Although it’s common knowledge that drinking too much is unhealthy, research sometimes conflicts about where the dividing line is between permissible and risky alcohol consumption — and whether drinking a small amount could come with any health benefits.

In the last few months alone, two large studies have further complicated the picture: A March analysis found that moderate drinkers do not have a lower risk of death than lifetime nondrinkers, while a June study found that heart health benefits associated with moderate alcohol consumption could be linked to the way it can reduce stress activity in the brain.

Meanwhile, a study published last month showed that deaths related to excessive drinking are rising in the United States, especially among women.

So how harmful is a weekly or even nightly glass of wine? NBC News spoke to eight nutritionists and doctors about the risks and supposed benefits of alcohol. They generally agreed that abstaining is healthiest, but that for most people, a modest level of drinking doesn’t carry significant risk.

The notion that drinking may somehow improve health, they said, is misguided.

“There’s no absolute safe level of drinking,” said Tim Stockwell, former director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research. “We usually underestimate the risks from alcohol because we’re so familiar with it.”

What to make of studies suggesting health benefits of drinking

Perhaps the most common myth about the benefits of alcohol is the idea that an occasional glass of red wine boosts heart health.

Over the last few decades, several studies have found a link between moderate alcohol consumption and reduced risk of heart disease. However, experts said such research does not necessarily account for the possibility that light drinking can be associated with other healthy lifestyle factors, like being active and eating a balanced diet, or that participants who don’t drink may have experienced negative health effects of alcohol before deciding to go sober.

Dr. Krishna Aragam, a cardiologist and researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, said some past research has found that light to moderate drinkers may be more likely to have lower body mass index, eat more vegetables and engage in more physical activity than people who do not drink at all.

“There is a general theory that maybe people who can impose moderation with regards to how much alcohol they consume are also more able to impose moderation broadly in other aspects of their life,” Aragam said.

Aragam co-authored a 2022 study that also found a trend of healthy lifestyle habits among light to moderate drinkers, but concluded nonetheless that any level of alcohol consumption increased the risk of cardiovascular disease. The risk increased exponentially with heavier drinking, defined as more than eight drinks per week.

When it comes to the red wine myth, Dr. Zhaoping Li, division chief of clinical nutrition at UCLA Health, pointed out that the antioxidant thought to benefit the heart is also found in the skins of red grapes.

“I never would recommend to someone, ‘Go ahead and drink wine, even if you don’t like it, because you’re going to be less likely to have a heart attack,’” Li said.

How much alcohol is unhealthy?

The long-term health risks of drinking include liver and heart disease, a weakened immune system and several types of cancer. Studies have also shown that drinking large quantities of alcohol in one sitting or even a single drink a day can raise blood pressure.

U.S. dietary guidelines define a moderate, low-health-risk alcohol intake as one drink or less per day for women and two or less for men. (That does not apply, however, to people who are pregnant, have medical conditions that can be worsened by drinking or take medications that interact with alcohol.) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also provides a screening tool to help people assess their level of alcohol consumption based on individual health factors.

But Canada’s revised guidelines on alcohol, released in January, advise far less drinking: They list two drinks per week as a moderate, low-risk level.

Li said she generally tells people not to drink more than two or three times per week.

“Let’s say I’m going to drink alcohol, I know it’s going to come with calories and energy,” Li said. “So for dinner, I will drink the wine, I’ll have vegetables and fish, but I’m not going to have bread and other things that come with energy.”

When should you cut down on drinking?

Estimates suggest that more than 140,000 people die from alcohol-related causes annually, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Alcohol-related deaths have climbed nationally in the past few years: The U.S. saw a 25% spike in deaths during the first year of the pandemic, a trend that particularly affected middle-aged adults.

Katherine Keyes, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, said her research has shown that adolescents drink less than they did a few decades ago, while drinking rates have risen among young and middle-aged adults.

For people who drink several times a week and do not have alcohol dependency, even slightly reducing intake can have significant health benefits, Keyes added.

“It’s not that ‘OK, you think you’re drinking too much, now you can’t drink at all’ — that health advice turns a lot of people off,” Keyes said. “Thinking about drinking as a continuum, not a binary, is an approach that we think will be really useful for improving population health.”

Emma Laing, director of dietetics at the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences, said she decided to be sober in 2020, after considering the health consequences of alcohol and a history of breast cancer in her family.

For people trying to cut down on drinking, Laing said she recommends balancing alcohol with nonalcoholic drinks, drinking slowly and consuming a meal before drinking. She often brings her own nonalcoholic beer or wine to social gatherings, Laing said, and most bartenders are happy to make a mocktail.

“Sometimes the toughest part about living a sober life or taking an alcohol break comes from peer pressure among those around you — even strangers — who question why you are abstaining from alcohol,” Laing said. “I have found that having a nonalcoholic alternative in my hand will reduce this type of societal pressure.”

