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  • ‘The world is quiet while we die’ (3)

    ‘The world is quiet while we die’ (3)

    Despair persists nine years after The Nation exposed Lafarge’s devastation of Ewekoro

    Cement company commissions school, other CSR projects following investigative reports

    Host communities’ health, safety form core values of our operations – Lafarge Africa

    Strolling through Ewekoro is like sifting through the crust of a previous existence. Even in the cheerless lull of a dreary afternoon, the village repulses like dead foetus. The bushes look green from afar. Closer, the greenery bleeds into thick grey blotches of cement dust. The cocoa yam leaves, cassava plants and vanishing palm trees bear insolent marks of industrial tenant, Lafarge Africa’s cement waste.

    Amid the bleakness, however, stands a block of three classrooms meant to host a secondary school. Painted in two shades of green, and sited in Egbado-Ajegunle, a village 30 minutes walk from Ewekoro, the building is Lafarge Africa’s urgent response to The Nation’s investigative reportage on the devastation it has wrought on Ewekoro, the immediate host community to its cement production plant. In a previous series, The Nation revealed that despite the devastation wrought on Ewekoro by the multinational cement company, the community has no school or health facility.

    In response to The Nation’s expose, the multinational cement company commissioned, on Thursday, December 14, “a block comprising three classrooms, office and toilets.” The foundation stone of the project bears the inscription: “Built by Lafarge, A member of Holcim, in conjunction with the Ewekoro community.”

    The following day, Friday, December 15, the cement company held its Community Day celebration. At the celebration marking its 2023 Community Day, Lafarge Africa launched a series of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects in Ewekoro.

    At the event held in Egbado-Ajegunle, which highlighted the company’s CSR projects in Ewekoro and its 11 satellite communities, the Chairman of the Ewekoro Community Relations Committee, Dotun Oderinde, who was represented by Gbemisola Sunday, commended Lafarge Africa for its contributions to its host communities and pleaded for more employment opportunities for their youths.

    “The company has been doing well for these communities. Various projects have been launched, and many women and youths have benefited from their CSR programme. Over 200 students are benefiting from their bursary award every year. They give uniforms and notebooks to indigent pupils in various schools. But, we want Lafarge to increase its budget for CSR because of inflation in the country. We need more cooperation in the area of employment of sons and daughters of the community too,” he said.

    Also speaking at the event, Prince Bola Awesu, an indigene and community leader in Ewekoro commended Lafarge Africa for initiating “transformative projects,” stressing that the cement company “has consistently supported its host communities and met their needs over the past few years.

    He said, “In healthcare, they provide facilities and initiatives that have benefited our people, and despite challenging climates, they continue to assist local farmers with essential farm implements. Additionally, the company contributes to education through bursaries and scholarships, which has enabled less privileged students to complete their studies. In Ewekoro, Lafarge has built a modern town hall and just yesterday commissioned the first secondary school in our vicinity.”

    Lafarge Africa’s Group Managing Director, Lolu Alade-Akinyemi, on his part, stated “At Lafarge Africa, community engagement isn’t just an obligation; it’s deeply ingrained as one of our values in sustainability. Our annual Community Day Celebration is a testament to our dedication to giving back and nurturing sustainable development in the places we call home.”

    Alade-Akinyemi commended the state government, traditional rulers, and the Community Relations Committee for creating an enabling environment for the company’s business.

    Beyond the pageant…

    Beyond the buzz of the CSR initiatives, outside the perimeters of Egbado-Ajegunle, Ewekoro subsists as a dispiriting picture of desolateness and neglect. Seasons bring nothing to this gulch save a harsh intimate anecdote painfully scrawled here and there, along barren footpaths, and on paint and stone of several houses tottering and yawning, like vastly crushed faces with holes big enough for ants, rodents and bats to dart in and out of their gaping chasms.

    “Nothing thrives in Ewekoro. That is why Lafarge finds it difficult to construct any project of note in the community. It would be unacceptable to education and health authorities for the company to build a school here (in Ewekoro). They know they would be endangering pupils and minors, in particular, as they would be exposed to cement dust pollution from their factory,” said Abiodun Otun, a plumber and former resident of Ewekoro.

    The greatest damage, however, is done to the farmlands. “We can’t farm here anymore. I used to cultivate ofada, cocoa, cassava and palm kernel seeds. I used to produce palm oil from palm kernel seeds and sell it to wholesalers. I had a lot of people working with me. Families sent their children to learn palm oil making under me but when Lafarge arrived in Ewekoro, I lost everything. My late husband’s farmland died from pollution. My farm too. We suffered huge losses. My children and grandchildren visited recently but they couldn’t sleep over. They had to go and sleep in a guest house in Itori. They have decided to relocate me to live with them in Ibadan,” said Ajiun Okelola, widow.

    Ghosts beneath the waters

    A trip around the village leads to greying tracts that coalesce where several bush paths meet and veer to the forgotten footpath to the Osun River.

    The river, also widely known as the Ewekoro River, sated the thirst of the natives and irrigated Ewekoro and neighbouring communities’ expansive farmlands.

    En route to the forest, the reporter was hit by an eerie sense of Deja Vu; just as it was during my first visit to the river, nine years ago, a pall of darkness floated above the swampy expanse into the groove of the river.

    In the groove, all kinds of things drifted with filth and stagnant waste to litter the waterway: weeds, jetsam, tadpoles, frogs, animal cadavers, and a lot yet unidentifiable in the deep of the river.

    It took time to hear what the river seemed to be saying and with the wind nudging them, the foliage too. It becomes difficult to understand why the forest should have a voice; the crickets chirped like old ghosts from the undergrowth and a light wind peeled back the greenery to reveal a sand grave and what is still left of an expanse that once heaved with cash crops.

    Far beneath the swamp of thicket and debris littering the river lays a deadly deposit of quicksand. Along the marsh leading to the deathtrap, a giant rat is seen gnawing at something, perhaps, a bat cadaver thus littering the swamp with the bones of yet another ghost.

    There seemed to be too many ghosts beneath and about the Osun River: the ghosts of sumptuous fishes that gradually turned toxic, according to the natives; the ghosts of men: farmers and fishermen and their endeavours in time of youth and the haunting lilt of folk song sung by the village women while they harvested palm kernel to make palm oil.

    Under the prod of hurrying feet, the sand shifted with water as if to wipe, once more, footprints of the forgotten farmers that tilled the vanishing farmlands and the crickets’ chirp added weight to the wind thus parting the shrubbery atop the river to show even more clearly, the toxic wreck that the river has become.

    All the details merged to accentuate the tragedy that has befallen the river and the vanishing farmlands.

    Before Lafarge arrived in the area, the Ewekoro LGA had five rivers which were used for irrigation, fishing and drinking purposes. The rivers were Ewekoro (also known as Osun River), Amititi, Sofuntere, Abalaye and Olorekore rivers. But the cement company reportedly channeled away the five rivers into its quarry causing the rivers to dry up. In Ewekoro, the Osun River – also known as the Ewekoro River – has equally been destroyed. It is currently overrun by cement slurry, stagnant filth, and a swamp of weeds.

    According to multiple scientific studies, the persistent discharge of industrial waste and cement slurry into Ewekoro’s waterbodies, which used to be the community’s sole source of natural water, made water from the river unsafe for cooking and human consumption.

    The natives can’t fish in it. They had to stop fishing in the river when the fish tasted funny. The fish tasted contaminated and dry in the mouth, like bad wood, according to a community chieftain. Ever since the river’s flow got impeded and the water got contaminated by Lafarge Africa’s operations, life has worsened for the residents of Ewekoro.

    The loss of the Ewekoro River to pollution knelled the death of the community’s once thriving agricultural economy. It is sadder to watch the Osun River grow fetid and stagnant with filth even as the community suffers the extinction of its agricultural touchstone.

    Read Also; 2023: CONUA, Tinubu and Weah

    A harvest full of toxins

    Aside from Ewekoro’s loss of its waterbodies, food and cash crops get destroyed as farm produce is affected by cement dust released into the atmosphere. The Nation’s findings revealed the extent of environmental degradation of Ewekoro’s farmlands; for instance, plantains harvested from a farm bore marks of stunted growth.

    In a recent study published in 2023, and titled, “Assessment of Radium Equivalent Activity and Total Annual Effective Dose in Cassava” cultivated around Ewekoro Cement Factory, a team of researchers led by Olusegun Adewoyin of the Departments of Physics and Biological Sciences, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, discovered that the health of residents, children and infants in particular, are imperiled by their consumption of the food crop.

    In the study which was conducted to assess the radionuclide content of the food crop, 27 samples of both arable soil and cassava tubers were studied at different sites to the epicenter of the mining activity.

    The results revealed the highest activity concentrations of radionuclide content respectively, in the soil to be at Site 1, which was 50 m away from the cement mining site. All the results, according to the study, were higher than the recommended safe limits by a factor of two. “Moreover, the Total Annual Effective Dose of exposure by oral ingestion of cassava tubers for different age groups revealed children to have the highest level of exposure with the highest mean value of 7.98 mSv. Therefore, the results of the total averages of annual effective doses due to consumption of the three natural radionuclides in cassava tubers and other products by adults, children, and infants were found to be above the average annual ingestion radiation dose due to natural sources,” according to the study.

    According to health experts, cancer is the major consequence of ingesting radionuclides. Radium, via oral exposure, is known to cause bone, head, and nasal passage tumours in humans, and radon, via inhalation exposure, causes lung cancer in humans. Uranium may cause lung cancer and tumours of the lymphatic and hematopoietic tissues.

    In another study carried out to determine the extent to which Lafarge Africa’s operations affect agricultural output in the area, it was discovered that the company’s activities affect agricultural output negatively through environmental degradation.

    The study which was anchored by Kola Subair, PhD, of the School of Business, Media and Information Technology, American Heritage University, San Bernadino, United States of America (USA) used farmers in Ewekoro as the target population and Owode (Owode is not within the same LGA as Ewekoro) farmers as a control population.

    The management staff and employees of Lafarge and farmers in the studied locations were respondents. In all, 111 respondents made up of 11 staff of Lafarge and 100 farmers from the studied locations were carefully selected. One management staff and 10 other staff of the cement company were selected through a systematic sampling procedure using the staff list as the sampling frame.

    Fifty farmers were also randomly selected from the list of farmers made available by the Village Extension Agents (VEAS) of the Ogun State Agricultural Development Programme (OGADEP) for each study area.

    In its gross margin and profit analyses the study shows that the gross margin for average farmers in  Owode shows a considerable reduction in cost as the farm size increases while that of Ewekoro increases along with its farm size. This is corroborated by the lower total variable cost (TVC) of N10,538.44 naira incurred by Owode farmers compared to that of N13,686.15 incurred by Ewekoro farmers.

    Worse still, the Ewekoro farmers earn less revenue compared to Owode farmers. The revenue earned by an average farmer in Ewekoro was N47, 744.79 while that of an Owode farmer was N61, 745.60 per harvest period.

    A history of futile protests

    In a letter addressed to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001, the community sought the assistance of the former president in taming the scourge of Lafarge’s operations in their neighbourhood.  In the letter, titled: “SOS to President Olusegun Obasanjo,” the community claimed that the cement company had not “shown sympathy” to their plight and urged the President to be magnanimous in coming to their aid.

    In another eight-paragraph letter written by the community’s attorney to the cement company’s management, the community demanded reparations from the company to the tune of N2.5 billion.

    In 1985, through a publication in the now defunct National Concord newspaper of December 4, the community called the attention of the then military governor of Ogun State, Captain Mohammed Lawal to the company’s activities. The community also contracted a law firm to write the cement company on February 10, 1993, to demand reparation for loss and damages suffered by the company’s limestone blasting and cement production activities but the cement company customarily rebuffed their effort.

    On February 20, 1995, the community embarked on a protest at the company’s factory gates at Ewekoro with placards bearing the inscriptions: “No more blasting without building houses for us; “Enough is enough, 30 years (1960-1990) lease expired without any payment;” “Fresh negotiation required for second term (1991-2020) 30 years lease.”

    Politics of a lease agreement

    The natives claim that Ewekoro communities are being defrauded of their dues conferred upon them by a lease agreement signed on January 13, 1964, on behalf of WAPCO now Lafarge-WAPCO by the Western regional government of the period. They claim the lease was extended over 500 years contrary to provisions of the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which compelled the then Ministry of Land to sign a 30-year basic lease agreement with WAPCO commencing on October 27, 1963. The agreement reportedly compelled the cement company to pay annual rents to the land owners through the Western regional government, making the rents revisable after 20 years and every 10 years thereafter.

    To this, Lafarge responded: “To the best of our knowledge, there is an existing lease from the appropriate authorities which Lafarge is operating in Ewekoro. Anyone with copies of other agreements should produce such for all to see.”

