When he opened the All Nigerian Judges Conference in February 2003, then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Lawal Uwais, who died on June 6, 2025, six days short of his 89th birthday, lamentedthe fact that state chief judges in Nigeria “go begging for funds from their governors”; a practice pioneered by the military. It was part of a wider complaint about the historical legacies of judicial corrosion inherited from military rule. It also reflected the values of a man for whom judicial integrity was a way of life, and an independent judiciary was a constitutional mandate of the highest salience. 

In 1976, Mohammed Lawal Uwais secured a loan from the Nigerian Building Society to enable him build a modest home in Kaduna for his mother, Hajiya Hajara. At that point, Uwais had worked as a judge of the high court for over four years, including a stint as acting chief justice of the north-central (later Kaduna) state. Yet he had only one bank account with Union Bank.

Nearly thirty years later, entering his tenth year as Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Uwais’ office as CJN suffered what looked like a mysterious burglary. The chambers of the chief justice is a sanctuary inside the Supreme Court of Nigeria from where the CJN presides over the judicial shrine. It is one of the most protected spaces in the country. The idea of a burglary on that office is so ordinarily implausible as to make the provenance of such an act easily predicted. 

The burglary coincided rather conveniently with a period of intense judicialisation of the political antipathy between then vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, and his principal, Olusegun Obasanjo, over the latter’s attempt to succeed himself by lifting constitutional term limits that he had sworn to preserve and protect. That political conflict spawned a succession of high-profile cases which ended up at the supreme court, resulting in decisions that constrained the caprice of the president. Entirely characteristic of CJN Uwais, the court, in case after case, handed President Obasanjo a judicial shellacking with neither flash nor flourish.

It later turned out that the convenient burglar appeared to have been desperate to find non-existent material with which to dent the record of an uncompromising CJN and probably afflict him with indelible ignominy. Instead, all that they could find were records indicating that the man had maintained the same bank account for over four decades and with impeccable integrity.

Few would have predicted this turn of events in the relationship between Uwais and the man who preferred him to the supreme court as a sprightly 43-year-old in August 1979. On 11 August 1979, the country had voted in a contentious presidential ballot in preparation for return to civil rule after 13 years and nine months of bloody military rule. Five days later, on 16 August, the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) announced Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) the winner.

The previous day, on 15 August, army general and departing military ruler, Olusegun Obasanjo, appointed two new Justices of the Supreme Court. One was a pharmacist-turned-lawyer and Attorney-General of the Federation, Augustine Nnamani. The other was something of a judicial prodigy, Mohammed Uwais. The following week, Obasanjo also appointed a new CJN in Atanda Fatayi Williams was to oversee the adjudication of the dispute over the 1979 election. 

As attorney-general of the federation, Nnamani had authored the Electoral Act at the centre of the presidential election dispute. That precluded him from sitting on the dispute and catapulted Uwais onto the bench that would ultimately decide the destination of the presidency in 1979.

For Uwais, this guaranteed that his supreme court career would begin at the very deep end. It was a new high in a career that was destined for the very top. He had the good fortune of being born in Zaria, home to some of the most elite schools in the country.

The son of a railway worker from Zaria, Abdullahi Uwaisu and his wife, Hajara, Mohammed Lawal Uwais, was bereaved of his biological father at the age of six in December 1942. When his mother remarried two years later to a headteacher, Mohammed Jumare, Mohammed Uwais acquired a stepfather who inspired his educational pursuits under the watchful eyes of a doting mother. His high school education was at the elite Barewa College, where he was junior to Yakubu Gowon and in the same class and good friends with Gowon’s nemesis, Murtala Mohammed.

A graduate of the Institute of Administration at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Uwais did his vocational legal training at the Inns of Court in London before becoming part of the pioneer set of lawyers graduated by the Nigerian Law School in 1963. 

After his admission to the Nigerian Bar, Uwais returned to his civil service career, this time in the Ministry of Justice, first of the Northern Region, and then of the North Central (later Kaduna) State. Mohammed Bello, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) under whom he worked as State Counsel, became his colleague at the Supreme Court and immediate predecessor in the office of CJN. In the Ministry of Justice of the North Central State, he became Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary in 1971. 

The following year, under the government of his high school senior, Yakubu Gowon, Uwais was appointed Acting Judge of the High Court of the North Eastern State. He was only 36.

In 1975, when his high school mate, Murtala Mohammed, emerged as military ruler after overthrowing Gowon, Uwais was offered the office of Chief Justice of the North Central State but turned it down in favour of a more senior serving expatriate judge, A.W.E. Wheeler. When the military established the Court of Appeal the following year, Wheeler preferred him from Kaduna State to the bench of the new court at 40. When he got to the supreme court three years later, Uwais was only 43. He went on to serve as Justice of the Supreme Court for 27 years, setting a record of apex court durability that is unlikely to be threatened.

When Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999 after another 15 unbroken years of military rule, Uwais had already been in office as the eighth indigenous CJN for four years. He was well-placed to stabilize the judiciary through the teething years of institutional adaptation. 

Uwais spent 11 of his 27 Supreme Court years as CJN, making him the second longest in that office after Adetokunbo Ademola, the first indigenous Chief Justice, who logged a record 14 years in that office until 1972. He instituted and oversaw rigorous standards of judicial discipline and performance. A mere four years into civil rule, by the beginning of 2004, over 20 judicial officers had been relieved of their positions for judicial malfeasance. Under him, the Nigerian judiciary was voted “Man of the Year” in 2005.

