Men in dusty workwear trudge through a thicket, making their way up a hill where sprawling plantations lay tucked in a Nigerian rainforest whose trees have been hacked away to make room for cocoa bound for places like Europe and the U.S.

Kehinde Kumayon and his assistant clear low bushes that compete for sunlight with their cocoa trees, which have replaced the lush and dense natural foliage. The farmers swing their machetes, careful to avoid the ripening yellow pods containing beans that will help create chocolate, the treat shoppers are snapping up for Christmas.

Over the course of two visits and several days, The Associated Press repeatedly documented farmers harvesting cocoa beans where that work is banned in conservation areas of Omo Forest Reserve, a protected tropical rainforest 135 kilometers (84 miles) northeast of the coastal city of Lagos in southwestern Nigeria.

Trees here rustle as dwindling herds of critically endangered African forest elephants rumble through. Threatened pangolins, known as armored anteaters, scramble along branches. White-throated monkeys, once thought to be extinct, leap from one tree to the next. Omo also is believed to have the highest concentration of butterflies in Africa and is one of the continent’s largest and oldest UNESCO Biosphere Reserves.

Cocoa from the conservation zone is purchased by some of the world’s largest cocoa traders, according to company and trade documents and AP interviews with more than 20 farmers, five licensed buying agents and two brokers all operating within the reserve.

They say those traders include Singapore-based food supplier Olam Group and Nigeria’s Starlink Global and Ideal Limited, the latter of which acknowledged using cocoa supplies from the forest. A fewer number of those working in the forest also mentioned Tulip Cocoa Processing Ltd., a subsidiary of Dutch cocoa trader and producer Theobroma.

Those companies supply Nigerian cocoa to some of the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers including Mars Inc. and Ferrero, but because the chocolate supply chain is so complex and opaque, it’s not clear if cocoa from deforested parts of Omo Forest Reserve makes it into the sweets that they make, such as Snickers, M&Ms, Butterfinger and Nutella. Mars and Ferrero list farming sources on their websites that are close to or overlap with the forest but do not provide specific locations.

Government officials, rangers and the growers themselves say cocoa plantations are spreading illegally into protected areas of the reserve. Farmers say they move there because their cocoa trees in other parts of the West African country are aging and not producing as much.

“We know this is a forest reserve, but if you are hungry, you go to where there is food, and this is very fertile land,” Kumayon told the AP, acknowledging that he’s growing cocoa at an illegal plantation at the Eseke farming settlement, separated only by a muddy footpath from critical habitat for what UNESCO estimates is the remaining 100 elephants deep in the conservation zone.

Conservationists also point to the world’s increasing demand for chocolate. The global cocoa and chocolate market is expected to grow from a value of $48 billion in 2022 to nearly $68 billion by 2029, according to analysts at Fortune Business Insights.

The chocolate supply chain has long been fraught with human rights abuses, exploitative labor and environmental damage, leading to lawsuits, U.S. trade complaints and court rulings. In response, the chocolate industry has made wide-ranging pledges and campaigns to ensure they are sourcing cocoa that is traceable, sustainable and free of abuse.

Companies say they have adopted supply chain tracing from primary sources using GPS mapping and satellite technology as well as partnered with outside organizations and third-party auditors that certify farms’ compliance with sustainability standards.

But those working in the forest say checks that some companies rely on are not done, while one certifying agency, Rainforest Alliance, points to a lack of regulations and incomplete data and mapping in Nigeria.

AP followed a load of cocoa that farmers had harvested in the conservation zone to the warehouses of buying agents in the reserve and then delivered to an Olam facility outside the entrance of the forest.

Staffers at Olam’s and Tulip’s facilities just outside the reserve, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to discuss their companies’ supplies, confirmed that they source cocoa from farmers in the conservation zone.

AP also photographed cocoa bags labeled with the names and logos of Olam and Tulip in farmers’ warehouses inside the conservation zone.

‘THEY BUY EVERYTHING’

The Omo reserve consists of a highly protected conservation zone ringed by a larger, partially protected outer region. Loggers, who are also a major source of deforestation, can get government licenses to chop down trees in the outer areas, but no licenses are given anywhere for cocoa farming. Agriculture is banned from the conservation area, except for defined areas where up to 10 indigenous communities can farm for their own food.

Nigeria is one of Africa’s biggest oil suppliers and largest economy; after petroleum, one of its top exports is cocoa. It’s the world’s fourth-largest producer of cocoa, accounting for more than 5% of global supply, according to the International Cocoa Organization. Yet it’s far behind the world’s largest producers, Ivory Coast and Ghana, which together supply more than half of the world’s demand and are often singled out in companies’ sustainability programs.

According to World Bank trade data and Nigeria’s export council, more than 60% of Nigeria’s cocoa heads to Europe and about 8% to the United States and Canada.

It passes through many hands to get there: Farmers grow the cocoa beans, then brokers scout farms to buy them. Licensed buying agents purchase the cocoa from brokers and sell it to big commodity trading companies like Olam and Tulip, which export it to chocolate makers.

In October, AP followed a blue- and white-striped van loaded with bags of cocoa beans along a road pitted with deep mud holes within the conservation zone to an Olam warehouse just outside the entrance of the forest. At the warehouse, which Olam confirmed was theirs, AP photographed the cocoa being unloaded from the van, whose registration number matched the one filmed in the forest.

Farmer Rasaq Kolawole and licensed buying agent Muraina Nasir followed the van to sell the cocoa, and neither expressed misgivings about the deforestation.

