Religion is a huge part of African culture. Perhaps because most African countries are largely underdeveloped, the church has become a place where people go to get answers and help.

However, this has also led to the proliferation of places of worship, most of which, critics argue, are more transactional than spiritual, paying little or no attention to the safety and security of their members.

Christianity is the dominant religion in Rwanda. The main denominations in Rwanda are Catholicism and Protestantism, with about 45 per cent of the population identifying as Catholic and 35 per cent as Protestant.

Recently, the Rwandan government led by President Paul Kagame did the unthinkable. The government clamped down on over 5,600 churches, including 100 cave churches. And the reason? The failure to comply with safety and health regulations, such as poor soundproofing, and the transactional nature of many places of worship.

Rwandan media outlet The News Times said the move is part of a two-week nationwide operation by Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), which began on 29 July.

The majority of the affected faith-based organisations, according to RGB Chief Executive Usta Kaitesi, lacked basic infrastructure and proper hygiene and safety standards, while several others were operating illegally.

“This is an ongoing nationwide operation for those churches that remain non-compliant with the law. As RGB we are not deterred by any effort in the pursuit of having proper standards of places of worship. The idea is that people should understand that these are not healthy ways of worship.

PT

Israel kills two Hamas militants in West Bank air strike

Israel said it killed two senior Hamas militants in an airstrike on their car in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, claiming they were involved in the killing of an Israeli.

A joint statement from the Israel Security Agency and the Israel Defense Forces identified the militants as Ahmed Abu Ara and Rafet Dawasi, both from the West Bank's northern district around Jenin.

In a statement, Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades military wing said it was mourning the deaths of two fighters in an Israeli air strike on their vehicle in Jenin.

The Israeli statement said the two militants were involved in planning a shooting attack last week in the West Bank's Jordan Valley where an Israeli man, Yonatan Deutsch, was killed.

Israeli authorities said then that Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a main road in the occupied West Bank on Aug. 11, killing one and wounding another.

Later that day, the al-Qassam Brigades said its West Bank-based fighters killed an Israeli soldier at point-blank range near the settlement of Mehola in the Jordan Valley and "returned to their bases safely."

Hamas said the operation came in retaliation for Israel's strike on a school where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in Gaza City which the civil defence service said had killed at least 90 people.

Violence in the West Bank has escalated since the war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas broke out in October, with more Israeli raids, Jewish settler violence and Palestinian street attacks.

In a move condemned by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, Israeli settlers killed at least one Palestinian on Thursday in an attack on a village near the West Bank city of Qalqilya.

The latest West Bank violence comes as a new round of talks in Doha aimed at ending 10 months of fighting in Gaza are due to resume next week.

The Gaza war and escalating West Bank violence threaten to spill into a wider regional conflict involving Iran and its proxies in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian attack ruined ‘secret’ peace talks – WaPo

The Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region has derailed secretive Qatar-mediated talks between Moscow and Kiev that could have paved the way for a “partial ceasefire,”the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing sources.

An unnamed diplomat told the paper that both sides intended to send delegations to Doha to negotiate a landmark deal that would halt mutually devastating strikes on energy infrastructure. However, when Ukrainian troops launched a large-scale attack on Russian territory last week, the planned talks were thrown into doubt, the article said.

According to one WaPo source, Russian officials postponed the meeting, describing the attack on Kursk Region as “an escalation.” An unnamed diplomat claimed, however, that Russia “didn’t call off the talks, they said give us time.”

Talks to end the infrastructure strikes have been going on for the past two months, the paper reported, adding that only minor details of the agreement needed to be worked out before the summit. Some of those involved in the discussions even reportedly hoped they could pave the way for a broader agreement to end the conflict.

Senior officials in Kiev, however, were more skeptical about the negotiations, estimating their chance of success at 20% or less, the Washington Post said. After Russia decided to take time-out, the Ukrainian delegation reportedly wanted to go to Doha regardless, but Qatar refused, seeing no point in such a format of talks.

The Post noted that Ukrainian officials are increasingly worried about whether the country will be able to survive winter if Russia continues to pound its energy infrastructure. Kiev estimated in May that as much as 50% of Ukraine’s energy capacity had been knocked out.

”We have one chance to get through this winter, and that’s if the Russians won’t launch any new attacks on the grid,” a Washington Post source said.

However, a Russian academic suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be in the mood to make any deals with Kiev after the Kursk incursion. The Russian leader said that any peace talks with Ukraine are impossible as long as it conducts “indiscriminate strikes on civilians… or tries to threaten nuclear energy facilities.”

The last time Ukraine and Russia held peace talks was in Istanbul in the spring of 2022. While the negotiations initially made progress, they later collapsed, with Moscow blaming the interference of then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who allegedly advised Kiev to keep fighting. Johnson has denied the allegation.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia says Ukraine used Western rockets to destroy bridge in Kursk region

Russia's foreign ministry said Ukraine had used Western rockets, likely U.S.-made HIMARS, to destroy a bridge over the Seym river in the Kursk region, killing volunteers trying to evacuate civilians.

"For the first time, the Kursk region was hit by Western-made rocket launchers, probably American HIMARS," Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said late on Friday on the Telegram messaging app.

"As a result of the attack on the bridge over the Seym River in the Glushkovo district, it was completely destroyed, and volunteers who were assisting the evacuated civilian population were killed."

There was no indication of how many volunteers were killed in Friday's attack.

Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Kyiv's forces had advanced between 1 and 3 kilometres (0.6 to 1.9 miles) in some areas in the Kursk region on Friday, 11 days since beginning an incursion into the western Russian territory.