NBC News

The relief aid given to the states by the federal government to cushion the effects of the removal of the petrol subsidy is a loan, TheCable can report.

Earlier, the federal government announced a N5 billion relief package for each state of the federation, including the federal capital territory (FCT).

Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno, who spoke on Thursday at the end of the national economic council (NEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima, said the palliative would enable state governments to procure 100,000 bags of rice, 40,000 bags of maize and fertilizers to cushion the effect of food shortage across the country.

However, in a memo to governors entitled “Re: Distribution of Palliatives – Terms of FG Facility”, Asishana Okauru, director-general of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), said states might opt out of the offer and return a sum of N2 billion already given to them.

“I have been directed by the Chairman, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to forward the terms of the facility as follows,” Okauru said in the memo.

“Facility size: N4,000,000,000.00
Loan (48%): N1,920,000,000.00
FGN Grant: (52%)
N2,080,000,000.00 Beneficiary each state government
Tenure: 20 months
Interest Rate: Nil
Moratorium: Three months
Repayment Mode: Monthly
Repayment Amount: N120,000,000.00
Security Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO)

“Your excellency is invited to note that this offer is optional and states that do not wish to participate may opt-out and refund the N2 billion already disbursed to them.”

The Cable

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar has described the $3bn loan injected into the economy by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to stabilise the naira as fraudulent.

Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu in a statement on Wednesday, Atiku described the purpose given for the loan as a ruse to force the naira to appreciate in the parallel market.

He added that the move was cosmetic and unimaginative and had once again “Exposed President Bola Tinubu as a Lilliputian economist that lacked ideas on how to rescue the economy he had pushed to the edge with unviable policies.”

According to him, monetary policy is not the job of the NNPCL but the Central Bank of Nigeria and wondered why the former, “Which claimed to be a profit-making organisation, would go ahead to take a loan for the primary purpose of stabilising the naira.

Atiku also drew parallels between the actions of the NNPCL and the CBN under the authority of Godwin Emefiele.

He also claimed that oil production has dropped on Tinubu’s watch due to continuous oil theft, stressing that instead of boosting forex liquidity by increasing production and exports, “The President decided to take the jejune path of obtaining foreign loans, an inglorious road that his predecessor had travelled.

He said, “For many years, Tinubu claimed that he built the economy of Lagos from scratch. Now, he has been exposed as a charlatan. His administration detained Emefiele and vilified him for taking FX loans from JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs running into $7.5bn, which was used in defending the naira.

“Now, Tinubu’s administration is doing the same thing by forcing the NNPCL to take a loan of $3bn to defend the naira. We, however, have it on good authority that this is all a ruse to force the naira to appreciate at the parallel market, an action that will further affect the government’s credibility.

“The NNPCL has failed to shed the toga of an ordinary government agency. No wonder it has refused to become a public limited liability company, as stated in the Petroleum Industry Act. The NNPCL boss, Mele Kyari, who is also desperate to retain his job, has allowed himself to become a willing political tool just like Emefiele. If the NNPCL was a publicly listed oil firm like Aramco and Mobil, would it obtain a loan in order to ‘defend the naira’?”

He chided Tinubu for lacking a clear economic blueprint, arguing  that his policy flip-flops had already begun affecting Nigerian bonds.

Punch

Housewives in Rigasa community of Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, along with their children, held a peaceful protest to highlight the pressing issues of hunger and exorbitant food prices in the state.

The protesters, who marched on the streets kept chanting slogans like “Tinubu, we are hungry.”

Some of the women appealed to the President for assistance, saying they had never faced such dire circumstances before.

One elderly woman, despite her illness, joined the protest to advocate for her five orphaned grandchildren whom she said were in need of nourishment.

She explained that the passing of her late husband’s siblings, who had been assisting her and the children, left her with no choice but to seek help publicly.

Another woman, aged 50, asserted that two children had tragically lost their lives due to hunger in the community, attributing their deaths to their parents’ inability to provide adequate sustenance.

The protesters emphasized that they were not seeking handouts, but rather urging Tinubu to address the food price crisis so that they can afford essential items at lower prices.

Another woman echoed this sentiment, imploring Tinubu for food assistance, stressing that this was to meet their primary need.

One of the protesters said in her 62 years on earth, she had never witnessed the cost of a mudu (cup) of grain selling at N1400 and a mudu of rice selling for N1700.

Daily Trust

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced a foreign exchange (FX) price verification system (PVS) portal to enable importers to access forex.

The CBN, in a statement on Thursday night, said a price verification report from the portal is now mandatory for all Form M requests, effective from August 31, 2023.

The Form ‘M’ is a declaration of intention to import physical goods into Nigeria.