“We are illegal occupants of the forest,” said farmer Kolawole, a college graduate and former salesperson.

AP also visited four cocoa warehouses in the forest belonging to licensed buying agents: Kadet Agro Allied Investments Ltd., Bolnif Agro-allied Farms Nigeria Ltd., Almatem and Askmana. Managers or owners all told AP that they buy from farmers growing cocoa in protected areas of the forest and that they sell that cocoa to Olam. Three of the warehouse managers told AP that they also sell to Tulip and Starlink.

“They do not differentiate between cocoa from local — that is farms outside the forest — and the reserve,” said Waheed Azeez, proprietor of Bolnif, describing how “big buyers like Olam, Tulip and Starlink” buy cocoa sourced from deforested lands. “They buy everything, and most of the cocoa is from the reserve.”

Despite AP’s findings, Olam insists that it “forbids” members of its “Ore Agbe Ijebu” farmer group from “sourcing from protected areas and important natural ecosystems like forests.” That Ijebu farmer group is listed as a sustainable supplier on Olam’s website and is said to be in Ijebu Ife, a community near the reserve.

“Any farmers found not complying with the code and illegally encroaching on forest boundaries are removed from our supply chain and expelled from the OAIJ farmer group,” the company said in a statement emailed to AP.

However, Askmana manager Sunday Awoke said, “Olam does not know the farmers. We buy from the farmers and sell directly to Olam, and no assessment against deforestation takes place.”

Speaking to AP as a convoy of motorcycles brought bags of cocoa from the conservation area to his warehouse within the reserve, Awoke said he used to be a conservation worker who fought deforestation by farmers.

“But I am on the other side now. I wish to go back, but survival first, and this pays more,” he said.

Others agreed.

“The place is not meant for cocoa farming, but elephants,” said Ewulola Bolarinwa, who is both a broker and a leader of those who farm at the Eseke settlement inside the conservation zone. “We have a lot of big buyers who supply the companies in the West, including Olam, Tulip and many more.”

COCOA TO CHOCOLATE

Ferrero, which makes Ferrero Rocher hazelnut balls, Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread and popular Baby Ruth, Butterfinger and Crunch candy bars, lists a farming group in a community near the forest as the source of its cocoa supplied by Olam, the Italian company says on its website.

McLean, Virginia-based Mars Inc., one of the world’s largest end users of cocoa with brands from Snickers to M&Ms, Dove, Twix and Milky Way, uses Nigerian cocoa from both Olam and Tulip, according to online company documents.

Ferrero, Mars and Tulip say they’re committed to their anti-deforestation policies, use GPS mapping of farms, and their suppliers are certified through independent standards.

Ferrero also says it relies on satellite monitoring to show that its “cocoa sourcing from Nigeria does not come from protected forest areas.” Mars says its preliminary findings show that none of the farms it’s mapped overlap with the reserve.

Tulip’s managing director, Johan van der Merwe, said in an email that the company’s cocoa bags, which AP photographed in farmers’ warehouses inside the conservation zone, are reused and distributed widely so it’s possible they’re seen across Nigeria. He also said “field operatives” complete digital questionnaires about sourcing with all farmers and suppliers.

On the ground, however, farmers and licensed buying agents who said they supply Tulip told AP that they were not required to complete any questionnaire before their cocoa is purchased.

“Though we know they depend on our cocoa, we don’t directly sell cocoa to the exporters like Olam and Tulip, middlemen do, and there are no questions about deforestation,” said farmer Saheed Arisekola, 43, also a college graduate who said he turned to farming because he could not get a job.

As farmers, brokers and buying agents say cocoa from the conservation area flows into Olam’s export supply, U.S. customs records show a slice of where it might be going.

Olam’s American arm, Olam Americas Inc., received 18,790 bags of Nigerian cocoa shipped by its Nigerian subsidiary, Outspan Nigeria Limited, between March and April 2022, according to trade data from ImportGenius.

Olam and Tulip are both licensed to trade Nigerian cocoa certified by the Rainforest Alliance. However, Olam told AP that its license does not cover the Ijebu area, where it sources the cocoa it sends to Ferrero and is near Omo Forest Reserve. Ferrero says Olam’s sustainability standard in the area is verified by a third-party body.

Farmers who told AP that their cocoa heads to Olam and Tulip said they are not Rainforest Alliance certified. Tulip has only one farm with active certification in Nigeria, the nonprofit’s database shows.

The Rainforest Alliance says it certifies that farms operate with methods that prohibit deforestation and other anti-sustainability practices. It says farmers must provide GPS coordinates and geographic boundaries for their plantations, which are checked against public forest maps and satellite data.

The Rainforest Alliance told AP that Nigeria has “unique forest regulation challenges,” including incomplete or outdated data and maps that can “lead to discrepancies when comparing forest data with real on-ground conditions.”

It said it is working to get updated data from Nigerian authorities and would decertify any farms found to be operating illegally in conservation areas following a review. The organization also says companies it licenses can buy cocoa certified by other agencies or that isn’t certified at all.

Starlink Global and Ideal Limited — the Nigerian cocoa exporter that the farmers and buying agents said they sell to — doesn’t have its own farmland in the reserve, “only suppliers from there,” spokesman Sambo Abubakar told AP.

Starlink does not make sustainable sourcing claims on its website, but it supplies at least one company that does — New York-based General Cocoa Co., U.S. trade data shows.

Between March and April 2023, Starlink shipped 70 containers, each loading 4,000 bags of dried cocoa beans, to General Cocoa, according to ImportGenius trade data.

