A good number of people, including me, seems opposed to Nigeria leading the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to war in Niger. In one of the most telling anti-war metaphors, a Nigerian columnist and Editor, Lasisi Olagunju, likened military intervention to rubbing buttocks with the porcupine. 

Doves everywhere are flying the flag of peace. Protesters are also waving placards reminding Nigeria’s President and ECOWAS Chairman, Bola Tinubu, not to start a war he cannot finish.

As if he doesn’t know, Tinubu has also been reminded, among other things, that there’s already too much trouble at home – insecurity, economic hardship and a country deeply divided by the last elections – without a clear plan, so far, how to dig himself out of the mess. He cannot invite more trouble.

Tinubu is not just being told to mind his business, fix Nigeria and forget war. In what is clearly an indication that even the pacificists recognise that he cannot ignore a problem at the door, however, the president has also been advised to prioritise talks and negotiations with Niger’s military leader, Abdourahmane Tchiana, who deposed President Mohamed Bazoum and seized power on July 26.

That is easier said than done. I’ve been forced to pause and lower my flag for talks at half-mast after reading one of Christopher Hitchens’ essays in his collection, And Yet, from which I have adapted the title of this article. 

Hitchens wasn’t writing about Niger, of course: it was about the US Middle East policy at a very difficult and dangerous time. At the height of Iran’s nuclear enrichment controversy, the Obama administration received a letter from Tehran offering “unconditional talks”, over the hostile and fraught relationship between Washington and Tehran. 

The invitation to “unconditional talks” with Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmedinajad, characteristised in Washington as the devil incarnate, spooked memories of Azar Nafisi’s 2003 book, Reading Lolita in Tehran, in which she said a relationship with the Islamic Republic “is like having sex with a man you loathe.” I honestly don’t know which one is easier – rubbing buttocks with the porcupine or having sex with a man you loathe!

The instigation for talks, at all costs, with Niger’s military junta must feel that way for Tinubu. How do you talk with a man who not only despises your election and questions the legitimacy of other regional leaders, but one who has also spurned your emissaries and is openly rallying other scoundrels against you and the regional body?

It’s gratifying that the latest indications from Niamey are that the military regime is prepared for talks with ECOWAS. But what, in any case, would such talks be like in light of the regional protocol by all 15-member ECOWAS countries, including Niger, against unconstitutional changes in government? 

A chapter from the encounter of regional leaders and the diaries of three regional military coup leaders in the last few years could give us an idea. The soles of the shoes of ECOWAS special envoy and former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and his team are worn out from futile diplomatic visits to Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso after soldiers seized power in these countries, and for three years, all refused to talk sense. 

Assimi Goita, Mali’s military leader, seized power in 2020 and initially promised a transitional government within six months. Before you could say Assimi, however, he sacked the figure-head interim government in May 2021 and promised elections would be held in 2024, that is four years after he first seized power.

Guinean military leader Mamadi Doumbouya, who seized power in September 2021 was careful not to commit early. After about five months in power, plenty of talk and ECOWAS sanctions which all parties knew were just about as empty as the talks, Doumbouya announced in January last year that he needed an extra 39 months to hand over power. 

And just around the corner, Ibrahim Traore, Burkinabe’s military leader and the third soldier to lead a successful coup in the region in five years, has not made any secrets of his flirtations with the Russian-backed Wagner Group. 

The hint of a transition is not even on the table, much less discussions with ECOWAS about a possible hand over date. Anyone who saw Traore’s recent red-carpet reception by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow might understand why he cannot be in a hurry to leave power. Better to talk about talk and enjoy the illegitimate fruit of power than to confront the threat of a forceful removal.

It is in the context of this catastrophic failure of previous talks with military juntas in the last three years, not to mention the audacity of their defiance, that we must view any talks with Tchiani. It is either we have decided to shred the protocol against unconstitutional changes in government and return to the 1970s/80s by normalising military rule, or we make it clear that there would be consequences for military coups. 

The argument that we have ourselves to blame because civilian rulers have performed shabbily, wangled their way into office, or illegally extended their tenure is seductive but untenable. To adapt the Italian prosecutor Virgino Rognoni, who took on the Red Brigades in the 1908s, “in whichever way a democratic system might be sick, military coup will not heal it; it kills it. Democracy is healed with democracy.”

We can all agree that talk is better than war, but those who are willing to turn a blind eye to the futility of talks in the last three years since the fall of Mali have not said how more pillow talk with Tchiani would do for Niger what it has failed to do for the embarrassingly defiant coup belt. 

