Krasny Liman area over the past day, the ministry reported.

Units of Russia’s battlegroup Center improved their forward edge positions and repulsed two attacks by assault groups of the Ukrainian army’s 60th and 63rd mechanized brigades near the settlements of Yampolovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Chervonaya Dibrova in the Lugansk People’s Republic in the Krasny Liman direction over the past 24 hours, the ministry specified.

"The enemy’s losses amounted to 305 personnel, 15 armored combat vehicles, including a US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, 14 motor vehicles, a Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery gun and a D-30 howitzer," the ministry said.

Russian forces repulse 10 Ukrainian attacks in Donetsk area over past day

Russian forces repulsed ten Ukrainian army attacks and kept improving their positions in the Donetsk area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"In the Donetsk direction, units of the southern battlegroup gained more advantageous frontiers and positions, repulsed 10 enemy attacks and inflicted damage on the personnel and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 17th tank, 79th air assault, 72nd mechanized and 112th territorial defense brigades in areas near the settlements of Krasnoye, Kleshcheyevka, Kurdyumovka, Leninskoye, Konstantinovka and Paraskoviyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the ministry said.

Kiev suffers 360 casualties in Donetsk area over past day

Russian forces struck Ukrainian army units in the Donetsk area, killing and wounding roughly 360 enemy troops and destroying a US-made Bradley combat vehicle over the past day, the ministry reported.

"The Ukrainian army lost as many as 360 troops, a tank, three armored combat vehicles, including a US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, and also 27 motor vehicles. In counter-battery fire, the following targets were destroyed: a Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery system, two US-made M777 artillery systems, an FH70 howitzer and an L119 howitzer of UK manufacture, a Msta-B howitzer, a D-30 howitzer and three D-20 howitzers," the ministry said.

Russian forces strike four Ukrainian army brigades in south Donetsk area over past day

Russian forces struck four Ukrainian army brigades in the south Donetsk area, eliminating roughly 200 enemy troops over the past day, the ministry reported.

"In the south Donetsk direction, units of the battlegroup East inflicted damage on the personnel and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 58th infantry, 72nd mechanized, 128th and 127th territorial defense brigades near the settlements of Vodyanoye, Vladimirovka and Urozhainoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Priyutnoye in the Zaporozhye Region. The Ukrainian army lost as many as 200 personnel, a tank, two infantry fighting vehicles and eight motor vehicles," the ministry said.

In counter-battery fire, Russian forces destroyed a UK-made FH70 howitzer, two US-manufactured M198 howitzers and a Gvozdika motorized artillery system, the ministry specified.

Russian forces strike two Ukrainian army brigades in Kherson area over past day

Russian forces inflicted damage on two Ukrainian army brigades in the Kherson area, eliminating roughly 20 enemy troops and a US-made artillery system over the past day, the ministry reported.

"In the Kherson direction, Russian air strikes and artillery fire inflicted damage on the personnel and equipment of the [Ukrainian army’s] 35th marine infantry brigade and 126th territorial defense brigade in areas near the settlements of Tyaginka, Ivanovka and Yantarnoye in the Kherson Region," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in the Kherson direction over the last 24 hours amounted to 20 personnel, two motor vehicles, a US-made M777 artillery system and a D-30 howitzer, the ministry specified.

Russian air defenses down Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet near Kramatorsk

Russian air defense forces shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet near Kramatorsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Air defense capabilities shot down a Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 aircraft near the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the ministry said.

Russian air defenses down 95 Ukrainian UAVs over past day

Russian air defense forces intercepted eight rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and an American JDAM smart bomb and destroyed 95 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Over the last 24 hours, air defense capabilities intercepted eight rockets of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and a JDAM air guided bomb of US manufacture. In addition, they destroyed 95 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Zhitlovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Soledar, Volnovakha and Yelenovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Lyubimovka, Inzhenernoye, Pologi and Ocheretovatoye in the Zaporozhye Region and Velikiye Kopani in the Kherson Region," the ministry said.

Russian forces strike Ukrainian troops in more than 100 areas over past day

Russian forces inflicted damage on the Ukrainian army’s personnel and military hardware in more than 100 areas over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Operational/tactical aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of Russian groupings of forces struck a command post of the Ukrainian army’s 72nd mechanized brigade, and also manpower and military equipment in 102 areas," the ministry said.

