Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25, election and first petitioner in the ongoing case at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), Peter Obi, has replied to the threat of anarchy claimed by the All Progressives Congress (APC), the second and third respondents in the petition, President Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shetimma, who argued that if the court interprets the Electoral Act, Section 134 against them it might lead to breakdown of law and order.

It would be recalled that Tinubu’s legal team led by Wole Olanipekun had in their final address to the court at the weekend threatened that “any other interpretation different from theirs will lead to absurdity, chaos, anarchy and alteration of the very intention of the legislature.”

But Peter Obi’s lawyers led by Livy Uzoukwu and Onyechi Ikpeazu disagreed with them, saying that what would rather lead to anarchy is where the rule of law is trampled upon or truncated, pointing out that in such situations anarchy reigns supreme.

According to Obi’s legal team: “A sentence in the 2nd-3rd respondents’ address alarmed the petitioners and millions of Nigerians. The 2nd-3rd respondents went too low and abandoned discretion when they claimed as follows: ‘Our submission is that the petitioners are inviting anarchy by their ventilation of this issue of non-transmission of results electronically by INEC.’”

They noted that they found Tinubu’s outburst as “a cheap, misguided, and destructive blackmail clearly intended to target the country’s judicialism and constitutionalism. It also aims at cannibalizing our democracy.”

The legal team also noted that the careless and absurd statements of the second and third respondents intend to raise the issue of insecurity if the petitioners were to emulate the bad example of the second and third respondents, but remarked that such will never happen because of the petitioner’s discipline and peaceful disposition and belief in the rule of law.

Still underscoring the pointlessness and the supererogatory of the respondent’s threat, the legal team wondered “when has it become offensive for petitioners to canvass a ground prescribed for the challenge of an election in Section 134(1)(b) of the Electoral Act 2022?

They attributed the needless flare-up and effusion of the respondents to desperation taken too far, which they said could be extremely dangerous.

“Let the 2nd-3rd respondents know that where the rule of law is trampled upon or truncated, anarchy reigns supreme!”

Sun

Youths have stolen hundreds of bags of maize, locally processed rice and other items worth millions of naira in Jalingo, Taraba State.

The youths, who were said to be in large numbers, stormed the warehouse located not far from the 6 Army Brigade and looted the warehouse Friday midnight.

The warehouse is said to belong to Jugulde, a former member of the state House of Assembly and immediate past chairman of Sardauna Local Government Area of the state.

One of the guards at the warehouse, who would not like his name mentioned, told our correspondent that when the youths started gathering at the warehouse at about 11.50pm, the Nigerian Army and police were alerted.

He said before the arrival of the security agents, the youths had already broken into the warehouse and started looting.

The guard further stated that the security agents fired shots into the air to disperse the looters when they arrived at the scene.

It was learnt two persons died in the process.

Items carted away from the warehouse include hundreds of bags of maize and locally processed rice as well as agricultural inputs including fertiliser and pesticide.

It will be recalled that the same warehouse was looted during the #EndSARS protest in 2020 and items worth millions of naira stolen.

When contacted, Police Public Relations Officer of the Taraba State Command, Usman Abdullahi said he was trying to get details of the incident and get back to the reporter.

Daily Trust

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Drone attack on ammunition depot in Crimea prompts evacuation, bridge closure

A drone attack on an ammunition depot in Crimea prompted authorities to evacuate a 5-km (3-mile) radius and briefly suspend road traffic on the bridge linking the peninsula to Russia, the region's Moscow-installed governor said on Saturday.

Ukraine said its army had destroyed an oil depot and Russian army warehouses in what it called the "temporarily occupied" district of Oktiabrske in central Crimea.

The attack caused an ammunition depot to explode, said Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov, adding there was no reported damage or casualties. Footage shared by state media showed a thick cloud of grey smoke at the site.

Aksyonov later said that all rail traffic in the affected area, temporarily disrupted, was back to normal operation.

Russian news agencies quoted the Health Ministry as saying 12 people required medical assistance and four were taken to hospital.

Russia seized and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, eight years before launching its full-scale invasion of the country.

The brief halting of traffic on the Crimean Bridge, about 180 km (110 miles) to the east of the drone incident, came five days after explosions there killed two people and damaged a section of roadway - the second major attack on the bridge since the start of the war.

The 19 km (12 mile) road and rail bridge is a vital logistics link for Russian forces, and is also heavily used by Russian tourists who flock to Crimea in summer.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that the bridge was a legitimate target because it was a military supply route for Russia.

"This is the route used to feed the war with ammunition and this is being done on a daily basis," he said.

Russia is on high alert for incidents at the bridge, and an official Telegram channel tells people not to panic in the event of an alarm.

In a further sign of security concerns in Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to Aksyonov, warned people not to post images of critical infrastructure on the internet.

He urged people who knew the authors of such posts to report them to the interior ministry or the FSB security service.

"Remember that a video posted on the web of military or other critical facilities is work for the enemy," he said.

** War reporter's death prompts Russian outrage over Ukraine's alleged use of cluster bombs

A Russian war reporter was killed and three were wounded in Ukraine on Saturday in what the defence ministry said was a Ukrainian attack using cluster munitions, prompting outrage from Moscow.

In a separate incident, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle said one of its journalists, Yevgeny Shilko, had been wounded elsewhere in Ukraine in a Russian attack with cluster munitions that killed a Ukrainian soldier. It said his life was not in danger.

Cluster bombs are in the spotlight after Ukraine received supplies of them from the United States this month. Many countries ban them because they rain shrapnel over a wide area and can pose a risk to civilians. Some bomblets typically fail to explode immediately, but can blow up years later.

Reuters could not independently verify the use of such weapons in either incident on Saturday. Both sides have used them in the course of Russia's 17-month invasion of Ukraine.

