Father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, must have had the conversation last week between Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and the recently cleared Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Ola Olukoyede in mind. While propounding the theory of what is now known as Freudian slips in his 1901 book he entitled The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, Freud discussed what in German is called 

Fehlleistungen. It is another name for faulty actions which mirror bits of unconscious mind leakages into conscious behaviour. This leakage, otherwise known as misspeak, according to him, prompts a speaker to say what is unintended in the course of speaking. While some call it slip of the tongue, psychoanalysts call such slips parapraxis. They are slip-ups that can be traced to unconscious thoughts, desires and urges.

Last week at the Senate screening session for the then chairmanship nominee of the EFCC, Olukoyede let slip what he most probably wanted to say, but what ostensibly dominates the minds of Nigerian people. Such words are heresies today and can only be said in whooshes of whispers. Only bastards who do not love the current musical ensemble can utter them out. Or tribes that harbour ethnic hatred for the current power calculus. Nevertheless, the conversation, which psychoanalytic theory calls Freudian slip, from Olukoyede to Akpabio unconsciously revealed the dirty underbelly of the fight against corruption in Nigeria. It is why, per adventure, Olukoyede has the mind to clean the Augean stable of corruption in Nigeria, he is perceived to have, ab initio, failed as he is ranged against the impossible.

As the screening session went by, Olukoyede was sucked into the need to explain the modus operandi of the EFCC. To do that, he went comparative, deploying a relatable, living scenario to convey the commission’s operations. “If we are investigating the Senate President for example…” he had begun. Apparently a good reader of his environment, Olukoyede immediately perceived the turgidity of the atmosphere. Smiles suddenly evaporated from the faces of the lawmakers and their countenances were ashen like one who had just marched on excreta. Olukoyede must have felt like he had stepped on a cobra’s tail. And he recoiled. The gudugbe – the humongous and consequential – had fallen nevertheless. Like porcelain that it was, or the egg that Niyi Osundare fittingly compared to the spoken word in his The word is an egg, the egg had fallen and its messy entrails were now visible to a discerning world.

Akpabio would not have Freud direct his fate that magisterially. And he bellowed it out immediately. “I’m very glad that the nominee wants to use the Senate President as an example. But Mr. nominee, leave the Senate President for now, look at this direction (pointing at the seats of opposition lawmakers).”

“For now…” That should be another Freudian slip; this time, an Akpabio speaking the minds of Nigerians. Olukoyede should leave the Senate President, for now, but he should not leave him for too long. The EFCC chair must investigate Nigeria’s No 3 man who is festooned all over by dark tar of fraud allegations.

Until May of this year, Akpabio was a subject of intense investigations by the EFCC. The commission claimed that a N40 billion fraud was allegedly perpetrated by him in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) which he headed for three years. It claimed further that his name and that of former Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Kemebradikumo Pondei, had featured notoriously in frauds unearthed in the commission. Both were major dramatis personae in investigations into allegations of fraud in an over-N86 billion contract scams. In the EFCC’s claim, the duo left footpaths that maggots leave in their trails while wriggling on rotten meat. Pondei, you will recall, was the hero of that ill-starred slumping drama in the House of Representatives not too long ago. As the grilling in the parliament became intense and hot, the professor was suddenly reported to have lost consciousness. Now that Akpabio has become Nigeria’s No 3 man, with power and majesty at his beck and call, Pondei has no need to go on a binge of infantile slumping any longer. Since then, even with all the mind-boggling sleaze uncovered in the NDDC, like a typical big man in Nigeria, the slumping professor has lived happily ever thereafter.

God bless the Yoruba. When a man’s irritancy becomes ten a dime, they liken him to the tortoise, the alabahun who was always embroiled in illicit acts. Like the alabahun, it seemed allegations of corruption do not refuse to stick to Akpabio at every whimper. Before then, the anti-graft agency had arrested Akpabio for an alleged theft of N108.1 billion of Akwa Ibom State funds during his governorship. It was the product of a petition by an Abuja-based lawyer and activist, Leo Ekpenyong. Akpabio had spurned an invitation by the EFCC to appear for questioning on March 29, 2023 and travelled abroad. His lawyer, Umeh Kalu, in a letter to the anti-graft commission dated March 27, 2023, alleged that the man who is now Nigeria’s Senate President suffered from pneumonia and cardiac arrhythmia. Big ailment of big people in big trouble.

Unquestionable as the way of Almighty God is, these two ailments suddenly disappeared immediately words allegedly went round that Akpabio was the preferred candidate of President Bola Tinubu to head the senate. Since Akpabio became head of the upper legislature, his sins have literally been forgiven him. In any case, the hunter haranguing him then, Abdulrasheed Bawa, has met his own comeuppance. Not only has the hunter become the hunted, Bawa has languished in the penitentiary for months now and nobody is losing sleep about the detention. The claim that he is probably suffering this fate because he knew too much about the Big Man of power’s past has not attracted any Nigerian’s bother. Bawa’s sin must be as tall as Ibadan’s Bower’s Tower for our saintly Big Man to have locked him behind bar without having him charged to court. A few days ago, words surfaced that the youthful ex-anti-corruption czar was embroiled in a N580 million illicit funds binge.