In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 571 warplanes, 266 helicopters, 12,485 unmanned aerial vehicles, 469 surface-to-air missile systems, 15,056 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,221 multiple rocket launchers, 8,061 field artillery guns and mortars and 18,729 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation, the ministry reported.

Reuters/Tass

I was going through some old files in my closet the other day when I saw some documents and receipts that absolutely cracked me up. Among the browning, time-worn papers was the receipt from a private primary school for the payment of my first daughter’s fees. 

It was a middle-class school that charged N5,000 naira per term. Attached to the fading receipt was a thank you note by the bursar. I rocked with laughter. This was in 1995 when, after nearly seven years of working, my monthly salary was around 60k or so. I will not forget how my mother reacted when she found out how much I was paying for her granddaughter’s termly fees. “Did your university tuition cost that much?”, she asked despairingly. 

Of course, it did, but not by a lot. As I held that rusty receipt in my hand on that day, the shock and despair in my mother’s face about how prices had gone up and how things had changed, for the worse, flooded my mind. 

Yet, within three decades of my mother showing concern, the joke was on me. By this time, it was no longer a laughing matter.

“Ilu le o…!” 

I had somehow managed to find out how much my daughter was paying for my granddaughter’s school fees in a school certainly more upscale than the one she attended, but by my reckoning, unlikely to be among the A-List schools in her part of town. 

What she was paying for my granddaughter’s kindergarten per term was roughly ten times my salary after seven years of working. I couldn’t help wondering what my mother would have said or done if she had lived to see the school fees of her great-granddaughter, a kid enrolled barely out of her diapers! And this was only three years ago.

Many things in the old files in my closet reminded me of how the times are changing. When I think of Victor Olaiya’s famous highlife song, “Ilu le o!” (literally meaning, Country hard!) released over 40 years ago which was supposed to have captured the misery of men and women complaining about the hard times, I wonder exactly what the moaning was about. 

Nuts for the rich

A few days ago, I had a conversation with my local cashew nut seller. I had been buying cashew nuts from her since when a bottle cost N800, which was not up to four years ago. Slowly, but steadily, the price climbed to N1,000, then N1,200, then N1,500 and before you could say, “cashew,” it became N4,000 per bottle – roughly the cost of my daughter’s one-term school fee in the late 1990s.

How do you buy a bottle of nuts for N4,000? Perhaps because I drive a big car – which is a Tokunbo, by the way – the nut seller thought she had me hooked; that I should be able to afford the nut, whatever the price. Well, she was mistaken and I told her so. Of course, she pleaded that it was not her fault that it was – you guessed right – the exchange rate! Dollar or not, I won’t buy cashew nuts now priced as luxury items. 

Of course, I know about the fiber, protein and healthy fats that come from cashew nuts, not to mention blood sugar control, heart health and weight loss. But at 72.5kg, and with the gift of a stature that can eat both pounded yam and mortar without them showing, why should I lose sleep over weight? Whatever cashew nut offers, especially in fiber, I will get from sweet potatoes.

But cashew nuts are not the whole story of this cost-of-living crisis. Even potatoes have doubled in price. According to a BBC report, prices in Nigeria are rising at their fastest rates ever in the last 30 years.

This was how the BBC report described it: “A standard 50kg bag of rice, which could help feed a household of between eight and 10 for about a month, now costs N77,000,” that is, about double the price last December. The prices of other staples such as beans, garri, maize and millet have also gone up, costing the average worker two months’ minimum wage for a bag.

Portion control 

Portion control was a frequent point of argument in my house. It’s a problem with men, of course, but it’s worse with African women brought up to believe that the proof of spousal care is in the size of the husband’s weight, measured by the amount of food on his plate. It's considered taboo in many places, especially in the South of Nigeria, for example, for a man’s plate of soup to have only one piece of meat or fish. Or for his dough, famously called swallow, to appear miserly. 

This well-intended culture of culinary excess is captured in Chinua Achebe’s Things fall apart, where the story is told of a wealthy man who gave a feast at which guests on one side of the table did not see those on the other side from morning until night when they managed to level the mountain of food set before them during the new yam festival. 