Kyiv has claimed to have taken control of 82 settlements over an area of 1,150 square kilometres (440 square miles) in the region since Aug. 6.

Russia's defence ministry, cited by the Interfax news agency, said on Saturday that Russian forces repelled several Ukrainian attacks in the Kursk region, but did not report recapturing any territory.

It said Ukrainian forces had unsuccessfully attempted to advance towards the villages of Kauchuk and Alekseyevskiy which lie roughly halfway between the Ukrainian border and the Kursk nuclear power plant.

In a separate statement, the ministry accused Ukraine of planning to attack the plant in a false flag operation.

Reuters could not independently verify either side's battlefield accounts.

Russia has accused the West of supporting and encouraging Ukraine's first ground offensive on Russian territory and said Kyiv's "terrorist invasion" would not change the course of the war.

The U.S. HIMARS rockets provided to Ukraine have a range of up to about 80km (50 miles).

The United States, which has said it cannot allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to win the war he launched in February 2022, so far deems the surprise incursion a protective move that justifies the use of U.S. weaponry, officials in Washington said.

RT/Reuters

The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration likes to psychologically anesthetize Nigerians who are grieving from the hurt of its economic policies (petrol price spike, electricity tariff hike, devaluation of the naira, etc.) by saying Nigerians are only undergoing transitory pains in the service of a forthcoming permanent prosperity.

I have repeatedly called this an intentional lie. I have done so from the benefit of my knowledge of the outcomes of such policies in other countries, including in Nigeria from 1986 to 1993 when Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida implemented a Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) as dictated by the World Bank and the IMF, which is similar to Tinubu’s “reforms.”

I have also made recurrent references in the past to countries that have made progress precisely because they defied the economic template Tinubu is implementing now. I highlight the case of Malaysia in the late 1990s to support my point.

But let’s start with SAP in Nigeria. In 1986, self-described military president, Babangida, was persuaded by the IMF and the World Bank to “restructure and diversify” Nigeria’s economy.

The restructuring and diversification led to the removal of subsidies on petrol (all past regimes called petrol price spikes “subsidy removal”), devaluation of the naira (now it’s known by the fancy term “floating of the naira”), deregulation (that is, allowing market forces to regulate the economy while the government takes the back seat), privatization (i.e., selling off of Nigeria’s national patrimony to a few moneybags), etc.

The immediate aftereffect of this IMF-endorsed “restructuring” (Tinubu calls his “reform”) of the economy was a never-before-seen inflationary conflagration, which eroded the purchasing power of the average Nigerian. It produced widespread hardship similar to what Nigerians are going through at this moment.

Petrol price spike and privatization led to job losses and a deepening of the unemployment crisis. Reduction in government spending, particularly on social services, led to declines in healthcare and education quality. Poverty rates also increased as a direct consequence of the removal of subsidies for fuel and basic services.

I distinctly remember all the rhetorical maneuvers that officials of the IBB regime used to fray nerves, and they are awfully similar to what honchos of the Tinubu regime now use: it will get worse before it gets better, there is light at the end of the tunnel, there is no gain without pain, Nigeria simply can’t afford to fund subsidies, our economy would collapse if we don’t restructure the economy, the current system is unsustainable, we’ll all smile and appreciate the wisdom of this temporary sacrifice when the gains start coming, etc.

By 1993 when IBB left power, Nigeria became firmly secured in the economic toilet. Manufacturing collapsed, social unrest rose, and brain drain (which is now called “japa”) started and blossomed, and hopelessness was democratized.

Someone very close to IBB who nonetheless opposed his IMF-backed economic “restructuring” told me he asked one of IBB’s IMF/World Bank-appointed finance ministers a few years ago what happened to the “gains” they promised would replace the “pains” people underwent between 1986 and 1993?

He reported him as saying the gains didn’t materialize because the “restructuring” wasn’t implemented faithfully. Meanwhile, thousands of people died, and millions of people were destabilized because of this “restructuring.” I can bet that Tinubu and his defenders would give the same excuse when they dig Nigeria deeper into the depths of despair at the end of their “reforms.”

In a 1995 report titled “Structural Adjustment and the Spreading Crisis In Latin America,” we see the same scenario repeated throughout the developing countries of South and Central America. Everywhere subsidies were removed, currency devalued, and so-called market forces given a free reign, the result is always the same: devastation, poverty, hopelessness, death of the middle class, etc.

 The report instructively noted: “Mexico is one of many cases worldwide where adjustment and the free market have not only failed to alleviate poverty, but have further polarized the country and led to disaster, economic and social. World Bank and IMF officials continued to say -- right up to the current crisis -- that adjustment's attack on poverty would take time, but, after more than a dozen years of adjustment in Mexico, things have never been worse than they are today, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. There must be a point at which these institutions acknowledge that their strategy has failed and needs to be abandoned, and that a new, more democratically determined approach to the country's development has to be taken.”

But it’s not inevitable that governments in developing countries should follow the IMF/World Bank’s ruinous prescriptions. Many countries with leaders who have guts and who care for the welfare of their people resist these institutions. And it often turns out that the only countries that are witnessing inclusive growth and development are countries that have chosen to depart from the hell-paved path created by the IMF and the World Bank.