General Cocoa, which is owned by Paris-headquartered Sucden Group, supplies Mars, according to online company documents.

Jean-Baptiste Lescop, secretary general of Sucden Group, says the company manages risks to forest conservation by sourcing Rainforest Alliance cocoa, mapping farms and using satellite images but that it’s a “continuous process” because most farmers in Nigeria don’t have official land ownership documents.

Sucden investigates reports of problems and is working on a response to AP’s findings about Starlink, Lescop said.

WHERE’S THE ENFORCEMENT?

The conservation zone, which spans about 650 square kilometers (250 square miles), is the only remaining vital rainforest in Nigeria’s southwest, conservation officials say. Such forests help absorb carbon from the atmosphere and are crucial for Nigeria to meet its pledges under the Paris climate agreement.

Besides helping fight climate change, the forest is designated an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area by BirdLife International, with significant populations of at least 75 bird species.

“There are now more than 100 illegal settlements of cocoa farmers, who came from other states because the land here is very fertile,” said Emmanuel Olabode, a conservation manager who supervises the reserve’s rangers in the protected areas. “But after some years, the land becomes unproductive.”

The farmers know this.

“We’ll then find another land somewhere else or go back to our original homes to start new businesses,” said Kaseem Olaniyi, who acknowledges that he farms illegally in the conservation zone after moving in 2014 from a neighboring state.

The government in Ogun state, which owns the forest, said in a statement to AP that the “menace of cocoa farming” in the reserve dates back decades and that “all the illegal farmers were forcefully evicted” in 2007 before they found their way back.

“Arrangements are in the pipeline to engage the services of the Nigerian Police Force and the military to evict them from the Forest Reserve,” the government statement said.

However, Omolola Odutola, spokeswoman for the federally controlled police, said they do not have records of such a plan.

The farmers have been ordered not to start new farms, and those who spoke with AP said they are complying. But forest guards said new farms are sprouting up in remote areas that are difficult to detect.

Rangers — who work for the government’s conservation partner, the nonprofit Nigerian Conservation Foundation — and forest guards who are employed by the state government both told AP that lax government enforcement has made combating cocoa expansion a challenge.

They told AP that previous arrests have done little to stop the farmers from returning and that has led to a sense of futility when they encounter illegal farming.

The state government said it “has never compromised regulations” but acknowledged that farmers are in the forest despite its efforts. Homes and other buildings at farming settlements visited by AP have been marked for removal, including warehouses like that of licensed buying agent Kadet, one of the biggest there.

Farmers’ homes lack running water and toilets, forcing women and children to collect water from narrow streams to use while the men work.

The removals have not taken place because officials make money from the cocoa business in the forest, according to farmers and buying agents, who lament the difficult living conditions, with mud roads filled with holes creating high transportation costs that eat away their already meager profits.

The state government declined to comment about making money from illegal cocoa farming in the forest.

The agents have formed a lobby group that has “rapport with government officials” to ensure farmers remain in the conservation zone despite threats to evict them, said Azeez, the owner of buying agent Bolnif who is also chairman of a committee that monitors risks against cocoa business in the forest.

The European Union, the largest destination of cocoa from West Africa, has enacted a new regulation on deforestation-free products that requires companies selling commodities like cocoa to prove they have not caused deforestation. Big companies must ensure they’re following the rules by the end of 2024.

Experts at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria are launching a “Trace Project” in six southern states — though it doesn’t include Ogun state where Omo Forest Reserve is located — to advance efforts against deforestation in cocoa production and ensure Nigeria’s cocoa is not rejected in Europe.

“From the preliminary data collected, major exporters are implicated in deforestation, and it is their responsibility to ensure compliance with standards,” said Rasheed Adedeji, who leads the institute’s research outreach.

But farmers say they’ll keep finding places to work.

“The world needs cocoa, and the government also gets taxes because the cocoa is exported,” said Olaniyi, one of the farmers.

AP

Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) says it will spend N5.2 billion for the procurement of information communication technology (ICT) software.

This is contained in the 2024 government-owned enterprises (GOE’s) budget proposal submitted to the federal government.

In the proposed budget, the NDIC earmarked a total of N130.2 billion for expenditure and N260.5 billion for revenue.

Out of the proposed expenditure, the corporation intends to spend N5.2 billion on ICT software and N947 million on “IT infrastructure software”.

For the purchase of its fixed assets pegged at N2.1 billion, the GOE looks to spend N703 million on vehicles, N165 million on trucks, N180 million on buses, N330 million on office furniture and fittings, N498 million on photocopying machines, and N220 million on power generating sets.

More so, NDIC allocated N5.3 billion for welfare packages, N1.6 billion for publicity and advertisements, noting that refreshments and meals for the commission would gulp N991 million.

The agency further budgeted N1.3 billion for utilities. This amount will cover electricity charges (N541 million), telephone charges (N239 million), internet charges (N200 million), and software charges and licence renewal (N399 million).

Also included in the budget is N3.5 billion earmarked for maintenance and N3.9 billion for local training.

NDIC said it will also expend N4.8 billion for both local and foreign travel and transport costs.

The Cable

UN top court hears genocide allegation as Israel focuses fighting in central Gaza

The United Nations’ top court began hearings Thursday on South Africa’s allegation that Israel’s war with Hamas amounts to genocide against Palestinians. Israel strongly denies the claim.