Akpabio must have shouted “Praise the Lord!”

God always rescues His own, shortly before they hit their feet against the stone. He couldn’t keep His eyes away from His elect, who is now the Senate President of Nigeria. By Akpabio’s testimony on the floor of the Senate, the good Lord rescued him from the machinations of the EFCC and its erstwhile chair, saving him from being “embarrassed” by the brusque, youthful EFCC chief. Again, that Bawa’s rudeness must be as high as Bower’s. Why would he be rude to the Almighty Akpabio? While not addressing how he didn’t steal the said money the EFCC claimed he had stolen, Akpabio believed that sensationalism was the culprit, and it must roast in hell. “I think the EFCC has engaged more in sensationalism than in real investigation. For me I have had my own fair share (of embarrassment) where even a letter informing EFCC that I won’t be able to come over a frivolous petition, was released by the office of the chairman of EFCC. You could see the chairman’s stamp on it. He released the letter just to embarrass me before the 2023 elections but by the glory of God I surmounted it.”

In the same vein, Akpabio brought in the issue of the arrest of ex-Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, who was apprehended in a gangsteric manner by the EFCC. “I don’t see how the EFCC will arrest a former governor and come through the rooftop as if they are taking Pablo Escobar. It happened to Rochas Okorocha. They broke through the POP and the whole world watched and for you that is investigation. EFCC needs to conduct proper investigations before carrying out arrests,” he said.

Then Akpabio went to Ogun State, to Yewa land, where he solicited the support of the people for the governorship ambition of Adeola Olamilekan, popularly called Yayi. Four months plus into this term, politicians have already begun to haggle the price of the next term, as if it is a fish. Democracy, as it is understood in saner climes, isn’t and shouldn’t be only about elections and voting. It is more importantly about good governance, respect for the people and their rights to decent living. How is Akpabio respecting their rights by pushing a candidate their throats at this time? What have they benefitted from “his” government now to back up this homily from him? Akpabio would have discharged himself well at that occasion if he had spoken softly to the people about what ‘his’ government is doing at the moment to remove the people’s economic and living heartaches, rather than dabbling into the politics of a people who do not see governorship as reward for big purses.

Sorry that I digressed. So when, at the end of the senators’ boisterous laughter and the expiration of his Freudian slip on the floor of the senate, Olukoyede said “If you are fighting corruption, you become the enemy of everybody,” he probably knew the enormity of what he was about. By this appointment, Olukoyede has been asked to fight principalities and powers that have existed in Nigeria even before his forefathers were born, what Daniel Jordan, in his famous A culture of corruption, has described as Nigeria’s “image as a bastion of bribery, venality, and deceit.” He has been asked to combat a crime which, among Nigerians, went global the very moment new criminal markets began to emerge all over the world. His job description is, at the risk of sounding like a prophet of doom, doomed from the beginning.

The incubus Olukoyede is being asked to confront, according to a review of Stephen Elis’ This Present Darkenss: A history of organized crime in Nigeria, has become a culture and reputation renowned with Nigeria and Nigerians. A culture which, broken to its brass-tacks, is that of drug-trafficking, fraud, cyber-crime and other types of criminal activity. The new EFCC chief is being asked to fight criminal networks that have a global reach; a Nigeria where its origin of organized crime has been traced to, as far back to the years before colonial rule. These crimes then became manifest during the First Republic when “nationalist politicians… in need of funds for campaigning, (offered) government contracts to foreign businesses in return for kickbacks, in a pattern that recurs to this day” and where “political corruption encouraged a wider disrespect for the law that spreads throughout Nigerian society.”

If Olukoyede is desirous of making impact in his new assignment; if he genuinely wants to reverse the belief out there that he would make a colossal failure of the job, the first thing he should do is do an organizational introspection. When a child goes inside the bush, Yoruba’s constant belief is that such a child would emerge therefrom with their clothes stuck by mistletoe. So they expressed this in incantations that, “wara were l’omode nt’oko eemo bo.” This seems to be true with past chairmen of the EFCC as they always emerge from the office with their clothes covered by “eemo.”

Since the EFCC Establishment Act was first enacted in 2002, the “eemo” failure has dogged their path. The Act authorized the commission to combat economic and financial crimes, prevent, investigate, prosecute and penalize economic and financial crimes, so as to sanitize the system. From Nuhu Ribadu, to Farida Waziri, Ibrahim Lamorde, Ibrahim Magu to Bawa, the commission is seen today as a mockery of crime fighting. The only major sparkle that ultimately became unenduring, came from Ribadu who initially put the fear of God in the hearts of political and social criminals who dot the landscape of Nigeria. Unfortunately, the spark was for a short while. Ribadu soon dissolved the agency into an Alsatian dog that the Obasanjo presidency sent on howling assignments as its whim dictated. His own lust for political power finally rammed the nail on the remnants of his personal social capital.