For example, in 1997, when Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and South Korea faced economic headwinds and turned to the IMF and the World Bank for financial bailout, they were offered help with the usual conditionalities attached: budget cuts, subsidy removal, currency devaluation, etc.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed rejected the conditions. He said they would choke off economic growth, bankrupt companies, and cause massive unemployment in his country.  So, he went counter to the counsel of the IMF. Instead of budget cuts, he increased government spending. Instead of currency devaluation, he defended the ringgit, Malaysia’s currency, by fixing it to the US dollar. Malaysia recovered from the economic crisis faster than its IMF-obedient neighbors.

During "A Meeting of Minds" dialogue organized by Forbes magazine in 2009, the magazine’s chief executive officer and editor-in-chief, Steve Forbes, asked Mahathir how and why he bucked the IMF and did better than countries that slavishly obeyed it.

 “Fortunately, I am not a financier,” he said. “I know very little about economics, so I do things which are not quite off props. When people tell me that the right way to handle a crisis like that is to obey the IMF and the World Bank, I thought otherwise. I examined their prescriptions, and I found that those prescriptions would actually make matters worse, so I didn’t see why I should be following them.”

I am glad Mahathir attributed his success in standing up to the IMF to his not being a financier and knowing “very little about economics.” It’s as if he was talking about Nigeria’s gaggle of slavish, brain-dead, self-impressed, IMF-controlled know-things who pass themselves off as "economic experts” and who have popularized the aggravating idiocy that subsidies are bad and must be removed because they are supposedly bad for the economy and don’t benefit the poor.

 Now we know the truth. We need more people who “know very little about economics” and a lot about commonsense to make economic decisions for Nigeria.

The questions people with lots of common sense and very little knowledge of “economics” should ask are, what does it profit a national economy if a government increases the cost of production for manufacturing companies through sharp spikes in the cost of petrol and electricity?

What benefits does a country derive from a policy that causes mass pauperization, which ensures that everyday citizens can’t afford the basic things of life, not to talk of discretionary spending?  Recession kicks in when people have no money to spend.

How does a country get light at the end of the tunnel when its policies trigger inflation and a once-in-a-generation cost-of-living crisis because it devalued its currency under the instruction of far-flung economic institutions notorious for instigating mass misery in developing countries and that are concerned more for “their loans, not on growth,” as Mahathir once put it? How can a country surrender its economic sovereignty to a foreign entity and tell its citizens to expect a bumper harvest in an undefined future?

The only benefit of the ongoing “economic reforms,” according to Tinubu and his officials, is that it is bringing in more money for the government. And what does the government do with the money? Fritter it away in frivolities while people starve and die.

Skits literally crack ribs with laughter. The line separating fact from fiction or faction (fact and fiction) in skits is paper-thin. An instance was a skit cobbled together in Addis Ababa on January 11, 1976 at an OAU Extraordinary Session on Angola. This high-octane skit was documented by General Joe Nanven Garba in his Diplomatic Soldiering 

(1987). Garba was a Langtang-born Federal Commissioner for External Affairs under Murtala Muhammed and Olusegun Obasanjo. Self-titled ‘Field Marshal’ Idi Amin Dada, the notorious Ugandan despot, was then the OAU chairman. It was at that conference that General Muhammed delivered his famous and powerful speech he entitled “Africa has come of age.” In it, he called for an African self-determination, as opposed to a provocative letter written by American president Gerald Ford opposing Soviet-backed MPLA. It was also a time when African Heads of State were locked in acrimonious relationships. That conference was where Dada, a title-besotting despot, added “Dr.” to the list of his titles. Present were African leaders whose memories evoke mythical remembrances, like Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Leopold Sedar Senghor, among others.

At some point, Dada interjected Heads of State delivering their speeches. He said he was so impressed by the quality of their speeches that they could all jolly well award themselves doctorate degrees! Nyerere, with his fabled contempt for Dada, momentarily stood up. There was pin-drop silence. The Tanzanian president said he knew Dada’s propensity for awarding himself ranks and titles and that since he had already awarded himself a ‘Field Marshal,’ it would not be out of place for him to add ‘doctor’ to the list. However, said Nyerere, if Dada did, the Ugandan despot would be “a confused doctor.” This provoked general laughter and applauses. Confused on what the laughter was about, Dada himself enthusiastically joined the applauses, until an OAU official whispered the import of Nyerere’s comment to him. Idi Amin then suddenly stopped clapping and immediately wore the demeanour of a wooden mask. Talking about skits in high places!

One of the features of a skit is its short duration. Nigeria was shown one last week. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, apparently in a moment of power drunken stupor, sponsored a bill which, from its purport, seeks to backtrack Nigeria towards Dada’s Uganda. When the news came, it looked like a badly scripted skit. The bill, nicknamed the Counter Subversion Bill, sought to punish any actions deemed subversive. Infractions included destruction of national symbols, refusing to recite the national anthem and pledge, defacing a place of worship, undermining the Federal Government, among others. A fine of N5 million, a 10-year prison sentence, or both were suggested recompenses. It has all the trappings of Soviet Russia. Apparently wary of a system-shaking EndSARS protest, the Bill also sought to impose a five-year jail term against anyone found guilty of erecting an "illegal road block", while also handing down a three-year sentence for "disobeying constituted authority".