Two years after his retirement as CJN, Uwais came out of retirement to head a blue-ribbon panel on electoral reform in Nigeria. His characteristically thoughtful report continues to suffer neglect to the detriment of democratic sustainability in the country. 

Uwais was quietly uncompromising on judicial integrity. In a profound set of interviews with Princeton University in 2009, CJN Uwais underscored the need to eliminate bribery, corruption, nepotism and political interference within the judicial systems. A committed institutionalist with a peerless recall on the evolution of Nigeria’s judiciary, Uwais declined to write any memoirs.

The father of a very senior lawyer and husband to a wife both capable and experienced as a lawyer, Uwais did not nominate any members of his family to the bench. Many of his successors in the office of CJN, who served for less than a fraction of his tenure, were compulsive nepotists in favour of family members with less than marginal qualification or ability.

Current CJN, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, paid tribute at his death to the capacity of Mohammed Uwais to “lead without pretence, and to mentor without fanfare.” He made his earthly exit on Friday, 6 June 2025, entirely in keeping with how he lived his life – without fanfare.

** A professor of law, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Renee Onque

An 87-year-long Harvard study found that social fitness — maintaining your personal relationships and keeping them in good shape — was the No. 1 thing the happiest, longest-living people have in common.

"Invest in relationships, invest in connections and invest in the things you find meaningful," Dr. Robert Waldinger, the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, said during an interview at the New York Times Well Festival.

"If you're doing more of that, you're more likely to be happy more of the time. You won't be happy all the time. But happiness is likely to find you more often."

To prove that pouring into your connections doesn't have to be a heavy lift, Waldinger offered up a simple way that the audience at the festival could receive a "dopamine hit" and connect with someone in their lives immediately.

"When I talk about investing in relationships, most people think, 'You know, I am so busy. I have so much going on in my life. How do I make time for this?'"

Here's how you can improve a relationship that you value in just three steps:

1. Take out your phone.
2. Think of somebody who you haven't seen in some time or that you'd like to connect with more.
3. Send that person a text or email, saying, "Hi, I was just thinking about you, and I wanted to connect."

"One of the things we found about people who were what we call socially fit is that they did these small things over and over again. You know, daily, multiple times a day," Waldinger said.

During their commute, they'd call someone, or they'd schedule their workouts at the gym with a friend, he explained. They found ways to intertwine the repetitive tasks in their daily life with social connection.

"When people did that, they stayed more current with more people in their lives. And that built this bedrock of social wellbeing."

CNBC

Israel says missile launched from Yemen fell in Hebron; at least 5 Palestinians hurt

The Israeli military said on Friday a missile that was launched from Yemen towards Israel fell to earth inside the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, adding that no interceptors were involved.

At least five Palestinians, including three children, sustained injuries from the missile's sharpnel that fell in Hebron, the Palestinian Red Crescent said in a later statement.

The incident occurred amid an ongoing Israeli military campaign targeting nuclear sites in Iran that wiped out that country's entire top echelon of military commanders and also killed nuclear scientists.

Yemen's Houthis, who usually claim responsibility for missiles launched towards Israel from Yemen, are allied to Iran.

Reuters

At least 100 people have been killed in a brutal overnight attack on Yelewata, a village in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. The massacre, which began late Friday and continued into the early hours of Saturday, was carried out by suspected armed herders, according to eyewitnesses, local officials, and rights group Amnesty International.

The assault marks the third attack on Yelewata within one week, raising alarm over the deteriorating security situation in the region. The attackers reportedly stormed the village just before midnight, overwhelming the community with sophisticated weapons and facing little to no resistance from security forces.

Eyewitness accounts and local sources paint a horrifying picture of the rampage. “They came in large numbers and took over the village for over two hours. This was not just an attack—it was an annihilation,” a Guma local government staff member said anonymously. “They locked families inside their homes and set them ablaze. Many were hacked to death with cutlasses.”

Amnesty International Nigeria, in a statement on X, confirmed the scale of the atrocity, noting that “many people are still missing, dozens injured and left without adequate medical care. Many families were locked up and burnt inside their bedrooms.”

Dennis Denen Gbongbon, President of the Association of United Farmers Benue Valley (AUFBV), who visited the scene, reported that more than 85% of the victims were internally displaced persons (IDPs), many of whom had fled previous violence in surrounding communities like Antsa, Dooka, Kadarko, and Giza. These victims were sheltering in makeshift stalls and shops around Yelewata market when the attackers struck.

“This is a targeted attack on vulnerable people,” Gbongbon said. “These IDPs, mostly Tiv farmers, thought they had found safety—but terror continues to pursue them even in displacement. Entire families were wiped out in ways that defy imagination.”

In a separate but related incident on the same night, two soldiers were reportedly killed in Daudu, another community within Guma LGA, while responding to an attempted invasion. Witnesses said five soldiers may have been ambushed, though military officials have yet to confirm the full extent of the losses.

The Special Adviser to the Benue State Governor on Security and Internal Affairs, Joseph Har, confirmed the attacks in both Yelewata and Daudu but said he was still awaiting detailed reports. “I’m aware that this ugly thing happened, but I can’t confirm numbers yet,” he told journalists in Makurdi.

The Benue State Police Command also acknowledged the Yelewata attack. Public Relations Officer Udeme Edet said that tactical units responded swiftly and engaged the assailants in a gun battle, killing some of them. However, he did not provide an official casualty figure. “It’s with great sadness that we report that some individuals lost their lives and others sustained injuries,” he added.

Benue State, located in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, has long been plagued by deadly clashes between farming communities and herders over land use. These tensions are often fueled by deeper ethnic and religious divisions between the mostly Christian Tiv population and predominantly Muslim Fulani herders. In a similar incident last month, suspected herders killed at least 42 people across Gwer West LGA.