If, however, Okonkwo’s guests were living in today’s Nigeria, where a sachet of water in a 50cl plastic bag costs N20, more than twice the price last year, they would be lucky to find enough water to drink after a meal of afafata, chaff of rice grain, which is now a staple in parts of Northern Nigeria.

My point about portion control is that after years of struggling to convince my wife, and often the female domestic staff, that measurements and smaller food portions, including far fewer pieces of protein in my meals don’t mean lack of care, the cost-of-living crisis is finally driving the point home! 

As for other things such as the cost of petrol and other energy costs, which increased by 216 percent from N195 per litre after the removal of subsidy last May, I threatened to buy a bicycle to augment my transportation cost before a concerned staff warned me of the risk of cycling nearly 15 kilometres to work across two major highways.

There is, however, one area of adjustment, which after futilely struggling to contain without luck, I have decided to seek “divine intervention”, as we say: my BP medication. In a country where less than five percent of the population have health insurance and the rest pay out-of-pocket for treatment, persons with underlying medical conditions have been badly hit by the current inflation rate of 28.9 percent.

It's not a laughing matter. Last year, for example, a packet of Co-Diovan 80/12.5mgs, my recommended BP management medicine, cost about N8,000. Now, it is N24,000 and still rising for the same packet which lasts 28 days.

Trouble in the world 

Of course, it’s not a uniquely Nigerian problem. From New Zealand to Nepal, countries 

around the world have been battling with a serious cost-of-living crisis. This crisis is a combination of factors ranging from Covid-19 and the supply chain problems that followed, to the war in Ukraine and extreme climate changes across the world. 

In fact, Nigeria is not listed among the 10 African countries with the highest cost of living, a list that features Senegal at the top, with others such as Cote d’Ivoire, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Cameroon and Kenya, among others. 

Just like economic problems imitate physical diseases, countries with underlying structural problems have been the worst hit. The difference from place to place, however, has been in how leaders repaired trust and mobilised resources in response. 

President Bola Tinubu campaigned for his current job knowing full well there won’t be a honeymoon from day one. I’ll need to file something urgently in my closet that my granddaughter might see someday to show that my vote for him was not a mistake.

** Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

Britain’s decline over the past 25 years has been staggeringly rapid. Almost everything is getting worse, and almost nothing is getting better. Our public and private institutions are broken, presided over by an incompetent, selfish and narcissistic ruling class. Living standards, when adjusted properly for living and property costs, are declining.

Even the simplest things don’t work any longer. Queuing, scarcity and congestion are rife, our infrastructure is embarrassingly poor, and the honest and hardworking face endless bureaucratic battles to obtain what they are due. Free riding, crime, disorder, fraud, littering and generalised rule-bending are rife, and all too often tolerated by apathetic citizens and an indifferent state. Britain’s residual virtues, our individualism, independence of mind, tolerance and openness, uniquely appealing features of our national character, are fading. 

Like a frog in boiling water, few saw the full scale of the decline coming until it was too late, and those who did were ridiculed by the bien-pensant. Yet even in 2024, when millions now realise that Britain is on the wrong track, there is no hope of meaningful improvement. The Tories have been abysmal, but Labour will be even worse: Keir Starmer will double down on the social-democratic and culturally nihilistic policies tested to destruction by the Conservatives.

In the 2000s, Britain had a particular idea of itself: a country of post-Thatcherite property-owners which reconciled modernity and tradition, globalisation and national self-determination, low-tax dynamism and fairness, where you didn’t need IDs to vote, where MPs weren’t attacked by screaming mobs, and where, finally, racism was increasingly a thing of the past. We saw ourselves as a socially mobile, law-abiding land of high trust, low corruption, the rule of law, improving race relations and religious toleration: a uniquely open society and a model to the Western world. 

Such a vision is now largely obsolete. An Englishman’s home was his castle, making a huge difference to our national psyche, until our deliberate policy of rationing new housing at a time of mass immigration robbed the under-40s of the chance of owning anything of their own. “This is a free country”, we used to maintain when presented with another idiotic proposal to control us, but that too is over, killed off by the woke war on free speech, the jailing of Christian preachers, the sugar tax, the surveillance society and the Covid lockdowns. 