If you know how the Nigerian establishment is wired, you will know that Tajudeen was its Man Friday sent to test the waters. Or that Abbas is a groveling, uncritical legislator ready to lick the spittle of his sponsors. A river you intend to swim in is first tested with a thrust of the foot (Bíbì làá bi odò wò ká tó wòó). Though Abbas withdrew his hand from the pot of soup that enticed him badly after widespread criticisms, Nigerians must seek to find out what lured the Speaker into this coup against the people in the first instance. It is evident that our leaders fancy travelling down the road of infamy and autocracy. This bill is in league with the Anti-social Media Bill sponsored by Senator Mohammed Sani Musa in November 2019. Aimed at criminalizing the use of the social media, Musa’s bill was eventually put aside. Surely an untidy attempt at cracking down on voices of dissent, as Thomas Jefferson admonished the world, which critically holds true for us as Nigerians, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. The government of today has shown that it adores the tail of the tiger of anti-free speech and has been fiddling with it.

Unbeknown to it, for centuries, the world has put up with real life rib-cracking, drama-like entertainments in high and low places. They could jolly well have been skits. Wherever there are no consequences for actions, grotesque things happen in sequences. Nigeria is a country where consequences have been interred. It is a place where the wolf swallows huge bones regardless of its repercussions on its alimentary canal. The bone may look harmless and even easy to swallow. The consequences come when it is time to ease it out through the anus.

This was why elders counsel that a wolf that does not have faith in the size of its own anus should run away from big bones (Bí ìdí ìkokò kò bá dáa lójú, kìí gbe egungun mì). Here, Nigerians swallow bones weightier than their wolf’s anus. It is same reason why okra plants are never allowed to grow taller than the Onírè – its farmer. In saner climes, this is the creed. The okra plant that grows majestically taller than the farmer is forcibly plucked or gets its head bowed. The Onírè is the symbolism of an all-powerful state. It is equipped with the power of coercion and sometimes, empathy. If you run foul of the Onírè, it seldom gives room for any excuses. However, in recent times, when some events happen in Nigeria, most times, you need to subject your flesh to a painful pinch. Are they drama, real life events or merely surreal? Or, perhaps, we are audiences watching a grotesque skit, with its panoply of unreal humour and tear-provoking amusement?

Nigeria was treated to another skit last week. Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo had hosted some members of the House of Representatives. There, he alleged that Nigerian legislators fix their salaries. If you ask Nigerians to name one institution they perceive as a colossal burden to them and a waste, it will be the National Assembly. Indeed, Nigerians believe that if Nigeria must move forward, an urgent caesarian section must be done to prise off the two parliaments’ humongous drain on Nigeria’s resources. However, the Revenue Mobilisation Fiscal Allocation Commission 

(RMAFC) promptly denied Obasanjo’s allegation.

As far as Nigerians were concerned, RMAFC was making the usual Nigerian establishment shock-horror skit. Its skit was woven round an apparently misleading claim that each of the 109 senators earns ₦1,063,860 salary and allowances per month. It never talked about the allowances. Senate spokesman, Yemi Adaramodu, also curated a more laughable skit. The Red Chamber only collects salary allocated by the RMAFC, goes his ribaldry. It beggars belief that the Godswill Akpabio senate would embark on this junket of untruths. Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central, in an X tweet, once affirmed that he, alongside his senate colleagues, got paid N13.5 million monthly in “running cost,” as well as a N750,000 monthly salary. Last Wednesday, in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service, the lawmaker representing Kano South, Sumaila Kawu, contrary to Adaramodu and RMAFC, disclosed that while he collects about N1m as salary, his total take-home was N21 million. These are different from the N100 billion constituency project funds. Nigerians know that these in-parliament-for-business lawmakers control awards of contracts for the projects.

There is also this shock-horror skit that has refused to leave Nigerians’ minds. It was the drama between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and erstwhile governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello. Bello has been slammed with a 19-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering, breach of trust and misappropriation of funds to the tune of N80.2 billion. A huff and puff by the EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede, followed. Olukoyede immediately vowed to resign his job if he didn’t bring Bello to justice. The ex-governor, uncharacteristic of his cowardly gut, labeled White Lion, raced like a frightened hare from the grips of justice. Willfully volunteered information revealed that, like an impala running from a cackle of hungry hyenas, the castrated Lion, hitherto holed up in the Kogi Government House. Words from the grapevine say the Lion has escaped the wide and is roaming about in a foreign land. And there is calm and silence on the home front. No one has resigned their job. Everyone is going about their normal business. The whole hue and cry was a mere skit. And we have lived happily ever after.

Last week, both the state and its citizens were entwined in yet another wedlock of comedy. And Nigerians didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. In 1697, while premiering his play, The Mourning Bride, English playwright, William Congreve, forewarned us about the fury of the female gender. Zara, a queen is held captive by Manuel, King of Granada. Congreve tells us how an intricate web of love, affection and deception led to the mistaken murder of the King who is in disguise. Zara also mistakenly committed suicide as response to Manuel’s death. The warning from the play to humanity, which has lasted centuries, is in a quote which says, “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor Hell a fury like a woman scorned.”

This manifested at the Murtala Muhammed Airport right in Lagos. The aircraft conveying Favour Igiebor, her husband and kids had arrived the Lagos airport from Europe. In recent time, countrymen have accused Nigerian government of misguided flaunt of its brawns. While Nigerians are hungry, their country’s muscles and sinews flexing has intensified. Law-enforcement agencies are getting tough on protecting Nigeria’s national symbols. Leading cross-dresser, Bobrisky, had been jailed in an unexampled clamp-down on currency mutilators at social gigs. So, unbeknown to many, Favour Igiebor was pregnant. Pregnant with matrimonial anger. In a viral video, the world watched agape as the woman, shouting at her husband, tore the hapless man’s Nigerian passport. Torn pieces of the passport were scattered on the airport floor. "I tore it," she yelled, apparently exasperated. In spite of themselves, buffeted by governmental mis-policies, patriotism took the better of Nigerians who railed at the woman’s unpatriotic action. What kind of domestic anger would escalate to this level of national disregard for Nigeria?