As search and rescue operations continue, fears grow that the death toll from the Yelewata massacre may rise above 200, given the number of missing persons and those critically injured. Community leaders and humanitarian workers are calling for urgent intervention to prevent further bloodshed.

Reports by Reuters and Daily Trust contributed to this story.

Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, stoking fears of a wider conflict after Israel expanded its surprise campaign against its main rival with a strike on the world's biggest gas field.

Tehran called off nuclear talks that Washington had said were the only way to halt Israel's bombing, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks were nothing compared with what Iran would see in the coming days.

Israel's military said more missiles were launched from Iran towards Israel overnight, and that it was attacking military targets in Tehran.

Early Sunday morning, air raid sirens blared across Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Several missiles were seen streaking through the sky over Tel Aviv, while interceptor rockets were launched from the ground. Explosions echoed in both cities.

Israel’s ambulance service said three women were killed and 10 other people injured in an earlier missile strike near a house in northern Israel. Emergency responders with flashlights were seen searching the rubble of the partially collapsed home in Tamra, a predominantly Palestinian city.

Around 2:30 a.m. local time, the Israeli military warned of another barrage launched from Iran and urged the public to seek shelter. By 3:30 a.m., at least four people had been killed and 36 were reported injured in multiple overnight missile attacks. Israeli media published an image of a 10-story residential building, reportedly in central Israel, showing extensive damage after a strike.

Iran said the Shahran oil depot in Tehran was targeted in an Israeli attack but that the situation was under control, and that a fire had erupted after an Israeli attack on an oil refinery near the capital. Israeli strikes also targeted Iran's defence ministry building in Tehran, causing minor damage, Iran's Tasnim news agency said on Sunday.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Iranian missiles and drones targeted Israel's energy infrastructure and facilities for fighter jet fuel production. The elite force warned Tehran's attacks will be "heavier and more extensive" if Israel continues its hostilities.

U.S. President Donald Trump had warned Iran of worse to come, but said it was not too late to halt the Israeli campaign if Tehran accepted a sharp downgrading of its nuclear programme.

A round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks that was due to be held in Oman on Sunday was canceled, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi saying the discussions could not take place while Iran was being subjected to Israel's "barbarous" attacks.

In the first apparent attack to hit Iran's energy infrastructure, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said Iran partially suspended production at the world's biggest gas field after an Israeli strike caused a fire there on Saturday.

The South Pars field, offshore in Iran's southern Bushehr province, is the source of most of the gas produced in Iran.

Fears about potential disruption to the region's oil exports had already driven up oil prices 9% on Friday even though Israel spared Iran's oil and gas on the first day of its attacks.

An Iranian general, Esmail Kosari, said on Saturday that Tehran was reviewing whether to close the Strait of Hormuz controlling access to the Gulf for tankers.

IRAN SAYS SCORES KILLED

Iran said 78 people were killed on the first day of Israel's campaign, and scores more on the second, including 60 when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran, where 29 of the dead were children.

Iran had launched its own retaliatory missile volley on Friday night, killing at least three people in Israel.

With Israel saying its operation could last weeks, and Netanyahu urging Iran's people to rise up against their Islamic clerical rulers, fears have grown of a regional conflagration dragging in outside powers.

B’Tselem, a leading Israeli human rights organization, said on Saturday that instead of exhausting all possibilities for a diplomatic resolution, Israel’s government had chosen to start a war that puts the entire region in danger.

Tehran has warned Israel's allies that their military bases in the region would come under fire too if they helped shoot down Iranian missiles.

However, 20 months of war in Gaza and a conflict in Lebanon last year have decimated Tehran's strongest regional proxies, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, reducing its options for retaliation.

Israel sees Iran's nuclear programme as a threat to its existence, and said the bombardment was designed to avert the last steps to production of a nuclear weapon.

Tehran insists the programme is entirely civilian and that it does not seek an atomic bomb. However the U.N. nuclear watchdog reported it this week as violating obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Putin holds phone conversation with Trump — Kremlin aide

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump have held another phone conversation, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said.

"Another phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump has just taken place," the Kremlin official said.

This is the fifth phone conversation between the two leaders since Trump took office. Their previous phone conversation was held on June 4. Then, the two presidents discussed the situation in Ukraine and the Russian leader described in detail the results of the Istanbul talks and provided his assessment of terror attacks carried out by the Kiev regime.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Zelenskiy says Ukraine halts Russian troop advance in Sumy region

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had recaptured Andriivka village in northeastern Sumy region as part of a drive to expel Russian forces from the area.

Zelenskiy has in the past week focused on what he describes as a drive to push out Russian forces from the Sumy region, with border areas gripped by heavy fighting. He says Russia has amassed 53,000 troops in the area.

"Based on recent developments, our special thanks go to the soldiers of the 225th Separate Assault Regiment -- for offensive operations in the Sumy region and the liberation, in particular, of Andriivka," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

Zelenskiy also noted "successful actions" near Pokrovsk, for months a focus of Russian attacks in their slow advance on the eastern front, and "strong results" near Kupiansk, an area in northeastern Ukraine that has come under heavy Russian pressure.

In remarks released for publication earlier on Saturday, Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces had stopped Russian troops advancing in Sumy region and were battling to regain control along the border.

"We are levelling the position. The fighting there is along the border. You should understand that the enemy has been stopped there. And the maximum depth at which the fighting takes place is 7 km (4 miles) from the border," Zelenskiy said.

Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.