The dead Russian journalist was named as Rostislav Zhuravlev, a war correspondent for state news agency RIA. His three colleagues were evacuated from the battlefield after coming under fire in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, the defence ministry said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced what she called "criminal terror" by Ukraine and said, without providing evidence, that the attack appeared deliberate.

"Those responsible for the brutal reprisal against a Russian journalist will inevitably suffer well-deserved punishment. The entire measure of responsibility will be shared by those who supplied cluster munitions to their Kyiv protégés," she said.

No comment was immediately available from Ukraine on the incident.

Ukraine has pledged to use cluster munitions only to dislodge concentrations of enemy soldiers. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said this week that Ukrainian forces were using them appropriately and effectively against Russian formations.

Konstantin Kosachyov, deputy speaker of the Russian upper house of parliament, said the use of the weapons was "inhuman" and the responsibility lay both with Ukraine and the United States. Leonid Slutsky, a party leader in the lower house, called it a "monstrous crime".

Their reactions ignored the fact that Russia's own use of cluster bombs in the war has been documented by human rights groups and by the U.N.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said in May that Russian forces had used the weapons in attacks that had caused hundreds of civilian casualties and damaged homes, hospitals and schools.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine attacks Russia's Belgorod region with cluster munitions – governor

Ukraine has targeted a village in Russia’s Belgorod Region with cluster munitions, local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov has said.

At least three cluster munitions were employed by Kiev's forces during a large-scale attack on the settlement of Zhuravlevka, Gladkov wrote on Telegram on Saturday.

According to the governor, 21 artillery shells and ten mortar rounds were also fired at the village. It was also targeted by a kamikaze drone.

No casualties or damage were repoted in Zhuravlevka as a result of the shelling, Gladkov said.

He added that smaller artillery, mortar and drone attacks targeted at least a dozen other settlements in Belgorod Region on the same day.

In the village of Ilek-Penkovka, 12 households were affected by an explosion, with the facades of buildings being damaged and windows shattered, he said, but that injuries had been avoided.

The US announced the delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine earlier this month, with President Joe Biden describing it as a stopgap measure that was necessary due to a shortage of regular artillery rounds among Kiev’s Western backers.

The controversial shells, which contain multiple bomblets that are dispersed over a large area, have been banned in more than 100 countries. However, neither Ukraine, the US, nor Russia are signatories of the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM).

Washington admitted that it was aware of the increased risk posed by cluster munitions for the civilian population, but claimed that Kiev had pledged to deploy them responsibly and steer clear of densely populated areas.

On Thursday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed that the Ukrainian forces had begun using US-supplied cluster munitions on the battlefield. They were doing so “quite effectively,”he claimed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin noted last week that the US itself had earlier branded the use of cluster munitions “a crime,” saying this was exactly how he regarded the delivery of such weapons to Kiev by Washington.

The Russian military has a “sufficient” stock of cluster munitions, which it can also put to use in a tit-for-tat response to such weapons being deployed by Ukraine, the president warned.

** Kiev used grain deal to stock up on military supplies – Russia

Ukraine has used the Black Sea grain deal to accumulate sizable military and fuel supplies, Russian Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyansky told the organization’s Security Council (UNSC) on Friday. EU nations have also exploited the agreement to reap profits from cheap Ukrainian food products, he said.

Since the UN-facilitated deal was introduced a year ago, “the Kiev regime has built up significant military and industrial [supplies], as well as fuel… storage capacities in the areas near its Black Sea ports,” the diplomat said during a UNSC meeting convened after Russia’s decision to withdraw from the agreement.

A large number of Ukrainian soldiers and foreign mercenaries have also been stationed in the areas protected under the deal, he said, adding that Russia could “remedy this situation” now that it has left the deal.

The Ukrainian military did not hesitate to use the humanitarian corridors reserved for the grain shipments to launch attacks on the Russian military and civilian targets, Polyansky said, adding that neither the UN nor Western nations had reacted to such attacks in any way. “Do you just want us to put up with it?” asked the envoy.

The Russian military repeatedly reported on Ukrainian attempts to strike targets in Crimea with both aerial and naval drones, which were mostly thwarted by Russian defense systems. In May, Moscow stated that the Ukrainian forces had taken advantage of the grain corridors to stage attacks on Crimea.

The deal itself, which was initially touted as a humanitarian initiative aimed at helping the poorest nations to avoid a food crisis, was ultimately “commercialized” by the West, Polyansky said.

“Europeans, who buy Ukrainian food products at give-away prices, then process them and re-sell them as manufactured goods with high added value,” he continued, adding that EU nations are “benefiting twice” from the deal. “Tell me, where is the goal of providing the poorest nations with food here?” he asked.

Moscow has repeatedly stressed that only a tiny percentage of the grain exported from Ukraine as part of the agreement has been shipped to such nations, while the bulk of it has ended up in Europe. On Friday, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto also stated that “95% of exported Ukrainian grain does not go to Africa.” He blamed this for rising food prices on the continent, which were “destabilizing regions that are already in difficulty.”

The US Department of Agriculture also said in its July report that almost half of all Ukrainian wheat exports ended up in the EU after the grain deal was struck. Türkiye imported almost a quarter of Ukraine’s wheat over the same period, and only roughly one-fifth went to the “rest of the world,” the report showed.

Reuters/RT

Initial applauses from Bretton Woods and some local economists that greeted the economic reforms of the Bola Tinubu presidency were deafening. The reforms were termed bold and courageous. The most surgically painful of them, which drilled deep down into the marrows of Nigerians, was the removal of fuel subsidy. In a country that is almost totally dependent on PMS, the unbearable pains of the people reached ear-shattering decibel. Cars disappeared from the roads. Costs of transportation are tearing the roof, with rife social dislocations. Rates of crime have since been on the increase, with rising matrimonial disorder figures. Local political party panegyrists and their hirelings, in response to the harrowing pains that accompanied the policies, lapped up the time-worn cliché of “Rome was not built in a day” as requests for national patience. Why not allow a window into the counterpoise of that cliché, to wit that Rome was not destroyed in a day? With my eyes of metaphor, I see an unfolding disaster of Sobia that is afflicting villagers and townsmen.