It’s been said that the “hasty” announcement of a military option by ECOWAS and sanctions by the body, especially Nigeria’s decision to cut-off electricity to Niamey, hardened the junta. Maybe. But the junta’s response to diplomatic overtures made right after did not suggest that sending flowers early on would have made much difference.

Tchiani’s latest comment that the military government has enough evidence to try President Bazoum for high treason is a ridiculous excuse to buy time and befuddle the point. It is a measure of how unpromising the talks would be that an illegitimate government is even thinking of charging an elected president with “high treason!”

How did we get here? By talking, of course, without any clear intention of, or will to do anything, when talks failed. Wasn’t it an embarrassment to ECOWAS, for example, that in spite of promises by the Malian military leader to hand over within a few months of the coup, the military-dominated legislature later announced that nothing less than four years would do, to which ECOWAS negotiator, Jonathan, tamely replied, “I believe ECOWAS may not accept it…we’re going to negotiate further with them.”

Seven months after Jonathan made this statement, the soldiers in Burkina Faso read correctly that it was just another empty talk. They struck.

If, in 2016, ECOWAS had offered President Yahya Jammeh talks, instead of deploying a regional force to remove him from power after he lost elections and refused to quit, he’ll probably still be in office today, talking. 

Sure, regional leaders could do better by using institutional mechanisms such as the AU’s Peer Review to improve the quality of governance and perhaps even review the governance charter. 

Yet, there’s no evidence in Africa that the military has done any better after seizing power. It’s time to end the nonsense in Niger not by rubbing buttocks with Tchiani, but by keeping the cage-trap firmly on the table for this porcupine and his cohorts.

** Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

Tobi Amusan, the reigning World 100m hurdles champion and record holder, has been given the green light to compete at the upcoming World Athletics Championships set to begin on Saturday in Budapest, Hungary.

Previously, the 26-year-old athlete faced charges of three whereabouts failures, which constitutes an anti-doping rule violation for missing three out-of-competition tests within a 12-month period. Amusan had contested this charge.

Recent news from the Athletics Federation of Nigeria has confirmed that Tobi Amusan, the world record holder in the 100m hurdles, has been cleared of the charges. Consequently, she will now proceed to Budapest to defend the significant gold medal she earned last year at the 18th edition of the Championships.

This clearance provides Amusan with the opportunity to defend the only title in her career that she has yet to defend, following her successful retention of her Nigeria, African Championships, African Games, Commonwealth Games, and Diamond League titles.

Reports indicate that a tribunal of three arbitrators absolved Amusan of two out of the three missed tests, after the Nigerian athlete argued that the tester had not made sufficient efforts to locate her.

Notably, throughout this process, Amusan consistently maintained her innocence and stated that she is a clean athlete. She even mentioned on her Facebook page last month, “I have faith that this will be resolved in my favour and that I will be competing at the World Championships in August.”

The Guardian

Do you have big goals you're hoping to reach, but can't seem to make any progress toward achieving them? Kaizen, the Japanese practice of continuous improvement might just be the perfect tool to help you work toward seemingly out-of-reach goals. 

That suggestion comes from Jonny Thomson a philosophy teacher and author of Mini Philosophy: A Small Book of Big Ideas. In an article for Big Think, Thomson argues that kaizen is the most effective way to get there. Behavioral science suggests that he's right.

For most of us, the term kaizen is associated with Toyota, which made the practice famous in its factories. But, as Thomson notes, the term literally translates as "good change," and it has uses that go way beyond manufacturing. 

And the general concept goes all the way back to ancient Rome, when the philosopher Seneca wrote, "It is enough for me if every day I reduce the number of my vices, and blame my mistakes."

Toyota used kaizen to transform itself from a textile company to an auto manufacturer. Rather than a sudden and complete rebranding, announced with great fanfare, that would be more common in the United States, the company made the change gradually. 

"There was a change here, a shift there. Every day something was different, every week something was better, and when a month became a year, incredible change had been achieved," Thomson writes.

And, he argues, the same approach can work for all sorts of personal and professional goals. For example, he writes, those of us who aren't runners are awed by the endurance and athleticism required to complete a marathon. 

"But any race or feat of endurance is simply one small step after another. Many are those runners who repeat, 'Just to the top of that hill,' or, 'Just one more mile,' over and over – until one mile becomes 26.2." 