Russia's troops have been focusing their assaults in the eastern Donetsk region, with Pokrovsk a particular target.

But since the start of the month, they have intensified their attacks in the northeast, announcing plans to create a so-called 'buffer zone' in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Saturday that its forces had seized the village of Zelenyi Kut, southwest of Pokrovsk.

The Russian war in Ukraine is in its fourth year, but it has intensified in recent weeks.

Ukraine conducted an audacious drone attackthis month that took out multiple aircraft inside Russia and also hit the bridge connecting Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula using underwater explosives.

Moscow ramped up its air assaults after the attack.

MAINTAINING DEFENSIVE LINES

Zelenskiy said Ukrainian troops had maintained defensive lines along more than 1,000 km of the frontline. He also dismissed Moscow's claims that Russian troops had crossed into the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk.

Zelenskiy said that Russia was sending small assault groups "to get one foot on the administrative border" and make a picture or a video, but these attacks were repelled.

The popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState, which relies on open-source data, said Ukrainian troops had repelled a Russian attack in the area, but also reported Russian advances in other areas, including Pokrovsk.

Dnipropetrovsk borders three regions that are partially occupied by Russia – Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Russia now controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.

Zelenskiy acknowledged that Ukraine was unable to regain all of its territory by military force and reiterated his pleas for stronger sanctions to force Moscow into talks to end the war.

Two rounds of peace talks in Istanbul produced few results that could lead to a ceasefire and a broader peace deal. The two sides agreed only to exchange prisoners of war.

Several swaps have already been conducted this month, and Zelenskiy said he expected them to continue until June 20 or 21.

In separate remarks made on communications platform Telegram on Saturday, he said that a new group of Ukrainian prisoners of war had come home as part of another swap with Russia.

"We continue to take our people out of Russian captivity. This is the fourth exchange in a week," Zelenskiy wrote.

Ukrainian officials responsible for exchanging prisoners said the vast majority of the soldiers released in the exchange had been held captive since 2022 with many captured during the more than 80-day siege of the Sea of Azov port of Mariupol.

The officials said Kyiv had, meanwhile, received the bodies of 1,200 of its soldiers killed in the war with Russia. The bodies were handed over to Ukraine on Friday.

Russian state media, citing sources, reported that Moscow had not received any of its war dead back from Kyiv.

Tass/Reuters

A few months ago, I saw Mrs Maryam Abacha at the Abuja Continental Hotel (formerly Sheraton Hotel). She was about to alight from a car when I caught a glimpse of her. For a 78-year-old woman, she still looked elegant and gorgeous — nearly 27 years after she was shorn of the power and the glory of being Nigeria’s first lady. I imagined how she has coped with the tragedy of losing many loved ones, including her husband and two of her sons, Ibrahim and Abdullahi, over the years. Even though I was never a fan of her husband who ruled Nigeria with maximum brutality between 1993 and 1998, I still had an urge to greet her — out of courtesy for an elderly woman. But I let it pass.

The next time I would see the woman was on TV. There was nothing elegant or gorgeous in her words. She only reopened old wounds. This is one of those instances when silence is golden. If Mrs Abacha was talking to toddlers and teens, I would have understood her: they might be unable to counter her. After all, that is how history is taught in some parts of Nigeria nowadays. People make up “alternative facts” and pass their imaginations and fabrications to the next generation. But she was speaking to an audience that included those of us who witnessed the murderous and plundering regime of her husband. Some of us will not allow her to re-write history. No, she can’t gaslight us.

Regarding the billions of dollars looted by her husband, she demanded to know who witnessed the plunder, as if she was talking to a congregation of retards. “Who is the witness of the monies that were being stashed? Did you see the signature or the evidence of any monies stashed abroad? And the monies that my husband kept vanished in a few months. People are not talking about that.” She even sent posers to Abacha’s critics: “Why are you blaming somebody? Is that tribalism or a religious problem or what is the problem with Nigerians? Where did he steal the money from? Where would he have stolen the money from? And because Nigerians are fools, they listen to everything.”

I don’t know where to start from. But before we get to the pillaging of the national treasury by Abacha and his associates, we should first attend to her “tribalism” and “religious” problem. For the record, it was Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar, a northerner and a Muslim, who started the process of identifying and recovering the Abacha loot. In July 1998, he set up a special investigation panel (SIP), headed by Mr Peter Gana, then a deputy commissioner at the special fraud unit (SFU) of the police force. Within four months, the SIP found evidence of organised plundering at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The panel sent a preliminary report to the government, detailing the financial crimes.

The looting was well orchestrated through the office of the national security adviser (ONSA). Mr Enrico Monfrini, the Swiss lawyer engaged by President Olusegun Obasanjo to go after the looted funds, detailed the activities of the “Abacha criminal organisation” in an article published in 2008. There was a pattern to the looting: ONSA would send dubious funding requests for “security operations” to Abacha who would then authorise the CBN to release the monies. The funds were directly remitted in cash ($1.131 billion and £413 million) and in travellers’ cheques ($50 million and £3.5 million) by the CBN to ONSA, who then organised for direct delivery to Abacha at home.

According to Monfrini, the funds would thereafter be laundered through Nigerian banks or by Nigerian or foreign businessmen to offshore accounts belonging to Mohammed, his eldest surviving son, Abba (Mohammed’s brother), Abdulkadir Abacha (Abacha’s brother) and Abubakar Bagudu (an investment banker). Monfrini said there were 36 instances that funds totalling $386 million were wired by the CBN “to foreign bank accounts abroad held by offshore companies belonging either to members of the Abacha criminal organisation or to Nigerian or foreign businessmen, who then remitted the same sums to members of the organisation”. I don’t know how this can be justified.