Africa developed several myths and fables in response to guinea worm. Among the Yoruba who named it Sobia, it was presumed to be the wrath of Sanpona, a dreaded deity. On the surface, Sobia’s presentation looks not dissimilar from the perceived strike of Sanpona which usually came as smallpox pestilence. Coupled with the fact that it occurred majorly in the dry season, this made the ascription of the Sobia to Sanpona deity logical. The initial clinical manifestations of guinea worm are often a constellation of symptoms. It begins with headache, body ache, fever, itching, swelling and rashes. Then, pain in a localized spot of its attack comes as forerunner of a blister. High temperature, especially accompanied by restlessness, then sets in.

Growing up, yours sincerely also suffered from Sobia. Days – epidemiologists later said it is 14 days – after returning from our oft dashes to streams with amateur hooks to catch tiny fishes, and upon contact with infected water through bathing, washing or fetching infected water, we suddenly went down with what our parents, borne out of repeated experience, immediately and magisterially diagnosed as guinea worm. Most times, the feet of the disease’s host suddenly appeared reddish and swollen. By then, said epidemiologists, adult female worms, which grow as long as up to one meter in length, develop inside the human subcutaneous tissue and when the worm releases its larvae, an ulcer develops on the host’s skin.

To combat the Sobia, native doctors found herbal remedy in the Oluganbe leaf. It is usually boiled and its water used to clean the ulcer. The leaves are then used as plaster on the burst worm site. So, as tribute to the rescue that the Oluganbe leaf provides those who suffer the strike of Sobia, a traditional Yoruba aphorism was invented as salutation to the Oluganbe. They say, ti sobia  y’o ba d’egbo, Oluganbe laa ke si, translated to mean, before guinea worm transmutes into a dangerous sore, Oluganbe is always called to the rescue. Beyond the strike of the Sobia, this wise saying has assumed a broader context as call on those who have ears, upon noticing early signals of an impending disaster, to immediately seek timely solutions to it.

Until its near total rout in this century, guinea worm, with the botanical name dracunculiasis, was a dreaded tropical disease. Epidemiologists reckon that, just like its Siamese, tuberculosis, guinea worm had been with man for over 3,000 years. Evidence gathered through surviving documents from physicians of antiquities even claim that man had suffered its affliction since 1,000 BC. It was a disease that afflicted poor rural areas with no safe drinking water, from South Africa, through the Middle East and down to West Africa. During the 19th and 20th centuries, guinea worm’s widespread strike was such that it afflicted as much as 48 million people yearly. This figure nosedived to 3.5 million patients in 1980 but, through the intervention of various world agencies, this waterborne disease was in 2021 reduced to about 15 cases. Today, it can only be found in countries like Chad, Ethiopia, Mali and South Sudan.

In his 55 days in government, like that Oluganbe aphorism, we should begin to conduct initial examination of the psychology and the emerging psychosis behind the operation of this government. If we do this, we will know what lies in wait for us. For instance, searchlight on the thought process behind the subsidy removal revealed that, rather than the “prepared to rule” and the “methodical and process-inclined” man that Tinubu had been touted to be, a policy of such monumental, sweeping and lives-threatening magnitude as removal of subsidy from fuel, was taken off-the-cuff and inflicted without the rigour needed. At his inauguration on May 29, Tinubu’s prepared speech had referenced the administration’s preparedness to “phas(e) out” subsidy which he said was in tune with his “Renewed Hope 2023” manifesto. Indeed, on its page 37, it says “we shall phase out the fuel subsidy.” This is taken to mean that government’s plan in the removal of subsidy was incremental. However, all of a sudden, while the speech was being read, the president announced that “the fuel subsidy is gone.”

Tinubu has been severally praised for the courage to take this decision. In the bid to stave off criticisms against it for lacking the governmental balls, the Muhammadu Buhari government claimed it sidestepped subsidy removal because it would have heralded electoral calamity for the APC. In a subsequent trip to France, asked whether it was impudence, boldness or courage that birthed the subsidy removal, Tinubu had told the Nigerian community in Paris that, “When I got to the podium, I was possessed with courage, and I said, ‘subsidy is gone.’”

Here, we will notice the onset of Sobia. What actually possessed the president at the Eagle Square on May 29? The first thing that this venture will yield is that, we will see the glaring equivocation in his usage of the word “possess.” Courage, being a positive attribute, does not harbor the negative portent associated with “possessed.” To be possessed is to be suddenly controlled, gripped and seized by an evil spirit. Did the president mean to convey the hidden metonym of what actually seized him on that day, to wit the draconian spirit of a totalitarian or a despot?

In what has turned out an ad-lib pronouncement, which the Punchnewspaper, in a highly applauded editorial comment last week, labeled a “shoot first and ask questions later” approach, Tinubu suddenly abrogated the joy of millions of Nigerians through a kick-and-follow economic policy of subsidy removal. Great as that policy is, it apparently never went through the crucible of critical assessment or a well-itemized provision of succor to its intended recipients. That was why, when the cries of its resultant pain became unbearable, government hurriedly rolled out plan to pay N8,000 to 12 million poor households. Bayoneted on all fronts for the policy’s tenuousness, government then announced plans to have it reviewed. The Punch editorial said “emerging evidence shows that the administration neither made preparations, nor undertook a thorough diagnosis of the existing conditions in the economy” before yanking off petrol subsidy. Within this time, the CBN also floated the naira, with the two policies standing as manifestations of the president’s laissez fare economic inclination of unfettered free market economy. As the newspaper noted, “reforms and the courage to initiate and see them through require meticulous planning, preparation, and fallback measures to absorb the shocks and protect critical economic sectors, and the vulnerable sections of the polity.” Which Tinubu never had.