Although the case is likely to take years to resolve, South Africa is asking the International Court of Justice to order an immediate suspension of Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli military operations in Gaza have recently focused on the southern city of Khan Younis and urban refugee camps in the territory’s center. Hundreds of people have been killed in recent days in strikes across the territory, including in areas of the far south where Israel told people to seek refuge.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been meeting with leaders across the Mideast, seeking to rally the region behind postwar plans for Gaza. The push came as the U.S. and British militaries launched retaliatory strikes on sites used by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The Oct. 7 Hamas attack from Gaza into southern Israel that triggered the war killed around 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage by militants. Israel’s air, ground and sea assault in Gaza has killed more than 23,000 people, 70% of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Currently:

— The U.S. and British militaries bomb more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. Who are the Houthis, and why did the U.S. and U.K. retaliate for their attacks on ships in the Red Sea?

— The U.N.‘s top court opens hearings on South Africa’s allegation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

— Friendly fire may have killed their relatives on Oct. 7. Israeli families want answers now.

— Palestinian viewers are captivated and moved by case at UN’s top court accusing Israel of genocide.

— The Israeli military says it found traces of hostages in an underground tunnel in Gaza.

— Nelson Mandela’s support for Palestinians endures with South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.

— Blinken sees a path to Gaza peace, reconstruction and regional security after his Mideast tour.

— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Here’s what’s happening in the war:

ISRAEL ALLOWED JUST A FEW SUPPLY DELIVERIES TO NORTHERN GAZA THIS MONTH, U.N. OFFICE SAYS

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. humanitarian office says Israel allowed only three of 21 deliveries of food, medicine and other lifesaving supplies to northern Gaza between Jan. 1 and Jan. 10.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the deliveries also included missions to provide medical supplies and fuel for water and sanitation facilities in Gaza City.

“The U.N.’s ability to respond to extensive needs in the northern part of Gaza is being curtailed by recurring denials of access for aid deliveries and lack of coordinated safe access by the Israeli authorities,” he told reporters Thursday. “These denials and severe access constraints are paralyzing the ability of humanitarian partners to respond meaningfully, consistently and at scale.”

Dujarric said deteriorated compared with December, when more than 70% of planned U.N. missions to the north were undertaken, to about 14% in the first 10 days of January.

“Every day that we are unable to provide assistance results in the loss of lives and suffering for hundreds of thousands of people who remain in northern Gaza,” he said.

U.S., BRITISH MILITARIES LAUNCH RETALIATORY STRIKE AGAINST IRAN-BACKED HOUTHIS IN YEMEN

WASHINGTON — Several U.S. officials say U.S. and British militaries are bombing over a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, in a massive retaliatory strike using warship-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets.

The expected targets included logistical hubs, air defense systems and weapons storage locations, the officials said.

Associated Press journalists in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, heard four explosions early Friday local time but saw no sign of warplanes. Two residents of Hodieda, Amin Ali Saleh and Hani Ahmed, said they heard five strong explosions. Hodieda lies on the Red Sea and is the largest port city controlled by the Houthis.

The strikes mark the first U.S. military response against the Houthis for what has been a persistent campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships since the start of the war in Gaza. The officials confirmed the strikes on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

AP

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

US confirms Ukraine military supplies have stopped

The military aid Washington has been providing Kiev has come to a halt, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday. His remarks came amid the resurgence of debate in Congress about the importance of continuing support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

“We have issued the last drawdown package that we had funding to support, and that’s why it’s critical that Congress move on that national security supplemental request,” Kirby told reporters at a press briefing, admitting that “the assistance that [the US had] provided has now ground to a halt.”

The last aid package worth $250 million was authorized by President Joe Biden in late December through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows for urgent deliveries of weapons to allies without congressional approval.

Biden has been asking Congress to vote for his more than $100 billion supplemental budget request, of which more than $60 billion is slated for Ukraine. Republicans have blocked the measure, demanding that the White House and congressional Democrats agree to their plan of tightening security at the border with Mexico.

Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shalanda Young told the press in January that the drawdown authority “is not going to get big tranches of equipment into Ukraine,” describing the situation as “dire.”

Earlier in the month, Pentagon spokesman, Major General Patrick Ryder, warned that the army was running out of options “to replenish the stocks.” 

While Biden has publicly pledged to back Kiev for “as long as it takes,”some Republicans and the media have been questioning Washington’s existing strategy, given that Ukraine’s much-hyped counteroffensive ended in a failure. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top general, admitted last year that the conflict was “at a stalemate.”

EU officials are also increasingly acknowledging that the deliveries of weapons to Ukraine have been delayed due to production and logistics issues.

“Europe doesn’t know how to fight wars,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said in a recent interview. “Unfortunately, our friends spent too much time deliberating on how and when to ramp up their production of weapons and ammunition.”

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine builds barricades, digs trenches as focus shifts to defence

Rows of white concrete barricades and coils of razor wire stretch across an open field for more than a kilometre. Trenches with rudimentary living quarters are being dug under cover of darkness. Artillery rumbles not far away.

New defensive lines visited by Reuters near the northeastern city of Kupiansk on Dec. 28 show how Ukraine has stepped up construction of fortifications in recent months as it shifts its military operations against Russia to a more defensive footing.

The defences, which bear some similarities to those rolled out in the Russian-occupied south and east, aim to help Ukraine weather assaults while regenerating its forces as Moscow takes the battlefield initiative, military analysts said.

