A former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, hosted the Presidential Candidate of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, at his residence in Abuja on Thursday.

This meeting follows closely after El-Rufai’s visit to former President, Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina State, which has fueled speculations about his current political alignments and intentions. 

Despite being a prominent chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), El-Rufai’s recent interactions with figures from various opposition parties have caught the attention of political analysts and the public alike.

In March, El-Rufai also made headlines with his visit to the national chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Abuja, indicating a possible reevaluation of his political affiliations.

This comes after a setback earlier in the year when El-Rufai, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was overlooked for a ministerial position in President Bola Tinubu’s government, reportedly due to a failed security clearance by the Senate.

Following his exclusion from the ministerial list, El-Rufai had briefly moved abroad and stepped away from the political spotlight.

His return to Nigeria and subsequent resumption of public appearances, including the recent visit to the SDP’s national secretariat, have reignited discussions about his future role in Nigerian politics.

Commenting on these developments, Shehu Sani, a former Senator from Kaduna Central, suggested that El-Rufai’s visits, along with those of other northern politicians to Buhari, might be part of a broader strategy aimed at repositioning for the 2027 elections, possibly hinting at challenges to President Tinubu’s administration.

[NaijaNews]

Total domestic and foreign portfolio transactions in Nigeria’s equity market amounted to N355.38 billion in May 2024.

This was revealed in the latest Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Investment report of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).

Monthly, the NGX polls trading figures from market operators on their Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) flows.

The total volume of transactions at the nation’s bourse increased by 2.63 per cent from N346.23 billion (about $224.78 million) in April 2024 to N355.38 billion (about $230,73 million) in May 2024.

In comparison to May 2023, which recorded N322.92 billion, total domestic and foreign portfolio transactions increased by 10 per cent in May 2024.

In May 2024, Domestic Investors with a total transaction of N231.10 billion outpaced Foreign Investors’ transactions of N124.28 billion by 85.9 per cent.

However, total domestic transactions increased by 2.52 per cent from N225.40 billion in April to N231.10 billion in May 2024.

Total foreign transactions increased by 2.85 per cent from N120.83 billion (about $78.45 million) to N124.28 billion (about $80.69 million) between April 2024 and May 2024.

Also, Institutional Investors with a total volume of transactions of N117.57 billion outperformed Retail Investors with a total volume of transactions of N113.53 billion by 3.56 per cent.

The institutional composition of the domestic market decreased by 5.66 per cent from N124.63 billion in April 2024 to N117.57 billion in May 2024.

[Leadereship]

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and governors of the 36 states of the federation yesterday kept quiet on the issue of minimum wage after a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC).

Millions of Nigerians and members of the organised labour had expected that the federal government and the states would take a position on the matter, which has dragged since the removal of fuel subsidy on May 29, 2023, the day Tinubu took over power, and the expiration of the N30,000 minimum wage agreed on in 2019.

The NEC meeting, statutorily chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, was attended by President Tinubu yesterday, a development that raised the hope of keen watchers of the development that there was the likelihood that the threshold of the new minimum wage expected will be put to rest.

It would be recalled that the 37-member Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage, led by a former Head of Service of the Federation, Bukar Aji, had submitted its report to President Tinubu weeks ago, after about five months of sittings.

During his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2024, President Tinubu had said that a consensus had been reached, and that a proposal would be submitted to the National Assembly.

But the organised labour countered the president, saying they were not privy to any agreement.

At about the same time, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) rejected the N62,000 minimum wage earlier proposed by the federal government, explaining that some states would have to borrow to pay salaries if the amount was implemented.

At present, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) are insisting on N250,000 as minimum wage.

On Tuesday, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) stepped down the memo about the planned new minimum wage for workers in the country.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said this was necessary to allow the president to further consult with other stakeholders on the issue as it involves local governments, states, the federal government and the organised private sector.

The latest development

After the NEC meeting held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday, there was no mention of minimum wage as governors who briefed the press did not entertain questions.

Instead, President Tinubu approved a ‘one-off’ allocation to states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of N10 billion for the procurement of buses and CNG “uplift programme”.

This was part of a new intervention tagged “National Construction and Household Support Programme”.

In a statement, presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said the programme includes the “Delivery of N50,000 uplift grants each to 100,000 families per state for three months, and provision for labour unions and civil society organisations.

According to him, there would be “Deployment of N155 billion for the purchase and sale of assorted foodstuff to be distributed across the nation”.

The statement said the programme was expected to boost agricultural productivity, strengthen the economy by creating opportunities in the real sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, and construction, as well as provide urgent economic relief for Nigerians.

It said road infrastructure projects, such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which is underway, and the Trans-Saharan Highway, which links Enugu, Abakaliki, Ogoja, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, and Abuja, would be prioritised.

President Tinubu also approved full counterpart financing for Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Railway; to traverse Rivers, Abia, Enugu, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno states, as well as for the Ibadan-Abuja segment of the Lagos-Kano Standard-Gauge Railway; which will traverse Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Niger, Abuja, Kaduna, and Kano.