Now, the euphoria of election, swearing in and ancillary make-believe fripperies of the presidential office are evaporating. It is assumed that with this reality dawning on them, Nigerians will be developing the right frame of mind to take critical look at a number of actions that have been taken in Tinubu’s 55 days in office. Some of them look like an imminent guinea worm affliction which may necessitate calling on the Oluganbe.

First is the manifestation of a totalist, personalist traits of power around the president. Scholars of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes have spoken of some regime features which, if found in a new government, could be dangerous indicators. One of such is that authoritarian and totalitarian regimes try to fuse everything and everyone under their personal control. The only distinguishing feature between a military autocracy and democratic government is the legislature. They both had the judiciary. We all remember the dust provoked by Aso Rock’s struggle to ensure the election of a pliable senate president, Speaker of the House of Representatives and leadership of the National Assembly. It is not an understatement that, though we may not have the tactless pronouncement that the legislature under Akpabio would approve every request brought by Tinubu like the previous senate did, the bendable lot in parliament today will recreate the Ahmed Lawan prototype. Already, the Senate President has begun to wear the Tinubu-like cap, trying to mimic the president’s appearance. He has literally carved a graven image of the president which he worships daily. Not even Lawan, in his genuflecting senate presidency, did this. And the president seems to enjoy the drama. Because it is his turn. Emilokan.

To follow in tow is a firm grip on and an APC that is solely an appendage of the presidency. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the 74-year old ex-Kano State governor, whose alleged dollar bribery roulette gathered notoriety a few years ago; money said to have been stuffed inside the enveloping comfort of the babanriga, is rumoured to be the lucky fiddle. Ganduje would only be too happy to carry the president’s spittle. Having learnt the ropes from Olusegun Obasanjo’s seemingly democratic route to despotically squeezing resignation letters from PDP chairmen during his government, Tinubu was said to have walked this path too to upstage the stumbling block that erstwhile APC chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, posed to him. The road is almost totally cleared of all thorns and briers now.

As showcase-worthy as the Lagos governance succession model is, critics have looked beyond this superficiality to decipher a strong tang of despotism and totalitarianism in it. It is also rumouredly flavoured by cultic abidance by the oath of fidelity to a regime of funneling of state funds into private purses. In Tinubu’s Lagos, what is called the Babasope syndrome operates. No one can wriggle into the echelon of political or governmental responsibility except the Fuhrer permits. It is a personality cult, a political buccaneer of totalitarian power.

Nigerians believe that despotic and totalitarian governments cannot thrive in their country. The collapse of the Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha governments are cited to reinforce this. More importantly, despotism and totalitarianism usually occurred in military regimes. Fidel Castro of Cuba and General Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay are rulers who personified those government types. Same for Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and Mao. Totalitarians and despots may not, like Castro, possess accoutrements of power like fancy clothes, wealth or philandering liaisons. Under Stroessner, one of the key criteria for securing government employment was political affiliation. The Paraguayan bureaucracy under Stroessner was an enormous patronage network for loyal Colorados. Cronyism and corruption which his government symbolized were essential components of totalitarians which bound subordinates to Stroessner. Already, a group which called itself South West APC Support Group (SASG) is calling attention of the world to cells and layers of patronage for the president’s loyal Lagos cronies in what the group called Tinubu’s Lagosization of federal appointments.

Those who see Nigeria as impossible a place for a totalitarian or despotic ruler to thrive may however be engaging in mere semantic hairsplitting. This is because, even in a democracy, there are mild versions of despotism and totalitarianism. In Castro and Stroessner, the dictator is the 'moving spirit' of the totalist state. The totalitarian dictator also sees opposition, even neutrality, as treason. Godwin Emefiele and Abdulrusheed Bawa may have thus committed treason. Power is solely deployed for private ends and coloured by endemic authoritarian dictatorship. Again, national patrimony is piloted towards a huge private domain of spoils for loyalists.

Thinking in this mould of an emerging fertile ground being currently ploughed for despotism and totalitarianism may sound off-key and an over-situation of a mild issue to some people. However, we must realize that such governments creep in on the people like feral cats. By the time they mature into full-blown national challenge, it is always too late. As Rome was not built in a day, Rome was also not destroyed in a day. Rome’s destruction came by stealth; gradually. But before our Sobia becomes fluid-welling sore, we must seek the intervention of the Oluganbe leaf. We are the Oluganbe. We can tame the monster worm by being more critical of government; stop this childish Hallelujah chorus of effusive praise-singing of the people we elect and let us put our rulers on their toes.

Breakfast with Yebo Gogo, Kole Omotoso

In 2018 when news sieved in that that constellation of emeriti, Bankole Ajibabi Omotoso, had crept into Akure, Ondo State, our association, Ooye Development Initiative, (ODI) bated him like mousetrap does mice. Was Akure big enough to contain that hippopotamus-statured literary giant? I wondered. I, perhaps, was the most excited of the lot. I had read Omotoso’s works with doting wonder and imagined if he wasn’t a gnome or some genie. So, this day in September, as we drove towards the then pot-holes ridden Oda road to honour an appointment given us by the professor, I fantasized that I would meet a hippo. We waddled through a forest-like jungle into his home. We were later shocked to see that it lacked electricity but Omotoso didn’t mind.