    We have executed several CSR projects in Ewekoro – Lafarge Africa

    Above the din of native dissent, Lafarge Africa demonstrates commendable performance as a responsible corporate citizen, according to the company’s Head of Corporate Communications,  Ginikanwa Frank-Durugbor. Shedding light on Lafarge Africa’s social interventions in Ewekoro, she said, “We acknowledge our host communities as valued partners, working collaboratively towards a shared future. Through job creation, annual CSR interventions, and various positive contributions to the ecosystem, we continually enhance the livelihoods of the community residents. Our commitment lies in leaving enduring positive impacts that benefit society at large.”

    According to her, several CSR projects have been successfully executed in Ewekoro, encompassing a variety of initiatives including the construction of a Community Townhall, a block comprising three classrooms, office and toilets, the installation of boreholes and overhead tanks for water supply, construction of public toilet facilities, lockup shops and the implementation of drainage systems.

    “We also provide non-infrastructural interventions including farmers support scheme, bursary awards to tertiary students as well as elders support to the elderly. In addition to these are youth empowerment initiatives to the residents of the Ewekoro community where we distribute things like tricycles (Keke NAPEPS), sewing machines, motorbikes, and freezers to enable the youth to run their business and improve their livelihood,” she said.

    Relief at last?

    In the wake of The Nation’s reportage, Lafarge Africa launched a host of CSR projects including a block of three classrooms meant for a secondary school. Even so, several residents accord the company’s CSR projects a quizzical glance. Some argue it is a knee-jerk reaction to what it deems uncomplimentary media mention.

    “Everything will stop immediately the media attention stops. All the meetings they have with our traditional rulers only benefit the traditional rulers and their cliques,” laments a member of the community.

    Corroborating her, a member of the community’s chieftaincy council revealed that traditional rulers are unable to speak the truth about their condition because they fear losing the contract opportunities and patronage they enjoy from Lafarge Africa. Consequently, they seek to quash dissent from any quarter within the company’s host communities.

    It would be recalled that Baale Gabriel Akinremi suffered a persistent backlash from fellow traditional rulers in the community, nine years ago, in the wake of The Nation’s exposure to the environmental degradation and health hazards posed by Lafarge’s operations. He was singled out for granting The Nation an interview, even though he wasn’t the only news medium interviewed. Other chiefs pleaded anonymity. Eventually, Akinremi caved into bullying from his colleagues and state government officials, and by the second instalment of a five-part investigative series, he was begging The Nation to stop publishing the reports. The Nation would go on to complete the series against all odds.

    Nine years after the initial exposure much still needs to be done to alleviate the living conditions of the people of Ewekoro.

    From the point of view of an environment management practitioner, Professor Michael Ajide Oyinloye of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, School of Environmental Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, there is need to significantly and painlessly reduce the volume of carbon dioxide emissions resulting from Ewekoro cement factory considering the importance of carbon dioxide in the greenhouse gas effects in global warming.

    He said, “Considering the quantity of carbon dioxide produced per ton of cement, the use of mineral admixtures, which would otherwise, be landfilled is a must for the environment and the cement industries.

    “Effort geared toward reclaiming the quarry site should be extended further by actually transforming quarry site into parks and gardens for recreational purpose via such projects like afforestation, scarification and final conversion into animal zoos and gardens where people can visit and pay a token that will be used in maintaining such projects.”

    Professor Oyinloye stated that the location of cement industries should be far from residential areas to avoid the menace of noise, vibration, dust and heavy vehicular movement, and the government should look into the pollution control policy, putting into consideration that on no occasion should any residential building be allowed for approval within 1km to any cement factory to reduce the rate of inhalation harmful substances by the people.”

    That’s in the long run, in the short run, neither the Federal Ministries of Health, Environment or Solid Minerals nor their counterparts in the host state to Lafarge Africa, Ogun, have shown any interest in the plight of the natives of Ewekoro.

    However, The Nation’s findings revealed that aside from Lafarge Africa’s rush of CSR projects in Ewekoro, it has brokered a meeting with aggrieved residents of the community. The meeting which was supposed to be held on Friday, December 22, has been rescheduled for Thursday, December 28.

    To futility and beyond

    As Lafarge prepares to meet its hosts on the drawing board, there are hopes that the meeting would signal new vistas of constructive engagement cum mutually beneficent co-existence between the industrial tenant and its host community.

    Against the backdrop of the planned meeting, dystopia persists in Ewekoro. Despair shines like final fate in the pealing grey of its dying glen as the natives bemoan their sacrificed lives, sighing through fruitless streets.

    Their sighs rattle the air with an eerie resonance as the township recoils, like a dirt palace abandoned on a tract indecent miles from the Government House in Oke Mosan, Abeokuta.

    “After your reports, what next? You were here nine years ago. Government feigned interest. Lafarge hastened a series of CSR programmes. And that was it. Your stories can’t provoke the kind of miracle that we want. Even if it would happen, it won’t be in my lifetime,” said a traditional chief in Ewekoro.

    Left to him, the devastation of his birth land may continue unchecked as the government and regulatory authorities are oblivious to their miseries.

    He said, “In some way, I believe they are simply waiting for my generation to die off. Afterwards, they will buy what’s left of Ewekoro off our children, for a token.”

    Only then would the cancelling out be complete, perhaps. Until then, the embattled natives will continue to distil survival from heartbreak, sleeping and waking in homes completely buried in sludge and cement dust.

    Parents will recall wistfully when Ewekoro pulsed and prospered by its agricultural economy even as their children depart in search of greener pastures.

    Those who pack up and leave often take a look around before their departure, knowing they will never return. Those who choose to stay are too stubborn, too stoic, and too poor to have much choice.

    ‘We have successfully executed several CSR projects in Ewekoro’ – Lafarge

    Head, Corporate Communications, Ginikanwa Frank-Durugbor, sheds light on multinational’s social interventions in Ewekoro.

    What measures have been taken by Lafarge Africa to mitigate the health impact of the environmental pollution of Ewekoro on the natives of its host community?

    At Lafarge Africa, Health and Safety is a core value and is embedded throughout our operations. At our Ewekoro plant, we continue to implement the following measures to address environmental impacts associated with cement manufacturing activities: I. We continuously ensure our operations are carried out according to the standard environmental regulations of the nation. ii.  We have installed the most recent dust abatement equipment which is the bag house system to filter dust from our operations before exiting the stack chimneys and we have a robust maintenance system in place to ensure its functionality. iii. As part of our responsibility to the Holcim group and to ensure good environmental compliance, we have installed online monitoring equipment in our plants; to measure our dust emissions continuously. This equipment is also calibrated at regular schedules, to ensure there is no deviation from regulatory standards.  iv. We periodically engage community residents through focus group discussions (a combination of the community chiefs, Men, women and Youth) using a government-accredited consultant to evaluate the impact of Lafarge operations on the neighbouring communities. The subject of discussion usually entails common diseases, livelihood, sources of income and advantages/disadvantages of Lafarge operation around the communities.

    Feedback from these discussions is usually submitted alongside our statutory environmental report to the regulatory authority.  After submission, officials of the Ministry of Environment come for a verification visit to the communities to validate the feedback received. So far, we have not been notified of any breaches relating to the health of villagers.

     How does Lafarge Africa evaluate the effectiveness of those measures? What are the yardsticks used to determine their success or otherwise?

    Regularly, we monitor our impacts to ensure that they are within the regulatory limits. For example. A)  Noise and vibration during every of our blasting operations and all data from the last 2 years were below the Federal Ministry of Environment for noise and below W.H.O. standards of 5 mm/s for vibration.

    B) Quarterly, a government-accredited environmental consultant visits the plant to carry out measurements of our stack emissions and run-off water discharges. All measurement data are within the regulatory standards.

    C) Monthly dust and Noise measurement of the LAP fence line is done by 3rd party consultant to evaluate our impact.

    D) A periodic comprehensive environmental audit of our facility is a statutory requirement according to regulation. From the last environmental audit, analytical data from the soil, water, particulate matter, and vegetation were all below the Nigerian regulatory limit.

    We conduct a periodic audit of our system by the Holcim group, Federal Ministry of Environment, Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Standard Organization of Nigeria and State Ministry of Environment.

    We also measure effectiveness through Compliance Monitoring by the regulatory agencies. 

    Would you say the company has accorded Ewekoro access to the best CSR initiatives (in medical and social projects for instance) vis-a-vis the damage wreaked on the community by its operations?

    Lafarge demonstrates commendable performance as a responsible corporate citizen. We acknowledge our host communities as valued partners, working collaboratively towards a shared future. Through job creation, annual CSR interventions, and various positive contributions to the ecosystem, we continually enhance the livelihoods of the community residents. Our commitment lies in leaving enduring positive impacts that benefit society at large.

    Several CSR projects have been successfully executed in Ewekoro, encompassing a variety of initiatives. For example, Construction of a Community Townhall.  Construction of a block comprising three classrooms, office and toilets. Installation of boreholes and overhead tanks for water supply.

    Construction of public toilet facilities. Construction of lockup shops. Implementation of drainage systems, among other endeavours.

    We also provide non-infrastructural interventions including a farmers’ support scheme, bursary awards to tertiary students as well as elder support to the elderly.

    In addition to these are youth empowerment initiatives for the residents of the Ewekoro community where we distribute things like Keke Napeps, sewing machines, motorbikes, and freezers to enable the youth to run their businesses and improve their Livelihood.

    Would you say Lafarge has executed CSR programmes in Ewekoro on the same scale as in other communities in the Local Government Area (LGA)?

    All our 12 host communities are assigned an equal budget yearly from the current allocated annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) budget for equity and fairness. Lafarge executes CSR programmes in the Ewekoro community on the same scale as all other host communities in the Local Government.

    How does Lafarge Africa evaluate the effectiveness and success of its CSR initiatives in Ewekoro? What are the yardsticks used to determine the success or otherwise of social projects, for instance?

    All our host communities are equally important to us and we highly value good relations with them.

    Our evaluation framework places significant emphasis on ensuring the sustainability and lasting benefits of our projects in Ewekoro. We assess projects based on criteria such as the long-term impact, encompassing both the duration and breadth of influence within the community. Additionally, we evaluate initiatives concerning their capacity-building aspects, the empowerment of community members, and their potential to cultivate self-reliance. To gauge the success of our CSR interventions in Ewekoro, we employ various tools and methodologies. These include active stakeholder engagement to understand community needs, feedback mechanisms to gather beneficiary input, impact assessment studies, and continuous monitoring and evaluation processes. These measures collectively aid us in determining the effectiveness and overall impact of our initiatives on the community’s sustainable development.

    What in your estimation may constitute the most realistic and long-term solution to Lafarge Africa’s pollution of Ewekoro?

    Our commitment is to keep running our operations in line with the principles of sustainable development and comply with applicable legal, regulatory, industry and corporate requirements.

    What is the annual budget each host community gets for CSR projects.

    At Lafarge Africa Plc (LAP), our people and communities are at the heart of our social interventions.

    Therefore, on an annual basis, we ensure that our host communities receive a CSR allocation. For the Ewekoro community specifically, N216million is allocated and this is shared equally among the 12 host communities. (This information is also available in our annual reports).

    Is there a way Lafarge monitors the disbursement and implementation in order to ascertain that they are used for the intended social projects?

    The CSR allocation is not disbursed directly to the host communities in cash, but is used for projects identified by each host community.

    We have developed four CSR pillars based on the areas of the most need for the host communities, which are Education, Empowerment, Health and Safety and Shelter and Infrastructure. The host communities then identify projects based on these CSR pillars and submit their project request through the Community Relations Committee (which is made up of representatives from each of the 12 host communities, as well as LAP ). We ensure that the projects are implemented by vendors from the communities, who are accredited through a procurement process, to boost the local economy.  In line with the agreed project milestones, payment is made to the vendors.

    To ensure the projects are properly delivered, there is a sub committee of the Community Relations Committee, known as the Project Monitoring Committee, responsible for monitoring each project to ensure it is properly delivered. In addition, we conduct regular monitoring and evaluation exercises to ascertain the impact and beneficiaries of each CSR project.”

  • Fubara needs to change tack

    Fubara needs to change tack

    IF Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State felt the peace deal he signed before the president in Abuja last Monday left him with the short end of the stick, he did not immediately betray his feelings. There were probably one or two others in his delegation who felt queasy like him. But a day later in Rivers State, when he addressed the 3rd Convocation and 6th Founders Day ceremonies of PAMO University of Medical Sciences in Iriebe Town, Obio Akpor local government area of the state, it had become obvious that he felt disadvantaged by the peace deal brokered by the president to end the simmering conflict unsettling Rivers. Plaintively, with lips quivering as he struggled to dam the tears welling up in him, he announced that no price was too high to pay to ensure peace in the state. He had had about 24 hours to reflect on the eight-point peace deal he signed, particularly items three, four and five which deal with the restoration of legislative leadership, representation of state budget, and re-absorption of 10 commissioners who had of their own volition resigned from his cabinet, and appeared chastened that he had been made to look less like the valiant warrior he had positioned himself to be in the early weeks of his battle with his mentor, FCT minister and former governor Nyesom Wike.