In narrow GDP growth terms, we continue to outperform the true laggards on the continent, as Brexiteers correctly predicted, but that should be no consolation. Our manufacturing sector is being priced out of global markets by the rush to net zero, our energy policy is a hideous farce, our misregulated City is in decline, and our tax system an absurd conspiracy against hard work and merit, with marginal tax rates back at 1970s levels for some. 

The socialist NHS, despite massive increases in funding, is a horror show, and one of the main reasons not to live in the UK. Some 5.6 million adults are on out-of-work benefits, and yet immigration is running at extraordinary levels. Our Armed Forces have been slashed, and are now being subject to a woke takeover. 

Yet while all of these instances of national enfeeblement are tragic, they pale in comparison with the most terrifying regression of them all. We thought that we had progressed decisively as a society, that we had vanquished racism and religious discrimination, that the institutions of our liberal state would prevent a minority from facing persecution, and that our ruling class would never allow any subset of the population to be openly hated and othered again. 

How wrong we were. That anti-Semitism, the oldest of hatreds, is back on the streets and screens of Britain, is terrifying enough; but the fact that this explosion of prejudice is being treated in such a cavalier fashion by the authorities and the mainstream broadcast media – and in some cases is even being rationalised and normalised – is a catastrophic development that casts doubt about Britain’s very future. 

This is the worst moment for Britain’s Jews since the pogroms that disgraced Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester in the summer of 1947. The double-standards, the never ending “pro-Palestine” marches that are inevitably marred by egregious, open, anti-Semitism and evil slogans, the bullying, the victim blaming, the spreading of fake news, the wilful, blatant lies and denialism of Hamas’s atrocities, the obsessive interest in, and delegitimisation, of Israel, a state that accounts for just 0.25 per cent of the Middle East’s landmass, is its only multi-religious democracy and which is fighting for survival against neighbours that reject its very existence, stink of a replay of the 1930s. 

The return of anti-Semitism is not just an existential threat to Britain’s tiny, 292,000-strong Jewish community, but a damning indictment of a Britain that is regressing into darkness. As Lord Sacks put it in 2016, “the hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews … the appearance of anti-Semitism in a culture is the first symptom of a disease, the early warning sign of collective breakdown.” 

Already a non-Jewish MP has resigned out of fear for his own safety. Traditional British democratic norms are being upended by far-Left and Islamist extremists. Cranks, conspiracy theorists and racists appear to have entered mainstream politics in significant numbers, and many seem attracted by the Labour Party. 

Anti-Semites never just target Jews. They are full-service, equal opportunity bigots who oppress and impoverish and destroy all that they touch, and despise freedom and human flourishing. 

Starmer is genuinely committed to fighting anti-Semitism, but he has proved unforgivably slow in his attempts at rooting out prejudice in recent days. He rightly purged the Corbynites, but the rot in his party evidently goes far deeper, having contaminated even “centrist” or “Right-wing” circles. Some in his party are seeking votes among far-Left and Islamist extremists: a morally righteous party would announce that they are not interested in such voters, and terminate all relevant candidates, even if such a stance costs them power.

In the absence of such a step, we face the prospect of many new Labour MPs being, at the very least, soft on anti-Semitism. The Tories have failed, but Labour will be infinitely worse. Britain is hanging on by a thread.

The Telegraph

Muhammad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, has lamented the economic hardship in the country, saying Nigerians are frustrated and hungry.

The traditional ruler spoke at the 6th executive committee meeting of the northern traditonal rulers council (NTRC) which held in  Kaduna state on Wednesday.

He said insecurity and poverty are the major issues causing trouble for the people of the north.

“To make matters worse, we are faced with rising levels of poverty of most of our people; a lack of normal sources of livelihood for the common man to have even a good meal a day,” he said.

“But I believe talking about insecurity and the rising level of poverty are two issues that we cannot fold our arms and think everything is okay.

“I have said it so many times and at so many fora that, things are not okay in Nigeria and of course, things are not okay in the north.

“To me, this government is a continuation of the former government; it is the same party.

“So, what really is the problem? I think that is one of the reasons we are here to talk to ourselves.”

The sultan said traditional rulers owe it a duty to Nigerians, who believe in the traditional institution, to bring solutions to the various problems facing the country.

“Education is important, so whatever issue you want to bring here, you must talk about education, you must talk about health issues and of the two monsters that have been harassing all of us here that is insecurity and poverty,” he said.