The gate opened. Was I disappointed? Before us was a slim, dark, tall man. Since he opened the gate, was that the gateman? No. That was the Omotoso, the man whose literary fame and portraiture – literal and metaphorical – in South Africa and Nigeria, was that of a giant.

Prof was excited to see his Akure brothers – Olumide Origunloye, Sunday Falae, Abiodun Ayodele, Ayo Ajayi (Headmaster) and myself. His wife, affable in all ramifications, was there too. We hadn’t sat for long when breakfast jumped on the table. He spoke in fluent Akure and it did not take long for me to discover that in spite of his wide travels, Omotoso relished his culture jealously. One was that, he loathed the idea of anyone anglicizing his surname by adding ‘h” to his Omotoso to form an “Omotosho.” Then he took us round the expansive bungalow. What would he be doing with such “mansion”? I wondered. He explained. One of the open foyers would be an amphitheater where playwrights could come and activate their muse. He had actually come to finally settle in Akure, he said.

The reporter in me would not allow me to rest. As he took us round the house, I sought an interview appointment with him, which we fixed for the second day. We spent close to three hours on the interview. I asked him so many questions in the one and only interview I would have with the great octopus of Nigerian literature. Questions about his epic book, Just Before Dawn; relationship with Soyinka; was his house patterned after Soyinka’s middle-of-the-forest home as well?; why he studied Arabic in UI; how he became a South African; his NADECO activism; how his face became the face of South Africa, into becoming one of the most famous South Africans, adorning billboards in Jo’Burg and other cities as Yebo Gogo, so much that Nelson Mandela told him he was more famous than him, among others.

As we went into his orchard, Yebo Gogo gifted our brother, Headmaster, a plant he must have brought from South Africa. It aids memory in elderly persons, he said. Was he trying to ask Akure to etch him in its memory? I have wondered endlessly upon his passage.

Then Yebo Gogo promised to reciprocate our visit. He did and met us at Isopo, Headmaster’s home. Pleasant and unassuming.

As he left us after that evening out session, we never knew it was our last encounter with the literary dinosaur. He developed an ailment which, the best decision he took on the instant, was to leave immediately for South Africa to seek succor. He probably would have left us far earlier than the almost five years he lived after the diagnosis of the ailment. We exchanged calls and messages thereafter. When he read my column thereafter, he expressed delight that his Akure brother penned the stuffs.

Africa, Nigeria and Akure are already missing Omotoso. I just hope and pray that his remains would be brought to Akure. That is the land he cherished so much. Yes, South Africa clothed him from the usual coarse hostility that he would have received were he in Nigeria. It was still merely Omotoso’s dwelling place. It shouldn’t be his resting place.

Goodnight, our icon.

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great ~ Genesis 26:12-13.

Introduction

Life becomes exciting when it’s dotted with supernatural breakthroughs. Contrariwise, failure, poverty and stagnation can actually breed stubborn and complicated troubles for anyone here on earth.

Success is sweet; failure can be bitter and very brutal! Poverty kills ingenuity, engenders inferiority complex,  destroys influence, demeans testimonies and curtails progress. Most despicably, stagnation inherently frustrates even starry potentials.

Largely today, the economy is in bad shape in many quarters. The sociopolitical life is generally looking down, and many people find themselves in terrible situations on many fronts. Suffering and struggling to barely survive, they have resigned to eating their bread without butter!

Nevertheless, I dare to say that there is a better way to live: on a thriving mode, whereby we can make progress in life despite all the circumstances.

On a thriving mode, you don’t struggle to survive because the abundant life of God in Christ works in you, for you and through you (John 10:10). You thrive by grace without rigour, and soar to greater heights without flapping.

Yes indeed, there’s a room on earth, large enough, for all men to flourish and be fruitful. Not all men have located the path that leads there, though. There’s also a River, which carries believers on the course of progress and gladness (Psalm 46:4)! You won’t miss it, in Jesus name!

Remarkable Milestones In the Life of Isaac

In Genesis 26:1-33, I observed three remarkable milestones in Isaac’s journey of destiny: the survival mode, the ample supply mode, and the Rehoboth prosperity mode. Let’s study these modes in closer details.

Isaac had just replaced Abraham as the heir of God’s covenant upon the earth when famine “rushed” to welcome him. He was in a survival mode then, just barely keeping his head above the waters of adversity!

Yes, famine and drought are not new phenomena upon the earth (Genesis 12:1-2). To experience a problem is not the real problem; knowing how to truly overcome it is the principal matter.

Isaac made personal moves to help himself out of the circumstance; he went unto Gerar. But, things went very awry. He was laden with trials, and he became confused and frightened to the point that he started denying his wife.

However, God still showed him mercy by visiting him with comfort and direction, and moving him forward to the ample supply stage of his life. He reaped a hundred-fold return, waxed great, and grew till he became very great. His flock increased, and he also had many servants.

Mark it please, this is the stage of life we, oftentimes, erroneously refer to as prosperity. Yes, it’s a product of the Lord’s blessing, but, it’s just a preliminary stage towards real prosperity.

There are perils and pitfalls aplenty at this stage: envy, jealousy, severe criticism, injury, contention, hatred, strife, hostility and ostracization. Certainly, it will require the greater mercy of God for any man to have plenty of water in the midst of drought without strife.

The next remarkable level in Isaac’s journey of destiny was accessed in Rehoboth, where a thousand-times fold blessing and more were made available for him (Deuteronomy 1:11).

Here, Isaac just truly located the real place where God had earmarked for him, and he dwelt there in peace. He went up and was growing incredibly to the point that even his enemies, the Phillistines, recognized the strong hands of the Lord upon his life and sought him out for his favour.

See, as a child of God, re-created in Christ, He designated you for a wholesome satisfaction. He gave you a covenant authority to resist any yoke of stagnation, and to make progress, prosper and fulfill your destiny on earth (Luke 10:19). You won’t die a disappointment, in Jesus Name.