    There is a groundswell of opposition against the deal from his state inspired by two former governors, Rufus Ada George and Peter Odili as well as notable Ijaw leaders, including Edwin Clark, a former Information minister. The opposition against the deal is hardening, particularly with sundry street protests, but it is not clear whether it will acquire enough amperage in the weeks ahead to deflate and derail the agreement. Perhaps if the governor had not been compelled to take back the commissioners and submit to the Speaker Martin Amaewhule-led Assembly leadership, the governor’s hands would have been strengthened. The ex parte injunction granted him weeks ago had given him a distorted sense of political and constitutional supremacy, from which high grounds climbing down appears onerous and humiliating. If the tempo of the disgust against the deal is maintained, the hawks may yet have the upper hand. But that advantage will be unable to endure for very long. The state has not only wobbled into a legal and constitutional cul de sac, it has sadly displayed before the whole country its inability to produce inspiring leaders with the capacity to understand complex problems and issues and find resolutions.

    Some of the state’s leaders as well as analysts outside Rivers have suggested that the problem is essentially a constitutional one which the courts must be made to resolve. But there is nothing in the misunderstanding between the governor’s camp and Mr Wike’s forces that shows that the disagreement is either legal or constitutional. It may have morphed somewhat into a constitutional matter, but it began strictly and almost wholly as a political disagreement between Mr Fubara and his mentor over how the state is run. The governor is reported to have felt choked by his predecessor’s demands and insistences. So far, however, neither of the combatants has availed the public directly what the crux of the matter really is. There is a lot of waffling going on, with whispers and suspicions about money, influence and positions running riot. Interestingly, both have publicly limited themselves to the more sanguine and noble part of their disputes. Mr Wike talks about the betrayal of political structure, thereby cleverly rousing and pricking the conscience of leading politicians obsessed with such matters, while Mr Fubara talks about external meddlesomeness, indicating that his animus is directed against anyone who wants to compromise the sovereignty of the state. Both positions resonate with each man’s captive crowds.

    The Abuja deal obviously took off from the point of view of politics, believing that the misunderstanding between the governor and his predecessor is essentially outside the purview of the constitution and only tangentially related to the issue of law. There is of course sense in trying to resolve such matters from the point of view of the law and the constitution, for then such conflicts stand the chance of setting precedents and curating solutions that endure. In addition, some argue, it will help Nigerian democracy to stabilise and mature. This naturally suggests that the godfather phenomenon, with which the Rivers crisis is lathered, or the grander and nobler subject of mentorship from which prism Mr Wike’s supporters like to look at the problem, is both unknown to the constitution and fraught with moral and  interpretative difficulties. In the weeks ahead, as the protests in Port Harcourt are indicating, one of the two arguments will take the upper hand. The governor’s plaintive cry at the PAMO university convocation may indicate that at bottom he resents the deal, and would love to undermine it; but his statement about paying a high price for peace may also indicate that the pragmatist in him embraces the intuitive wisdom of downplaying the radicalism and threats of his young and ageing supporters. Given the complicated cut and thrust of Rivers State politics, if the presidency, which brokered the deal last Monday, is not already contemplating other political alternatives, it would be surprising. They should ponder their shrinking options.

    Read Also; 2023: CONUA, Tinubu and Weah

    No commentator on the Rivers crisis has failed to blame both the governor and his predecessor for the crisis stifling the state. Mr Wike is denounced as abrasive and overbearing, and Mr Fubara is dismissed as naïve and overreaching. Until the governor exploded in uncharacteristic rage, few except those close to him knew the pressures he endured from his predecessor. His problem, however, is his limited capacity in managing a godfather apparently consumed with his own fantasies, his inability to calibrate and moderate his reactions to his mentor’s provocations. His methods had been amateurish and boyish, sometimes wearing a distant and wistful look on his face; but in regards to the latest eruptions, nearly every step he has taken has been misplaced, every statement unreal, and his rallying cries uncourageous, superficial and unconvincing. To compound these faults with excessive display of emotions is to court disaster. Not to have a mind of his own and to wrap this failing in poor judgement led to the excessive and short-sighted response of demolishing the House of Assembly building to preempt his impeachment, an impeachment that was more bluff than real.

    On the surface, Mr Wike has appeared to have the upper hand in the peace deal. But in reality, he has also seemed to lose the public esteem he desperately covets. That means Mr Fubara has the opportunity to carve something extraordinary for himself, assuming he can surround himself with brilliant and farsighted advisers. Instead of crying over split milk, he should see what lemonade he can make from the lemon life has given him. He is obviously disadvantaged and shackled, and must now contend with a triumphant and skewed legislature as well as a cabinet that appears beholden to someone else. But it is in such hostile circumstances that leaders are forged. Mr Fubara seems at bottom committed to making the Abuja accord work. Let him, therefore, see how he can disarm the hostile lawmakers instead of combating them; and deploying all manner of suasions, let him also entrance his cabinet and inoculate them against division and bellicosity. He must find novel ways of resisting Mr Wike without openly engaging him in fruitless battles on hostile grounds. His side of the story, hitherto concealed, has come into the open; and while it portrays him as tactically inept, it nevertheless shows that his predecessor has been exacting. He needs to proceed warily, tactically, and must eschew the sanctimonious approach hardliners in the state are urging upon him.

    By now, Mr Wike must have known that he is in a very delicate position. By taking a ministerial appointment with the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration while still retaining his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he is running with the hare and hunting with the hounds, a guile every fibre in his being repudiates. The groundswell of opinion in Rivers is largely against him, especially with the governor’s hasty alliance with the Labour Party (LP), a group of highly motivated and pugnacious but unthinking partisans. If that dubious alliance is sustained, it will constitute a formidable opposition to Mr Wike and his defecting lawmakers, especially if he himself chooses to also defect. Even if the peace deal endures, there is no way the FCT minister can retain his hold on the state on the level he fantasises. He must begin to reassess his politics as scrupulously and realistically as he can muster. Mr Fubara is an impossible person to deal with, given the abysmal manner he fraternises with the ‘enemy’. Had that not been the case, it would have been advisable for the FCT minister to ensure a rapprochement with the governor and in addition ask his men to give him the fullest support in governing Rivers. But there are many around the governor who resent an Abuja potentate dictating to the state, especially when the state has a few wary ex-governors of its own, including the flip-flopping Dr Odili.

    Mr Wike’s friends in the APC must now begin to quietly reassess their politics, particularly the part that involves Rivers State in their electoral calculations. They need a buffer elsewhere, a plan B no less. Nothing guarantees that they will henceforth always get Rivers into the APC column. In fact, given the current mood in the state, and the unwise and hasty defections and resignations, Rivers is an electoral toss-up. The state is of course not also guaranteed for the PDP or LP in the years and elections ahead, seeing that both parties are likely to become engulfed in crisis sooner or later, but it can play a great spoiler in 2027. APC leaders, Senator Adams Oshiomhole revealed at a book launch in Abuja last week, enjoy internecine wars and cannot always be trusted to fight bravely and consensually. Factions of the ruling party, for various reasons, may want to exploit and harden the division in Rivers. Rivers is, therefore, in a flux; so, too, is politics 2027. The ongoing crisis in the state, which mercifully is yet to ossify, should be sensibly managed to prevent it from convulsing the nation. But there are no guarantees that both Mr Fubara and Mr Wike can manage their egos well enough not to impede their goals or ambitions. Sadly, the greater responsibility of finding a happy ending to the Rivers saga lies with the APC and Mr Wike, not the governor who is playing victimhood very elegantly and adroitly.

    Strangely, too, Rivers State elders, including Mr Wike and the governor, are unable to appreciate or properly decipher the state’s regnant culture or zeitgeist. The entire state is culpable. As governor, Mr Wike waxed lyrical over the state, constituting his own troubadour, belabouring his opponents, and traducing monarchs. They suffered his harangues for years, gritting their teeth and dancing to his tunes. Once he left, the elders and stakeholders simply transferred their allegiances to the new men in the saddle, desensitised to their own lack of fidelity to and even disinterest in any political virtue. The constitution and the law never mattered. With Mr Fubara, despite his glaring flaws, his abysmal misreading of history and lack of principles and almost total ignorance of ideology, the state’s elders have seen and embraced a new champion. Their fecklessness proved lethal in the last polls, and it will define and stultify both the politics of the state in the coming years as well as distort future polls. Decades of returning fantastic polling figures may have now given way to the shocking realism of BVAS, but those years and structural and electoral changes have not reconstructed electoral behavior on a scale that gives hope for predictability and a great and enduring future. For stakeholders and elders who never cared about the constitution for years, it is shocking that they now rhapsodise its beauty and sacrosanctness.

    However, Rivers State is not alone in projecting the politics of opportunism. With the exception of a few political leaders who make tokenistic appeal to ideology or any other thing that appears a little lofty, most states and politicians subscribe to nothing more than the politics of expediency. This column suggested last week and at other times in the past that Mr Wike, apart from being unideological himself, settled on Mr Fubara as his successor for the wrong reasons, chief among which was his successor’s presumed loyalty and perhaps engaging stoicism. Like other states which adopted that flawed approach to succession, Rivers cannot produce a different, idealised outcome. The Abuja deal cannot in any way promote peace for the long term. The problem is much more fundamental than defecting lawmakers and resigning commissioners. Mr Wike may have some advantage now, but he will have to adopt statesmanlike attitude far more subliminal than he is capable of to produce the outcome everyone dreams about. And Mr Fubara himself, who is believed to be incapable of his predecessor’s charismatic politics and quick wittedness, must find and surround himself with incredible beings of sound judgement and philosophy capable of creating the political environment lawyers and constitutionalists around Nigeria talk very glibly about. He has disavowed the virtue of joining his predecessor to create an ironclad system capable of withstanding outside stresses or of imbibing a defined and centralising ideology; he will face the possibility, like the intransigent Mr Wike himself, of being defeated or damaged separately. It is unfortunately difficult to be optimistic as the state cavorts in mediocrity and poor leadership all-round. 

  • Yuletide: POS operators make hay as cash crunch bites harder

    Yuletide: POS operators make hay as cash crunch bites harder

    • Charge as high as 10% for transactions
    • NLC asks for creative measures to deliver workers from suffering
    • FG throws borders open for Nigerians with expired passports to return
    • Govt to focus on improved, healthy workplaces – Minister
    • Two die, five injured as SUV rams into truck in Ogun

    Point of Sale (POS) operators in many parts of the country are now demanding a 10% service charge per withdrawal as the naira scarcity bites harder ahead of the Christmas and New Year festivities.

    The banking halls are currently shut for Christmas and many of the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) are not dispensing cash.

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in its Christmas message yesterday asked government to “seek creative measures that will lift the present humongous suffering from our shoulders,” a day after the Trade Union Congress (TUC) warned the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to put an immediate end to the naira scarcity or force it (union) to consider exploring “our usual options whenever the working people are pushed to the wall.”

    An investigation by our correspondents in parts of the country yesterday showed that even the POS operators appeared to be running short of cash to give those wishing to do business with them.

    Many Nigerians who have cash are reluctant to spend it, preferring to conduct their business with the aid of ATM cards of through transfer. 

    Most of the banks at Alimosho, Akowonjo, Egbeda, Mushin, Ladipo, Isolo areas of Lagos were out of cash, leaving customers with the only option of patronising the POS.

    Some bans have restricted daily cash withdrawals to between ₦10,000 and ₦20,000 per customer, thus further exacerbating the cash crunch.

    One of our correspondents who approached a PoS operator at Mushin, Lagos yesterday to withdraw N25000 was told he had to pay N2500 (10%).He was able to beat down the service charge to N200 after much begging.

    A Lagos resident, Wale Taiwo, who sought for cash at a POS shop in Iyana-Ipaja, Alimosho, was made to part with 10 percent of every transaction.

    “I was compelled to pay N500 for a N5, 000 transaction because the majority of the POS agents in my neighbourhood didn’t have cash, so the only one operating in the area made a killing by charging everyone exorbitantly,” he said.

    He said it was even more exorbitant to send money to the hinterlands as the POS operators outside Lagos charge more.

    Sharing the experience of a close ally who sent money to his folks in Auchi, Edo state, he said the fellow paid 10 percent on a N50,000 transaction on Wednesday.

    Enugu, Awka and Asaba residents are experiencing a similar situation which has put their plans for the Christmas in disarray.

    Many of the bank ATMs at Zik Avenue and Agbani Road in Enugu had no cash to dispense yesterday.