Stanford behavioral scientist BJ Fogg doesn't use the term kaizen, but his approach to changing behavior and self-improvement, honed over working with thousands of people at the Stanford Behavior Design Lab, is to break any change you hope to make into the smallest possible steps. 

In fact, he suggests that if you want to run a marathon, the habit to begin with is to just to put on your running shoes and tie the laces – and then celebrate your own accomplishment.

When I interviewed Fogg for my book Career Self-Care: Find Your Happiness, Success, and Fulfillment at Work, I asked what to me seemed a pressing question: How on earth do you get from just tying your shoes to running a marathon, especially if you're not pushing yourself to do more. 

The process tends to happen naturally, he explained. I was a big skeptical until I tried it myself. I'd long known that I really should have a will, and out of a combintion of superstition and reluctance to contemplate difficult and unpleasant questions, I had put it off literally for decades. 

With Fogg's philosophy in mind, I set myself the task to open an online will-writing website every day. That was it – I didn't have to do more than that. But after a few days of just opening the site, I found myself starting to answer some of the questions on the homepage. 

Little by little, a tiny bit most days, I answered one question after another and worked my way through all the thorny decisions that making a will presents. If you want to try this kaizen approach for yourself, here's how to get started.

1. Aim for 1 percent improvement

Pick an area in your business or personal life where you would like to improve, or a big, long-term task that you would like to accomplish. (I recommend trying kaizen for only one area or task at a time when first starting out with it.) 

Ask yourself: If I could make only 1 percent of progress in this area, what would that look like? It very well might look like just putting on your running shoes, or perhaps running just a quarter of a mile, which is about 1 percent of a marathon. Whatever that 1 percent is, start there, and keep doing it.

2. Add the next 1 percent

Only you can decide when you're ready to take the next step and what that step should be, but ideally it should be another tiny, 1 percent step. If you were to break a big task down to 1 percent pieces and then complete one of them every day, it would take you about three-and-a-half months to complete it. 

But not every task is right for that sort of approach, and for some things, adding another 1 percent every day might be going too fast, or too slow.

So figure out what amount of improvement or additional work is right for you, and try to be consistent about doing it every day, or every weekday, or every Monday, or whatever makes the most sense. 

When in doubt, think smaller, not bigger. You're better off setting yourself a task that's too small and easy than one that's too big and difficult.

3. Focus on day-to-day improvement, not long-term goals

"Keep your eye on the prize," is frequently heard advice, but it's not so useful when it comes to kaizen. Instead, focus your attention on the task you're currently working on, or perhaps the very next one. 

Leaving long-term plans and ambitious goals out of your day-to-day thinking will make the tiny step process go more smoothly, Fogg notes.

Besides, one aspect of kaizen is that it has no end. There's never a point where your work is perfect, your company is perfect, your product is perfect, you yourself are perfect, and there's no more improvement to be made. 

Kaizen is about the process, not the end goal, and it's called continuous improvement because there is no stopping point. So think about the journey, not the destination. And trust that, like Toyota, you can achieve incredible change along the way.

Inc

President Bola Tinubu has until August 23 to present persuasive arguments as to why Chicago State University should not be ordered to release his academic records to Atiku Abubakar, his rival in the February 25 Nigerian presidential election, according to court filings seen by Peoples Gazette.

This deadline was imposed on August 9 by Jeffrey Gilbert, the new magistrate judge assigned to the case at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.

Abubakar, earlier this month, requested court approval to subpoena Tinubu’s files domiciled with CSU because he believed the documents would clarify glaring inconsistencies in Tinubu’s background, including publicly-available documents that suggested the CSU in the 1970s admitted a female student bearing Bola Tinubu who was born on March 29, 1954. 

The Nigerian president said he was born on March 29, 1952, although he had also, at different times, listed 1954 as his birth year in the past. He also recently expunged his primary and secondary education from his records after it was discovered that the schools he listed under oath in his 1999 run for Lagos governor did not exist anywhere in Nigeria. Abubakar believed the requested records would show which early and high school papers Tinubu submitted to CSU before he was admitted to study accounting there. 

Shortly after Abubakar approached the court for the records, Tinubu filed a motion to thwart the request from being granted, citing a U.S. privacy law for students.

But the court appeared interested in allowing the case to proceed after Abubakar argued it has a valid jurisdiction. The judge has now set a deadline mandating Tinubu to submit his argument by August 23 as to why CSU must keep his records from Abubakar, filings showed.