Annotating The Invisible Turning Points For Isaac!

In order to access a “Rehoboth prosperity”, one must get God first (Genesis 1:1; Matthew 6:33). This was the major starter for Issac! Never despise your present estate, whatever it may be (Job 8:7). Rather, allow the Lord to always guide your everyday life and strengthen your vision for a comprehensive breakthrough.

Long ago, King David indicated that God is not just “a” factor for any human success; He is “the” factor for our success and breakthrough (Psalm 127:1).If you love gold more than God, you cannot go far in life.

Secondly, Isaac was very receptive to God’s Word. God told him: “Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of”. This connotes a sense of systematic guidance, which taught Isaac that “going to Egypt” was akin to “going down”.

When we’re wise enough to embrace God’s instruction, direction, guidance, edification, encouragement and comfort, we can’t but enjoy His wonderful breakthrough.

Thirdly, Isaac showed obedience: he dwelt in the land as God instructed. Little can become much when God’s pleasure is attracted to it (Ezekiel 36:35). Let’s be royal and regal, but also disciplined, principled and obedient to God in all things.

A man is rich in proportion to the degree of his obedience to God’s instructions. To demonstrate your obedience, you must be liberal also, sowing into the covenant land and laying down readily anything at anytime for the work of God.

A stingy person cannot prosper in life no matter how anointed he looks. When you are rich towards God, you will always attract His covenant blessings: “A man's gift maketh room for him ….” (Proverbs 18:16).

For the avoidance of speculations, the “gift” here refers to your talents, treasures, influences, time, glory, social positions and peculiar endowments. When you cheerfully lay them down on God’s Altar to advance the course of His kingdom, you can be very sure that He won’t owe you.

Furthermore, you must connect to your heavenly appointed “prophet” to make a satisfactory progress on earth (2 Chronicles 20:20b). Isaac stood on the shoulder of his father Abraham, and was blessed for Abraham’s sake.

Stop the temptation of thinking you are too self-sufficient to follow this spiritual protocol. Cultivate a teachable spirit, and be humble so that you will not stumble.

Again, Isaac was strong, rugged and courageous. You must be so to thrive on earth. Life is not a “fun-fare”, it’s a “warfare”. You must be bold and daring, developing a lion’s heart, and insisting on the victory of the Cross, to enjoy your lion’s share.

Additionally, always please keep in mind that sin is a deflator of the tyres of progress. Be holy and focused. Don’t be busy here and there. Stay on your heavenly vision, fan it to flame and don’t let sin or distractions put off the flame.

Always remember also that Isaac persisted on his journey to Rehoboth. He dug up the wells again and again. There is a great “mine” in the land of the covenant. Be excited, be cheerful, and be joyful to constantly refresh your lots there.

Friends and brethren, your story is still being written, don’t write off yourself. Never mind whatever any devil may ever  do against you, dig again. Even if the circumstances of life threaten to stop your well, rejoice in the Lord and dig it again.

As I see it, sooner than later, you will strike through to your “Rehoboth prosperity”, by the power of He who is “More Than Enough”, and Who also owns all things (Psalms 24:1)! You won’t miss this, in the precious Name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Happy Sunday!

** Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

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God says: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

This means God always acts in ways, not only different from ours, but antithetical to ours. He contradicts our customs, values, and norms. Jesus presents this most emphatically: “What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15).

The practical implication of this is dumbfounding. It means gain in this world becomes loss in God’s kingdom. Success in the world becomes failure in the kingdom. Jesus says in the kingdom of God: “Many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Matthew 19:30).

Grace at work

Consider this, if man thinks something is white, God will declare it to be white. If man thinks something is good, God will declare it to be awful. If man has an Olympic Games participation, where medals are given to those who come first, in God’s kingdom games, the medals will be given to those who come last.

Everything is entirely at God’s discretion: “For God said to Moses, ‘I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.’ So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.” (Romans 9:15-16).

In effect, God never gives us what we think we deserve. Jesus said to me: “Femi, I don’t give people what they deserve. Therefore, only give people what they don’t deserve.” That is the grace of God.

Jesus says to Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Accordingly, Paul says: “Most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10).

Kingdom dynamics

In the kingdom of God, the way up is down. To enter, we must be born a second time. (John 3:3-5). To see, we must become blind. (John 9:39). To be full, we must hunger. (Luke 6:21). To gain, we must lose. (Matthew 13:44-46). To be rich, we must become poor. (1 Samuel 2:7). To be strong, we must be weak. (Judges 7:2-7). To be masters, we must be slaves. (Matthew 20:25-28). To laugh, we must weep. (Luke 6:21). To receive glory, we must endure suffering. (Luke 24:25-26). To be healed, we must be sick. (Luke 5:31). To live, we must die. (John 12:24). To save our life, we must lose it. (Matthew 16:25). To be first, we must be last. (Matthew 19:30). 

Everything in the kingdom of God is worked out in contradiction to what obtains in this world. Every advantage in the world translates to a disadvantage in the kingdom of God. Every disadvantage is an advantage: “Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low.” (Isaiah 40:4).

Therefore, God is against everyone and everything that is said to be first in this world: “For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up – and it shall be brought low.” (Isaiah 2:12).

Jesus says: “The last will be first, and the first last.” (Matthew 20:16).

God is jealous of anything said to be first, for only God can rightfully be first in everything. God says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” (Revelation 1:11). For this reason, He is ruthlessly against every firstborn child. According to God’s providence, the firstborn must suffer rejection, and the second or the last must replace him.

So, by God’s providence, the first man, Adam, sinned inevitably and suffered rejection. He was replaced by the last man, Jesus. Adam is the first Adam, and Jesus is the last Adam. (1 Corinthians 15:45). The first Adam failed woefully by God’s determinate counsel. But the last Adam, Jesus, succeeded gloriously by appointment: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22).