    Following the development, traders are understood to have stopped taking money realized from trading to the banks for now.

    Point of Sale  (PoS) operators  in Asaba metropolis have raised withdrawal charges. They now charge N200 for N5000 instead of the former N100.The POS operators are also having a swell time in Anambra State since the ATMs are unable to meet the demands of the people.

    In Abuja, the ATMs dispense cash only during certain times of the day and within a short time the cash is usually exhausted by customers.

    Despite the tough situation, many Nigerians continued with their shopping and travels for the festivities.

    But the situation is different in Kaduna where the service charge remains unchanged, according to our correspondent.

    The cash scarcity is also not pronounced in the state.

    NLC to FG: Lift Nigerians out of suffering

    President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, in his Christmas message yesterday said the government should get creative and pull Nigerians out of the present hardship in the country.

    “Despite the difficulties that many of us have faced and continue to endure, let us remember the essence of Christmas – a time of reflection, gratitude, and the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. His teachings emphasize love, compassion, and the enduring power of hope even in the face of adversity,” he said.

    He added: “We must do everything to love ourselves as workers and as a people. It is only in dwelling in unity that we can build the needed strength to for a better nation.

    Read Also; Oshiomhole’s reminiscences whet appetite

    “However, one of the best ways to demonstrate love is to have an understanding that we are one. We are workers and we are the masses. We are bound together by oppression, fear, deprivation, misery, poverty and helplessness.

    “This perception will become so powerful that it molds and builds us into a powerful force that cannot be broken which can then be used to create liberty and free ourselves from the shackles of the forces of retrogression.

    “We must therefore not allow ourselves to be divided along any lines at all be it ethnic, religious or communal lines. This season must teach us that we are one!

    “That is why in the spirit of Christmas, let us come together as a nation, transcending our differences, to spread love and goodwill. It is in these moments of unity that we find the strength to overcome challenges and build a brighter future for ourselves and generations to come. “Nations are built when the people decide to stand together and work in unity and in love. It is difficult to build the kind of nation we want if we continue seeing ourselves as different in any way or form.

    “This is what has allowed unpatriotic elements to hijack our levers of governance which they have continually used to negate the interests and desires of our people and our nation.

    “This season must lead us to resolve to build a new nation by mending every crack that has allowed the enemies of the people to take undue advantage of us and hold down the nation perpetually in the morass of underdevelopment.

    “As we gather with family and friends to celebrate, may the mind of Jesus Christ guide our thoughts and actions. Let His teachings inspire us to be kinder, more compassionate, and to extend a helping hand to those in need.

    “Christmas is not only a time for festive joy but also an opportunity to reflect on our blessings and share them with others. We cannot love others if we do not love our nation. The love of the nation must be tied in loving others and ourselves. If we love our nation, we must then be led by those principles upon which great nations are built.

    “To those who have faced hardships this year, we offer a message of hope. Remember that even in the darkest hours, there is a glimmer of light. Together, we can overcome challenges and build a more resilient and compassionate society. Let hope be the beacon that guides us into a brighter and more promising future.

    “We urge those in Government to also allow the spirit of Christmas to lead them in all their policies and actions. Jesus served his followers selflessly and we hope that our leaders at all levels will emulate this and serve Nigerians selflessly.

    “Instead of heaping heavy burden on the people, it is important that they seek creative measures that will lift the present humongous suffering from our shoulders. Instead of handouts, Nigerians expect concrete actions with solid results.

    We’ll ensure standard working environment for workers – minister

    Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, on an inspection visit to the  headquarters of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Abuja said the  Federal government was  focused on standardising the nation’s work environment for improved safe and healthy workplaces, and higher productivity.

    The project, which has reached 70 per cent, is expected to be delivered before the first quarter of next year.

    The minister said the ministry would increase efforts in ensuring that factories and other workplaces comply with regulations and the minimum international best practices for the health and safety of the nation’s workforce.

    Onyejeocha said in this new focus, the ministry would incorporate the labour unions to be part of their factory inspections team to ensure that all work environments at factories meet the required standard and comply with laws and regulations.

    The minister said in compliance with regulations, factories must be registered, their licenses renewed, and their facilities and environments subjected to inspections for the protection of the employees and the public.

    Onyejeocha stated that the ministry would also reposition its skills development function along identified skills needs for both literate and non-literate beneficiaries, aimed at making them active contributors to national productivity and wealth creation.

    She said: “This is about helping Nigerians get out of poverty. Human being is part of infrastructure. Once you get it right on your work force; get it right on employment, then the nation is on the right path.”

    Match your words with actions – Bishop Odetoyinbo tells Nigerian leaders

    The Catholic Bishop of Abeokuta Diocese, Dr. Peter Odetoyinbo, told Nigerian leaders to make their words be in tandem with their actions, and end the present economic hardship in the country.

    Odetoyinbo urged politicians and those in positions of power to make sacrifices, saying their affluent lifestyle in the face  of the misery of the majority contradicted  the Renewed Hope agenda of the Tinubu Administration.

    “The executive must engage in policies and programmes that will better the lives of Nigerians, the legislature must pass bills that are pro-life and reflect proper representation of the will of Nigerians while the judiciary must be the last hope of the common man not only in judgement, but also in justice,” he said in his Christmas message.

    He stressed that “we cannot allow a few people to hijack our commonwealth and continue to advance their cause while the rest of us resign to fate and hopelessness.”

    Continuing, he said: “We are not Nigerians by accident, but by the will of God who created us wonderfully and beautifully with our colour, tribes and tongue. We cannot devalue ourselves and our nation and expect others to celebrate us.” 

    “We must be intentional about rebuilding and uplifting the glory of Nigeria by desisting from acts of terrorism, banditry, oil theft, arm robbery, kidnapping, electoral malpractices, maiming and killing one another; acts like these destroy our commonwealth and the integrity of our country both locally and internationally. We must enthrone the virtues of love, joy, peace, unity and humility before God. This is what Christmas must instill in us”.

    “The season of Christmas affords us the opportunity to celebrate the love of God with one another as one family united in a common vision for our common good. This love must be shared with our brothers and sisters particularly those that find it difficult to celebrate due to the present economic hardship.”

    Two die, five injured as SUV rams into truck in Ogun

    However,preparations for Christmas turned tragic  in Ogun State yesterday when a motor accident on the Sagamu/Ijebu-Ode Road claimed two lives and left five others injured.

    The accident occurred at about 3.35pm in  Ijebu Ode when a Chevrolet jeep marked SRA584XB rammed into a packed truck.

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Chief Route Commander and Public Education Officer for Sector Commander (FRSC) Ogun Sector Command, Florence Okpe FRSC who confirmed the accident on behalf of the Commander, Anthony Uga, said the suspected causes were excessive speed and road obstruction.

    He said: “The jeep rammed into the station truck due to speed. The injured victims were rescued by a good Samaritan driver that was driving behind them and took them for medical attention while the corpses were deposited at the state General Hospital morgue Ijebu-ode by FRSC operatives.”

    FG throws borders open for Nigerians with expired passports to return

    In a bid to encourage more Nigerians in the diaspora to come home for the festivities, the Federal Government says those with expired passports will be allowed to enter the country unhindered.

    The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Wura-Ola Adepoju in a 22nd December 2023 letter by Foreign Affairs Minister , Yusuf Tuggar, asked that Nigerians “be admitted into the country with their expired Nigerian passports”.

    She said: “I am directed to refer to the above subject matter and to inform you that the Federal Government of Nigeria in her efforts to make life easy for Nigerians in the diaspora has approved that all Nigerians returning home can be admitted into the country with their expired Nigerian passports.

    “I am further directed to inform airlines coming to Nigeria to allow holders of Nigeria expired passports to board without let.

    “In furtherance to the foregoing, all Nigeria Embassies and High Commissions are advised to give this directive the highest publicity it deserves.

    “Consequent upon the above, all entry/exit points are by the copy of this letter directed to open a help desk for all Nigerians in this category and directed same to passport offices where their passports will be reissued within a maximum of two (2) weeks.”

    ABC Transport joins FG’s 50% fare discount scheme

    A transport firm, ABC Transport has joined the growing list of transport companies participating in the 50 percent discount for inter-state road travel, The Nation has learnt.

    Temitope Ajayi, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, on his “X” handle, confirmed the update.

    During the week, President Bola Tinubu approved a 50 percent discount for inter-state road travels, and 100 percent for train trips for Nigerians travelling to celebrate Christmas with their families.

    Other participating transport companies include: God is Good Motors (GIGM), Chisco Transport, the Young Shall Grow, God Bless Ezenwata, and Area Motor.

    The transport firm on its verified X handle – @ABCTransportPlc explained that travellers can walk into their terminals to book their travelling tickets and get the 50% discount.

    It said: “In the spirit of Christmas and in line with the Federal Government’s Presidential Travel Relief Initiative, we are pleased to offer our awesome customers 50% off on their travels this season to designated routes.

    “How can you access this? Here are the 3 ways:

    “1. Book via the APP – Make your bookings as normally done, and then at the point of checkout, select the “Offer Coupon” and then Select the FG50 coupon. This will discount your fare, then proceed to pay 50% less.

    “2. Book via our website – Make your bookings as normally done, and then after inputting your details, select “offers”, select “promotion coupons from the list and then type in “FG50”, and select use to activate 50% discount and proceed to pay 50% less.

    “3. Walk into one of our ABC Transport terminals and book your ticket at 50% less”

  • Celebrating ACU VC Prof. Adebayo at 61

    Celebrating ACU VC Prof. Adebayo at 61

    By Sunday Saanu

    With the benefits of hindsight, there seems to be a universal meeting of minds that those who appointed Professor Timothy Abiodun Adebayo as the fourth Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University (ACU), located in the ancient city of Oyo  really meant well for the faith-based university. Three years into his five-year tenure, Prof. Adebayo has not only justified the confidence reposed in him by his employers, this forthright and firm Crops and Animal Science specialist has given a good account of himself as an academic leader who possesses sufficient wisdom to manage both staff and students of ACU with tact and diplomacy as well as stick and carrot approach.

    In the last three years, ACU has never been in the news for wrong reasons. This is not unconnected with the dynamic leadership styles of the VC, whose temperament and training are in tune with the call of his duties. Prof. Adebayo who celebrates his birthday along with Jesus Christ on every 25th December, has demonstrated the depth of character and confidence as his creativity and boldness have been so unmistakable. He is street-wise as he is very dexterous in navigating administrative boobytraps. He may seem to have a hard exterior, but there lie a heart of gold and a quirky sense of homour with which he defuses tension.

    Describe him in whichever way you want in any linguistic twist of your choice, Prof. Adebayo remains cool and calm, focusing and addressing the specificity of his own realities. His face is benign and genial. He handles the students like his own biological children, using his own personal life as an example. This VC speaks student’s language with iconic flare as he easily forgives their foibles. Obviously, his social capacity to relate with both the students and staff in the atmosphere of peace and love is amazing. His phone number is with almost all the students and their parents as he believes that any service without sacrifice is lip service.

    Read Also; Bailed Emefiele faces fresh hurdles from security agencies

    Perhaps this liberal approach to leadership accounts for a streak of successes trailing his tenure since he assumed duties on 2 October, 2020. Checking through his records, one can see that Prof. Adebayo, who was the Deputy Vice Chancellor at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Ogbomoso before his current appointment has not done badly in office. As part of his achievements so far, he has established ACU Bakery in order to stop traders from bringing all manner of bread to the campus. Every morning, members of the university community, including this writer eat freshly baked bread. I don’t miss it every morning. The bread is free of chemicals that are deleterious to health.

    Again, Prof. Adebayo and his management team rejuvenated ACU Water Factory by buying a modern machine worth over N10 million. This is to make ACU water production process more hygienic. The machine has capacity to produce 3,000 bottles of water per hour. To ensure the comfort of his team members, this amiable VC constructed two residential buildings for Bursar and Librarian respectively. The duo are now living on campus. Before Prof. Adebayo resumed as VC, the university didn’t have enough lecture rooms. Today, he has built a complex comprising eight lecture classrooms which is named after the immediate past Council Chairman and current Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Wole Olanipekun. He has also built 21 professorial offices.

    Before he took over, ACU satellite campus at Ofa meta was lifeless. But when Prof Adebayo took over, he began to build structures there. Today, Departments of Nursing, Environmental Health, Radiology, Medical Laboratory Science and Agriculture have taken over the hitherto virgin land. To facilitate students movements from the main campus to Ofa meta, his administration ensures that two Coastal buses and four mini buses are available to ferry students to and from  the satellite campus. At the main campus, however, there is free internet service for both staff and students.