"As soon as the troops are moving, traversing fields, you can do without fortifications. But when the troops stop, you need to immediately dig into the ground," a Ukrainian army engineer with the call sign Lynx told Reuters near Kupiansk.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that Ukraine was "significantly enhancing" fortifications on Nov. 28 after a counteroffensive that it launched in June was unable to rapidly punch through Russian lines.

Kyiv says it is unswayed in its ambition to retake all remaining occupied territory, but for now is focused on politically sensitive conscription reformsto replenish manpower and on addressing artillery shortages at the front.

Russia has been ramping up offensive pressure around eastern towns such as Kupiansk, Lyman and Avdiivka, and no longer needs to hold back its reserve troops for fear of a possible Ukrainian breakthrough, the military analysts said.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine's defensive constructions needed to be boosted and work on them accelerated around the three towns, in eastern parts of the Donetsk region, and in the regions of Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Rivne and Volyn.

Those regions stretch all the way up from Ukraine's east, along the border with Russia and Belarus, to its western ally Poland. Zelenskiy said the southern Kherson region, a swathe of which is still occupied, would also be reinforced.

DEFENSIVE POSTURE

There is no publicly available data for the intensity or scale of the fortification construction.

Ukraine has had defensive lines in some areas of the eastern Donbas region since 2014, when Russia backed militants who seized territory. It has been heavily dug in at places such as Avdiivka throughout the full-scale invasion.

Stronger fortifications would slow down Russian troops and suck fewer Ukrainian forces into defence, freeing them up from the front so they could, for instance, receive more training, said Jack Watling, senior research fellow for land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute.

"The Ukrainians are now shifting onto a defensive posture because their offensive has culminated," he said in a telephone interview, adding that Russia had retaken the initiative on the battlefield and was able to choose where to attack.

With Ukrainian artillery ammunition stocks declining, the rate of Russian casualties was falling, making it easier for Moscow to generate new units, which in time could allow them to open up new lines of attack, he added.

"On the Ukrainian side, they are trying to minimise their own casualties, but also regenerate offensive combat power," said Watling.

He said fortifications could also be used to defend Ukraine's flanks when it goes back on the offensive.

DRAGON'S TEETH

On Wednesday, Reuters reporters visited trenches being dug with an excavator and shovels at an undisclosed location in the Chernihiv region near the Russian border.

"When the civilians have done their job (building the positions), we will densely mine it," Serhiy Nayev, Ukraine's joint forces commander who oversees the northern military sector, told reporters at the site.

The military has expanded its defensive fortifications in the north by 63% in the last few months, Ukraine's joint forces quoted Nayev as saying on Thursday.

Last month, Reuters reporters visited newly built Ukrainian trenches in Chornobyl near the border with Belarus, a Russian ally used by Moscow as a staging ground for the February 2022 invasion.

A large military engineering vehicle churned through the snowy ground as it carved out a wide anti-tank ditch.

"(The works are ongoing) along the whole Northern Operational Zone. These works are currently underway in Sumy region, Chernihiv region, here in the Kyiv direction," Nayev said at the site.

"Concrete structures, barbed wire, ... 'dragon's teeth' (concrete barricades)...; they will be mined and barbed wire will be put on them. This will be a continuous concrete obstacle for armoured vehicles," he said.

Near Kupiansk, Ukraine's military showed Reuters reporters newly built defensive lines, but said the exact location could not be disclosed publicly for security reasons.

A military engineer using the call sign "Lizard" said they typically put down the "dragon's teeth" first, followed by coils of razor wire and then mines, if they use them.

"I believe most of these barriers should have been built much earlier, probably in the spring. It takes too much time," he said.

Several hundred metres behind the "dragon's teeth", work was underway to expand a network of personnel trenches reinforced with wooden beams where there were also living quarters and wooden bunk beds.

Lynx, the other serviceman, said Ukraine was trying to minimise the use of mines for its fortifications to avoid leaving dangerous munitions on its territory.

"This is our land. We wouldn't want to litter it so much," he said.

RT/Reuters

I knew Femi Adesina when he was “Daddy Tobi.” He still is, of course. But back in the day when we were neighbours in “Olowora Inside”, a Lagos suburb, when you could call to a neighbour from your frontage, often by using the name of their first child, that was how we called Femi: Daddy Tobi.

I have heard people complain that a friend in government is a friend lost. I have seen it too – friends who are not only lost but who are also happy to lose themselves once in power or positions of influence. I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing. People have their reasons.

But Daddy Tobi did not change. He has not changed. Through the eight years of his appointment, he has been the same jolly good fellow, slow to give offence, contemplative, almost ponderous to act, anxious to be politically correct (which is why he would say, the Good Book, instead of the Bible or Quran, for example), and full of thunderous laughter.

Understanding Buhari

His new book, “Working with Buhari: Reflections of A Special Adviser, Media and Publicity (2015-2023),” narrates his struggles, his hopes, his frustrations and triumphs as Buhari’s first political appointee and perhaps the longest serving media adviser in Nigeria in the last nearly three decades.

I wasn’t surprised by his longevity, though that also brought its own miseries especially after the first two years of Buhari’s government. They’re partly reflected in Chapter Nine of his book entitled, “2017, Year of Health Challenge,” a chapter that also reminded me quite vividly of the book, Power, Politics and Death, by Olusegun Adeniyi.

A significant difference, though, is that while Femi’s book is very personal – like a diary, Adeniyi’s is intensely revelatory, capturing not only the author’s odyssey but also the intrigues that shaped Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s short-lived presidency.

Femi makes it clear, upfront, that his book is not about the making of policies – monetary, fiscal, foreign – or even about the fundamentals of government. It’s a journey to understanding Buhari, the enigma from Daura.