“Following the successful conduct of the pilot run and various trainings held with all the banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria hereby announces the Go- Live of the Price Verification System (PVS),” the statement reads.

“All applications for Forms M shall be accompanied by a valid price verification report generated from the price verification portal.

“For the avoidance of doubt, by this circular, the price verification report has become a mandatory trade document precedent to the completion of a Form M.”

“All authorised dealers are, hereby, advised to bring this to the attention of their customers”.

CBN also said any case of infraction would be appropriately sanctioned.

“Please, ensure compliance,” the bank urged exporters.

In June 2023, the CBN announced the unification of all segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market, signalling the end of its control of the forex market.

Since the decision — which was in compliance with the federal government’s directive — the exchange rate of the local currency has been experiencing significant volatility as market forces continue to determine prices.

The Cable

A consortium led by Transcorp Power Limited has acquired a 60 percent stake in Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).

Following the acquisition, Christopher Ezeafulukwe has been appointed managing director/chief executive officer (MD/CEO) of AEDC.

Ezeafulukwe, who is currently the MD/CEO of Transcorp Power Limited, will play a pivotal role in rejuvenating AEDC, the supplier of power to the nation’s capital.

“Prior to his appointment as MD/CEO of AEDC, Ezeafulukwe was the MD/CEO of Transcorp Power Ltd, Ughelli, a 972-MW thermal plant,” a statement seen by TheCable reads.

The Tony Elumelu-led Transcorp secured approval as the strategic investor in AEDC in May 2023

“Under his leadership, Transcorp Power Ltd has consistently led the Nigerian  power sector, being the first successor power company from the 2013 power privatization program, to be discharged from post-privatisation monitoring by the National Council on Privatization, having surpassed the expectations of the Council.

“The Ughelli Power plant, which Transcorp Group acquired during the privatisation of the power sector in 2013, demonstrates the Group’s transformative prowess.

“The plant’s available capacity, which was 160MW on acquisition, increased by 227% to 680.83MW in 4 years, surpassing the Bureau of Public Enterprise’s (BPE) five-year target of 670MW.”

Peter Ikenga, CEO of Transcorp Energy, is expected to succeed Ezeafulukwe as MD of Transcorp Power.

In December 2021, United Bank of Africa (UBA) took over AEDC over the inability of its major stakeholder, Kann Consortium, to service the $122 million debt owed to the bank.

Kann Consortium had secured a loan from UBA to acquire AEDC in 2013, making it hold a 60 percent stake in the DisCo.

However, in April 2023, the bank said it would sell AEDC to recover the $122 million debt.

In May 2023, the national council on privatisation approved the Transcorp-led consortium as the preferred bidder for AEDC.

The Cable

West Africa’s economic bloc is open to talks or a rare military intervention to overturn a coup in Niger, an official said.

Democracy will be restored “by all means available,” Abdel-Fatau Musah, the Ecowas commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, said at a high-level regional meeting in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, Thursday. “If push comes to shove we are going into Niger with our own contingent,” he said.

Top military officers representing nations of the Economic Community of West African States are meeting over the next two days to discuss possible intervention in Niger, where soldiers overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum in a July 26 coup, and continue to hold him hostage.

The majority of member-states are ready to participate in a standby force, but “Ecowas hasn’t ruled out diplomatic options,” Musah said.

The 15-nation bloc is taking a stand after the region’s sixth coup in three years. Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea have also recently succumbed to military power grabs.

Abdourahamane Tiani, Niger’s self-appointed leader who was the head of the presidential guard, has so far ignored Ecowas threats to intervene, missing a deadline earlier this month to relinquish power.

France and the US, which have troops stationed in the landlocked country, have also condemned the coup and the poor treatment of Bazoum, who had been a key ally in the global fight against jihadists linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State.

Ecowas seeks to ensure the constitutional order is restored, Musah said. “If other democracy-loving partners want to support us, they are welcome.”

Bloomberg

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine scrambling to avoid Russian strikes on airbases – FT

Russia has ramped up attacks on airbases used by Kiev to launch long-range missile attacks, forcing Ukrainian personnel and aircraft to constantly be on the move to avoid being struck, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing sources.

Ukrainian officials told the paper that Kiev and its backers believe that Moscow’s recent attacks on airbases and pilot training facilities in western Ukraine are aimed at decimating its fleet of bombers used to fire British Storm Shadow and French Scalp missiles.

Ukraine is “racing to move around crucial weaponry and its skilled personnel” across dozens of airbases and commercial airports, the report said.

Ukraine’s Air Force Command spokesman, Yury Ignat, acknowledged the issue, claiming to the FT that Moscow was trying to undermine the country’s air power because “our pilots are bothering them… [and] causing a lot of trouble.” 