Today, the EFCC, which arrested, prosecuted and jailed a former Inspector General of Police in Nigeria, has become the tiger that politicians boast that they have by its tail. It descended from that Olympian height into carving a pussyfooting renown for itself as a hunter of kindergarten online malefactors. So, if Olukoyede wants to make a success of his new job, he must reinvent the image that the drafters of the EFCC Act projected for the commission. Fear, they say, is the whip that exorcises the ghost of crime from the human heart. It is only when the EFCC earns back the dread, respect and fear of Nigerians that it can be seen as an effective tool against criminals.

Today, the atmosphere of crime and criminals has become more acidic than the 2002 when Obasanjo established the commission. In 1908, the United States of America occupied Nigeria’s unenviable vantage too. Though the years of industrialization had made America wealthier than ever and becoming in the process a new world power on the block, having become victorious in its naval conquest over Spain, the dark clouds that dogged its horizon was that of crime. American cities and towns were fast assuming the image of a breeding ground for a future generation of professional lawbreakers. Compared with corruption that was becoming rampant in local politics, with the emergence of crooked political machines, violence was just the tip of the criminal iceberg in the USA. Businesses had become a cauldron of sleaze too and hearts of crime were spreading like a metastasis. But in 1906, President Roosevelt, a man “who had no tolerance for corruption and little trust of those he called the ‘malefactors of great wealth,’” began the reform in the criminal justice system in America and appointed someone who was a likeminded reformer like him, Charles Bonaparte, as his Attorney General. On March 16, 1909, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was born. Till today, the FBI has remained a highly dreaded domestic intelligence and security service of the US and the country’s principal federal law enforcement agency.

If Olukoyede is averse to going down the drain like his predecessors, becoming captives of the corruption they were asked to fight, politicians must dread him and malefactors must see him as incorruptible. He must wear the toga of one policeman in the service of the Oyo State Command, Francis Ojomo who politicians and evil-doers nicknamed Ko gb’owo, ko gb’obi (literally, he collects neither money nor kolanut) for his incorruptibility. That nickname was a parodied epithet of God as one who demands no bribe from anyone to perform His fatherly duty in the life of man. Olukoyede must avoid any dalliance with politicians. He must make the Bola Tinubu presidency his place of primary assignment. In doing this, he would have shown the world that politicians, no matter their political leanings, are not free from his corruption-sniffing Rottweiler dogs.

The first place the EFCC chair should begin his assignment is to invite Godswill Akpabio to explain allegations of corruption against him. Not doing this will give the impression that his senate clearing, in spite of glaring violations of the EFCC Act on his appointment as the commission’s chairman, was a pro quid pro for pushing allegations against Akpabio under the cellar.

Olukoyede can help Nigeria battle this image crisis and perception of our country as the habitat of corrupt people. Because the world is a global village, the available information out there, secured at the press of a button, are damming. No meaningful development can take place with such optics. The EFCC chair can help reduce that uncomplimentary image to the barest minimum by ferreting corrupt Nigerians from their holes and making public examples of them.

 

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid ….. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven ~ Matthew 5:14-16.

Introduction

Truly, gross darkness is fast enveloping the world, and many people everywhere are groping in darkness. Quite unfortunately, some of those who are expected to bring solutions and peace to it are rather roving and racing thoughtlessly, and are fast becoming a part of the problem.

However, I am firmly convinced that any genuine believer today can make a difference by choosing to become a burning and shining lamp, showing men walking in darkness the way unto Eternal Light, Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:16).

Now, the glory of a thing cannot be separated from the purpose for it. Purpose is a key element in fulfilling destiny! Purposeful living is any man’s cheapest access to becoming the best of what he can be under God in this dark and dangerous world.

Purpose is the original intention for the existence of a thing, and it is what confers relevance and significance to it. Fulfilling purpose defines a fulfilled destiny. Thus, the greatest tragedy in life is not death, but to live without fulfilling purpose.

As believers, we’re strictly admonished to shine as light in our world. However, Jesus added a most incredible dimension to this charge when He proclaimed that we are, indeed, “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).

Succinctly, we’re not only required to shine, but we are indeed “the light” to illuminate the world. Of a truth, the Light-Source of the universe dwells in us! This is a glorious position of honour, unique privilege and greatest responsibility. It also constitutes a major purpose for any genuine Christian!

The path of the wicked may be gloomy, dark and dangerous. But, that of “the just” is open, luminous, and ever bright, effusing the beauty of a cloudless sunshine glowing on, and shining as it grows, to the full and perfect day (Proverbs 4:18).

Meanwhile, “the just" man referred to here is one that’s made righteous through the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. He is recreated in Christ, and lives under the influence of divine grace. It is only through such a man that the ever luminous light of God shines forth, gloriously.