Recovery started during investigation by the SIP. Several assets, including the Cowry House on Akin Adesola Road, Victoria Island, Lagos, and physical cash were seized by the federal government. Numerous looted assets were also identified, forcing the Abubakar administration to promulgate the Forfeiture of Assets, Etc (Certain Persons) Decree No. 53 of May 26, 1999 to give legal backing to the recovery and restitution process. This law, now an Act of Parliament, ordered the confiscation of real estate, movable assets, and cash acquired and held illegally by Abacha’s associates, including the late Abdulazeez Arisekola Alao, the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland and well-known Abacha man.

Within a short time, over $800 million was returned to the government. Growing in confidence and capitalising on European human rights laws, the Abachas started placing legal hurdles on the way of the Nigerian government to stop further recovery. The government decided to start criminal proceedings against them and their associates. The criminal proceedings and mutual assistance proceedings in Europe in 2000 forced the Abachas and their associates to disclose that they had $600 million stashed in Switzerland, $630 million in Luxembourg and $200 million in Liechtenstein. They had violated the decree by failing to disclose those assets and they were caught pants down.

Monfrini succeeded in freezing almost all the identified assets of the “Abacha criminal organisation” worldwide. It was discovered that over 20 companies paid bribes at the request of Abacha, in addition to insanely inflated contracts awarded to companies controlled by his family. Abacha was the designated beneficial owner of just three of the over 100 accounts used by the “organisation”. The designated beneficial owners of the rest were his sons and various cohorts, both civilian and military. Obasanjo had to enter into a global settlement agreement (GSA) with the Abachas in 2004 to encourage them to cough up all the looted funds in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

After Obasanjo left office, the Abachas began to play games to stall on the recovery and restitution of the remaining loot. Liechtenstein, in particular, was reluctant to return the €185 million traced to its jurisdiction because of the suits filed by the Abachas, even though the funds had been frozen by court orders since 2000. It was established by investigators that €179 million was a bribe paid by Ferrostaal AG of Germany, one of the world’s largest steel traders, when Abacha awarded them the contract for the construction of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom state. The Germans paid the bribe to Liechtenstein accounts owned by the Abachas.

If Mrs Abacha is truly looking for the “witnesses” to the stashing by her husband, she does not need to look far away from home. More so, the facts are documented in court proceedings in Nigeria and abroad as well as in an agreement signed with the government by her children. The Abachas were even allowed to keep some assets under the “complete waiver” granted by Obasanjo just to get them to make full disclosure of what disappeared from the CBN safes into their pockets. Since 1999, her family has coughed up over $2 billion of the loot traced to them, not forgetting the about $500 million returned under President Muhammadu Buhari — who once said Abacha was not a thief.

Mrs Abacha repeated the fable that her husband left robust reserves that vanished “within months” after his death. I believe this myth has come to stay, but the real fact is that when Abacha died in June 1998, our foreign reserves were about $6 billion and we had outstanding FX obligations in excess of $3 billion. There were several commitments, including hosting the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, funding NNPC JV cash calls and repaying Paris Club debts, that needed to be met. Crude oil was around $10 a barrel and OPEC had reduced production quotas. The rosy picture painted of “robust reserves” is urban legend not backed by facts. But it is a tale to be told forever.

Mrs Abacha does not like the fact that people are still criticising her husband 27 years after death disrobed him as our maximum ruler and potential life president. She, apparently, has a small point. She believes the husband has a right to be forgotten. She, indeed, has a small point. It is not as if looting started and ended with her husband. It is not as if Nigeria has been governed by leaders with clean hands and pure hearts since Abacha died. After all, many of those who colluded with him and enabled his repressive reign have since been rehabilitated into the society and celebrated as elder statesmen. So why should Abacha still be demonised after 27 years? She, in fact, has a small point.

The problem, I think, is that her husband was in a class of his own. He did more damage to our national psyche than many are ready to give him credit for. He set sickening precedents for subsequent governments. The sleazy foundation did not die with him: it, instead, became a culture. Under Abacha, we had dual exchange rates: N22 officially and N80 on the streets. The black market rate was almost four times higher than the official! Arbitrage became a new economy. The free money was used to fill the mouths of the sycophants campaigning for Abacha to transmute from military to civilian president. It was the progenitor of the insane arbitrage between 2015 and 2023.

Under Abacha, our refineries went comatose and “turnaround maintenance” contracts became an oil block on its own while fuel importation was embraced as the business of choice for his family members and associates. Subsequent governments came and discovered the dual honeypot of “turnaround maintenance” contracts and fuel importation. They refused to let go. Abacha showed the way by sowing the seed. Do I need to remind Mrs Abacha of the importation of “foul fuel” that damaged car engines across the country? Or do I really need to remind her of the assassinations and bombings — and the human rights abuses that turned Nigeria into a gigantic gulag under Abacha?

Nonetheless, I do not believe any human being is completely bad. In my books, Abacha had the best record in the management of the gains of subsidy removal. He set up the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund that did tangible projects across Nigeria. Also, I will forever give him a thumbs-up for accelerating the take-off of the Nigeria LNG. But he did far more evil than good. Today, when people try to re-write history by saying that Abacha ran the economy better, I chuckle. Memory of pain does not last. That is why some women keep visiting the labour room. But the perfidy and pains of the murderous Abacha years can never be wished away by his widow. Or his supporters. Never. Ever.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

UNCLE SAM IS 90

I was quite young when I was appointed Saturday Editor of THISDAY in 2002 by Mr Nduka Obaigbena. A senior journalist asked me: “Simon, you have risen so early in your career. I wonder how much longer you will remain in journalism.” I smiled and offered him a simple answer: “Uncle Sam.” He got my drift instantly. Sam Amuka-Pemu, whom we call “Uncle Sam”, is the publisher of Vanguard. He has been a journalist all his life, edited big publications, and written unputdownable columns. He has produced leaders in the media and other fields. He has never joined a political party or taken a political appointment, yet he is a fulfilled man. Uncle Sam remains an inspiration even at 90. Hooray!