In another viral video, Igiebor justified her action as that of a traumatized and distraught woman suffering the weight of matrimonial yoke. The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) immediately threatened to arrest Igiebor as destroying the country’s passport was a criminal offence, punishable by a year sentence. A disoriented National Orientation Agency, (NOA) perpetually in a sleeping mode, also immediately sprung up to disown Igiebor’s action.

A few days after, the Mr. Igiebor, Favour’s husband, in another viral video, claimed that the whole passport-tearing episode was a skit. He also claimed that the document his wife tore was not a passport. Since then, mum has been the word from the NIS. If one can correctly profile Nigeria, there will be no consequences for this action. In this Igiebor matter, the world saw a torn document which Favour herself, in moment of spousal anger, affirmed was a torn passport. Why didn’t Mr Igiebor show us the un-torn passport?

Not to worry. This is Nigeria. A shock-horror skit. The skit that Nigeria has become ranges from the ribald to the nauseating. Sometimes, the Onire – the Nigerian state itself – neglecting its awesome powers, becomes the equivalent of an elderly man who strewn corns round his waist. When he is embarrassingly surrounded by chickens, he is scorned as architect of his own shame. In some other skits, Nigerians make selves laughing stocks, abetted by the state. Like Mr. and Mrs. Igiebor.

Another major skit that Nigeria has flaunted without let is our comatose refineries. Their fitting mirror is the Abiku (the dying and given-birth-to-intermittently) Port Harcourt refinery child. In skits, the more you look at Nigeria’s refineries, the less you see. The refinery has undergone so many reverses on its operational dates. This bottomless hole however does not reverse its gobbling of billions of dollars. Mele Kyari, under whom NNPC has ailed and gasped in death throes, is the hero of the skit, even as he luxuriates like maggots in a sewer. It is so laughable that the most fitting epithet for Nigeria’s and the Port Harcourt refinery should be Nigeria’s National Refinery Skit.

Then, Nigeria had its most engaging skit ever same last week. A French court had ruled that three Nigerian presidential jets be seized in a long-standing dispute with a Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment. The presidency fumed like an injured cobra. And rightly so. The skit in this aircraft seizure is however the allegation that jets which courted national row recently were part of the seizure. In a Nigeria afflicted by presidential-induced excruciating hunger, purchasing jets for Nigeria’s president seemed more urgent than the livelihoods of the suffering people. The allegation had been bandied about for a couple of months now that the presidency had procured the multiple of billion Naira-worth jets surreptitiously and wheeled them to France. Yet, Nigerians are daily encouraged to tighten their belts in national sacrifice.

Highly applauded investigative journalist, David Hundeyin, same last week on his X handle, alleged that our president has migrated from the Maybach S-Class known to be the official automobile of Nigerian presidents. Recently, said Hundeyin, our president also procured some armored Cadillac Escalade SUVs. This was a man whom his vice, Kashim Shettima, in another presidential shock-horror skit, claimed lives such an austere life that he goes about with only one wristwatch! The Cadillac SUVs must be worth enough to send hunger packing from the tummies of citizens of a state in Nigeria. The Cadillac, among other features, has in-built gadgets that can withstand attacks from powerful weaponry, including improved explosive devices (IEDs). We are happy for our sybaritic president dressed in borrowed robes by his vice.

Uniting Tajudeen Abbas’ Idi Amin Dada-like Bill, Mr. & Mrs. Igiebor’s attempt to hoodwink the system by falsely labeling a dog we can all see monkey, Tinubu’s seized jets, Port Harcourt’s reversible refinery, legislators’ jumbo salary and Yahaya Bello/EFCC’s ding-dong is absence of national truth. Our leaders are enveloped in shrouds of barefaced lies. The led are not any better. Yet, we collectively desire genuine national development. Our case is akin to that of a man who wants the head of a tortoise and its legs but doesn’t want the animal in its entirety. Nigeria is a joke!

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew~ Deuteronomy 33:27-28.

Introduction:

It’s true to life that the enemy occasionally comes to our life-spaces to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). But the good-news is that God has an alternative plan of greatness for His children. He called us out to be showpieces of His glory (1Peter 2.9).

God is the source of all true strength, and it is absolutely beautiful to note how our strength for overcoming afflictions and resisting temptations comes from Him. His grace is ever sufficient for all those who put their trust in Him.

Now, the power of God’s might is the power which His Arms supply. God outstretches His mighty Arm from above to draw His people out of the many waters of their fearful experiences, and to deliver them from their strong enemies (Psalm 18:16).

In the Bible, the human arm often emblematizes spiritual strength or power (Genesis 49:24). By the same token, the Arm of the Lord is a symbol of the divine military power (Psalm 89:13). We must always acknowledge this, and expect its wonderful manifestations in every affair of our lives.

When we truly believe God, recognizing and celebrating His outstretched Arm, Hisillimitable power is made available to us in Christ Jesus. The Bible says that the hand of the Lord is very glorious in power (Exodus15:6).

The more God’s wondrous works are known and experienced in our lives, the more they are admired and the much more they show up in the interplay of events inour generation. This is a great revelation that we must keep in our hearts, and forcefully engage in so as to enjoy supernatural exploits in our Christian enterprises.