    Still, Prof Adebayo is planning to build another hostel for girls while Trinity Hall project for boys is equally going to start soon. To tackle electricity problems, his administration has bought a big power generator which can supply electricity to several places on campus. This is in addition to the solar projects going on across the campus. Beyond these infrastructural projects, however, his administration has reviewed the workers’ salaries with 30 percent increase. Interestingly, he ensures salaries are paid on 23rd of every month. For the first time in history, ACU, under Prof. Adebayo paid every worker Christmas bonus.

    The question is where does ACU  which doesn’t receive allocations from the federal government or subventions from anywhere get money to be doing all of these? This speaks to prudent management of resources by the leadership. It also illustrates accountability and transparency. In one of our casual conversations, the VC rhetorically asked, “Saanu, do you think if there is corruption here we will get money to be executing all these projects? The system would have collapsed if we engaged in packing the university money as they do in some places!”

    Prof. Adebayo, to whom this tribute is dedicated on occasion of his birthday is a quintessential gentleman, very affectionate and generous, friendly and fearless fellow. The way he is handling arduous task of leadership commands people’s respect. People respect him so much not because of the virtues of office, but because of the virtues he brings to the office. He remains dutiful and dedicated. You always feel the ambience associated with his presence. In his characteristic cheerful manner, he daily sows courtesy and regularly reaps friendship, just as he plants kindness all over the place and gathers love wherever he goes.

    With him, you are assured of wisecracks, profound thoughts, spiritually ennobling insights, sublime statements and words of wisdom. He walks in wisdom with all and sundry. I can testify to that,  having had an insider’s view. He is known for respect for self and others. Indeed, his default behavior is that of mutual respect, tact and calmness, always using the resources of evidence and logic to make his points.

    Amazingly, Prof. Adebayo could spot talent from a thousand miles away. For example, he never knew me from Adam. He was just reading my articles in newspapers like every other person when he made up his mind to poach me. He believed I could add values to the university, hence, his invitation to me for a sabbatical when I didn’t even think of it or plan for it. Since I joined him here however, he has been treating me like a king. Along with his ever committed and passionate Deputy, Prof. Benjamin Olumuyiwa Popoola, there is nothing I need that is not speedily provided. The icing on the cake, to my surprise, was when I approached the VC that I had an academic sister in the University of Ibadan who would like to do her sabbatical in ACU. Without hesitation, Prof. Adebayo approved my request and directed me to liaise with Prof. Popoola to perfect the process. I prostrated in appreciation of the honour. My academic sister has got her letter of appointment. She is starting her sabbatical in January. How else does one know a benevolent boss?

    Prof. Adebayo has validated my writerly career by offering me an unsolicited sabbatical in ACU. I shall forever be grateful to him and his Deputy who has been dignifying me with generous accolades whenever he has to introduce me. I have never been this honoured. I complained about electricity in my room, the Management moved me to a better place. The Vice Chancellor even approved that I should move to a more spacious place. According to Prof. Popoola, “Baba Saanu, you should know that you are a big man in our university, therefore we must accord you the honour ”  I am grateful Sir.

    Back to the subject of this piece, Prof. Adebayo is one leader who lives by examples. He studied agriculture and he is teaching agriculture. Yet, he has his own farm where he is practising what he is preaching. He is not just a professor on paper, he has piggery and cows. He plants maize and yams. I was shocked the day I visited the VC’s lodge and saw plenty maize and yams planted around the lodge by the VC. This is different from other farms he has elsewhere. He also has fish ponds. This man is amazing! As an experienced and wise farmer, Prof. Adebayo doesn’t eat the best of his yields, neither does he eat his cash crops or cash cows. He invests and reinvests. That is the same principle with which he is running ACU.

    To all intents and purposes, Prof. Adebayo deserves applauses and celebrations for the quality leadership he enacts at ACU where he is superintending with regal ease. He is a leader who deserves emulation for the immoral ideals and noble values he represents. He has done so much for ACU with his boundless energy and passion, thus, turning the university to a place of light, liberty and learning. One  must therefore not forget to appreciate those who have been supporting him to move the university forward, including the erudite Registrar, Dr. Jadesola Babatola, the university’s Bursar, Mr. Ayodele Olusanwo, the immediate past University’s Librarian, Dr. Beatrice A. Fabunmi among others.

    As Prof. Adebayo becomes a year older and wiser, one can only pray that the blessings of the Lord as well as the blessings of land are all his. Oga mi Sir, a happy birthday and many happy returns.

    Saanu (08034073427) who is on sabbatical with Ajayi Crowther University is Media Assistant to the Vice Chancellor.

  • 2023: CONUA, Tinubu and Weah

    2023: CONUA, Tinubu and Weah

    By Kehinde Yusuf

    As 2023 comes to an end, a fitting tribute is to highlight some of the representative inspirational events of the year. These include the registration of the Congress of University Academics (CONUA) as an alternative academic union in the Nigerian university system, the election of Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the electoral loss of Liberia’s President George Weah. These events evince courage, forbearance, focus, tenacity and resilience.

    Leaving the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on 12 February, 2018 and forming a new association on the same day, was like taking on a mighty foe in the shape of the David and Goliath contest. While Goliath had all the appurtenances of war, the only thing David had was his sling and an unbending will. If forming CONUA was like a joke, seeking its registration was like a mirage. Members of the then-new union of lecturers were therefore derided by those who could not accurately gauge the depth of feelings underlying the heroic act. In fact, the formation of the union was regarded as a misadventure that would miscarry in the fullness of time. And cynical members of ASUU were reported to have said that those who formed CONUA would come back to ASUU, with their tails between their legs, to beg for forgiveness.

    Indeed, there were dispiriting moments when it appeared as if all of the efforts invested in the formation of the union would be in vain and that the boat would hit a hard rock. It was at this point that the vitality and resilience of the human spirit were manifested. Sensing a weakening resolve by some members of CONUA at that time, some people flew the kite of reconciliation, which would have required folding up the union and returning to ASUU. And some members of CONUA did really chicken out. However, there was still a solid block of members who remained unshaken in their belief that the hope of reforming and truly democratising ASUU from within was delusional. Some also declared that, should CONUA fail to get registered, that would mean the end of their membership of any academic trade union for the rest of their career in the university system, since membership of a trade union was, in any case, voluntary.

    On 21 September, 2022, the around four-and-a-half-year-long struggle, resilience, tenacity and focus of the members of CONUA were rewarded with  the formal notification, by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, of the qualification of the union for registration and the declaration of the intention of the Ministry to register it. On 13 January, 2023, to complete the registration process, a certificate of registration was issued to CONUA and another to the Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA). However, before then, on 26 October, 2022, ASUU had challenged the registration of the two unions at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN). The union asked that the court declare the registration of CONUA and NAMDA illegal and, curiously, that the court order that the certificates of registration (issued to the unions on 13 January, 2023) be withdrawn. Note that at the time that ASUU was praying the court to withdraw the certificates, the certificates had actually not yet been issued. This raised the question, “Why did ASUU, a union with some of the most well-respected intellectuals and legal luminaries as members, demonstrate so much lack of attention to facts?”

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    In fact, the NICN judge declared as follows: “82. By these averments, the claimant [ASUU] put the date of the registration of the 3rd and 4th defendants [CONUA and NAMDA] as 4 October 2022. And in reliefs (3) and (4), the claimant put the registration of, and the issuing of certificate of registration to, the 3rd and 4th defendants, respectively by the 1st and 2nd defendants, as being on 4 October 2022. This, as will be shortly seen, is not correct and can be misleading.” In the 25 July, 2023 judgement of NICN, ASUU lost the case, on the basis of especially Article 2 of the International Labour Organisation Convention No. 87 which states: “Workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, shall have the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organisation concerned, to join organisations of their own choosing without previous authorisation.” So, the registration of these two unions remains a major landmark of the tenure of Dr. Chris Ngige as Minister of Labour and Employment.

    The inspirational import of the CONUA experience, in particular, is that, once you have identified a noble cause, pursue it single-mindedly with all your strength. And even when fatigued, trudge on. Providence may yet unlock a clue to success. And the forces of nature may aggregate to confer on the weary enablement. As a Yoruba proverb puts it, “Eni eégún n lé kó maa ró’jú bó se n re ará ayé ló se n re ará òrun.” (‘Let the person being chased by a masquerade persevere, because as human beings get tired, so do the extra-terrestrial beings chasing them.’) Today, CONUA is on its steady match forward, and just on 12 December, 2023, the Trade Union Congress announced its acceptance of the union as one of its new affiliates.

    Even more robustly inspirational is the victory of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 25 February, 2023 presidential election in Nigeria. Brick by brick for around thirty years, Tinubu built the structure for his victory in the election, in the face of daunting challenges, and undeterred by unremitting attacks by widely-acknowledged pugilists and fearsome gladiators. And the attacks were comprehensive. They ranged from acerbic questions and claims about his parentage, his education, his financial affairs, his political life and his health. And the attackers were equally wide-ranging. They included false friends, treacherous associates, distant detractors, ethnic jingoists, religious bigots, fake prophets, delusional pollsters, self-demeaning lawyers, media hatchet persons, academics contemptuous of intellectual honesty and people who were just primed to go wherever the wind blew. In the face of the overwhelming attacks, he showed unimaginable stoicism and awesome adaptability. But he was human, after all, and the barrage of attacks was starting to take its toll and generate doubt.

    The 30 October, 2022 issue of ThisDay reported Asiwaju as telling Pa Reuben Fasoranti, the Head of Afenifere, as follows in Akure:  “At a point, I doubted I could win APC presidential primary.” In another telling disclosure in the National Ecumenical Centre, Abuja, at a thanksgiving service on 28 May, 2023, a day to his swearing-in as President, his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, said: “I can tell you, on my own, that we never believed this could happen. But thank God for giving us hope, for giving us the resilience to continue in the race of life.” Moreover, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, as Director, Media and Publicity, Tinubu/Shettima Campaign, in an interview published in The Guardian of 28 May, 2023 remarked:  “[T]he campaign was almost derailed towards the end with the introduction of Naira swap and the fuel scarcity. The Naira swap, with currency shortage all over the country, was clearly aimed at him, to create deep resentment against the ruling APC. At a stage, he was so concerned about the plight of our people and he contemplated withdrawing from the race, so that Emefiele and his co-conspirators could give our people some respite.”

    As his array of detractors remained implacable, Asiwaju received wondrous support from unexpected quarters. It seemed to have paid him handsomely to have lived by the Yoruba principle, “Nítorí egbìnrìn òtè la se n l’égbèrin òré; tí irinwó bá n bú’ní lo níwájú, irinwó á maa yinni bò léyìn.” (‘It is in preparation for conspiracy that we make eight hundred friends, so that when four hundred are moving ahead of us abusing us, four hundred would be coming behind us praising us.’) All in all, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu became a clear manifestation of Chapter 35, Verse 2, of the Qur’an which assures as follows: “Whatever Allah grants to people of mercy – none can withhold it; and whatever Allah withholds – none can release it thereafter.”

    Liberia’s President George Weah’s political life has also been remarkably inspirational. A former slum dweller and high school dropout, the former international football star with no political experience, formed a political party, Congress for Democratic Change, just four months before the presidential elections of 2005. He contested against a Harvard-trained, former World Bank staff, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and won the majority of votes, but did not score enough votes to avoid a re-run. In the re-run, he was declared as defeated by Johnson-Sirleaf. He alleged fraud, but later withdrew the charge, in the interest of peace. James Butty of Voice of America noted on 1 July, 2011: “During the 2005 presidential election, some of Weah’s critics said he was not fit to be president because he did not have a college degree.” Ostensibly to address this deficiency, the 12 August, 2010 issue of Fox Sports reported that “Weah received a high school diploma in 2007.” He also enrolled in Devry University in Florida, U.S.A., and earned a degree in Business Management in June 2011.

    Thereafter, he joined the presidential race again in 2017, won, and demonstrated how irrepressible the human spirit could be. But history repeated itself, and in the 2023 election, he won the majority vote in the first ballot, but lost narrowly in the re-run. And this is where his credentials as a true democrat were reaffirmed. Before the result was officially announced, President Weah conceded defeat and congratulated the winning candidate. In his national broadcast of 17 November, 2023, he asked his followers to resume their normal duties “tomorrow”, and “plan for our return to political leadership in 2029”. Today, President George Weah has become a rare symbol of democracy in Africa. Fittingly, he was named “Democrat of the Year” by The Nation newspaper of 17 December, 2023. It is expected that ECOWAS and the African Union would give him due honour. 

    It took CONUA five years of unyielding desire for freedom to get registered. It took Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu around thirty years of careful planning and sharp focus to become President of Nigeria. And it took World-acknowledged football star George Weah twelve years of courage, self-assurance, tenacity and resilience to become President of Liberia. As the African-American Civil Rights campaigner Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. put it beautifully, poetically, always “keep moving”: “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” As 2023 ends, let those with a positive disposition keep hope alive, and let bitter souls obsessed with negativity start anew to see the cup as half-full rather than half-empty.