Additionally, the U.S. court ordered Abubakar to respond to Tinubu’s argument by September 9 —- two weeks after Tinubu’s response was anticipated. The timeline showed the court was racing to rule on the matter before September 21, when Nigeria’s election petitions tribunal would likely deliver its judgement in the suit challenging Tinubu’s election victory. 

Tinubu’s questionable academic history is merely one of several grounds that Abubakar’s lawyers are pursuing in Nigerian courts to nullify his declaration as president and eligibility to stand for election in future. Claims ranging from narcotics dealing to money laundering and election fraud are also being argued. 

Tinubu, who was sworn in as Nigerian president on May 29, has insisted he was the one who attended CSU; while dismissing his 1990s narcotics scandal as a civil forfeiture proceeding that should not carry any criminal implications for his political ambition. 

PG

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Nyesom Wike, former governor of Rivers state, as the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT).

Wike is the second southerner to head the FCT after Ajose Adeogun, the only person from the region, who was appointed in 1976.

In a list released by Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Tinubu appointed Gboyega Oyetola, former governor of Osun, as the minister of transportation.

He also appointed Festus Keyamo as the minister of aviation and aerospace development.

The list shows that the Northwest has 10 ministers, while Northeast has six. The Northcentral and Southwest have eight and nine ministers respectively, while Southeast and Southsouth have five each.

According to the portfolios assigned by the president,  Tinubu made Bosun Tijani the minister of communications, innovations and digital economy and Wale Edun the person heading the ministry of finance and coordinating minister of economy.

On July 27, Tinubu forwarded a list of 28 nominees to the senate for screening and confirmation.

Again, on August second, the president sent the list of the second batch of ministerial nominees to the senate for screening.

While the senate confirmed the nomination of 45 persons on the list, three nominees, including Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna — Stella Okotete (Delta) and Danladi Abubakar (Taraba), were not confirmed due to issues relating to security clearance.

See the list below.

SOUTHWEST

1. Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy — Bosun Tuani
2. Minister of State, Environment and Ecological Management — Ishak Salako
3. Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister Of The Economy — Wale Edun
4. Minister of Marine and Blue Economy — Bunmi Tunji-Ojo
5. Minister of Power — Adebayo Adelabu
6. Minister of State, Health and Social Welfare –Tunji Alausa
7. Minister of Solid Minerals Development — Dele Alake
8.  Minister of Tourism — Lola Ade-John
9. Minister of Transportation –Adegboyega Oyetola

SOUTHEAST

1. Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment –Doris Anite
2. Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology — Uche Nnaji
3. Minister of State, Labour and Employment — Nkiruka Onyejeocha
4. Minister of Women Affairs — Uju Kennedy
5. Minister of Works — David Umahi

SOUTHSOUTH

1. Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development — Festus Keyamo
2. Minister of Youth –Abubakar Momoh
3. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs And Poverty Alleviation — Betta Edu
4. Minister of State, Gas Resources –Ekperipe Ekpo
5. Minister of State, Petroleum Resources –Heineken Lokpobiri
6. Minister of Sports Development — John Enoh
7. Minister of Federal Capital Territory –Nyesom Wike

NORTHWEST

1. Minister of Art, Culture and The Creative Economy — Hannatu Musawa
2. Minister of Defence — Mohammed Badaru
3. Minister of State, Defence — Bello Matawalle
4. Minister of State, Education — Yusuf T. Sununu
5. Minister of Housing and Urban Development — Ahmed M. Dangiwa
6. Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development– Abdullahi T. Gwarzo
7. Minister of Budget and Economic Planning — Atiku Bagudu
8. Minister of Environment and Ecological Management (Kaduna)–
9. Minister Of State, Federal Capital Territory — Mairiga Mahmud
10. Minister Of State, Water Resources And Sanitation –Bello M. Goronto

NORTHEAST

1. Minister of Agriculture and Food Security –Abubakar Kyari
2. Minister of Education –Tahir Maman
3. Minister of Interior — Sa’idu A. Alkali
4. Minister of Foreign Affairs –Yusuf M. Tuggar
5. Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare — Ali Pate
6. Minister of Police Affairs –Ibrahim Geidam
7. Minister of State, Steel Development — U. Maigari Ahmadu

NORTHCENTRAL

1. Minister of Steel Development  — Shuaibu A. Audu
2. Minister of Information and National Orientation — Muhammed Idris
3. Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice — Lateef Fagbemi
4. Minister of Labour And Employment — Simon B. Lalong
5. Minister of State, Police Affairs — Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim
6. Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs –Zephaniah Jisalo
7. Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation — Joseph Utsev
8. Minister of State, Agriculture and Food Security –Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi

The Cable

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited has secured a $3 billion emergency crude repayment loan to support the naira and stabilise the foreign exchange market.