As saints of God, we should showcase the glory of Christ, and shine brighter and brighter in our world (1Peter 2:9). This is what God has purposed, and which we all should relentlessly pursue and attain unto by means of the ministry of His Word.

In Isaiah 60:1-22, Prophet Isaiah spoke glowingly in this regard, and he equally gave us some key assurances in which we must acquaint ourselves very honorably as God’s children.

First, we’re assured that this supernatural light is certainly here with us, not just in the future. It is an intense light, kindled by the glory of God, and it generates distinction for the believers.

Again, this glorious light comes with a charisma that supernaturally attracts global attention. It also typically provokes super-abundance of riches as well as enlargement of heart both to conceive and perceive the marvelous works of God.

Moreover, everyone who carries this light is simultaneously fitted with the supernatural capability to live as an irresistible high-flier, an eternal excellency and a joy to many generations, whose sun shall never go down. What an assurance!

A Burning and A Shinning Light

In John 5:31-35, Jesus Christ gave a typical example of a man who lived here on earth as a fine shining light: John the Baptist. Jesus aptly described him as “a burning and a shining light” in his generation (v35).

Yes, the birth of John the Baptist was certainly miraculous. But, I am quite sure that he didn’t become the “shining” lamp to his generation simply because of his miraculous birth, family background, or socio-religious status.

All these may have contributed, one way or the other, towards his destiny fulfilment, but undoubtedly his burning godly lifestyle, his consuming zeal and passion for God, his righteousness stance, consecration, devotion and his uncompromisingly blunt preaching of repentance significantly played out in making him a shining lamp in his generation.

John the Baptist was a typical out-of-this-world kind of a man. His clothing, feeding and general lifestyle set him apart from the world (Matthew 3:4). And, we can safely infer that this lifestyle was an outer coat of his inner strength.

No doubt, John had a working knowledge of the fact that nothing can shine without burning to start with, and he readily paid that initial price to live like a glowing light in his generation. Hence, his messages brought conviction to the hearts of all those who heard him, leading them to repentance (Matthew 3:1-6).

He was also a man with an unalloyed and an indomitable force of faith (Matthew 11:12). He lived with the awareness that life doesn’t always give you what you deserve, but only what you take over by the fierce force of faith.

Again, John served God, duly recognizing the peculiar days in which he lived. The law and the prophets were until John, but afterwards only men of faith's violence do enjoy faith's victory. He was a dispensational preacher who had the unique assignment of preparing the way of the Lord (Matthew 3:1).

John the Baptist, clearly and publicly made Jesus Christ known to his generation. He charged all men, whether poor or rich, educated or uneducated, to repent and bear fruits worthy of repentance. He bluntly confronted sin, and clearly declared to sinners the eternal woes, pains, torments and regrets that awaited them in hell if they failed to repent.

John’s greatest purpose and pursuit was to reveal, declare and make Jesus Christ known to his generation as the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. What a challenge for us today as believers who are called to be “the light of the world”!

Our generation desperately needs such fiery, forthright and bold preachers and teachers of the Word, who won’t regard men’s status or faces, but will consistently and persuasively call all men to repentance and holiness.

Beloved, what are you today to your family, your community, your Church and the world at large? By your lifestyle and general conduct, are you a shining lamp and a gospel light-bearer, manifesting the love of God and demonstrating His character to all men? Or, you’re a mere idle talebearer?

John served God and dazed the world in his generation, to the extent some people even mistook him for Jesus Christ (Matthew 14:2; 16:4). Notwithstanding, Jesus made a very staggering conclusion on this subject when He said the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11).

Undoubtedly, that’s very tall talk for those who are used to living on their seats of comfort and convenience. Prophet Isaiah specified that all those who would shine as glorious lights in this world must learn to arise from their stupor, to begin with.

Friends, to shine we must arise! We must determine to live no longer under the bushel, or any such cover of irrelevance. Let’s arise at once, and live as shining lamps in this dark world.

Many lost souls are counting on us to find their way back to God their Maker. May we all receive grace today to purposefully serve God in our generation to the very best of our potentials. You won’t miss it, 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

Emotional maturity isn't always easy — especially if you had immature behaviors modeled to you as a child.

In an argument with a friend or romantic partner, it can be easy to revert to immature behavior like name-calling, yelling, and defensiveness.

But maybe you've put in the work — you've gone to therapy, you've meditated, and you feel like you've finally developed better behavior. Are you an emotionally mature person now?

Lindsay C. Gibson, a clinical psychologist, told Insider there's no such thing as a perfect, emotionally mature person who's "reached the apex of emotional maturity and stays there."

At the same time, there are a few signs that you might be becoming more emotionally mature. Here are some of them.

1. You actively listen and take in different viewpoints

Gibson said that one of the ways to know if you've become a more emotionally mature person is if you show genuine interest in listening to other people.