After assuming office in 2015, Buhari enjoyed an extended honeymoon. The public was fed up with President Goodluck Jonathan and the chaos in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Masu gudu sugudu?

Buhari seemed to be the right man for the job, in spite of concerns about his academic and human rights credentials. The country was so taken in by the Buhari charm that a Hausa song, entitled, “Masu gudu sugudu,” became a hit for the dire fate supposedly awaiting the corrupt and their acolytes.

I was against Jonathan, and for Buhari, though not as remotely as Femi, a self-confessed Buharist. My support was conditional, sometimes confused, and for the most part of Buhari’s second term, frustrated and disappointed. But sometimes, you have to be close to people to know them better, which is the point of Femi’s book.

His reflections, however, did not assuage my disappointment about the former president’s congenital insularity or about the chaotic freedom in his government that obviously encouraged some of his appointees to run wild.

The new book did something quite important, though. It helped me, through Femi’s eye, to see a part of Buhari that may have been flawed but was perhaps not fatally damaged by malice.  

In his own words

I will give two examples from the book. The first occurred after Buhari removed Ita Ekpeyong as Director, State Services (DSS) in 2015, and replaced him with Lawal Musa Daura. At this time, there were already suspicions that Buhari, being Buhari, his election would deepen Nigeria’s already fragile ethnic fault lines.

On page 166 of his book, Femi said he went to Buhari to complain about the potential ethnic blowout of the change.

“I had asked him,” he wrote, “Mr. President, you are removing Ita Ekpeyong from the South-south, why not replace him with someone from that region, for balance?”

Buhari replied: “Before people are recommended to me, a search must have been done by appropriate set of people or committee. And one, two or three people are brought forward, in order of performance and competence. Now, if someone comes first and I bypass him because of ethnicity or religion, Allah would judge me.”

“But do not worry,” he told an obviously worried Femi, “the appointments would balance out.”

It would seem, from this passage, that Buhari was genuinely concerned about merit and competence. Maybe that was the case in his first term. Documents that I obtained independently at the time appeared to support this view.

For example, between 2015 and 2018, while the North-central topped appointments in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), with 102 appointees; the South-west came second with 101 appointees, giving both zones 35 percent or 203 of the 567 appointments made.

But the complaint was not just about numbers but also about consequential postings. If Buhari passed the test on numbers in his first term, he failed disastrously on both counts in his second term. Not only were his appointments lopsided, he seemed so painfully absent, at least in the public eye, that any suggestions of competence or merit in his choices were commonly laughed out of hand.

The second example from the book of Buhari’s fatal innocence, portrayed through Femi’s sympathetic lens, was the former president’s role in the naira redesign palaver.

In Chapter Twelve, entitled, “In His Own Words…,” Femi quoted Buhari as saying, “The scarcity of money was not deliberately done to punish Nigerians…When he (former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele) was linked with the campaign for 2023 presidency, I did not ask him, because he told nobody he was getting involved. Otherwise, I would have removed him and told the nation why.”

Naira redesign, ‘Emilokan’

In the goodness of Buhari’s purple heart, which obviously saw no evil, heard no evil, and did no evil, he could not contemplate the open travesty perpetrated by the Central Bank governor who took the APC to court in his own name, asking the court to protect his right, as sitting governor of the bank, to contest the presidency. Emefiele did not hide his intention from the party or, in fact, from the public. But by some spell of magic, he managed to hide it from Buhari.

And the president who “did not want to deliberately punish Nigerians” twice publicly defended the naira redesign even when the country was chafing under its impact and in spite of a Supreme Court ruling against it.

But it was Femi’s job to defend him, and that shone through in the book, with at least three of the 28 chapters – “Wailing Wailers,” “You Always Defend Them Because You Are One of Them,” and “Managing ‘Brand Buhari,’” – devoted to the many stripes of his valiant efforts.

His reflection on whether or not the Villa is a haunted place as his predecessor, Reuben Abati, wrote in the famous article, entitled, “The spiritual side of the Villa,” is quite interesting. The jury is still out on that.

Yet, there were also moments of pure drama, like when Femi and late former Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, squared off over a turf war or when Femi broke the news of Bola Tinubu’s “Emilokan” speech to Buhari aboard NAF One, only to get the parsimonious reply, “Asiwaju said all that? Thank you for briefing me.”

As is often the case with such jobs, family and friends also suffer collateral damage. But when people who knew that I had known Femi since our Daddy Tobi days called me to lash out, I often told them that Femi’s Buhari-philia wasn’t for the money or the attention.

And that was true. It was a matter of conviction and loyalty. As the book, which dedicated nearly 16 percent of its 488 pages to a chapter on Buhari’s achievements shows, nothing could change that.

Not even the burning spear of a million wailers!

** Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

Warren Buffett, one of the richest men on the planet, once said: “Money has no utility to me. Time has utility to me.”

In a 2016 interview on Bloomberg’s The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations, the Berkshire Hathaway chairman said if there were anything on his bucket list, he would have done it already.

“Money in terms of making trips or owning more houses or having a boat or something — it has no utility to me whatsoever.”

That's quite a statement coming from a man whose net worth, at last check, was sitting at more than $100 billion.

But Buffett insisted that what he truly values is the time he has left.

Aged 86 and still working hard at the time of the interview, Buffett chuckled at the idea of doing things many people his age did such as relax, play shuffleboard and enjoy retirement.