NNPC Limited secured the crude-for-cash funding from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

While the details are still sketchy, it is understood that NNPC will repay the loan with crude oil at an interest rate between eight percent and 11 percent.

“NNPC Ltd. and Afrexim Bank have jointly signed a commitment letter and Termsheet for an emergency $3 billion crude oil repayment loan,” NNPC said in a terse statement on Wednesday.

“The signing, which took place today at the bank’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, will provide some immediate disbursement that will enable the NNPC Ltd. to support the Federal Government in its ongoing fiscal and monetary policy reforms aimed at stabilizing the exchange rate market.”

Commenting on the development, Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on media and publicity, said the new FX accretion is to enable NNPCL defray taxes and royalties in advance and provide the federal government with dollar liquidity to stabilise the naira via incremental releases based on the federal government’s needs.

“Stronger NGN = Lower Fuel Costs. This is a major buffer against the need to re-engage in subsidy regime,” Ngelale said in a X post on Wednesday.

The loan will save Nigeria from approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for loans, and bring respite to the local currency, which had depreciated significantly against the dollar over the past week.

The naira depreciated on Friday to close the week at an all-time low of N950 to the dollar at the parallel market.

On Monday, President Bola Tinubu met with the acting CBN governor, Folashodun Shonubi, who said the apex bank would roll out its plans to stabilise the naira.

The local currency appreciated Wednesday, recovering from N950 per dollar to N890 to the greenback.

Nigeria produced an average of 1.255 million barrels of oil daily in July 2023, according to data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The Cable

No fewer than 5,166 Nigerians were killed while there were 1,830 cases of abduction across the country between January and July this year.

This is according to a 2023 Nigeria Security Report by Beacon Consulting, an Abuja-based security risk management and intelligence consulting company.

According to the report obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday, 749 Nigerians were killed in January; 624 in February; 961 in March; 707 in April; 679 in May; 854 in June; and 592 in July.

It also revealed that 208 Nigerians were abducted in January; 173 in February; 411 in March; 302 in April; 168 in May; 239 in June; and 329 in July.

Speaking on the rising trend of insecurity in the country that has continued to claim lives and property, a retired Colonel, Hassan Stan-Labo, blamed the government for failing in its responsibility to protect the lives of its citizens.

Stan-Labo said, “The killing of Nigerians is a result of banditry, ongoing attacks in communities. The past government never took seriously, in the last eight years, our security situation. We had a government that was insensitive, nonchalant and which didn’t show commitment to taking care of the people.”Chief Executive Officer, Beacon Intel and a security expert, Kabir Adamu, said there has been a further collapse of social order and a yawning distrust between government and citizens.

He said, “Federal and state governments need to enhance collaboration for enhanced administration of criminal justice and the restoration of social order by addressing the root causes of these challenges, including drug addiction, socio-economic grievances, poverty, unemployment and the effects of climate change as well as the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.”

Punch

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says it has no hope of using F-16 fighter jets this year

Ukraine will not be able to operate U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets this coming autumn and winter, air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television late on Wednesday.

"It's already obvious we won't be able to defend Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets during this autumn and winter," Ihnat told a joint telethon broadcast by Ukrainian channels.

Ukraine has repeatedly called its Western allies to supply the country with F-16s, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said would be a signal that Russia's invasion would end in defeat.

U.S. President Joe Biden endorsed training programmes for Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in May but no timing for the supply of war planes has been given so far.

"We had big hopes for this plane, that it will become part of air defence, able to protect us from Russia's missiles and drones terrorism," Ihnat said.

The West says it wants to help Ukraine defeat Russia but has repeatedly insisted it does not want to trigger a direct confrontation between the U.S.-backed NATO military alliance and Moscow.

** Ukraine retakes village but warns of trouble in northeast - Kyiv

Ukraine announced the recapture of the village of Urozhaine from Russian troops in the southeast on Wednesday, but warned the situation on the northeastern front was deteriorating amid Russian counter-attacks.

Urozhaine, on the edge of Donetsk region, is the first village Kyiv says it has retaken since July 27, a sign of the challenge Ukraine faces advancing through heavily mined Russian defensive lines without powerful air support.