“And let’s not take it for granted; people are quiet, they are quiet for a reason because people have been talking to them.

‘We have been talking to them, we have been trying to tell them things will be okay and they keep on believing.

“I pray to Almighty Allah that they will not one day wake up and say we no longer believe in you, because that would be the biggest problem because we can’t quieten these people as traditional, spiritual leaders and diplomats forever.

“We have reached that level, people are very agitated, people are hungry, they are angry, but they still believe there are people who can talk to them, they believe in some of their governors, some other traditional rulers, and some of their religious leaders.

“Fortunately, some of us double as traditional and religious leaders.

“So, we have this onerous task of reaching out to everybody, calming them down, and assuring them things will be okay, and they should continue to pray and pray and still do something good because prayer without work will not bring anything.”

Abubakar also expressed concern about the millions of unemployed youths, noting that it poses serious danger to the country.

“We must find jobs for our teeming youths that are sitting idle and I have said it so many times, we sit on a keg of gunpowder, having teeming youths millions of them, without jobs, without food, we are looking for trouble,” he added.

He added that the council is ready to work with the governors.

“And if the governors too want to have peace and stability in their states, they must work with the traditional leaders,” he said.

The Cable

Mixed reactions have trailed the confirmation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the federal government has resumed payment of subsidies on the premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol through the backdoor.

Recall that during his inauguration on May 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu announced an end to petrol subsidy, triggering a hike in the prices of goods and services in the country.

A few weeks later, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) collapsed the different exchange rate regimes into one, with the value of the naira to the dollar weakening. As of Monday, dollar was N1,499/$1 at the official window and N1,515/$1 at the parallel market.

Earlier in the week, the IMF issued a statement on the conclusion of its Executive Board’s Post Financing Assessment with Nigeria, and it expressed concerns that the government had capped the prices of fuel at retail stations.

The global lender advised the Tinubu administration to completely stop the payment of subsidies on petrol to free funds to run the government.

Daily Trust reports that after the removal of petrol subsidy in May 2023, the pump price changed from N185 per litre to N400 per litre, and then to N568 per litre at NNPC fueling stations, while some sold above N600.

There were reports that the landing cost of petrol had gone up and the retail price could go up to N1000 per litre.

Daily Trust investigation had revealed that the federal government paid N169.4 billion as subsidy to keep the pump price at N620 per litre.

A document from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), sighted by one of our reporters, showed that in August 2023, the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) paid $275m as dividends to Nigeria via NNPC Limited. NNPC Limited used $220 million (N169.4 billion at N770/$) out of the $275 million to pay for the PMS subsidy. Then NNPC held back $55 million, illegally.

The IMF, in its latest statement, said the Tinubu-led administration has “capped retail fuel and electricity prices” ostensibly to “ease the impact of rapidly rising inflation on living conditions, thus partially reversing the fuel subsidy removal.”

Many Nigerians on X have reacted differently to the statement made by the IMF.

@iam_realjayson said: “I would really like to know the mathematics behind this… Fx is on a free fall, while PMS pump price is relatively stable. Miracle really no dey tire Jesus.”

@journalofOCO: “Once again, as long as the people in power are dishonest, this fuel subsidy issue will continue to be a bone in our throat. For those who say the President doesn’t matter, know that the continued support of dishonest people will lead to the continued destruction of the country.”

@ourt_destiny: “It’s why fuel hasn’t spiked to 1k per liter while everything else has spiked up in price.”

@Manseey: “Lol. So the removal was a scam in the first place. Tell me something I don’t know about Nigeria.”

@Andrew_Eneyi: “The inconsistencies and lies under this government is so shameful. So subsidy is actual not gone and we are suffering like this in Nigeria.”

@TimiTheAce: “I have a conspiracy theory that these guys are still subsidizing this fuel price because they know if they sell it at the actual price or anything greater than the current price, they’d be an outrage and the whole of Nigeria would fight back. They’ve not even increased it sef…”

@Jay_M85: “Nothing surprises me about Nigeria anymore. Inside one surprise another bigger surprise Dey inside.”

@MoraOgo: “Don’t mind IMF, Nigerians can’t afford to buy fuel for 1’500 per litre.”