  • A glorious homecoming

    A glorious homecoming

    History of sorts was made at the recent convocation of the Obafemi Awolowo University where the convocation lecture on that occasion was delivered by an alumnus. As if that was not enough, another alumnus was decorated with an honourary degree, to join a truly distinguished cast including Professors Oluwasanmi and Chinua Achebe who in the past had been similarly honoured by the university. To be so honoured by one’s alma mater is to be doubly honoured because prophets are generally shunted aside in their own country when honours are being handed out but in this case the University celebrated herself when she gave those marks of distinction to those who at one time were humble acolytes in that same institution.

    To start with, congratulations are due to Professor Adebayo Williams, the 2023 OAU Convocation lecturer for the timely recognition of his contribution to mass communication in Nigeria. Although he went through all the rigours of classical scholarship in English Literature, he has made an indelible mark in the markedly rough and tumble world of Nigerian journalism. It is important to qualify his locus of practice because journalism in Nigeria exists in an environment which more resembles the conditions inside a shark tank than some form of genteel board room where intellectual discussions are carried out in tutored language and conclusions arrived at as a result of a reasoned consensus. Here, even at the best of times it is necessary to have cultivated a modicum of street wisdom in order to remain relevant year after year in the way that Tatalo wearing the face of a bona fide university professor has done for several decades now.

    Apart from sharing the same first name, our paths crossed at Ife often enough to have bred a comfortable familiarity which would ordinarily have raised an eyebrow or two given the distance between our academic specialisations. This is due mostly to my having spent quite a number of years in the study and practice of Pharmacy whilst contributing to the Op-ed page of several newspapers, an activity which has culminated in having a column of my own in the Nation on Sunday. It should be easy to discern that the hand behind that exposure belongs to none other than Adebayo Williams my erstwhile neighbour on Road 18 on the vast estate of the Staff quarters on the university campus. Although he lived only two doors away from me our respective quarters were separated by some distance on an estate in which the houses were surrounded by two or three standard plots of cultured lawns. Still, we were close enough to be neighbours and this gave me the privilege of reading some of his writings before they were published anywhere, a privilege which flattered me no end but which I was very careful not to offend even though points of disagreement generated by his writings were never glossed over.

    The day before convocation, Bayo Williams was celebrated with an award by another constituency which we shared. He was at a time the President of the OAU Staff Club, perhaps the only University Staff Club in Nigeria where membership is not restricted to senior staff members. Bayo Williams’ executive was succeeded by another executive which was so inept, it ran the club into the ground in next to no time. The club was plunged into such dire straits that mirroring the military tenor of the time, a Sole Administrator was elected to effect a much needed turn around in the fortunes of the club. It so happened that the office of Sole Administrator was devolved.  on another Bayo, this time, less exotically surnamed Lamikanra. That particular story deserves another platform in its telling but it is the success of that desperate manoeuvre in electing a Sole Administrator at that critical juncture that made it possible for the Staff club to survive the intervening thirty years before Adebayo Williams, one time president of the club was invited back to be appropriately celebrated by another generation of club members.

    Sharing the convocation stage with Professor Adebayo Williams was another alumnus of his generation, Professor Toyin Falola, a widely acclaimed Professor of history and several other allied disciplines. A veritable man of letters, he has written so many books that he must have a great deal of difficulty keeping track of his record. Unlike Bayo Williams, our paths did not cross often even though we operated on the same stage at Ife, at least for a while. But our paths did cross on at least one occasion even though the erudite professor may not have been aware of it. Although I was a Senior Lecturer and a young one at that, I was for one year a member of the University Appointments and Promotions Committee, arguably the most powerful committee on campus. It was composed of members of Senate and Council and at that time, all appointments and promotions passed through it. Apart from members of Council, this was a committee of Professors but by OAU tradition and practice, there was room for two non-professorial members who were to represent the interest of Congregation on that committee. At that time, I was representing Congregation on Senate which is why I ended up on the A&P Committee rubbing shoulders on very nearly equal terms with Deans and professors and having frequent interactions with the Vice-chancellor, the statutory chairman of that committee.

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    As a member of A&P, I was not only privy to all matters affecting the promotion of all members of academic staff but made sure that my voice rang through the chamber whenever there was any need to contribute to debates. One of the cases which was presented to the Committee by the Department of History that year was in respect of one Dr. Falola. I did not have to utter a word for or against the case and did no more than join the chorus of ‘approved, approved’ which went round the room as soon as the case was presented to the committee. That is how strongly the case spoke for itself. I had no idea who this fabled Falola was and had to ask a couple of people who he was. That is how I learnt that he was a nerd, at a time that that word had not even been invented. He had done a great deal of work about the history of Ibadan, his hometown. The irony was not lost on me at that time that I, being Ijesa, had we been born a hundred years before we would have in some probability made  adversarial acquaintance with each other at Ikirun, on the rampant of the wall around Ilesa or even Kiriji, the battle fields on which Ibadan and Ijesa armies clashed in those dark days of the Yoruba civil wars.

    There was no doubt that Dr. Falola as he then was, was a dyed in the wool historian, one who was destined to give outstanding leadership to the Department of History at the University of Ife as she then was, for many years to come. Unfortunately, that excellent prognosis was miles off as he was one of the first to be captivated by the allure of productive scholarship away from Nigeria even though his contribution to learning in Nigeria has been tremendous.

    Both Bayo Williams and Toyin Falola are outstanding products of an institution of which we are justly proud. That university I must confess was not my first choice at a time when I was in the position to make a choice of university. I would have preferred to stay in Lagos, within an environment with which I was familiar at the time but fate had other plans for me. The first time ever I set foot on the campus of the University of Ife was when I went there to start my three year Pharmacy programme there in September 1969, a few years before Williams and Falola turned up there in their own turn. I had fetched up at Ife because at that time the only Pharmacy degree awarding institution in Nigeria was at Ife and since for reasons which even today remain inexplicable to me, I had decided to study Pharmacy, I had no choice but to find my way to Ife. Unconsciously, my attitude to Ife at that time was best for me because once I set foot on that hallowed turf, I was hooked line and sinker as I developed a passion for that institution, a romance which kept me there for fifty long but productive years.

    For most of those fifty years, Ife was the most visible university in Nigeria but that was a status that was acquired and definitely not bestowed. I spent my early childhood in the exquisite garden that was St Andrew’s College, Oyo followed by seven years at Igbobi College where lawns were venerated and flowers worshipped. Arriving at Ife was therefore a home coming of sorts and that environment spoke directly to my soul as it did to countless others. That environment spoke to me in many other ways, not least the rigours of passing through that university unscathed by her elevated academic standards. There was no safety from any course at Ife which made an Ife degree something to be really proud of. And whilst on this theme of excellence, I am as proud of my Cricket colours from Ife as my Pharmacy degree especially since the university won NUGA for the first time in 1972 when I was a member of the sports contingent that performed that memorable feat.

    There is a great deal to be proud of in Ife, nothing more so than the single minded manner with which she built up her faculties in those heady years of a staff development scheme which turned the university into an academic powerhouse within ten glorious years. Those of my generation who were caught up in the development tsunami of those years have a fabulous story to tell of our adventures in the best universities mostly in the Western world. We were to be found in London, Cambridge, Imperial College, Sussex, Stamford, UCLA, Purdue, Manchester, the real Toronto, Brown, to mention those that come easily to mind. We not only attended those universities but came away with highly creditable doctorates, some in record time. Our innate abilities and the grounding we had at Ife saw to this. We all returned to serve our bond with the university and the majority of us stayed in the university through thick and thin to give back of our best to our alma mater which had so much faith in us at a time when we needed it.

    It was certainly a glorious home coming at Ife the other day and many drums were rolled out and numerous toasts proposed and drunk. In the midst of our joys however the tolling of what sounded like funeral bells could be heard and could not be ignored. The university is only sixty years old, hardly out of infancy by institutional standards. But already, the best years appear to be in the past. That excellent staff development scheme which started in the sixties and lasted for some twenty years has long been dismantled and the capacity to fund research has been lost in the same way that staff have been lost steadily over the years leaving us to wonder how university traditions can be maintained. The once justifiable claim of the university being Africa’s most beautiful campus lies in ruins in the midst of overgrown lawns and ragged trees. As for our sporting excellence which was won by the blood, sweat and tears of members of my generation, it has become the topic of conversation of old men with long memories. Our predicament is summed up by the fact that the two alumni who shone like a constellation of stars the other day had to leave Ife in order to fulfil their respective enormous potential. This makes us wonder, just what will the university be celebrating in another sixty years?

  • This is the world if Ukraine loses

    This is the world if Ukraine loses

    By Victor Pinchuk

    The White House has announced that by the end of the year funding for supporting Ukraine will run out. The EU has declared that it will miss by a large measure its announced goal of providing Ukraine with 1 million artillery shells by March 2024. These are sober words presaging what I believe will be a devastating failure for the West.

    If Ukraine cannot push Russia back, there will not be a stable stalemate. Russia will throw all it has into “conquering” Ukraine. It will obliterate cities completely, as demonstrated by its conquest of Mariupol, where Russia is estimated to have killed 25,000 people and destroyed 90 percent of residential buildings. That is the Russian way of war. Russia’s army will imprison, torture or kill anyone who refuses to “belong” to Russia. Remember the Bucha massacre? Bucha had 37,000 inhabitants, compared to Ukraine’s 44 million. As Russia advances, 5, 10, 100 or more Buchas may occur.

    Many more Ukrainians will flee if Russia is able to seize more Ukrainian territory. 6.3 million have fled the country as of now. Many work hard in their new place of residence, but European countries incur costs of hundreds of Euro per month for each Ukrainian refugee. Russia’s strategy includes making Ukraine uninhabitable, driving refugees into Europe. If for example 5 million more Ukrainians flee as Russia advances, it would cost Europe billions of Euro more per month additionally, dozens of billions of Euro per year.

    Many Ukrainians will fight. Westerners learned on Feb. 24, 2022, that Ukrainians will risk their lives to remain free. Hundreds of thousands of battle-hardened women and men will be ready to take up a guerilla fight. They are inventive, with many highly educated engineers, inventors, IT specialists. If Russia counters with ever more brutal repression, this will trigger ever more severe guerilla fighting and more refugees.

    Meanwhile Baltic states and Poland will be subject to Russian threats and its hybrid war. It worked out in Ukraine, will be the Kremlin’s logic. Moldova and Georgia could face military aggression.

    At the same time, inside European societies radical and populist parties that sympathize with Russia will gain momentum. Already, in several countries pro-Russian parties have come to positions of power or are running high in the polls now. More will likely join governments if Russia advances in Ukraine and these pro-Russian forces seem to be proven “right.”

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    With an emboldened aggressive Russia right at the border of the EU, deterrence will be needed far beyond what governments plan now. Defense budgets in Europe during the Cold War averaged 3.5 percent of GDP. Now they are lower than 2 percent in many European countries. Returning to Cold War-levels would mean for the UK $39 billion more per year, for Germany $86 billion, and for France $43 billion. For NATO as a whole to hit 3.5 percent of GDP on defense spending, it would require $410BN more per year.

    And this staggering sum is still nothing against the cost if a hot war between Russia and NATO emerges from Russian hybrid aggression on one of NATO’s Eastern member states. NATO allies will have to defend the attacked, including likely with their own soldiers.

    For sure, if the Kremlin is successful in Ukraine, Russian support for terrorists all over the world would strengthen. As will cooperation with Iran and North Korea. These regimes which use death, terror, and fear at home and abroad, will challenge the West. Every additional crisis that affects the West is good for them (and Russia). And of course China watches if the West defends the rules it proclaims. If the impression is that the West is incapable of resolute and sustainable defense, a Chinese invasion of Taiwan becomes more likely.

    If you are a Western middle-class citizen who values the life you live, the cost of this change of organizing principles of the international system, of the tone and ideology of the world you live in, will be beyond imagination — and it will be very costly for many decades.

    This is the world if Ukraine loses.

    You may think, an armistice now will limit loss of life and Western expenses. But Russia will agree to an “armistice” only as a maneuver to win time, regroup and attack again.

    You may think, then let’s temporarily not defend Ukraine but strengthen our own defense. Russia will be satisfied and turn inward to digest their acquisition. But instead, the impossibility to devour Ukraine will spill blood, suffering and chaos, and this will increase instability all over Europe. And Russia will not turn inward. From the start the Kremlin said, they fight the West. They need a new world order with dictatorship equally strong as freedom and democracy. Ukraine is a cornerstone in the plan, but by no means enough. They speak about this openly.

    So, a decline in Western support for Ukraine will not lessen the cost for the West. It will make the cost for the West skyrocket.