“They spend all week planning their haircut, usually,” he laughed. “I get to do, everyday, what I love with people that I love. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

The business juggernaut admitted his greatest pleasures in life are running his business, making winning investments and, of course, spending time with his family.

He said he views his life-long enterprise Berkshire Hathaway “like a painter regards a painting — the difference being that the canvas is unlimited. There’s no finish line at Berkshire and it’s a game that you can continue to play.”

Winning at the game of life doesn't necessarily mean you have to earn billions and run a business empire like Buffett. Here are some other ways you can turn time to your advantage.

Money can buy you time

Buffett said “money has no utility” for him, but he understands how it does for the average American who might not want to work until they’re 93 years old like him.

If you save and invest your money wisely during your working life — by making the most of high-interest saving accounts, tax-advantaged investment accounts, like a 401(k) or an individual retirement account (IRA), and diversifying your investment portfolio with traditional stocks and bonds and real estate — you can set yourself up for success in retirement.

Ideally, that means you can enjoy free time in your golden years to do the things you love with the people you love.

Buffett said he wasn’t interested in owning multiple houses or a boat, but if that’s how you enjoy spending your free time — chilling at a lake house and taking your grandkids out for a spin on the water — money can make that possible. Likewise, it can help you to retire early and give you confidence that you have the means to live comfortably in your later years.

What’s more, if you’ve planned your finances so that you can retire early and live off your savings and any dividends, that may also mean you can delay taking Social Security, which means that you’ll receive higher monthly payments when you do eventually start claiming benefits — with the maximum amount available to those who start age 70 or older.

It’s easier said than done to set yourself up for a long, successful and financially fruitful retirement, but there are ways you can put your money to work so that you don’t have to in later life.

Give your investments time to grow

During the 2016 interview with Rubenstein, Buffett also said: “My life has been a product of compound interest.”

Simply put, the earlier you can start investing, the better off you’ll be, because you can reap the benefits of compound interest. Essentially, it gives you interest on top of interest, so your deposits pile up interest, and the interest piles up interest, too.

Here’s an example of how it works. Let’s say you invest $100,000 in a fund or account that delivered an average annual growth rate of 10.15% over a certain period of time.

Using that 10.15% figure, your $100,000 investment would grow to $110,150 in one year. The year after that, your shares would be worth $110,150 X 1.1015 = $121,330. The year after that, $133,645 and so on. As you can see, when you earn interest on your interest, that can lead to exponential growth over time — and you can speed up that process even further by reinvesting any dividends that you earn.

Keep in mind, however, that the market fluctuates and you will not get the same rate of return every year.

Buffett is a true advocate of the power of compound interest. As a renowned value investor, he’s known for his buy-and-hold strategy — often holding onto stocks for decades and watching them grow.

You don’t have to be an investing mastermind like Buffett to make the most of compound interest, and you don’t have to invest large sums of money to reap the benefits.

Moneywise

Central Bank of Nigeria, on Wednesday, dissolved the boards and managements of Polaris, Union and Keystone Banks.

CBN, in a statement signed by Hakama Sidi Ali, its acting director, corporate communications, said the action became necessary due to the non-compliance of the banks and their respective boards with “provisions of Section 12 (c), (f), (g), (h) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020”.

“The Bank’s infractions vary from regulatory non-compliance, corporate governance failure, disregarding the conditions under which their licenses were granted, and involvement in activities
that pose a threat to financial stability, among others,” CBN said.

The financial regulator assured the public of the safety and security of depositors’ funds, adding that it remains resolute in fulfilling its mandate to uphold a safe, sound, and robust financial system in Nigeria.

CBN said Nigeria’s banking system remains strong and resilient.

The decision comes weeks after the special investigator panel probing the CBN and related entities disclosed how Godwin Emefiele, the former central bank governor, allegedly used two Dubai-based companies (Luxis International and Magna International) to set up Titan Trust Bank (TTB) as proxies for the acquisition of UBN.

The panel, led by Jim Obazee, had in their findings also shown the transactions behind the acquisition of Keystone Bank.

The panel’s report revealed other unapproved activities of the former CBN governor, directors and some government officials.

Meanwhile, on December 24, 2023, the special panel had in a letter summoned Babatunde Lemo, chairman of TTB over the institution’s acquisition of Union Bank.

The Cable

Market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange Limited depreciated for the first time in the New Year.

At the close of trading on Wednesday, the eight-day rally in the market was halted as the market cap dipped by about N638bn to close at N44.885tn. This is coming a day after the market cap crossed the N45tn milestone.

Although the benchmark index of the exchange, the All-Share Index remained above 80,000 points, it shed 1,167.46 points or 1.40 per cent to close at 82,024.38 on Wednesday.

Impacted by the depreciation were banking stocks, most of which suffered losses except for Jaiz Bank which defied the trend to appreciate by 5.40 per cent to N2.93 and Stanbic IBTC Holdings which closed flat.

Meanwhile, market capitalisation of Access Holdings Plc and First Bank of Nigeria Holdings dropped below N1tn, a day after the lenders crossed the milestone. They closed the market with a capitalisation of N989bn and N926bn, respectively.

The downturn in the equity market comes a day after the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, questioned some banks’ Managing Directors over a fraud that was uncovered at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

The major drivers of the day’s market were the stocks of indigenous conglomerate, Transnational Corporation Plc, AccessCorp, United Bank for Africa, Jaiz Bank and Zenith Bank.

Market Breadth which is the measure of investors’ sentiment was negative resulting in 13 gainers and 61 losers.