@tangledthug: “There is no country in the world that does not subsidize when item or the other I don’t understand IMF stand than Nigeria must remove all form of subsidy, this is not fair.”

@Pauly2570: “As long as they keep listening to those international money lenders coupled with the profligacy, the country will continue to deep into economic crisis.”

Daily Trust

Nigeria’s households and businesses are going through very difficult times as a result of the continued escalation of cooking gas, diesel and other resources.

This becomes unbearable as their incomes have not experienced any meaningful increase in the past few years, which also recorded a significant drop in the value of the Naira, currently going for N1,515/$ at the official market.

A market survey by Energy Vanguard, weekend, indicated that the price of cooking gas (12.5kg) that was N11, 250 in December 2023, has risen to N15, 000, indicating an increase of 33.3 per cent.

Similarly, the price of diesel has risen to N1, 270 per litre in February 2024, from N800 per litre in the corresponding period of 2023.

The market trend is mainly driven by the depreciation of the Naira and increased utilisation of diesel by consumers, including the tanker drivers involved in moving petroleum products from one part of the nation to another.

Also, consumers further suffer from inadequate and unstable supply of electricity as generation, dropped year-on-year, YoY, by 17.8 per cent to 4,015.55 megawatts, MW on February 11, 2024, from 4,887.7 MW recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.

But on month-on-month, MoM, generation dropped by 19.4 per cent to 4,015.55MW in February, from 4,981.78MW, recorded in the preceding month of January 2024.

Nigerian Electricity System Operator, the semi-autonomous unit of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, attributed the factors responsible for the declining trend to inadequate gas to thermal stations and poor state of stations.  

Checks by Energy Vanguard showed that the electricity generated remains inadequate for transmission and distribution to consumers, including households and companies in all parts of Nigeria.

It also indicated that the Electricity Distribution Companies, DisCos have embarked on load shedding, targeted at ensuring that the little supply is shared to many consumers at different times.

However, the Nigerian Gas Association, NGA, said it remains proud to support the Federal Government’s renewed focus on prioritising autogas to cushion the effects of the removal of subsidy on the petrol.

In its report obtained by Energy Vanguard, NGA stated: “The leadership of the NGA believes that this policy leaning is very apt as it accelerates the domestic adoption and utilisation of gas, a resource that the country is most endowed with. Gas for the transportation sector and also for users of small generators, whether powered by Liquefied Petroleum Gas or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), is one of the most affordable, available, safe, and reliable fuels that also substantially addresses global carbon emission concerns and the well being of the environment.

“To achieve this, the NGA urges the Federal Government to revisit and accelerate the implementation of the Nigerian Autogas Policy launched two years ago as part of the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) under the well-articulated Decade of Gas Policy and Programme.”

The President of NGA, Akachukwu Nwokedi, had said: “We salute the steadfastness of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his quest to return Nigeria to responsible and sustainable energy utilisation. We are also elated about his recognition of the critical and game-changing role that gas would play in actualising this policy direction and helping build the nation.

“The members of the NGA are very keen to support the implementation of the autogas policy and stand ready to commence the strategic engagements and enlightenment campaigns to make it happen.”

Vanguard

Youths in Ughelli, Delta state trooped yesterday to protest against alleged brutality and extortion by the Nigerian police.

In now viral videos, the protesters were seen with different placards, including one with the inscription, ENDSARS NOW.

They called on the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force to weigh into the matter.

An X user, who shared the videos said police brutality in the state had been on the rise.

“Heavy protests are ongoing in Ughelli against police brutality which has become rampant!!,” the user wrote.

Quoting the post, spokesperson of the Delta Police Command, Bright Edafe, explained that the protest was triggered after the police arrested four boys who could not establish ownership of the unregistered car in their possession.

The spokesman said some youths attacked the officers in the process, injuring one officer on the head and damaging the force patrol vehicle.

He warned youths to stay calm, insisting that no amount of protests would deter the police from performing its constitutional duties.

He wrote: “Regarding the ongoing protest in Ughelli, the Command wishes to inform members of the public that yesterday 13th February 2024, Policemen from Ughelli Area Command intercepted an unregistered Benz GLK without a plate number in Ekuigbo community. The men confronted the four boys who could not establish ownership of the car.