"I don't mean big, heavy, intense listening," she said, as paying too much attention to someone can become performative or fall into love bombing. "I mean they would just give you room and time to express your thoughts."

Emotionally immature people can make others feel like they have to race to get a word in or tiptoe around certain topics. But as an emotionally mature person, "there's a sense that you can be you and they can be them, and you can have a conversation where both people get to participate and both people listen to the other person."

2. You balance self-care with caring for others

While it can seem like being selfless and having endless empathy are signs of emotional maturity, Gibson said that healthy boundaries are really important.

"You can be self-preserving and you can also be interested in other people, have empathy for them," she said.

For example, you know that you can't adequately show up for people if you're not also taking care of yourself.

3. You think of how your words affect people, even when you're upset

Gibson said that emotionally mature people "are also very aware of how their words are going to land with the other person."

Even if you're angry or upset, you might think twice before sending a long, accusatory text or saying the first things that come to mind when you're heated. You know how to regulate your emotions.

4. You view arguments as collaborations, not fights

Because emotionally mature people think before they speak, arguments tend to go over more smoothly.

"They're not looking to ferret out the enemy," Gibson said. "Instead, they're looking to have a discussion and share information."

A good rule of thumb to assess your emotional maturity is noticing how you feel in a fight, she said.

Emotionally immature people tend to feel rigid and locked in, getting more defensive and charged as people disagree. But if you're actively trying to lower the temperature and have a productive discussion, that's a sign of emotional maturity.

5. You notice when you're being emotionally immature

If you grew up with an emotionally immature parent or in an enmeshed family, you might unconsciously repeat some of those unhealthy behaviors, or struggle with emotional dysregulation.

A big part of becoming more emotionally mature is recognizing when you're acting immaturely, Gibson said.

"When you engage in emotionally immature reactivity, you do not feel good inside," she said. "It feels like you are stressed and tense and rigid, and the other person has got to change or you're not going to be okay."

To grow into emotional maturity, it's important to be honest with yourself when you're being reactive or trying to control others.

6. You take notes from emotionally mature people

Gibson said that another sign of emotional maturity is observing how others handle conflict.

"You'll notice other people who seem to handle these difficult situations in such a smooth or effective way," she said. "They sort of end up getting their way without alienating anyone."

Whether it's another family member, friend, coworker, or romantic partner, you take mental notes when you see someone expertly navigate tough situations, and then implement those tools in your own life.

7. You don't feel perfect, but you feel more solid

Everyone wavers in their emotional maturity from time to time. "If we get sick or tired or stressed, our level of emotional maturity tends to go down," Gibson said.

But a consistent sign of being emotionally mature is having a stronger sense of self. You have moral clarity and don't need people to validate you to feel secure.

"They're not losing themselves if somebody disagrees with them," Gibson said. "They just don't get threatened in the same way that the emotionally immature do."

 

Insider

The naira slid to the brink of 1,000 per dollar in a fresh low in the official market thanks to a combination of central bank tolerance for a weakening currency and insatiable demand for the greenback.

The currency was pushed to its latest record a week after the central bank ended curbs on using dollars to buy dozens of imported items, while this time of year typically sees Nigerians making payments for tuition at foreign schools and universities, also adding to demand.

Traders exchanged the naira for the dollar in a range of 701 to 999 in transactions booked Thursday in the official market, Lagos-based investment bank Chapel Hill Denham said in a note on Friday.

The move was echoed in the parallel market, where the naira sank to 1,170 for a dollar on Friday from Thursday’s record 1,145, according to Abubakar Mohammed, chief executive officer of Forward Marketing Bureau de Change Ltd., who compiles the data. Nigerians unable to purchase hard currency at the official rate due to shortages are forced to buy it from street dealers at a premium.

The central bank eased foreign exchange controls in mid-June — prompting the official rate to plunge more than 40% over the past four months — as part of economic reforms overseen by President Bola Tinubu. Authorities this month scrapped restrictions on buying foreign currency required to import 43 items including rice, vegetables and chicken, a move that’s worsened the dollar shortage, according to CSL Stockbrokers.

“A combination of the demand arising from the lifting of the foreign exchange ban on the 43 items and increased demand for FX for school fees at the start of the new school year have increased pressure at both the official and the parallel markets,” Gloria Fadipe, head of research at CSL in Lagos, said in a note on Friday.

Despite Tinubu’s reforms, foreign investors remain largely absent from Nigerian markets, discouraged by the shortage of dollars which makes it difficult for them to repatriate earnings.

“Many foreign investors have their eyes fixed on the exchange rate and are unlikely to return to the market if there are no feasible plans to increase FX supply,” Fadipe said.

Federal Government has admitted that it is facing enormous challenges and revenue deficit amid a growing population.

This is as it lamented that it was struggling to pay salaries because “there is no money”.

Speaking in Abuja, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, urged non-governmental organisations to help the government to cover the spaces it could not.