All ancient heroes and heroines of faith understood this pretty well. They were quite familiar with the operations of God’s mighty Arm, and they never joked with it! For instance, the apostle Paul glowingly admonished the believers to be very strong in the power of God’s Might, which is made exceedingly great for the believer (Ephesians 1:19; 6:10).

Even the more ancient Prophet Isaiah enthused, “Who hath believed our report?and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1). Of course, we have exciting accounts of some of the things that the “finger” of the Lord did in times past, creating a path in the sea, wounding Egypt very badly, and so on, to deliver His covenant people. Thus, we can gleefully imagine what the entirety of His “Arm” can accomplish!

This is the Arm that didn’t allow Peter to go under when he walked upon the water. It was the same Arm that held his net after his great draught of fish so that the net was not broken (John 21:11). This same Everlasting Arm now teaches our arms to war and our fingers to do battles victoriously. Alleluia!

Amazingly, this divine Arm can be awoken if it ever becomes dormant in us, or asleep as it were, due to our inactivity, apathy or indolence. When the divine Arm awakes, “Rahab” is cut off and the “dragons” are wounded (Isaiah 51:9). Rahab here is a poetical name for Egypt (Psalm 89:10; Isaiah 30:7).

Excitingly, the same Almighty Power that smote Egypt in those days is the same power that scatters the enemies of the Church today, and causes all who trust in God’s mercy to rejoice in His name. Unarguably, the Lord’s counsels from eternity, and their consequences to eternity, are all justice and judgment!

When God Outstretches His Arm

The Arm of the Lord is His scepter of war (Isaiah 59:19)! Whenever it is outstretched, it comes with fury against the adversaries to crush them and rescue us from imminent dangers. No devil can ever contemn it.

The outstretched Arm of God takes over our battles and delivers us from the hands of our adversaries. Nevertheless, the Arm also blesses, lifting God’s people higher, giving them a new name and making their victories incontestable.

Generally, whenever the Lord outstretches His holy Arm, the earth rejoices in His salvation (Isaiah 52:10). The Arm is not only mighty to save, but also secure to hold (Isaiah 40:10-11). In the real sense, “the arm of the Lord” is Jesus Christ (Luke 1:51). And, it is His Arm that’s beneath us, securing, protecting and guiding us away from all evil stones.

Joseph had a very unusual destiny. Despite all the challenges and battles of his life, “his bows abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob” (Genesis 49:22-26). He was very fruitful, with overflowing blessings.

The Lord’s counsel established him and, at last, Joseph’s dream was fulfilled when the young Hebrew “ex-convict” was enthroned as the Prime Minister of Egypt. Thereafter, he became the Shepherd and the Stone of Israel.

Perhaps you are passing through some unpleasant circumstances presently, or your hands are even now weakened by the adversaries. Don’t despair because our God still maintains His upper hand in man’s affairs.

In particular, the people Christ has redeemed with his blood have obtained joyful deliverance! Thus, no matter the devices of the enemy, God’s counsel will always prevail. With His mighty Hand, God will always overrule the intentions of the wicked, and you will still shine!

Yielding To God’s Upper Arm Of Destiny

Nevertheless, in order to maximally benefit from God’s outstretched Arm, you need to fully yield to His guidance, not engaging in the crafty wiles of the heathen. As you fully rely on Him, He will show up for you at every point, and empower your dreams for great accomplishments!

We can demonstrate our yieldedness by praying to God for His Mighty Arm to awakeand be outstretched once again in our generation with signs and wonders (Acts 4:30). Whenever we pray for the display of God’s power; He answers with His exceeding grace.

Moreover, happy is the man who fears and serves God in total obedience to His Word. His hand shall be incredibly strengthenedfor exploits in every area of life, the plans ofthe wicked shall be truncated and he shall certainly testify to supernatural accomplishments, soonest (Deuteronomy 26:5-9). You won’t miss this, in Jesus name.Amen. Happy Sunday!

 ____________________

Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

SMS/WhatsApp: +234 802 318 4987

They were expecting a visiting Head of State from another kingdom. The streets were lined with people. Schoolchildren were everywhere, holding and waving flags. The roads were completely cleared of all vehicles.

Then suddenly there appeared a raggedy-looking man, riding a bicycle. “Get off the road,” they jeered. “Clear off. Stupid idiot, what are you doing there?” Little did they know the man they were abusing was the visiting Head of State.

“Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” (Matthew 21:5).

Shepherd-King

Jesus was not the person they were expecting. They were accustomed to the pomp and circumstance of other “kings.” They had seen Pastor Patrick Anwuzia of Zoe Ministries Worldwide in his cortege of cars with licence plates: Zoe 1, Zoe 2, Zoe 3.

They had seen Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, with his train of Land Cruisers zooming around the streets of Lagos. They had seen Pastor Paul Adefarasin, with his fearsome bodyguards and retinue of escort cars. But they did not know what to make of this “pretender” from Nazareth.

This King does not drive around in a Rolls-Royce. He does not have chariots and horses. On the contrary, He is a lowly King who comes on a donkey. He was born in a manger. He works as a carpenter. He is not a university graduate. He has not been to the theological seminary. But something is telling about this “insignificant” King. This King is a shepherd.

Matthew recalls Micah’s age-old prophecy: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.” (Matthew 2:6). Jesus is the Ruler who will Shepherd. But He is a different type of Ruler and a different type of Shepherd.

David was a ruler of physical Israel: and Jesus is the Ruler of spiritual Israel. David was the ruler of a kingdom of this world: and Jesus is the Ruler of the kingdom of God. David was a shepherd of sheep: Jesus is the shepherd of the sons of God.