"Urozhaine is liberated," Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app. "Our defenders are entrenched on the outskirts."

The village is one of several small rural settlements near the Mokri Yaly river that Ukraine has declared liberated since early June, when it launched a long-touted counteroffensive against Russian troops who occupy swathes of the south and east.

Its recapture would bring Kyiv closer to threatening the village of Staromlynivka, several kilometres to the south, which military analysts say is a Russian stronghold in the area.

Russia's defence ministry did not confirm losing Urozhaine in a statement on Telegram but said its artillery and warplanes were attacking Ukrainian forces in the Urozhaine area.

The village's recapture would indicate Ukraine is pressing ahead with an offensive drive south towards the Sea of Azov that aims to cut Russian occupying forces in half. Urozhaine lies just over 90 km (55 miles) from the Sea of Azov.

PRESSURE BUILDS IN NORTHEAST

Hours after the Urozhaine announcement, Oleksandr Syrskyi, one of Ukraine's top generals, said the situation on the Kupiansk front in the northeastern region of Kharkiv was growing more difficult.

Kupiansk, a town with a pre-war population of around 27,000, was seized by Russia in the early days of the February 2022 invasion before Ukrainian troops recaptured it in a lightning offensive last September that embarrassed Moscow.

"Due to the complication of the situation in the Kupiansk direction, I worked most of the day with units that lead the defence on the approaches to the city," Syrskyi was quoted as saying by Ukraine's Military Media Center.

"The enemy is trying to break through the defences of our troops every day, in different directions, with assault squads consisting mainly of convicts, with the aim of blockading and then capturing Kupiansk," he said.

Losing Kupiansk a second time would be a major blow to Kyiv's battlefield momentum at a time when its summer counter-offensive has so far failed to deliver significant territorial gains, except for villages such as Urozhaine.

Regional authorities announced a mandatory evacuation of civilians from near the Kupiansk front earlier this month due to daily Russian shelling.

"Our house is the only one standing, there are no other houses left intact around ours," said Oleh Yanytskyi, a resident of the village of Kurylivka who was evacuated by the Ukrainian Red Cross this week.

Kyiv says its counteroffensive is progressing slower than it wanted because of vast Russian minefields and prepared Russian defensive lines.

Russia controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine, including the peninsula of Crimea, most of Luhansk region and large tracts of the regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian leadership split over counteroffensive – Newsweek

Ukraine’s failure to break through Russian defenses has driven a wedge between top officials in Kiev, with heated debates underway over whether the country should press ahead with, or abort, its much-hyped counteroffensive, Newsweek reported on Wednesday.

Describing the dilemma facing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, the outlet has claimed that he must now decide “whether to go all-in and risk a costly failure, or to cut Ukraine’s losses and accept a politically damaging defeat.”

The Ukrainian leadership has therefore split into two camps. One group insists that Kiev should pull back and wait for an anticipated Russian offensive in the fall and spring. The second group, which includes army chief Valery Zaluzhny, wishes to continue the counteroffensive while dismissing any criticism as “impatience rooted in misunderstanding,”according to the article.

“There definitely are some differences among the Ukrainian leadership about the military strategy,” an unnamed source “close to the Ukrainian government” told Newsweek. 

Ukraine’s slow progress on the battlefield has also led to rumblings among civilian officials, with “a blame game …. brewing in Kiev,” the outlet wrote. 

“There’s a sense that they were misled by the military in terms of how well this counteroffensive would go, that they were provided with overly rosy assessments from the military side. They’re unhappy about that,” the source said, adding that he would not rule out possible changes in the country’s military command.

However, a Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesperson has pushed back against reports of an alleged rift among Ukrainian leaders, dismissing them as a Russian propaganda narrative in a statement to Newsweek. 

Ukraine launched its much-anticipated full-scale offensive along several sections of the front in early June after being reinforced by hundreds of Western-supplied tanks and other heavy equipment. However, despite two months of intense fighting, Kiev has still not gained any ground, while losing 43,000 service members since the start of the push, according to Moscow. 

Kiev officials have acknowledged the difficulties, blaming them on delays in Western military assistance, lack of air support, formidable Russian defenses, and extensive minefields. In recent weeks, numerous Western media outlets have reported that Kiev’s backers were unimpressed or outrightly “alarmed” by its slow progress on the battlefield. 