The gainers were led primarily by stocks of Cadbury Plc which gained 9.92 per cent to N19.95 per unit. On Tuesday, the consumer goods company revealed plans to seek shareholders’ approval to convert a N7.036bn loan from its parent company, Cadbury Schweppes Overseas Limited, to equity.

In an explanatory statement on the proposed debt-to-equity conversion filed with the NGX, the company revealed that between February 2021 and September 2023, Cadbury Schweppes Overseas, loaned $23m to Cadbury Nigeria to help settle outstanding third-party loans which the company had obtained to fund its raw material imports and other input costs.

However, due to the foreign exchange challenges in the country, it was unable to meet its debt obligations, which led the board to propose the debt-to-equity conversion plan.

Other gainers include VeritasKap which gained 9.76 per cent to close at N0.45, Linkage Assurance gained 8.70 per cent to close at N1.50, Transcorp Hotel gained 7.24 per cent to close at N100 per unit and Prestige Assurance gained six per cent to close at N0.53 per unit.

The losers’ chart was led by Chams Holdings, Cornerstone Insurance, FTN Cocoa, May & Baker, Caverton and Consolidated Hallmark Holding Plc, which lost 10 per cent each to close at N2.16, N1.80, N1.98, N5.49, N2.07 and N1.35 per unit, respectively.

The volume and value drivers of the day’s market trend were led by stocks of Transcorp, AccessCorp and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc.

Despite the downturn in the market, the transaction volume for the day rose to 1,641.28 million, from the previous day’s volume of 1,409.85 million units of shares valued at N25.37bn from 20,223 deals executed. The number of stocks traded on Wednesday was 123.

Punch

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, the nation’s capital, has ordered that a former minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, be remanded in Kuje prison pending the perfection of his bail conditions.

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Agunloye over allegations of fraud to the tune of $6 billion in the Mambilla hydropower contract.

The anti-graft agency brought the ex-minister before Donatus Okorowo, Wednesday where he pleaded not guilty to the charges read against him.

On December 13, 2023, EFCC declared Agunloye wanted over alleged corruption. It was later reported that he surrendered himself to the commission for investigation.

Agunloye’s predicament began after former President Olusegun Obasanjo challenged him to tell Nigerians where he received the authority to award a $6 billion contract to Sunrise for the Mambilla hydropower project in 2003.

Reacting to his former boss’ statement, Agunloye said the government was not compelled to pay any amount to Sunrise under the build, operate, and transfer (BOT) agreement.

He said the arrangement remained as it was to be fully funded by the newly registered company, whose declared assets were worth less than $2,000 at the time.

Daily Trust

Israeli military says it found traces of hostages in an underground tunnel in Gaza

The Israeli military said Wednesday it has found evidence that hostages were present in an underground tunnel in the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, which has become the focus of Israel’s ground offensive.

The military showed the tunnel to journalists who were escorted into a neighborhood near the ruins of destroyed homes and streets. A corrugated tin hut covered the tunnel’s entrance in a residential yard.

A makeshift ladder led to the narrow underground pathway, about 2.5 meters (8 feet) below. The tunnel was hot and humid, with walls lined with concrete and electrical wires. Farther inside was a bathroom, where the military said it found evidence that hostages had been there, including their DNA.

“Hostages were held here in this tunnel system,” said Daniel Hagari, the army’s chief spokesman.

Hagari offered no details on what exactly was found in the tunnel, nor did he say when the hostages were there or identify them. He did not say if they were known to be dead or alive.

In a later statement to the media, he said the captives were held in “difficult conditions,” without elaborating.

Several hostages freed in a cease-fire deal in late November described being held inside tunnels, which Hamas has laid throughout the Gaza Strip and which Israel says have long been used to smuggle weapons and fighters throughout the blockaded territory.

The tunnel was found in a part of the city that appears to have endured heavy fighting. The nearby residence was badly damaged.

In another building, the walls were blasted out of several apartments. Large mounds of dirt surrounded the area, apparently from Israeli bulldozers searching for buried explosives. A tank was parked outside an empty school, where an Israeli flag was hung from the exterior walls. The sound of what appeared to be a drone buzzed overhead, and gunfire could be heard in the distance.

The military says Hamas is operating from inside the tunnels, and military officials have made the destruction of the tunnel system a top goal.

Dan Goldfus, commander of the military’s 98th Division, described the tunnels as posing “a 720-degree threat.”

“It’s not 360, but it’s 720, underground and over ground,” Goldfus said.

Israel also believes that Hamas leader Yehya Sinwar is hiding in a tunnel somewhere in Khan Younis.

The beleaguered city, Gaza’s second-largest, has become the focus of Israel’s war on Hamas in recent weeks. On Wednesday’s tour for journalists, no residents appeared to be in the area. Israel has ordered residents to evacuate portions of the city as it proceeds with the offensive.

In its fierce Oct. 7 attack, Hamas and other militants killed 1,200 people and took hostage roughly 250, according to Israeli authorities.

The attack sparked the war. More than 23,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children have been killed, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. More than 85% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been displaced, and vast swaths of the territory have been leveled.

About 110 hostages have been released. Some 110 remain with their captors, along with the bodies of about 20 people killed in captivity, according to Israel. Several other bodies of captives were retrieved by Israeli forces, and three hostages were killed mistakenly by the military.

The plight of the hostages has gripped Israelis, who see them as an enduring symbol of the state’s failure to protect its citizens on Oct. 7.

Israel has made freeing the hostages part of its war aims, along with crushing Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.

AP