Bagudu, represented by the ministry’s Director of International Cooperation, Sampson Ebimaro, lamented that Nigeria’s population is fast increasing, adding that unemployment is surging amid high inflation rate.

“Government faces enormous challenges especially now; the government is facing a revenue deficit. There is no money anywhere in the country; the government is just managing to pay salaries.

“The growth rate is very slow and the population growth is fast pacing and increasing. Unemployment is surging in the midst of high inflation,” the minister said.

Sarah Alade, a former acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has said participation of Non-State Actors (NSAs) was key to the federal government’s target to lift millions of Nigeria out of poverty.

Alade, who was also Special Adviser to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari on Finance and Economy, urged the government to collaborate with NSAs to achieve economic development.

 

Daily Trust

President Bola Tinubu has approved the release of four months of the withheld salaries of members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Nigeria’s public universities have seen repeated disruptions in academic calendars over the years, with striking lecturers protesting funding deficits, poor conditions of service, and decay in infrastructure. 

ASUU embarked on its 16th strike in 23 years in 2022. The strike lasted for eight months.

In September 2022, the National Industrial Court (NIC) stopped the union from continuing with the strike, pending the determination of a suit.

The federal government insisted that the lecturers would not be paid for the period they were on strike in accordance with the “no work, no pay” order.

On May 30, the industrial court upheld the government’s stance on the matter.

However, Tinubu, on Friday, exercised the presidential prerogative of mercy to intervene in the matter.

He partially waived the “no work, no pay” order, amounting to the release of four months of the eight-month pay of the lecturers withheld by the government.

Ajuri Ngelale, the presidential spokesperson, said in a statement conveying Tinubu’s decision, that the waiver is part of an ongoing effort to mitigate the difficulties being felt during the implementation of key economic reforms in the country.

He said the education and labour ministries have been mandated to first secure a document of understanding (DoU) establishing that the waiver will be the last one to be granted to ASUU and other education sector unions.

 

The Cable

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has said the agency does not issue arrest warrants for loan defaulters as allegedly claimed by some of these loan companies.

In a statement released on the official X account of the Commission on Friday, the EFCC stated that they do not issue arrest warrants as purported by these companies.

According to the EFCC, some of these companies send out documents with lists of those on the Commission’s alleged arrest list to scare defaulters into paying their loans.

Debunking this claim, the Commission warned such companies to desist from such ‘fraudulent engagements as the EFCC may stop at nothing to bring them to book.’

The statement titled, ‘EFCC Does not Issue Arrest Warrant on Loan Defaulters’, read, “The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been drawn to some contrived documents on ‘Arrest Warrant Processing,’ ‘Loan Fraud Escalation,’ and others being circulated by some loan companies, purportedly issued by the Commission against loan defaulters.

“Authors of such documents falsely link their threats against loan defaulters to the Commission.

“The public is enjoined to be wary of such claims. As a rule, the EFCC does not issue arrest warrants on loan defaulters.

“Loan companies linking the Commission to their loan recovery efforts should desist from such fraudulent engagements as the EFCC may stop at nothing to bring them to book.”

 

Punch

At least eight people were killed when armed robbers invaded four banks in Otukpo town of Benue State, on Friday.

Our correspondent gathered that three police officers, one vigilante and a councilor of Otukpo Ward 2 who was transacting business in one of the affected banks were among those killed.

A witness who declined to mention his name, said the armed gang first attacked the Police Station opposite the banks and allegedly disarmed all the operatives on duty before moving into the banks.

The witness also said that the four affected banks are Stanbic bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Zenith Bank and First Bank.

Residents claimed that the robbers drove in two Hilux vehicles and one smaller car to carry out the robbery which lasted over one hour.

The residents explained that the armed robbers stormed the banks at exactly 3:30pm on Friday and carried on the attack unchallenged till about 4:50pm.

A resident who preferred anonymity had earlier told our correspondent, “They are robbing First bank and Zenith banks simultaneously. They stormed the banks at 3:30pm.

“Two vigilante have lost their lives as we speak. Gunshots renting every where and if you listen carefully, you will hear the sound. The place is opposite police station. This is the first time we are experiencing this.”

Another resident, Okopi Elijah, said the incident left him trapped in his office several hours after closing from work.

Elijah said the armed robbers went on rampage, destroyed and carted away valuables in the banks unhindered.

He said, “No one can move either direction of Otukpo main road now because you don’t know which way the robbers will use to exit since they are shooting indiscriminately.

“I have closed from work since 4:00pm and it’s already 5:10pm, however I can’t step out of office yet. Many of us are taking refuge here.”

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) SP Catherine Anene, confirmed the incident but that she was yet to get details at the time of sending this report.

“I have not been able to speak with the DPO or any of the officers there but I know there is an incident. I don’t want to be disturbing them so let’s give it some time,” Anene said.

 

Daily Trust

Israel says two Americans held hostage by Hamas, a mother and daughter, have been released

Hamas on Friday freed an American woman and her teenage daughter who had been held hostage in Gaza, Israel said, the first such release from among the roughly 200 people the militant group abducted from Israel during its Oct. 7 rampage.

Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, were out of the Gaza Strip and in the hands of the Israeli military, an army spokesman said. Hamas said it released them for humanitarian reasons in an agreement with the Qatari government.

The release comes amid growing expectations of a ground offensive that Israel says is aimed at rooting out Hamas militants who rule Gaza. Israel said Friday it does not plan to take long-term control over the tiny territory, home to some 2.3 million people.

As the Israeli military punished Gaza with airstrikes, authorities inched closer to bringing aid from Egypt to desperate families and hospitals. Fighting between Israel and militants in neighboring Lebanon also raged, prompting evacuations of Lebanese and Israeli border towns as fears of a widening conflict grew.

Judith and Natalie Ranaan had been on a trip from their home in suburban Chicago to Israel to celebrate Jewish holidays, the family said. They were in the kibbutz of Nahal Oz, near Gaza, on Oct. 7 when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israeli towns, killing hundreds and abducting 203 others.

The family had heard nothing from them since the attack and were later told by U.S. and Israeli officials that they were being held in Gaza, Natalie’s brother Ben said.

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with the two freed hostages and their relatives. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which transported the freed Americans from Gaza to Israel, said their release was “a sliver of hope.”

Relatives of other captives welcomed the release and appealed for more people to be freed.

Hamas said in a statement that it was working with mediators “to close the case” of hostages if security circumstances permit. The group added that it is committed to mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and other countries.

Qatar said it would continue its dialogue with Israel and Hamas in hopes of winning the release of all hostages “with the ultimate aim of de-escalating the current crisis and restoring peace.”

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israel continued to work to return hostages and find the missing, and its goals had not changed. “We are continuing the war against Hamas and ready for the next stage of the war,” he said.

A potential Israeli ground assault is likely to lead to a dramatic escalation in casualties on both sides in urban fighting. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed in the war — mostly civilians slain during the Hamas incursion.

More than 4,100 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry run by Hamas. That includes a disputed number of people who died in a hospital explosion earlier this week.

Speaking to lawmakers about Israel’s long-term plans for Gaza, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant laid out a three-stage plan that seemed to suggest Israel did not intend to reoccupy the territory it left in 2005.

First, Israeli airstrikes and “maneuvering” — a presumed reference to a ground attack — would aim to root out Hamas. Next will come a lower intensity fight to defeat remaining pockets of resistance. And, finally, a new “security regime” will be created in Gaza along with “the removal of Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip,” Gallant said.

Gallant did not say who Israel expected to run Gaza if Hamas is toppled or what the new security regime would entail.

Israel occupied Gaza from 1967 until 2005, when it pulled up settlements and withdrew soldiers. Two years later, Hamas took over. Some Israelis blame the withdrawal from Gaza for the sporadic violence that has persisted since then.

The humanitarian crisis has worsened for Gaza’s civilians every day since Israel halted entry of supplies two weeks ago, depleting fuel, food, water and medicine. Two days after Israel announced a deal to allow Egypt to send in aid, the border remained closed Friday as Egypt repaired the Rafah crossing, damaged by Israeli strikes.

Over a million people have been displaced in Gaza. Many heeded Israel’s orders to evacuate the northern part of the sealed-off enclave on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. But Israel has continued to bomb areas in southern Gaza where Palestinians had been told to seek safety. Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called areas in the south “safe zones” earlier this week, Israeli military spokesman Nir Dinar said Friday: “There are no safe zones.”

Some Palestinians who fled from the north appeared to be going back because of bombings and difficult living conditions in the south, said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the U.N. human rights office.

Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals were rationing their dwindling resources.

Generators in Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, were operating at the lowest setting to conserve fuel while providing power to vital departments such as intensive care, hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia said. Others worked in darkness.

“I don’t know how long (the fuel) will last. Every day we evaluate the situation,” he said.

The lack of medical supplies and water make it difficult to treat the mass of victims from the Israeli strikes, he said.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it had received a threat from the Israeli military to bomb Al-Quds Hospital. It said Israel has demanded the immediate evacuation of the Gaza City hospital, which has more than 400 patients and thousands of displaced civilians who sought refuge on its grounds, it said.

Palestinians in Gaza reported heavy airstrikes in Khan Younis, a town in the territory’s south that is home to a squalid tent camp for displaced people. Ambulances carrying men, women and children streamed into the local Nasser Hospital.

Late Thursday, an Israeli airstrike hit a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City housing displaced Palestinians. Gaza’s Health Ministry said 16 Palestinian Christians were killed. Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, a Libertarian from Michigan, said several of his relatives were among the dead. The military said it had targeted a Hamas command center nearby, causing damage to a church wall.

Work continued Friday to repair the road at the Rafah crossing with Egypt, Gaza’s only entry point not controlled by Israel. Trucks unloaded gravel, and bulldozers and other equipment were used to fill in large craters.