On Saturday, the Times reported that NATO had been overly optimistic about Ukraine’s push, partly due to “miracles” promised to the bloc by officials in Kiev.

** West makes money on Ukrainian conflict, does not need peace — Medvedev

The West is not interested in negotiations on a peace settlement in Ukraine, because it is keen to make as much money as possible for its military-industrial complex, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev told the media.

"Their speculations to the effect time is ripe to come to the negotiating table and start peace talks merely show how sly they are. They don't want this at all. They want to keep the military flywheel going in order to make money for their budgets," Medvedev said during a visit to the Army-2023 forum.

He recalled that Russian soldiers were "very successful" in burning Western-supplied equipment and would continue to do so. Against the backdrop of losses, the West periodically resumes "speculations that it is necessary to return to the negotiating table to find some compromises," Medvedev said.

"But we need to bear in mind that this is only part of the story, while the other part is the US military-industrial complex, and the European one as well, are making money on this. And this is a way for them to make mammoth profits by supplying their equipment to Ukraine. They are making money on this war," Medvedev explained.

During his visit to the exhibition of weapons seized by Russian forces during the special operation he took a look at many Western-made grenade launchers, anti-tank systems and small arms. He was also shown a US-made M777 artillery system, Hummer armored vehicles and Western communication equipment.

At the open exposition where captured armored vehicles are on display Medvedev was shown Ukrainian T-64BV and T-72AG tanks, a Swedish CV90-40 combat vehicle, as well as a Triton armored vehicle and a US M113 APC upgraded in the Netherlands. At the same exposition, Medvedev saw a burned Australian Bushmaster armored vehicle, a French AMX-10RCR wheeled tank, as well as British combat vehicles Husky, Mastiff and AT105 Saxon.

Reuters/RT/Tass

Amateur dancer Omowunmi Otunuyi, who is deaf, delighted an audience in the Nigerian city of Ibadan, as she performed with her dance troupe in a show intended to challenge preconceptions about deafness.

"I am so glad we were able to show the audience what we could do, I'm excited because we made it happen," said the 20-year-old in sign language.

Public performances by deaf artists are rare in Nigeria, where there is little provision for people with disabilities to access cultural and artistic activities.

Otunuyi's way into the world of dance came through professional coach Samuel James, who launched the Seams Deaf-Pro Foundation with an ambition to give deaf performers opportunities to excel and to combat prejudice against them.

"When we go to a place to dance [people] say 'how is this possible, how are they able to work with songs, the sounds'... that has been our target and that is what we always push," James said.

Otunuyi and others in the group credit James with helping them express rhythm and flow during rigorous training sessions.

"Some may think it is just a waste of energy, a waste of time," Otunuyi signed. "I'm a born dancer. I believe there is success in this."

James and his students have a clear purpose.

"We are trying to break the biases, the prejudices against deaf people," he said.

Reuters

Many an unflattering adjective has been deployed to describe the vulgarisms of Senate President Godswill Akpabio. None of it matters.

If you thought his predecessor, Ahmad Lawan, was too servile in his dealings with the executive, Akpabio leaves you with no doubt that he would be a lickspittle. In the video his aides made of him attending the plenary session last month, Akpabio’s cap carried an inscription of the Bola Tinubu campaign insignia. For a man who would lead the legislature—a branch of government that presumably serves the democratic function of checking and balancing the excesses of the powerful executive—to show up on his first day at work declaring his fealty to the president, you know he is not ready to even feign autonomy. The only “checks and balances” that will exist is what he can cash to serve his narrow interests.

Take the other instance of him trivialising the ongoing hardship in the country by turning the cry of “Let the poor breathe!” into a joke. His latest thoughtless act before the public glare was him informing his colleagues, amidst all the massive suffering regular Nigerians are being enjoined to patriotically weather, that an undisclosed sum had been sent to their respective bank accounts for them to enjoy their parliamentary recess. When he realised that he had inadvertently exposed their crookedness, he took back his comment with a tactless joke.

While several critics have rightfully pointed out his indecorousness, I am inclined to think that Akpabio’s lack of self-awareness is, in fact, strategic. What if there is a method to this madness? And what if you are not even the target audience of his crassness? When you think about it, Akpabio is too tainted—in every wise—to hold the exalted position he occupies.