“In an attempt to arrest them, some of the youths attacked the Police, destroyed their vehicle, and broke the head of one of the officers. Nine of the suspects were arrested and will be charged to court. Youths are advised to stay off any protest because it won’t deter us from doing our job.”

This is not the first time Nigerians would protest against police brutality.

In 2020, tens of thousands of young Nigerians took to the streets to protest against police brutality after a video went viral of a man allegedly being killed by the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars), sparking what became known as the #EndSars demonstrations.

The demonstrations rocked the country for two weeks – and led to the government agreeing to disband Sars and set up judicial panels of inquiry to investigate the widespread allegations of abuse by officers.

Daily Trust

A Nigerian soldier, identified as Adie Paul, has faulted the decision of President Bola Tinubu to gift Super Eagles players houses, plots of land, and national honours after they came second in the recently-concluded African Cup of Nations at a time when soldiers in the battle field are not receiving such recognition.

The soldier who said he  sustained a bullet injury while serving in the North East took to his X handle to express his frustration.

He made his position known while reacting to a post by an X-user, drpenking, who tweeted, “Even Ahmed Musa wey no kick ball once for AFCON follow collect flat, land and OON. Wonderful times.”

Reacting to the post, the soldier, while sharing a picture, wrote, “Yet, as a soldier, I stayed in the North East fighting Boko Haram for four years plus, I was shot and I am still carrying the bullet in me till date, not even a medal from the Army/Nigeria government.”

Tinubu had on Tuesday conferred the national honour of Member of the Order of the Niger on every member of the Super Eagles  team that won Silver medal at AFCON.

Punch

A group of 60 lawmakers has initiated a move to end the current presidential system and revert to the parliamentary system previously used in Nigeria’s First Republic.

The group, known as the Parliamentary Group, introduced a constitution alteration bill on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, setting in motion what could be a transition to a parliamentary system by 2031.

Three constitution alteration bills were presented by the Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers), and 60 others during plenary.

Spokesperson of the group, Abdulsamad Dasuki, briefed journalists on the synopses of the bills.

During a press briefing at the House Press Center, the lawmakers, led by Dasuki, expressed their frustration with the expensive presidential system and the overbearing powers of the president.

“No wonder the Nigerian President appears to be one of the most powerful Presidents in the world,” Dasuki said.

“Over the years, the imperfections of the Presidential System of Government have become glaring to all, despite several alterations to the constitution to address the shortcomings of a system that has denied the nation the opportunity to attain its full potential.

“Among these imperfections are the high cost of governance, leaving fewer resources for crucial areas like infrastructure, education, and healthcare, and consequently hindering the nation’s development progress, and the excessive powers vested in the members of the executive, who are appointees and not directly accountable to the people,” he said.

The lawmakers seem not confident about their chances of success in getting the bill passed within the current Assembly, therefore, setting a timeline of 2031 for the constitutional amendment to allow the transition.

Dasuki said the group is seeking to spark a conversation about the lack of effectiveness of the current presidential system.

“The bills presented today seek a return to the system of government adopted by our founders, which made governance accountable, responsible, and responsive, and ultimately less expensive,” he said.

Parliamentary System

Nigeria operated under the parliamentary system pre-independence and in the First Republic. However, the coup of 15 January 1966 truncated that republic.

The military suspended the civil government and ruled the country until the transition to democracy in 1979, but the Second Republic was built on the 1979 Constitution which prescribed the presidential system.

The proposal by the lawmakers is seeking to revert to the First Republic system with a prime minister, a member of parliament, serving as the head of government, similar to the British system.

In a parliamentary system, the executive branch derives its legitimacy and authority from the legislative branch. The head of government (often the prime minister) is typically a member of the legislature and is accountable to it. This system fosters a close relationship between the executive and legislative branches, allowing for efficient decision-making and policy implementation.

However, some experts believe that the parliamentary system polarised the country during the First Republic – especially as the prime minister needs not to be acceptable to the majority of citizens – paving the way for the military to strike.

The timing of the proposed legislation raises significant suspicion. One concern is that the lawmakers seem to be aiming for when President Bola Tinubu would have finished his constitutionally allowed tenure. Tinubu is due for re-election in 2027 for another term of four years which is going to end by 2031.

Members of the coalition include members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

PT