Adam brought the curse which God pronounced on mankind, as judgment for his sin of disobedience:

“Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19).

Eve also earned a curse for the same disobedience. God told her: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children.” (Genesis 3:19).

But the last Adam redeemed us from all curses and brought us the blessings of the Lord:

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:13-14).

Thanks to Jesus, God has now blessed us with: “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” (Ephesians 1:3).

This is how Paul presents this kingdom dynamic:

“‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.” (1 Corinthians 15:45-47).

Firstborn rejection

In this world, old age has supremacy over youth. The firstborn is preferred above and beyond his younger siblings. He is given authority over them. He automatically becomes the head of the family on the death of the father. He inherits a double portion of the family estate. In a royal family, the firstborn is the heir to the throne.

But God deliberately violates and contradicts this convention. He refuses to recognise the firstborn. Indeed, He opposes and rejects every firstborn.

Cain was the firstborn son of Adam. But God preferred his younger brother, Abel:

“Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering.” (Genesis 4:3-5).

God preferred Abraham over his older brothers, Haran and Nahor. He gave Abraham the covenant of being “the father of many nations.” (Genesis 17:4). Isaac was the younger son of Abraham. But God preferred him to his older brother, Ishmael. He said to Abraham:

“As for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him. I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac.” (Genesis 17:20-21). CONTINUED.

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At a time when society is increasingly turning against Christians for their beliefs, they will find little sanctuary in the Church of England.

“Pride is not a virtue but a sin” tweeted King Lawal, a Tory councillor who has just been suspended from the Party and is under investigation by Conservative headquarters. King Lawal defended his position, explaining: “what I said was biblically sound and a protected expression of the Christian faith”. 

“Pride” to the traditional Christian mind, is one of the seven deadly sins; but to society’s ears, the word has become wrapped up, first with LGBT rights, and now with broader social justice activism.

Lawal joins the ranks of an increasing number of Christians who will feel that modern-day Britain can no longer be a natural home for those who hold certain beliefs: Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a charity worker, was arrested twice and charged on four counts for silent prayer “thought crime” near an abortion facility. Dr David MacKereth, a Christian doctor, was sacked after misgendering trans patients because it violated his conscience. He later lost a discrimination claim against the Government, with the tribunal concluding that beliefs which restrict the fundamental rights of others are not protected under the Equality Act.

What is equally troubling is how traditional Christian beliefs, grounded in the Gospel, are coming into conflict with the New Religion, not just within society at large – but within the church itself.

The Church of England is becoming consumed by ideas that are not only extraneous to traditional Christian teachings, but in some cases, are opposed to it. Those who hold to these teachings are being squeezed out. In some instances the leadership, eager to swallow every so-called “progressive” pill, now seem to view Christ Himself as a problem.

How else can we interpret Stephen Cottrell’s complaints that the Lord’s Prayer is problematic? “This, then, is how you should pray” says Christ himself, in Matthew 6:9. Yet the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Stephen Cottrell thinks its language is too patriarchal. While parishes are turning into dust, churches left to “lie fallow”, bishops’ attention is taken up by follies like a commission into gendered language.

It was reported last week that York Minster has allegedly prevented a pro-life group, who are critical of the Archbishop of Canterbury, from attending public worship within the cathedral, while allowing climate activists to enter placards in hand. It has since denied the claims. 

Bristol Cathedral recently hosted an event with Bristol Climate Choir and Extinction Rebellion, processing with banners, through the church in a spectacle that resembled something of a medieval or pagan ritual. The Bishop of Bristol has, in the past, been explicit in her support of XR activist clergy. Commenting on the acquittal of Rev Sue Parfitt after she engaged in peaceful protest outside a Ministry of Defence site, Rev Vivienne Faull said: “I share with her the conviction that the world is facing a climate and ecological crisis and that we are not yet moving fast enough to tackle it”.

Such is the fixation with Net Zero that the Church of England is said to be considering “human composting” as an alternative to burial or cremation. Bishops may establish a consultation group to assess “theological considerations”. 

Teaching guidance issued by the Diocese of Edmundsbury and Ipswich states that pupils should learn about white privilege using the “white supremacy pyramid”. No surprise, perhaps, given that the Bishop of St Edmundsbury criticised the Government’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report after it found that factors such as family structure, class and socio-economic background had a greater impact on life chances than race. The Bishop maintained “there is no shortage of evidence of systemic racism, even if the [report] sought to argue against that”.

The Church’s Chief Education Officer, the Revd Canon Nigel Genders defended the guidance, arguing that teaching racial justice has “never been more important”. He backed CofE schools teaching “the enduring impact of slavery and the reality of institutional and systemic racism” and held that this work was “fundamental to what we believe as Christians”.

In the Diocese of Bristol sits the twelfth century Malmesbury Abbey, where Æthelstan – the first Rex Anglorum, “King of England” – is buried. I was last there for a funeral and remembered it having an atmosphere heavy with ancient sanctity. Paying another visit recently, what did I find? A coffee shop, sofas, television screens advertising a skate park in the Abbey, and a sprawling gift shop within the Abbey church. It seemed as though the place had been desecrated, and it was impossible not to leave feeling sad, robbed and resigned.

Has the Bishop of Bristol forgotten Christ’s words in the Temple: “my house will be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves”? I am certain they can’t see why any of this is offensive and disrespectful, but that is indicative of the problem.  

When it is not selling playing cards alongside the hallowed funerary monument to England’s first king, the Church of England is becoming so animated by controversial political ideas and syncretising these beliefs into a new theology that it looks as if they are dispensing of Christianity itself.