ONE-PARTY STUFF

Addressing the national assembly on Democracy Day, President Tinubu defended the mass defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that he believes in the multi-party system. I have my view on these defections which I will write on later. However, not being one to resist an opportunity to throw a few stones at the opposition, Tinubu added: “Political parties fearful of members leaving may be better served by examining their internal processes and affairs rather than fearfully conjuring up demons that do not exist. For me, I would say try your best to put your house in order. I will not help you do so.” And now this: “It is, indeed, a pleasure to witness you in such disarray.” Ouch!

ADAMS AND PEACE

There was a major drama on Wednesday at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, when Senator Adams Oshiomhole and Air Peace locked horns. What we know is that Oshiomhole, former labour leader, embarked on “aluta” when he was told he arrived late for his flight and would not be boarded. What we are unsure of is his allegation that the staff were extorting other passengers to board them despite the lateness. What we know, based on video evidence, is that the former Edo governor blocked the entrance gate and delayed the flight. It is not impossible that passengers were asked for a bribe (this is Nigeria) but the ex-APC chairman did not conduct himself well. Unbecoming.

NO COMMENT

According to those tracking the development, seven places have been named after President Bola Tinubu since he was inaugurated in May 2023. At this rate, there will be at least 14 places named after him by the time he finishes his first term. For sure, he did not invent it. In fact, it has become a culture to be naming things after sitting governors and presidents. Many commentators think immortalisation, as we call it, should only be after they have left office. But that is not even what is amusing me today. A commenter wrote on X: “INEC will be announcing the 2027 Presidential election result from (the renamed) Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre.” Hahahaha.

Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth ~ Psalms 124:8. 

Introduction:

Truth be told, times do come in life when we don’t know what to do. Dark and ominous times when evil reports are rampant, when deadly darts are flying and the sparrows are falling, and yet human helpers are sleepy. Something must be done, and urgently too, but we don’t know what to do.

The present situation in Nigeria is a classic example of the kind of time described above. Many things are grossly wrong, and  something needs be done, but the poignant question is, “what”?

Such sordid experiences of life occasionally perch upon individuals, on families and even on organizations and, when they do, those who should bring help appear incapacitated and the dark frightening silence seems to last forever. Men and brethren, that is the midnight experience of life!

Meanwhile, there is nothing new under the sun. From the history of God’s way, both ancient and modern, the last joker in such situations is staying hooked to the Lord, recognizing Him as the Most High God and praising Him in the light of that truth. Then, the wrath of man shall truly praise God (Psalm 76:10).

Midnight experiences are undesirable interludes in the music of life. Even then, with the Most High God in the factors, any believer can still tell a beautiful testimony in the name of the Lord.

In fact, lest we forget: midnight is not only the middle of the night, it is also the beginning of a new day! No adverse wind, present or future, will require more than the revelation of the Most High God to attract God’s help at moments of dire need.

Whenever the Most High God is revealed, recognized and adored, an incredible power is made available to positively alter the storyline. At the rendition of the Name, “Most High God”, help becomes accessible, the enemies drop their charges and long-term stationed demons bow.

No doubt, God’s power surpasses all other powers, and nothing compares with Him. That is why He is called the Most High God and, for the same reason, He cannot be questioned or resisted by the vicissitudes of life. Truly, absolute power belongs to the Most High God (Psalm 62:11).

The Most High God in the Affairs of Men

The Most High God, (Hebrew, El-Elyon), is the God over all gods (Exodus 18:11). He is the Founder and Possessor of heaven and earth, the Maker of all things.

He alone has both power and right to dispose anything in heaven and on earth in our favour at will. He is the True and Living God who is greater than any need, and bigger than any oppressor.

Our enemies tremble when they know He’s the One on whom we depend. However, you must recognize Him for Who He is — the One that reigns and rules in the kingdoms of men — before He overrules situations in your favour (Daniel 4:17, 25, 32; 5:21).

Abraham was like a common struggler before he had an encounter with the Most High God. God called him and made him some terrific, life-changing covenant promises, and he began to take some steps to access them, yet he remained a wanderer for some time (Genesis 12:2-3).

However, the promises were validated when he caught the revelation of the Name, Most High God, owned it and was blessed by the authority of the same through Melchizedek, the King of Salem (Genesis 14:14-20).

Paul and Silas also, at a point in their line of duty, ran into trouble with the then authority and were put in prison, but instead of grumbling or bemoaning their fate, they chose to praise God (Acts 16:25). 

They didn’t sing in order to psyche themselves into an emotional high, or to just enjoy the thrills of the song. No, not at all. Rather, they used the songs to recognize the almightiness of God, and He in turn propelled to them mighty help of a seismic dimension.

Please carefully note here that the praises and the exploits that resulted from there were established on the premise of the Name, the Most High God (Acts 16:17).

In their midnight experiences, Paul and Silas sang praises to the Supreme King in God, and that was what moved Him to act dramatically in their situation. Faith pleases God, but praise moves Him to act in our favour.