David himself caught the revelation of Jesus, the Messiah, when he wrote his most famous psalm. He said: “The LORD is my shepherd.” (Psalm 23:1). That translates today to mean; “The Lord is my Pastor.” But if you dare to tell your pastor today that the Lord Jesus is your Pastor, I can assure you he will not take kindly to it.

Pauper-King

Jesus entered the world in a family so poor Mary had to offer two turtledoves, rather than the required lamb, as the sacrifice for her purification. (Leviticus 12:8; Luke 2:24). He grew up in a small non-descript town of Nazareth far from the seat of political power. He lived in obscurity as a carpenter for thirty years.

Finally, he inaugurated His ministry on a riverbank and, for only three years thereafter, crisscrossed the dusty roads of Palestine, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. Jesus says: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Matthew 8:20).

Jesus raised no army and sought no earthly position of authority. He ultimately humbled Himself by accepting death at the hands of evil men who, like Herod, saw Him as a threat to their position and power. And yet, through it all, Jesus is the true king. Indeed, He is the King of kings. But the outward display of pomp and pageantry is not essential to His stature as King. Instead, He sets up a whole new set of values, proclaiming that it is in these we are to find true fulfilment.

In effect, Jesus compels a choice. We can either see dominion in terms of outside splendour and power, or we can focus on strength of character to distinguish the inner core of greatness. We need to see in Jesus’ humility and self-abnegation the key to true greatness and glory. The believer should seek the inner liberty that defines dominion over the shackles of sin. It is this inner freedom and power that was exhibited by Jesus.

Unstoppable King

Jesus was in full control of Himself. He demonstrated His kingship by showing He has authority over the worst of man’s enemies- Himself. Jesus exercised absolute freedom from within. Power without self-control is no power at all. A true king must have the power to humble himself; to submit to God and to give up his rights in obedience to God’s commandments.

Jesus exhibited such total liberty of the spirit that He went about doing good. People looked for all kinds of ways to stop Him. The devil kept sending people to try and impede Him. When he sent Peter to dissuade Him from the cross, Jesus said: “Get thee behind Me Satan.”  Some argued that it is not lawful to be good on the Sabbath. But Jesus insisted it is lawful to do good every day of the week.

In the end, they decided to kill Him. They thought at least when He is dead and buried; He would no longer be able to do anyone any good. But that was a big mistake. His crucifixion turned out to be His coronation. When they killed Him, He rose from the dead, never to die again. Thereby, He demonstrated that even death cannot impede the goodness of God.

King of Kings

On His resurrection, Jesus commissioned His disciples to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God all over the world. However, it was understood they would do this in the same pattern He established. They would not go in pomp or luxury. They were not to drive about in Jeeps and Pathfinders or live in the best hotels.

Instead, they would go with Jesus’ beatitudes boldly written on their hearts and live among their fellowmen humbly and as servants. Jesus says: “Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:27-28).

How very different this is from the life that kings and mega-pastors of the world lead. Jesus says: “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.” (Matthew 10:24-25).

Jesus’ example does not require the establishment of a pompous “Millionaire’s Club.” Neither does it recommend acquisition of jet planes. Nevertheless, some outrageous pastors now insist Jesus’ lowly donkey is today’s equivalent of a Lincoln-Continental salon car. 

Are Christians kings like Jesus? Or are we kings like Herod and our mega-pastors? Are we kings who exercise dominion over sin? Or are we kings who only rule over men? Are we kings in control of ourselves? Or are we fake kings ruled by our temperament? Are we puppet-kings under the servitude of cigarettes, alcohol, drugs and other demons?  

Jesus says: “Behold, I AM coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” (Revelation 3:11).

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Everybody poops, but not every day. New research from the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) indicates that the frequency of bowel movements is connected to long-term health.

An ISB-led research team examined the clinical, lifestyle, and multi-omic data of more than 1,400 healthy adults. How often people poop, they found, can have a large influence on one’s physiology and health. Their findings were recently published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.

Researchers explored data from consenting participants of the consumer wellness company Arivale. The team focused on generally healthy adults and excluded those with certain health conditions or medication use.

The research team categorized self-reported bowel movement frequency into four groups: constipation (one or two bowel movements per week), low-normal (between three and six bowel movements per week), high-normal (between one and three bowel movements per day), and diarrhea.

Once categorized, the team looked for associations between bowel movement frequency and factors including demographics, genetics, gut microbiome, blood metabolites, and plasma chemistries.

Findings on Demographics and Gut Microbiome

The study showed that age, sex, and body mass index (BMI) were significantly associated with bowel movement frequency. Specifically, younger people, women, and those with a lower BMI tended to have less frequent bowel movements.

“Prior research has shown how bowel movement frequency can have a big impact on gut ecosystem function,” said Johannes Johnson-Martinez, the lead author of the study. “Specifically, if stool sticks around too long in the gut, microbes use up all of the available dietary fiber, which they ferment into beneficial short-chain fatty acids. After that, the ecosystem switches to fermentation of proteins, which produces several toxins that can make their way into the bloodstream.”

Indeed, the researchers also showed that the microbial composition of study participants’ gut microbiomes was a telltale sign of bowel movement frequency. Fiber-fermenting gut bacteria, often associated with health, appeared to thrive in a “Goldilocks zone” of bowel movement frequency, where people pooped between 1-2 times per day. However, bacteria associated with protein fermentation or the upper gastrointestinal tract tended to be enriched in those with constipation or diarrhea, respectively.