The Telegraph

Britain will seek to confiscate 101.5 million pounds ($130 million) from James Ibori, a former Nigerian state governor who abused his office to get rich and laundered millions in Britain and elsewhere, under a court order issued in London on Friday.

Ibori, who is in Nigeria, said he would appeal against the confiscation order, one of the largest imposed on an individual in recent British legal history.

"The next steps will be to take my fight for justice to the highest courts in the UK," he said in a statement.

Ibori was governor of oil-producing Delta State from 1999 to 2007 and was extradited from Dubai to Britain in 2011. He pleaded guilty in 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering and received a 13-year jail sentence of which he served half, as is standard.

The case was hailed as a landmark in the fight against corruption in Britain, a global money-laundering hub, and in Nigeria, where self-enrichment by the ruling elite has been one of the main factors holding back development for decades.

David Tomlinson, delivering the confiscation order at Southwark Crown Court, said Ibori should pay the sum immediately or face an eight-year jail sentence.

Spokespersons for Nigerian President Bola Tinubu did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether the Nigerian government would cooperate with the British authorities in enforcing the confiscation order.

Ibori remains well-connected in Nigeria. Tinubu, who took office in May, has hosted him twice at the presidential villa, along with other former governors. Ibori frequently mingles with the ruling elite, and has influence on Delta State politics.

The confiscation process took over a decade after Ibori's conviction because of lengthy court delays and legal wrangling in London.

"The long and tortuous road to reach this point shows just how tough it is to recover the proceeds of corruption in the UK," said Helen Taylor, Senior Legal Researcher at campaign group Spotlight on Corruption.

"To ensure justice delayed doesn’t mean justice denied for the Nigerian people, it’s essential that the UK now makes every effort to ensure the speedy return of this stolen loot to benefit the victims of Ibori’s corruption in Delta State," she said.

Britain has pledged to return any funds recovered from Ibori to Nigeria. In 2021, it returned 4.2 million pounds that had been confiscated from Ibori's ex-wife and his sister, who also served jail time for helping him.

($1 = 0.7788 pounds)

Reuters

Britain will seek to confiscate 101.5 million pounds ($130 million) from James Ibori, a former state governor in Nigeria who abused his office to get rich and laundered millions in Britain and elsewhere, under a court orderissued in London on Friday.

Here is a timeline of Ibori's complicated legal and political history:

EARLY CONVICTIONS IN BRITAIN

In the early 1990s, Ibori was living in London with his wife Theresa Ibori and for a time he worked as a shop assistant at a Wickes home improvements chainstore. The couple were arrested, convicted of theft and fined for trying to steal goods from the store.

Ibori was also convicted of possessing stolen goods after being caught with another man's American Express card at London's Euston train station.

POLITICAL RISE IN NIGERIA

In Lagos later in the 1990s, Ibori became close friends with Major Hamza al-Mustapha, who was Chief Security Officer to General Sani Abacha, the then military dictator of Nigeria. The connection helped him to get involved in politics and business.

In 1999, as Nigeria transitioned to democracy after Abacha's death, Ibori was elected governor of Delta State, one of Nigeria's top three oil-producing states. He served two consecutive four-year terms, stepping down in May 2007.

CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION

From 2005, Ibori was the subject of a joint investigation by Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and London's Metropolitan Police.

Investigators found properties he secretly owned in Britain, South Africa and the United States and evidence of his lavish lifestyle, including American Express credit card bills showing he routinely spent tens of thousands of dollars per month on luxury hotels, shopping, restaurants and night clubs.

$15 MILLION BRIBE

Then EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu alleged that Ibori had offered him $15 million in cash in April 2007 to drop the investigation. Ribadu said he pretended to accept but instead deposited the cash at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Ibori has denied this in statements to Nigerian media but has refused to be cross-examined in court in Britain. Ribadu testified about it under oath in a London court and British judges accepted his evidence as true.

EXTRADITION, JAIL AND HOMECOMING

In 2010, Ibori left Nigeria for Dubai. Britain requested his extradition and in 2011 he was flown to London and imprisoned.

In 2012, he pleaded guilty at London's Southwark Crown Court to 10 charges of fraud and money-laundering and was sentenced to 13 years in jail. Britain hailed the case as a landmark in the fight against corruption.

Ibori was released in December 2016, having served half of his sentence before and after conviction, and returned to Nigeria in early 2017. He was filmed being welcomed by cheering supporters in Delta State.

CONFISCATION DELAYS

British prosecutors began trying to confiscate Ibori's assets in 2013 but the process was repeatedly derailed by parallel, related legal action and by lengthy court delays.

Ibori and several co-defendants who had served jail time for assisting in his money-laundering launched appeals against their convictions, alleging that the investigation was tainted because of corruption in the ranks of the Metropolitan Police.

Court of Appeal judges rejected the claims and upheld the convictions in 2018.

Reuters

The Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Education has increased the school fees of new students into Federal Government Colleges otherwise known as Federal Unity Colleges to ₦100,000.

This was contained in a directive from the Office of the Director of Senior Secondary Education Department of the Federal Ministry of Education, reference number ADF/120/DSSE/I, dated 25th May, 2023, and addressed to all Principals of Federal Unity Colleges.

According to the circular entitled, “Approved fees/ charges for Federal Unity Colleges (1st Term) for new students“, signed by the Director of Senior Secondary Education, Binta Abdulkadir, new students are expected to part with ₦100,000 instead of the previous N45,000 (an increase of 122 percent).

“The latest fees/charge increment will affect virtually all aspects and activities of the school, including tuition and boarding fees, uniform, text books, deposit, exercise books, prospectus, caution fee, ID card, stationery, clubs and societies, sports, extra lesson, insurance, et al.

“Please be informed that the ministry has approved only the underlisted fees and charges for all Unity Colleges,” the memo read.

Punch