Jesus Christ Is the Incarnate Most High God

In Luke 8:26-36, we read the story of the Gadarenes madman and his incredible encounter with Jesus Christ. The affliction of chronic madness lingered for a long time because of the oppressive legion of demons and nothing, including physical chains, had worked to bring any reprieve.

However, at the appearance of Jesus Christ, the madman and the demons that had bowed to nothing before ran towards Him, fell and bowed at His feet. Never doubt it, at the appearance of the Most High God, demons beg and bow.

It is pertinent, at this juncture, to ask “what did these demons see for which they bowed to Jesus Christ”? Without equivocation, what they saw in Jesus Christ was the express image of the Most High God (Luke 8:28).

Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Most High God, and whenever we see Him for who He is, clear testimonies of positive changes occur in our lives (Hebrews 1:1-4). He is Yehoshua, Jehovah-Our-Deliverer! There’s mighty help available whenever we pray in the Name of Jesus Christ!!

Man In Desperate Need for God

Demons always attack as a team or a legion, and this is how they sustain their grounds to build their bulwarks against destinies of men. Legions of demons continue to exercise a rule over those who dwell in their region, but the believers’ secure location is in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

In the story referenced above, we can see clearly that the legions were comfortable for as long as the madman was in torment. Tormentors are always happy at the unhappiness of the tormented. We must therefore race in passionate prayers against destiny tormentors, and readily pay the entire price necessary to secure the help of God.

The condition of David at a time was very traumatic, but he opted to call upon the Lord and he enjoyed a dramatic testimony eventually (Psalm 18:7-48). Desperate situations always call for desperate solutions; to prevail, you must be desperate in your calls for divine assistance. 

It is worthy of note also to read that the legion ‘prayed’ to Jesus to order them in a particular manner. So, demons do pray? It must be very obscene and embarrassing that some believers don’t.

Friends, as you cry for divine help, I pray God will overrule Himself, if need be, to ensure that the wishes of demons against your life remain ineffective, in Jesus Name (2 Kings 20:1-6). Amen. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Archbishop 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

For decades, academic leaders insisted on "neutrality" when it came to life’s most important questions — whether God exists, what defines the highest good, and how to live a virtuous life. But that neutrality was always a ruse. Now the roof is caving in.

In Los Angeles, rioters burn police cars, wave foreign flags, and earn praise from elected officials who call them “peaceful demonstrators.” These aren’t isolated incidents. They reflect the long-term effects of a philosophy cultivated on campus and subsidized by taxpayers.

The neutrality myth has run its course. The wolves are no longer pretending to be sheep.

The recent unrest didn’t appear out of nowhere. It’s the predictable bloom of a poisonous seed — one we let grow under the false belief that the First Amendment demands silence in the face of subversion. It doesn’t. And this strategy from America’s enemies didn’t begin last week. It’s been unfolding for decades.

Attacking the American order

Arizona State University, the nation’s largest public university, offers a snapshot of the broader national crisis. It imports professors from elite graduate programs and churns out activist graduates steeped in a worldview that condemns the United States as irredeemably evil.

Look at the student organizations ASU endorses — like MEChA, whose stated mission reads like a political ultimatum:

“[We] devote ourselves to ending settler colonialism, anti-Black racism, heteronormativity, borders and prisons because our liberation does not exist until these legacies of colonization are abolished.”

In 2024, ASU suspended the campus chapter of the far-left Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán — and only suspended them — after the group declared, “Death to the ‘Israeli’ entity! Death to the ‘American’ entity! Long live Palestine! Long live Turtle Island!”

("Turtle Island" refers to a Native American creation myth that North and Central America rest on the back of a giant turtle.)

Despite the suspension, MEChA remains listed as an active club on campus. The group still enjoys faculty support.

This isn’t about revising reading lists or replacing Shakespeare with indigenous poetry. “Decolonizing the curriculum” masks a much larger goal: revolution. This is a coalition of radicals — communists, LGBTQ+ activists, pro-Mexico nationalists, anti-Semitic “Free Palestine” organizers, land acknowledgment militants, and Islamist groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations — who align not because they share values, but because they share a target: the American constitutional order and its Christian foundations.

And yet naïve liberals and sentimental Christians often fall for the rhetoric. These groups invoke empathy, community, and sacrificial love — virtues rooted in the Christian tradition. But they weaponize those virtues. They wear sheep’s clothing to cloak their wolfish designs.

Rather than reform through representation, they aim to abolish representative government entirely. They don’t seek equality before God; they demand a transfer of power — to a Native tribe, to Mexico, or to some vague utopia where oppression has been deconstructed out of existence and LGBTQ sex litters every street corner.

That may sound absurd. It is. Mexico, after all, functions under cartel rule and bleeds citizens who risk everything to escape. But revolutions don’t require coherence. Absurdity often accelerates them. These movements aren’t governed by logic or principle. They run on resentment — the fury of those who believe life cheated them.

What the moment demands is moral clarity. That begins with rejecting the lie of neutrality.

Neutral education is a lie

A “neutral” education doesn’t exist. Every curriculum is built on a view of the “good life.” Every professor teaches from a vision of what humans are and what we are meant for. When we allowed universities to abandon the pursuit of wisdom and virtue — to stop teaching that God created us and that our rights come from him — we didn’t establish neutrality. We created a vacuum — and radicals rushed in to fill it.

As a professor, I’ve seen firsthand how godless academics wield the First Amendment as both shield and sword. They argue that “free speech” protects those who seek to dismantle the very system that guarantees that right, while insisting those same protections exclude Christian ideas from the classroom.

But the Constitution doesn’t require taxpayers to subsidize sedition. Nothing compels a university to hire professors who publicly call for the abolition of the American republic.