Before he became Senate President, people raised genuine concerns that a man with so many corruption allegations hanging around his neck would be so elevated. Yes, corruption allegations are standard for politicians, but the consistency with which they have dogged Akpabio’s career is perversely outstanding. Despite having held one public position in one capacity or the other, he has no distinguished record of achievement that marks him out as a perspicacious leader. Instead, what has trailed every single office he has held are allegations bordering on his cupidity. It is almost impossible to keep up with the lists of mind-boggling financial infractions levelled against him by various agencies and petitioners. If he could become the number three man in the land despite such weighty moral baggage, what motivation does he have to be different?

In 2015, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission summoned him to explain financial mismanagement amounting to N108bn during his tenure as governor of Akwa Ibom State. Out of that sum, he allegedly withdrew N18bn from the state’s coffers for spurious purposes. He was also accused of using fronts to acquire real estate in prime locations in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory. Shortly after his case came up with the EFCC, Akpabio began his moves to defect to the All Progressives Congress, the ruling party. He finalised his defection in 2018 and officially became an APC member under—mother of all ironies! —the watch of so-called anti-corruption President Muhammadu Buhari who made him Minister of Niger Delta Affairs. The years he spent in that office were more memorable for the attendant corruption allegations than any notable achievement. In 2020, while still a minister, lawmakers investigated allegations of N40bn fraud perpetrated in the Niger Delta Development Commission, an agency under Akpabio’s watch. In 2021, he was accused of trying to bribe the EFCC chairperson Abdulrasheed Bawa with $350,000. Even if you want to give him the benefit of the doubt, you must still wonder why one man leaves a trail of scandals everywhere he goes.

He has not been in office as Senate President for up to 100 days, but SERAP, a social advocacy group, has already filed a lawsuit against him and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, over “the unlawful plan to spend N40bn on 465 exotic and bulletproof cars for members and principal officials, and N70bn as ‘palliatives’ for new members.” At a time the government is asking Nigerians to endure more pains for a vague promise of greater glory that lies ahead, Akpabio and his fellow travelers have no qualms treating themselves to lushness at collective expense.

Until four months ago, the EFCC still asked Akpabio to report at their Abuja headquarters over some outstanding issues. Of course, he did not show up. His lawyer claimed he had a scheduled medical appointment overseas. In a crazy turn of fate that could only happen in a bewildering country like Nigeria, Akpabio is not only the Senate President, but the Bawa who summoned him for questioning is in jail (and will be there for an indeterminable while). In Nigeria, up is always down and down can go in any direction.

For a man like that to have come this far, he must be much more than the fool his critics take him to be. His indiscretions might be off-putting, but they go a long way to reassure those who put him in that office of his pliancy. The day the powers that elevated him detect as much as a whiff of seriousness, a slight shred of resolve, or the emergence of a character that can be (mis-) interpreted as the stirrings of integrity, his case file in the EFCC’s office will miraculously surface. He will be promptly sent to the meat grinder. When a man must survive, he will wear the motley in his brain.

The greatest loser, overall, is Nigeria. It is hard to properly aggregate the extent to the ascent of morally contaminated characters erode confidence in every institution including—or especially—the family. Certain figures in the present administration—from the president whose moral baggage is heavier than what John Bunyan’s Christian hauled around, to the party chair caught on video pocketing dollars, to the various ministerial nominees whose case files are still pending with the EFCC (and other anti-corruption) agencies—entirely undermine the traditional values that our parents and elders taught us. They taught us never to steal because doing so would bring shame to the family name. I am no longer sure any parent in the country still says that with any conviction. Stealing only brings shame if you steal insignificantly. Steal enough, and it will become the basis for which politics propels you to the highest offices. What we call “traditional values” and morals are totally dead in our society.

Akpabio is never going to be different; the truth is that he need not be. He did not become the number three man in the Federal Republic of Gbéwiri by being a rational and moderate human being, so why start now? Who in their right mind changes a method that works? When you compare the lack of self-moderation that makes him make tasteless jokes during the parliamentary sessions to the number of zeroes behind the sums he allegedly stole, you see a pattern of his excessiveness. As Senate President, he will continue to overdo things if it distracts you from noticing that the legislature under him will not achieve anything meaningful but will still be bogged down by scandals.

By already going overboard with his poor composure and projected spendings amidst grueling hardship, you at least know better than to expect any moderation from him. If he disappoints your expectations, you have yourself to blame. You knew how he clowns so why expect anything different?

Go ahead and use up all the harsh adjectives on him, but none of that will ultimately matter. His methods are working for him. He has no reason to be better.

Punch