But there also appeared to still be differences over the manner of delivering aid. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was working with Egypt, Israel, the U.S. and others to overcome the “impasse” preventing the trucks from entering, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters Friday.

Guterres wants to ensure “meaningful” numbers of trucks cross daily, that inspection of truck cargo is “expedited” and that U.N. authorities have fuel to distribute the supplies within Gaza.

More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tons of aid were positioned near the crossing. Israel said the supplies could only go to civilians and that it would “thwart” any diversions by Hamas. It was unclear if fuel for the hospital generators would be allowed to enter.

An Egyptian official said two aid-packed trucks entered the Egyptian side of the border crossing early Saturday but did not pass through into Gaza. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media.

Israel has evacuated its own communities near Gaza and Lebanon, putting residents up in hotels elsewhere in the country.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, which has a massive arsenal of long-range rockets, has traded fire with Israel along the border on a near-daily basis and hinted it might join the war if Israel seeks to annihilate Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Palestinian militants have launched unrelenting rocket attacks into Israel — more than 6,900 since Oct. 7, according to Israel — and tensions have flared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israel has targeted militants in raids across the occupied territory. On Friday, two Palestinian teenagers were killed in clashes in the West Bank, where more than 80 Palestinians have been killed over the past two weeks.

 

AP

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces destroy 500 combat aircraft in Ukraine operation, top brass reports

Russian forces have destroyed 500 Ukrainian combat aircraft and more than 250 helicopters since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday.

"In all, the following targets have been destroyed since the start of the special military operation: 500 aircraft, 252 helicopters, 8,104 unmanned aerial vehicles, 441 surface-to-air missile systems, 12,778 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,165 multiple rocket launchers, 6,837 field artillery guns and mortars and 14,463 special military motor vehicles," the ministry said in a statement.

Russian forces destroy 12 Ukrainian combat aircraft over past week

Russian forces destroyed 12 Ukrainian combat aircraft over the week of October 14-20, including seven enemy warplanes in the past 24 hours, the ministry reported.

"Fighter aircraft and air defense forces destroyed 12 airplanes over the past week by their effective operations, among them 10 MiG-29s [fighter jets] and two Su-25 attack aircraft, and also two Ukrainian Air Force Mi-8 helicopters," the ministry said.

In the last 24 hours alone, Russian air defense capabilities shot down seven Ukrainian MiG-29 fighters, the ministry reported.

 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine repels new Russian onslaught on eastern front, Zelenskiy says

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday Ukrainian forces had repelled a new Russian onslaught on the eastern town of Avdiivka and were holding their ground in heavy fighting.

Zelenskiy and top military commanders visited the southern region of Kherson, where they discussed the situation there and around Avdiivka and Kupiansk, a town north of Avdiivka where Russian forces have also intensified attacks.

"Thanks to all our boys, who powerfully hold the defence and destroy the occupier day after day," Zelenskiy said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app.

"These days, the Russian losses are really staggering, and it is precisely losses by the occupier that Ukraine needs."

Zelenskiy's office said Russia's assault on Avdiivka had resulted in "record losses" of personnel and equipment, but gave no further details of the extent of the losses.

Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield situation.

Moscow has presented the situation around Avdiivka as more favourable for its forces, and each side has exaggerated the other's losses since Russia's invasion in February 2022.

The Ukrainian military said fighting was raging along the front line, with about 90 combat clashes in the past 24 hours. That compares with an average of about 60 daily clashes a week ago.

General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, heading Ukraine's operations in the south, reported heavy attacks from both sides, with his forces conducting 1,500 firing missions in 24 hours. He provided no data for Ukraine's losses but said Russia lost 1,051 people, 143 pieces of military equipment and one ammunition depot.

"The new wave (of attacks) is as powerful as the one before on October 10 and 11," said Vitaliy Barabash, head of the Avdiivka military administration.

"It is very difficult. But the boys are holding out and repelled everything," he told Ukrainian television.

Avdiivka, home to a big coking plant, has long been under attack, has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance and is seen as a gateway to the nearby Russian-held city of Donetsk.

Ukrainian forces have been making slow progress through vast Russian minefields in a counteroffensive that it began in the east and south in early June, but Russia has hit back hard around Avdiivka and Kupiansk.

Kyiv says the aim of the Russian attacks is to draw in Ukrainian troops from other fronts and to try to gain ground before winter sets in.

The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. research group, said Ukrainian forces appeared to have broken through on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson.

Kyiv has not commented on the report and Zelenskiy, who also visited the southern region of Mylokaiv, gave no details of the situation in Kherson.

Ukraine recaptured parts of the Kherson region late last year after months of Russian occupation. But Russian forces who left Kherson, the region's biggest city, retreated only as far as the other side of the Dnipro and shell the city from there.

Kupiansk, in the northeast, was also recaptured by Ukrainian troops late last year.

 

Tass/Reuters