Meanwhile, Yury Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, called on the West to provide Kiev with more air defense systems as well as to speed up pilot training and deliveries of F-16 fighter jets. Ukrainian officials have been asking for US-made advanced jets for months, but do not expect them to arrive until 2024.

In May, the UK supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles with a range of about 250km. France followed suit by sending Scalp missiles capable of reaching targets at the same distance. After receiving the deliveries, Kiev used Storm Shadow missiles to attack civilian facilities and infrastructure in the Russian city of Lugansk and on the Crimean Peninsula.

Reports of intensified attacks on Ukrainian facilities storing long-range assets come after the Russian Defense Ministry said last week that it had conducted high-precision strikes on a military airbase in Ivano-Frankovsk Region in the western part of Ukraine, successfully hitting all the designated targets.

Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against supplying Ukraine with weapons, arguing that this will only prolong the conflict. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has cautioned that the Russian military would take adequate countermeasures.

** Ukrainian naval drone targets Russian vessels – MOD

Two Black Sea Fleet vessels thwarted an attempted attack by a Ukrainian maritime drone Thursday evening, the Russian Defense Ministry said. 

“Today at 22.55, the armed forces of Ukraine made an unsuccessful attempt to attack the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, performing the tasks of controlling navigation in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, 237 km southwest of Sevastopol,” the Russian military said.

The unmanned boat was destroyed by gunfire from the patrol frigate Pytlivy and the patrol ship Vasily Bykov, before it could reach its target.

Thursday’s attack is the second time this month that Ukraine has attempted to sink the Bykov. On August 1, three maritime drones attacked the patrol ship and its sister Sergey Kotov in the Black Sea, but were likewise destroyed by on-board cannons.

With its fleet reduced to a handful of patrol boats, Ukraine has resorted to attacks on Russian ships and infrastructure by remotely operated vessels. In mid-July, a drone damaged a span of the Crimean Bridge, killing two civilians and injuring another. Earlier this month, the Russian tanker Sig was struck by another drone on the approach to Crimea, but was towed to port.

On Wednesday, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) provided CNN with video of the bridge attack by the drone, which its chief Vasily Malyuk called ‘Sea Baby.’ Malyuk described the drones as “a unique invention” of the SBU.

Ukraine first claimed to have sunk the Bykov in March 2022, using rockets launched from the shore in Odessa. The ship turned up unharmed in the port of Sevastopol a week later, however. 

Earlier this week, the Bykov stopped and boarded a Palau-registered cargo ship Sukru Okan in the Black Sea, after the Ukraine-bound vessel ignored the Russian requests to heave to and be inspected. 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Drone attack damaged building in Moscow centre

A Ukrainian drone attack damaged a building in central Moscow early on Friday, causing a blast that was heard across the business district of the Russian capital, Russian officials said.

A Reuters witness who was in the area described it as "a powerful explosion".

Russian air defence systems shot down a drone and its debris fell on the Expo Center, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a statement on his official channel on Telegram.

The Expo Center is a large space used for massive exhibitions, less than 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) away from the Kremlin.

A video published by Russian media outlets showed thick smoke rising next to skyscrapers.

The Russian defence ministry said that Ukraine was behind the drone attack.

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

** US approves sending F-16s to Ukraine from Denmark and Netherlands

The United States has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands to defend against Russian invaders as soon as pilot training is completed, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

Ukraine has actively sought the U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to help it counter Russian air superiority.

Washington gave Denmark and the Netherlands official assurances that the United States will expedite approval of transfer requests for F-16s to go to Ukraine when the pilots are trained, the official said.

Denmark and the Netherlands had recently asked for those assurances. The U.S. must approve the transfer of the military jets from its allies to Ukraine.

A coalition of 11 countries was due to start training Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16 fighter jets this month in Denmark. Denmark's acting Defense Minister Troels Poulsen said in July that the country hoped to see "results" from the training in early 2024.

NATO members Denmark and the Netherlands have been leading international efforts to train pilots as well as support staff, maintain aircraft and ultimately enable Ukraine to obtain F-16s for use in its war with Russia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent letters to his Danish and Dutch counterparts assuring them that the requests would be approved, the U.S. official said.

"I am writing to express the United States’ full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors," Blinken said in a letter to the two officials, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

Blinken said, "It remains critical that Ukraine is able to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression and violation of its sovereignty."

He said the approval of the requests would allow Ukraine to take "full advantage of its new capabilities as soon as the first set of pilots complete their training."

U.S. President Joe Biden endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in May. In addition to training in Denmark, a training center was to be set up in Romania.

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

U.S. officials have privately said that F-16 jets would have been of little help to Ukraine in its current counteroffensive and will not be a game changer when they eventually arrive given Russian air defense systems and contested skies over Ukraine.

The F-16 is made by Lockheed Martin.

RT/Reuters

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

** Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Guardian