This isn’t about banning ideas. People can believe whatever they want. But taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to underwrite the education of young Americans in philosophies that teach them their country is an imperial cancer.

If a professor wants to advocate abolishing the United States, let him do it honestly. Declare it on the syllabus. Reject public funding. And stop pretending any of this qualifies as neutral education.

A little truth in advertising would go a long way. Imagine just a few basic reforms.

Preparation: Professors should demonstrate a grasp of foundational truths — about God, goodness, virtue, wisdom, and the greatness of the U.S. Constitution. Anyone who denies these basics has no business teaching at a taxpayer-funded institution. Private universities exist for that. Once upon a time, American universities valued this knowledge, often requiring courses in natural theology for all students.

Transparency: Require state-employed professors to disclose if their courses promote a political or ideological agenda — especially one hostile to the principles on which this country was founded.

Accountability: Tie public funding to standards that reflect the values of the citizens footing the bill. That includes respect for the rule of law, representative government, and the God-given rights enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

Reform: Restore universities that teach what used to be obvious — that God is our Creator and knowing Him is the highest good of human life. State dollars come with strings. Those strings should include love of God and country.

That last point may sound idealistic, but it’s far more grounded than the utopian fantasies now taught with your tax dollars. It takes human nature seriously. It acknowledges the need for redemption, the pursuit of virtue and wisdom, and the moral order built into creation.

It’s time for students, parents, donors, governors, pastors — and yes, President Donald Trump — to recognize what the Los Angeles riots truly represent: not just political unrest, but philosophical collapse. The neutrality myth has run its course. The wolves are no longer pretending to be sheep. They’re outside your child’s classroom, dressed in regalia, holding a metaphorical Molotov cocktail.

Enough pretending. The time for reform has come.

Iran and Israel targeted each other with missiles and airstrikes early on Saturday after Israel launched its biggest-ever air offensive against its longtime foe in a bid to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel's two largest cities, sending residents rushing into shelters as successive waves of Iranian missiles streaked across the skies. The military said its air defence systems were operating.

"In the last hour, dozens of missiles have been launched at the state of Israel from Iran, some of which were intercepted," the Israeli military said.

It said rescue teams were working at a number of locations across the country where fallen projectiles were reported, without commenting on casualties.

In Iran, several explosions were heard in the capital Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

The Fars news agency said two projectiles hit Tehran's Mehrabad airport, and Iranian media said flames were reported there. Close to key Iranian leadership sites, the airport hosts an air force base with fighter jets and transport aircraft.

Israeli media said a suspected missile came down in Tel Aviv, and a Reuters witness heard a loud boom in Jerusalem. It was unclear whether Iranian strikes or Israeli defensive measures were behind the activity.

The Fars news agency said Tehran launched waves of airstrikes on Saturday after two salvos on Friday night. One of the waves targeted Tel Aviv before dawn on Saturday, with explosions heard in the capital and Jerusalem, witnesses said.

Those were in response to Israel's attacks on Iran early on Friday against commanders, nuclear scientists, military targets and nuclear sites. Iran denies that its uranium enrichment activities are part of a secret weapons programme.

In central Tel Aviv, a high-rise building was hit, damaging the lower third of the structure in a densely populated urban area. An apartment block in nearby Ramat Gan was destroyed.

Israel's ambulance service said 34 people were injured on Friday night in the Tel Aviv area, most with minor injuries. Police later said one person had died.

The U.S. military helped shoot down Iranian missiles headed for Israel on Friday, two U.S. officials said. Israel's military said Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles on Friday and that most were intercepted or fell short. Several buildings in and around Tel Aviv were hit.

The Israeli strikes on Iran throughout the day and the Iranian retaliation raised fears of a broader regional conflagration, although Iran's allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been decimated by Israel.

TRUMP SAYS: NOT TOO LATE

Iran's state news agency IRNA said Tehran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel after Israel blasted Iran's huge Natanz underground nuclear site and killed its top military commanders. Iran says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes.

Israeli officials said it may be some time before the extent of damage at Natanz was clear. Western countries have long accused Iran of refining uranium there to levels suitable for a bomb rather than civilian use.

The above-ground pilot enrichment plant at Natanz has been destroyed, U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council on Friday. He said the U.N. was still gathering information about Israeli attacks on two other facilities, the Fordow fuel enrichment plant and at Isfahan.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Israel of starting a war. A senior Iranian official said nowhere in Israel would be safe and revenge would be painful.

Iran's U.N. envoy Amir Saeid Iravani said 78 people, including senior military officials, were killed in Israel's strikes on Iran and more than 320 people were wounded, most of them civilians.

He accused the U.S. of being complicit in the attacks and said it shared full responsibility for the consequences.

Israel's U.N. envoy Danny Danon said intelligence had confirmed that within days Iran would have produced enough fissile material for multiple bombs. He called Israel's operation "an act of national preservation."

Iran has long insisted its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. The U.N. nuclear watchdog concluded this week that it was in violation of its obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty.

U.S. President Donald Trump said it was not too late for Tehran to halt the Israeli bombing campaign by reaching a deal on its nuclear programme.

Tehran had been engaged in talks with the Trump administration on a deal to curb its nuclear programme to replace one that Trump abandoned in 2018. Tehran rejected the last U.S. offer.

The talks are due to resume in Oman on Sunday but Iran signalled it might not join.

"The other side (the U.S.) acted in a way that makes dialogue meaningless," Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday. "You cannot claim to negotiate and at the same time divide work by allowing the Zionist regime (Israel) to target Iran's territory."

Reuters