    Ukraine losing is an outcome that must not happen. So you must prevent it. You must help Ukraine win. And you can! Ukraine winning is doable. It will even be comparatively inexpensive.

    During World War II U.S. support for the UK, the Soviet Union and France averaged 4.9 percent of GDP annually. The Korean war cost the US 2.8 percent of GDP annually. The “war on terror” is estimated to have cost the US $8TN. Compare those figures to the 0.3 percent of GDP the U.S. spent until today for Ukraine and 0.4 percent on average that EU member states have spent (and this is including financial and humanitarian aid, not only military support).

    Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the U.S. has committed just 3.9 percent of its defense budget on military support for Ukraine. This has thus far kept Russia in check in Europe, prevented many more millions of refugees, and deterred Iran and China.

    I am a Ukrainian. Our heroes at the front fight for our independence. But I am not insisting you make Ukrainian independence your cause, I am just asking you to think through the war in Ukraine from the point of view of your own interests.

    I am tremendously thankful for the gracious, vital support of the U.S., Europe and other friends of Ukraine in the West and beyond for the over the past almost two years.

    And I believe it is in the West’s fundamental self-interest to continue and do more. Do it more quickly (if the West had given last year what it gave now, Ukraine would have beaten back Russia already). We need more artillery shells, tanks, long-range missiles and planes.

    For a small fraction of a percent of Western GDP, and without sending a single soldier into battle, the West can enable Ukraine to keep holding at bay the single greatest security threat to the West and the international order today.

    Then, you will have, for little money, saved your own lives as you want to live them in a world in which the West and its allies are able to robustly defend freedom and security.

    To achieve that by spending only a couple of percentage points of your defense budget is a good deal for you, for Ukraine, and for the world.

    • This article was first published in www.politico.com

  • An open letter to Bibi

    An open letter to Bibi

    My dear Prime Minister Binyamin “Bibi” Netanyahu (@netanyahu), I trust this open letter meets you well despite the challenges that both you and your nation are presently facing.

    Let me begin by asking you to forgive me for communicating with you through this rather unorthodox medium but I have no other way of reaching you and I fear that a formal, private letter and communication to your office in Tel Aviv may never make it past your Chief of Staff or to your desk.

    Such is the gravity of unfolding events in the Middle East and your nation Israel that I am constrained to ensure that you hear some home truths, no matter how bitter, and I hope that your Ambassador to our country Nigeria, His Excellency Mr. Micheal Freeman, together with the numerous operatives, informants and spooks that you have planted here will have the good sense, decency, foresight and courage to intimate you of its contents.

    Now to the point.

    Your Excellency, permit me to tell you that I have respect for your office but I have no respect for you.

    You are the greatest disaster that has befallen your nation since its establishment in 1948 and rather than refer to you as Prime Minister of Israel I will henceforth refer to you as the butcher of our age and the child-slayer of Gaza.

    Your killing spree, genocidal binge, murderous disposition, blind rage & unconscionable desire to wipe out, ethnically cleanse and totally exterminate the entire Palestinian race has resulted in the mass murder of 26,000 innocent and defenceless Palestinans (which represents over 1% of the entire population of Gaza), 97 journalists (including Samer Abu Daqqa of Al Jazeera @AJEnglish) and 3 Israeli hostages (whilst they were shirtless, begging for help and waiving a white flag) in Gaza all in just 2 months!

    Of the 26,000 Palestinians that have been killed 10,000 of them were children and 6,400 of them were women whilst 20,000 of them were found above the rubble and 6,000 remain below it.

    24,000 Palestinian children have lost one or both parents in Israeli attacks, 18,000 have been injured with some in critical condition and 60% of the people of Gaza are facing starvation.

    300 Palestinian health workers, 134 staffers of the United Nations and a French Foreign Ministry official have been killed and 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced, hundreds of thousands of them are without food, clean water and shelter and 85% of them have been forced to leave their homes.

    288 Palestinians have been killed in the neighbouring occupied West Bank and 4,570 have been detained there since October 7th.

    Over 100,000 buildings have been destroyed in Gaza, thousands of refugees have been bombed and butchered in its refugee camps and a Palestinian woman and her daughter were targetted and shot dead in a Church by an Israeli sniper.

    The latter is a particularly despicable and heinous crime which Pope Francis has described as an act of “terrorism”.

    12,000 bombs and 40,000 TONS of bombs have been dropped on Gaza and half of all its buildings have been totally destroyed whilst the Israeli Airforce says it struck at least 12,000 targets across the besieged Palestinian territory BETWEEN OCTOBER 7 TO NOVEMBER 1 ALONE (only God knows how high that number is today) making it one of the most intense bombing campaigns in recent history.

    71% of Gaza’s population are suffering from acute hunger, 98% are suffering from insufficient food consumption and 64% eat grass, fruit and undercooked and expired food stuffs to satisfy their hunger.

    As Christmas approaches, Bethlehem, the birthplace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is under siege and you have decided to sacrifice and forsake the remaining 130 Israeli hostages that are still with Hamas.

    Of a truth, it is only those who do not have children that cannot feel the pain of the  Palestinian people.

    Can you dispute the words of Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, a former Minister of Information in the Palestinian Unity Government and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, when he said  “no human being in Palestine has any value to Israel, whether Muslim or Christian. The whole world now knows how it treats Palestinians and why it is killing journalists that are reporting the truth”.

    All we see in Gaza is death, blood, body fluids and innards spilt, pasted and spread all over the streets and buildings, human limbs that have been shattered, scattered and torn apart, tears, mayhem, carnage, barbarity, cold-blooded mass murder, genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, crimes against humanity, unadulterated cruelty, unrelenting callousness, undiluted perfidy and the most graphic and extreme form of wickedness that has been unleashed against a defenceless and innocent civilian population which comprises primarily of women and children.

    You told the civilians to flee from Northern Gaza to Southern Gaza where you said they would be safe.

    After over one million of them took you at your word and did so you started bombing Southern Gaza as well killing thousands of them in the process.

    You have killed more civilians in Gaza in two months than the Americans killed civilians in their twenty years of occupation and waging war against the Taliban in Afghanistan!

    Even the mortuarys and cemeteries were not spared and the bodies of the dead were not allowed to rest in peace. Instead they were bombed, blown apart, strewn all over the floor and burial grounds and desecrated.

    Under your leadership Israel has become what the American commentator and presidential candidate, Mr. Cent Uygar, has rightly described as a “mass assasination factory”.

    Tell me Bibi, with all this, how do you sleep at night?

    What horrors do you see and what nightmares do you experience when you close your eyes?

    How do you look at your wife and children first thing in the morning and pray to your God with so much innocent blood on your hands?

    When will your chronic madness and psychotic, insatiable desire for the shedding of Palestinan blood be cured?

    When will your psychopathic obsession for vengeance and the crushing, subjugation, enslavement and elimination of the Palestinian people be abated?

    I choose to say the bitter truth that few dare to voice and that truth is that you have lost touch with reality and you are not a leader but rather a bloodthirsty, bloodlusting, vengeful, hateful, venal, vicious, relentless, wicked, uncompromising & barbaric meglomaniac who is satanically-inspired & controlled by the demons of hell & the forces of darkness.

    That is why many call you “Netanyahu” to your face and “Satanyahu” behind your back.

    You have failed in all your military objectives in Gaza and other than slaughtering thousands of innocent women and children and destroying its infrastructures you have achieved nothing and only confirmed your fascistic disposition and insane cruelty to the world.

    You refuse to see the advantage, the importance and the strategic and moral imperative of a lasting ceasefire and you have rejected the laudable concept, noble vision and equitable objective of a two-state solution.

    Your heart’s desire is to totally and completely eliminate and exterminate the Palestinian people, throw them into the dustbin of history, erase all memory of them, drive them into the desert, drown them in the sea, scatter them all over the nations of the earth and  engender and facilitate their total and complete extinction all in a futile attempt to establish an ancient biblical Zionist state which shares a border with Egypt in the South and Iran in the North, which considers the Jews to be the master race and the chosen people, which views others, including Muslims, Christians, Arabs, Africans and Asians  as sub-human monkeys that have no rights and that must be treated as nothing but field hands, canon fodder, slaves, servants, cheap labour, hewers of the wood and drawers of the water.

    Again your hearts desire is to establish what your fellow Zionists have described as ‘Greater Israel’, to balkanise the Middle East and to cause the Arabs to bend the knee to the evil Zionist and apartheid State.

    Clearly these are fanciful delusions and unattainable objectives which shall never happen or ever come to pass.

    If the truth be told you and those that think like you are nothing but a cancerous affliction.

    You are not the ‘defender of Israel’ as you often describe yourself but a caricature of failure and hopelessness, a pitiful champion of the despicable, hateful and racist philosophy of Zionism and a curse to the Jewish people and the Jewish state.

    You have brought nothing but opprobium, shame, notoriety and disgrace to your nation and by the time this war is over you will be the most hated leader in the history of Israel and the most despised man in the world.

    You are not and have never been the champion of Israel but rather can best be described as the “Butcher of our Age” and the “Child Slayer of Gaza”.

    Like all butchers, I have little doubt that you will end up in hell and you may well pull your nation Israel down there with you.

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    I hope that I have not hurt your feelings Bibi but the truth must be told and sometimes it is is painful.

    Permit me to end my love letter to you by sharing something that one of your most notable, loyal and dedicated Zionist compatriots, soul mates and spiritual acolytes posted on X the other day which I believe reflects the contempt, moral depravity, disdain and hate that you and all those that think like you collectively harbour for all those of us that do not share your Jewish faith, your Zionist views or your Israeli heritage.

    Dr. Eli David, a highly respected and leading Israeli commentator, intellectual, researcher, lecturer, entrepreneur, investor, AI expert, co-founder of Deep Instincts Ltd. and a man that has been described as having “one of the 100 most influential twitter accounts” and who is undoubtedly one of the most vocal and powerful pro-Israeli, pro-Zionist and pro-Jewish voices in the world posted a video of thousands of Muslim women in full hijab and covered from head to toe whilst they were marching the streets of London.

    Under the video he wrote the following words:

    “This is not Islamabad. This is London. Good luck with your multiculturalism”.

    His point is clearly understood.

    He is mocking the British and saying that their country has been taken over by Arab, Persian and Asian Muslims all in the name of multiculturalism.

    What he conveniently failed to mention is the fact that the  resounding success of British multi-culturalism has been confirmed and affirmed by the fact that she now has a brown-skinned Hindu as Prime Minister, a brown-skinned Muslim as Mayor of London and a brown-skinned Muslim as leader, First Minister and Premier of Scotland.

    She also has a black-skinned Minister of Internal Affairs (Home Secretary) and up until recently had a black-skinned Minister of Foreign Affairs and a black-skinned Finance Minister (Chancellor of the Exchequer).

    Given this should it really bother anyone if Muslim women are wearing hijabs whilst marching the streets of London? I think not!

    Those that erroneously believe that the UK ought to be and is indeed better off being an all white, all Christian nation comprising of only white Anglo Saxon protestants have clearly lost out and been proved wrong and the UK herself is the better for it.

    My response to Eli, which I posted on his X thread, is worthy of being shared here and may interest you.

    Whatever the case you have much to learn from it and you may come to appreciate the fact that those of us that do not share your Jewish faith, Zionist disposition and expantionist aspirations view you and those that have your racist mindset with as much contempt as you view us.

    I wrote,

    “Frankly I think it is a beautiful thing that Muslim women are marching in their thousands in the streets of London in black hijabs and I believe that the UK is the better for it.

    As they say variety is the spice of life and multi culturalism in the UK has come to stay.

    Perhaps, as some have mockingly suggested, London should now be refered to as ‘Londonistan’ and frankly that would be great too.

    One thing that you cannot take from the Muslims is that, unlike others, they did not go to the UK or Europe and take the land by the force of arms, displacing the local population, subjugating and enslaving them and occupying their territory all in the name of their faith.

    That is of course precisely what your Jewish forefathers did.

    In case you have forgotten permit me to educate you a little about your own Jewish heritage and history.

    The reason that these Arab Muslims whose culture and civilisation stretches back thousands of years more than that of the Europeans left the Middle East and came running to the UK and other parts of Europe and settled there is because, in collaboration with the Americans and the British after WW 11, millions of white Caucasian European Jews were shipped in droves to a place called Palestine in the Middle East in 1948 where they displaced the local indigenous Palestinian population, stole and occupied their land, enslaved their people, claimed that they (the Jews) were God’s chosen ones and master race and established a new country and a paranoid, genocidal, racist apartheid Zionist state called Israel where non-Jews, Arabs, Muslims, Christians and Palestinans had few rights and were treated like filth.

    They claimed that the land had  been given to them by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from time immemorial and they may well be right but surely that does not confer on them the right to kill, maim and displace everyone else that they met on it.