Impact on Health and Disease Risk

Similarly, several blood metabolites and plasma chemistries showed significant associations with bowel movement frequency, suggesting potential links between bowel health and chronic disease risk. Specifically, microbially derived protein fermentation byproducts known to cause damage to the kidneys, like p-cresol-sulfate and indoxyl-sulfate, were enriched in the blood of individuals reporting constipation, while clinical chemistries associated with liver damage were elevated in individuals reporting diarrhea.

Blood levels of indoxyl-sulfate, in particular, were significantly associated with reduced kidney function, providing preliminary support for a causal link between bowel movement frequency, gut microbial metabolism, and organ damage in this healthy cohort.

Unsurprisingly, those who reported eating a fiber-rich diet, better hydration, and regular exercise tended to find themselves in the bowel movement Goldilocks zone.

“Chronic constipation has been associated with neurodegenerative disorders and with chronic kidney disease progression in patients with active disease,” said Dr. Sean Gibbons, ISB associate professor and corresponding author of the paper. “However, it has been unclear whether or not bowel movement abnormalities are early drivers of chronic disease and organ damage, or whether these retrospective associations in sick patients are merely a coincidence.

“Here, in a generally healthy population, we show that constipation, in particular, is associated with blood levels of microbially derived toxins known to cause organ damage, prior to any disease diagnosis,” Gibbons said.

The study also explored associations between bowel movement frequency and anxiety and depression, indicating that mental health history is connected to how often one poops.

“Overall, this study shows how bowel movement frequency can influence all body systems, and how aberrant bowel movement frequency may be an important risk factor in the development of chronic diseases,” Gibbons said. “These insights could inform strategies for managing bowel movement frequency, even in healthy populations, to optimize health and wellness.”

Reference: “Aberrant bowel movement frequencies coincide with increased microbe-derived blood metabolites associated with reduced organ function” by Johannes P. Johnson-Martínez, Christian Diener, Anne E. Levine, Tomasz Wilmanski, David L. Suskind, Alexandra Ralevski, Jennifer Hadlock, Andrew T. Magis, Leroy Hood, Noa Rappaport and Sean M. Gibbons, 16 July 2024, Cell Reports Medicine.

SciTechDaily

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) announced that the federal, state, and local governments shared a total of N1.358 trillion in revenue for July 2024. This marks a slight increase of N4 billion compared to the N1.354 trillion distributed in June.

The FAAC's August meeting, chaired by Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, revealed the allocation figures. According to Mohammed Manga, the Director of Information and Public Relations at the Ministry of Finance, the N1.358 trillion was drawn from the total revenue of N2.61 trillion generated in July.

The revenue breakdown includes statutory revenue of N161.5 billion, value-added tax (VAT) of N528 billion, an electronic money transfer levy (EMTL) of N18.8 billion, exchange difference of N581 billion, and N13.6 billion from solid minerals. These contributions made up the distributable revenue for the month.

From the distributable funds, the federal government received N431 billion, while the states and local government councils were allocated N473 billion and N343 billion, respectively. Additionally, oil-producing states received N109 billion as a derivation fund, representing 13% of mineral revenue.

The committee also allocated N99.7 billion for the cost of revenue collection and N109.816 billion for transfer intervention and refunds.

The gross revenue from VAT for July amounted to N625 billion, an increase of N62 billion from the previous month. Out of the distributable VAT revenue of N582 billion, the federal government received N87.3 billion, the states got N291 billion, and local governments were allocated N203 billion.

The FAAC statement noted that the gross statutory revenue of N1.373 trillion for July was lower by N45.5 billion compared to June's N1.432 trillion. Of this amount, N73.959 billion was allocated for collection costs, and N1.138 trillion was earmarked for transfers, interventions, and refunds.

Regarding the N161 billion gross statutory revenue balance, the federal government received N58.5 billion, the states received N29.6 billion, and local governments got N22.894 billion. Additionally, N50.4 billion was allocated as 13% derivation revenue to oil-producing states.

From the N19.6 billion generated by the EMTL, the federal government received N2.8 billion, the states got N9.4 billion, and local governments received N6.5 billion, with N0.784 billion set aside for collection costs.

FAAC reported significant increases in oil and gas royalties, petroleum profit tax (PPT), VAT, import duties, EMTL, and external tariff levies (CET). However, there was a decrease in company income tax (CIT), while excise duties saw only a marginal increase.

As of August 2024, the balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $473,754.57.

In a disturbing wave of abductions, gunmen have struck in two separate incidents, kidnapping the Anambra State Commissioner for Youth Development, Patrick Agha-Mba, along with his wife, and abducting 20 medical students from the University of Jos (UNIJOS) in Benue State.

The first incident occurred on Friday when Agha-Mba, his wife, and an aide were attacked while traveling through Edo State. The group was en route to Abuja to attend the wedding ceremony of Adaora, the daughter of Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo. Tragically, one of Agha-Mba’s aides was killed during the assault. The spokesperson for the Anambra State Governor, Christian Aburime, confirmed the abduction and the death of the aide on Friday evening.

In a separate incident on Thursday evening, gunmen ambushed and kidnapped no fewer than 20 medical students from UNIJOS in Otukpo, Benue State. The students were on their way to Enugu for the annual Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students convention when they were taken. The Benue State Police spokesperson, Sewuese Anene, reported that the incident occurred around 5:30 p.m. and that an investigation is ongoing.

These incidents have sparked widespread concern over the increasing insecurity in the country. As of the time of reporting, no further information has been provided on their whereabouts or condition.