    They also claimed that they inhabited it 2000 years ago before they were dispersed and scattered all over the world and that they have now come back to claim it and forcefully repossess it at the expense of all the Arabs and Palestinians that had been living there for those 2000 years!

    Again they may be right but the question is whether this is equitable and just and whether, given the circumstances, it is even practical or possible.

    Coming back to the land that they believe they own is not the issue: the issue is their belief that they have the right to live there and own it EXCLUSIVELY and that EVERYONE ELSE must bow to them and accept the supremacy of their ethnic stock, race and faith.

    The whole thing when looked at in this context really does sound like a grade B Hollywood movie script doesn’t it but amazingly it is all true and the narrative that I have enunciated here about the series of events and the mindset of the Zionists is historical fact.

    Do you see who and what the problem is now?

    It seems safer and better for the average Arab or Muslim from Palestine and the Middle East who has been displaced and robbed of his land, history, dignity, heritage and identity to run away from home and live in multi-cultural “Londonistan” or Europe than to stay in the Middle East and be humiliated, insulted, disgraced, tormented, harassed, enslaved, denied, robbed and bombed to pieces by the non-semetic Europeans and settlers who now call themselves Jews and Israelis, who erroneously believe that Islam and Christianity are not of God, who have colonised and conquered their land, who refuse to accept the idea of a two-state solution and who believe that they have a divine duty and mission to exterminate and wipe out the Palestinian people and establish what they have decribed as the biblical ‘Greater Israel’ whose territory would stretch from Egypt to Iran covering the whole of the Middle East and the Arab Gulf states.

    I hope you have a clearer picture of the issues at stake now.

    If Israel had done the sensible thing and embraced the idea of a multi-ethnic multi-cultural and multi- religious state today rather than insist on preserving and maintaining a racist, purist, fascist and supremacist one it would have been a far greater and better place and would not be a threat to world peace and what can best be described as an endangered species”.

    I hope that Eli and all your ultra nationalist, extreemist, racist, Islamaphobic, anti-Christian, Zionist and right-wing supporters get my point.

    More importantly I hope that you get  the message and appreciate the fact that millions view you with as much disdain as you view others.

    To be remembered for being a callous and heartless butcher that delights in the mass murder and slaughter of women and children is not the best of legacies: it is indeed a curse.

    And to be labelled as the butcher of our age and the child killer of Gaza is indeed the worst misfortune that can befall any mortal.

    Posterity and history shall judge you harshly my friend Bibi, just wait and see.

    For the benefit of those that doubt your ultimate intention to conquer the entire Middle East, expand your nations borders well beyond our collective imagination and “take it all” permit me to share the following.

    Your Finance Minister, Mr. Bezalel Smotrich, recently delivered a speech behind a podium which displays “Greater Israel” and during the course of that speech he said some very interesting and provocative things.

    For those that do not know, “Greater Israel” encompasses the entirety of Palestine, the entirety of Jordan and parts of Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

    It is clear that you and your people have a hideous, expansionist hidden agenda and if not resisted you will  not stop at gobbling up just Palestine.

    In addition to that your National Heritage Minister, Mr. Amihay Eliyahu, recently said that he believes that a nuclear bomb should be dropped on Gaza and that the Palestinians should either be driven into the desert, the sea or thrown out and scattered amongst the nations of the world at 25,000 Palestinans per nation.

    On his part your Minister for National Security, Mr. Itamar Ben-Gvir, said the only thing that should enter Gaza until all the hostages are released are “hundreds of tons of explosives” from the Israeli Air Force and “not an ounce of humanitarian aid.”

    He also distributed guns to the right wing and extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank and urged them to kill as many Palestinians as possible.

    Clearly your cabinet is filled with sociopaths, psychopaths and a good number of insane people who are suffering from serious mental health issues and the sooner you kick them out and send them to a psychiatric hospital the better.

    In October you yourself said “There are no innocent people in the Gaza Strip. This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness”.

    You continued by saying, “we are committed to completely eliminating this evil from the world. You must remember what Amalek has done to you says our Holy Bible and WE DO REMEMBER. 1 Samuel 15:3 says ‘Now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have and spare them not but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass’”.

    If this is not a call for and a statement of intent to commit genocide against an entire nation then I do not know what is.

    Even the centrist President of your nation, Mr. Isaac Herzog, who is, under normal circumstances, far more cerebral, restrained and level headed than you dropped the ball and let himself down very badly by saying, “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible for October 7th. This rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved, it’s absolutely not true. They could’ve risen up, they could have fought against that evil regime.”

    This is clearly yet another call for the collective punishment and extermination of the Palestinian people and not just the elimination of Hamas and that makes it not just a war crime or a crime against humanity but also the expression of an unlawful and wilful intention to commit the heinous crime of ethnic cleansing.

    Sadly it does not stop there. Your Agriculture Minister, Mr. Avi Dichter, told Israeli Channel 12 that the war would be “Gaza’s Nakba,” using the Arabic word for “catastrophe” that many use to describe the 1948 displacement of roughly 700,000 Palestinians who were expelled from their land in what became Israel.

    He said, “we are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba. From an operational point of view, there is no way to wage a war as the Israeli Army seeks to do in Gaza with masses of people between the tanks and the soldiers. Gaza Nakba 2023. That’s how it will end.”

    Not to be outdone, Mr. Danny Neumann, a former Knesset member and close political associate of yours advocated for the extermination of every man, woman and child in Gaza.

    On national television he said,

    “The Palestinians are ALL terrorists, sons of dogs. They must be exterminated, ALL of them killed.”

    Bibi, given all this, you cannot but agree with me that both you, your political associates and your entire cabinet are indulging in nothing but hateful rhetoric and violent madness and, as leaders, it reduces you all to the unenenviable level of some of the other monsters of world history like Genghis Khan, Atilla the Hun, Adolf Hitler, King Leopold 11, Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot.

    At this juncture permit me to share the moving words of Dr. Omar Suleiman (@Omarsuleiman504) who is an Imam, an American Palestinian and the President of the Yaqeen Institute and who wrote the following on X a few days ago:

    “Thousands of children are dead. Thousands of children are under the rubble. Thousands of children are missing limbs. Thousands of children are missing parents. Thousands of children are fighting disease. Thousands of children are having surgeries performed on them without anesthesia. Thousands of children have been starved. Thousands of children have been bombed out of their homes. Every single child in Gaza has been forever traumatized. All of the above are war crimes. We can keep letting human rights organizations count them or we can finally hold them accountable”.

    This is a timely, insightful and moving contribution from Omar and he has successfully reflected the minds and thoughts of millions of people from all over the world.

    If his heartfelt and compassionate submission does not prick your conscience, soften your heart and move you to tears Binyamin then nothing ever will and you are lost forever.

    Permit me to conclude with the following.

    Given the fact that Her Excellency Mrs. Tzipi Hotovely,

    your Ambassador to the United Kingdom, has finally confirmed our worst fears that the Zionist state has ruled out any possibility of a two-state solution and given the fact that she has proclaimed that the Oslo Accords “have failed” and “are no longer relevant”, it is clear to me that the die is cast, Ceasar has crossed the Rubicorn and war is inevitable.

    Of a truth the attack on your nation by Hamas on October 7th which sparked off this war was horrific and unacceptable and it has been rightly condemned by all right-thinking people including yours truly.

    Yet as barbaric and heinous as it was it pales in comparison to what your forces are doing in Gaza today.

    Israel has the right to defend herself against Hamas but she does not have the right to target and slaughter innocent Palestinian civilians and ethnically cleanse an entire race!

    The extent of havoc and damage that you have unleashed on the Palestinians is unprecedented and mind-boggling and as a consequence of that millions consider you and your IDF to be even worse and more barbaric than Hamas ever was.

    And sadly it goes even further than that because, as inconceivable as it appears, your actions have turned Hamas into heroes in the eyes of  millions of those that support the Palestinian cause.

    Simply put your lack of restraint, rage, folly and insistence on imposing a policy of collective punishment on the Palestinan people have made demons look like angels.

    The bitter truth that most of us refuse to acknowledge is the fact that, as a consequence of the genocide that has been unleashed on Gaza by your forces over the last two months, the Al Qassam Brigade, Hamas’ armed wing, is now viewed by the overwhelming majority of people in the Arab world as gallant warriors who dared to rise up against the oppressive and fascistic Zionist state and who, on October 7th, struck what they consider to be a deadly blow against a brutal and unrelenting occupying force and evil entity that has held their people in bondage for the last 75 years, stripped them of their dignity and humanity, robbed them of their identity, heritage and self-respect, stolen their land and destroyed their collective future.

    Even if the whole of Gaza is bombed into smithereens and totally flattened and every Palestinian man, woman and child is slaughtered by the IDF (@IDF), the myth of Israeli invincibility has been proved to be fallacious and been forever shattered and the spiritual seed of resistance and defiance against the most cruel and brutal occupation in history has been planted in the heart of every Arab on the planet and they will continue the fight.

    To much of the world Hamas is nothing but a bloodthirsty and callous terrorist organisation but to the overwhelming majority of Arabs and Muslims they are regarded as courageous freedom fighters who are resisting the evil of occupation and genocide and who are fighting a worthy cause.

    They view Hamas in precisely the same way that the black majority population in South Africa and the African continent viewed the ANC and its armed wing Umkhonto We Sizwe (the Spear of the Nation) during the bitter struggle against apartheid and white minority rule.

    They view them in the same way that the world viewed the Allied Forces of America, the Soviet Union, the UK, France, Australia, Canada, Holland, Belgium, Poland and the rest of the civilised world in their bitter struggle against the tyranny and occupation forces of the Axis Powers of Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy during World War 11.

    The idea that you can wipe out such a movement and ideology by killing everyone in it and that espouses it’s philosophy and by exterminating the Palestinian race and the notion that you can wipe out the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people  for the right to exist and the right to self-determination simply because you have the support of the Americans is the greatest mistake and gravest error that the country you lead has made in it’s 75 year history.

    There is no gainsaying that this mistake will cost you and your beloved nation dearly in the not too distant future.

    May the God of Heaven, the Ancient of Days, the Lord of Hosts and He that is more than able touch your stubborn heart and renew a right spirit within you before it is too late.

    Shalom.

    (FFK)

    • Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, the Sadaukin Shinkafi and the Wakilin Doka Potiskum, is a lawyer, a former Minister of Aviation and a former Minister of Culture and Tourism.

  • Renewed Hope initiative: Beneficiaries receive N100,000, other items in Edo

    Renewed Hope initiative: Beneficiaries receive N100,000, other items in Edo

    No fewer than one hundred and ten elderly, aged between 65 to 95, in Edo South Senatorial District, yesterday each received N100,000 support, a bag of rice and a combo pack.

    The special gifts were from the Renewed Hope Initiative Empowerment for the Elderly by the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

    The wife of Edo governor, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki, in Benin, disclosed that the elderly first went for their vitals, health and eye checks, before proceeding to where they received their empowerment items.

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    Mrs. Obaseki noted that the initiative of Nigeria’s First Lady was beyond party lines, while touching the needs of the people, thereby necessitating her collaboration.

    Edo governor’s wife stated that the senior citizens, who were mostly overlooked, were being remembered by the administration of President Bola Tinubu, which she described as a gesture she hoped would continue, particularly with the current economic situation of the country.

    The beneficiaries mostly responded with prayers for the President, his wife and Nigeria.

  • Bank, customer at loggerheads over failed transaction

    Bank, customer at loggerheads over failed transaction

    A row has broken out between a leading new generation bank and a customer over a failed transaction.

    The bank reportedly debited the customer’s account of N100,000 despite not paying the intended beneficiary the amount.

    The customer, Mr Dapo Aderinola, a former Editor at Daily Times, transferred the money last October 4 to the Access Bank account of his bereaved friend, but it ended up in the GTB account of another person.

    Following his complaint, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) acknowledged it as an “erroneous transfer” and promised to resolve the issue by October 10.

    It did not. Rather, it asked the customer for a court affidavit before reversing the transaction.

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    Its October 19 message to Aderinola reads: “Sequel to your complaint of an “erroneous transfer” of N100,000 made on 04/10/2023, please note that we tried reaching the beneficiary on call to get her consent for a reversal, but her mobile phone seems to be turned off. We will keep trying.

    “We apologise for the inconveniences this may have caused you. Kindly send a court order/police report.”

    He was also asked to give an undertaking to indemnify the bank from liability in the failed transaction.

    Aderinola subsequently obtained a court order and on November 15, the bank reversed the transaction and credited his account with N100,000.

    “We wish to inform you that a credit transaction occurred on your account with us. REVERSAL OF ENTRY NGN100,000.00 CR Court Order RVSL- Wrong Transfer From Aderinola Oladapo…”, the message read.

    Aderinola said the process to get his money back was stressful, wondering why Nigerian banks treated their customers that way.