“The Sokoto-Badagry road project is specially prioritised for its importance as some of the states it will traverse are strategic to the agricultural sustainability of the nation,” the statement said.

Addressing the governors during the NEC meeting, President Tinubu urged them to work together to meet the needs of citizens, stating that he was willing to provide the needed support to ensure that Nigerians were relieved of hardship.

“Our states must work together to deliver on the critical reforms required of us to meet the needs of our people. Time is humanity’s most precious asset. You can never have enough of it. It is getting late.

“We are prepared to provide solar powered irrigation facilities to support our farmers across seasons, but we must now produce. We must produce the food our people eat, and it will require coordination and intentionality between members of the National Economic Council (NEC).

“There is nothing we are doing that is more important than producing high-quality food for our people to consume, buy, and sell. We create jobs in the production of it. And that is before we generate wealth by exporting the excess. It is not beyond us to achieve this for Nigerians.

“How much support do you need from me and in what form? I am prepared to provide it. But we must achieve the result. We must deliver on our targets at all levels. Please report back following your consultations and submit to my office within seven days,” President Tinubu said.

On the other hand, after their meeting which started on Wednesday night and went into the early hours of Thursday, the governors said they agreed to “continue engaging with key stakeholders to reach a mutually agreeable solution.”

This was revealed in a communiqué signed by NGF’s acting Director, Media, Ahmed Salihu.

They also assured Nigerians and the organised labour that better minimum wage will result from ongoing negotiations.

Daily Trust recalled that during a similar NEC meeting in August 2023, the federal government approved N5 billion grant to be given to each of the 36 states of the federation for the procurement of grains as well as five trucks of rice to each state as palliatives to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

The NEC also approved the distribution of 40,000 bags of maize to be distributed to states.

But months after the announcement, there was public outcry in many states, with some residents saying they did not receive the palliatives, while others said what they got barely took care of the family for a day.

Speaking on Trust TV’s Daily Politics Programme last night, a public commentator, Hon. Ikenna Azomchine, faulted the approach of the federal government in mitigating the sufferings of Nigerians.

He said palliatives would never solve the problems of Nigerians, saying the Tinubu administration must come up with deliberate policy to address hunger and insecurity.

[DailyTrust]

Humanitarian crisis in Niger State has worsened, with thousands of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, struggling to survive.

DAILY POST reports that the IDPs, in various camps in three local governments of Shiroro, Munya, and Rafi, are living in deplorable conditions.

Mostly women and children, they were forced to flee their homes due to violent attacks from bandits and Boko Haram extremists in the Northern region.

Apart from poor housing within the IDPs camps, a gross violation of their rights and poor sanitation, they are also facing inadequate access to basic necessities like food, water, as well as healthcare.

It was further observed that owing to insufficient food, malnutrition is rampant, with many children suffering from stunting and poor hygiene.

The spread of diseases such as cholera and diarrhea has also been blamed on inadequate access to clean water and sanitation facilities.

During a visit to the camps in Rafi Local Government Area, as well as Gwada and Kuta in Shiroro Local Government Area, the IDPs, who are majorly farmers, decried neglect and ill treatment meted on them by the state government, with no source of livelihood to enable them cater for their families.

“We don’t know when the government is going to put an end to these security challenges that have dislodged us from our homes and farmlands.

“That is why we are asking the government to relocate us by getting us another place where we can start our lives all over.

“Because, as it is, bandits and Boko Haram members have taken over many of our communities. Our people are presently scattered across various LGs in the state and even many other neighbouring states,” some of the victims told our correspondent.

They observed with dismay the housing situation which they described as appalling, with overcrowding, no privacy or personal space, insufficient food, no beddings, leading to discomfort and health issues.

Speaking on the difficult conditions being experienced by the IDPs at the Kuta camp, the Shiroro LG, IDP Desk Officer and Coordinator, Yusuf Bala Kuta, in an interview during a visit to the camp, listed lack of adequate food provision as the major problem facing the victims.

According to him, currently, 50 malnourished children were receiving medical treatment due to inadequate food for breastfeeding mothers in the camp, just as many children have no access to education.

The Deck Officer stated that the camp has on record over 5,000 IDPs, out of which a total of 1,119 are women, 2,511 children, 87 men, including 38 women and their husbands from Zamfara State.

“This IDPs camp was established in 2019 and we have victims from 42 communities from three LGs.

“We have eight blocks of classrooms at the Central Primary School, Kuta, for the IDPs. The centre caters for over 5,000 IDPs, out of which almost 4,000 sleep in the camp.

“About 80 persons are cramped in a room, while others sleep outside the camp. The situation is not easy for the victims as they have no sources of livelihood,” he lamented.

He added that, “the IDPs are suffering because their communities have been burnt down by bandits or Boko Haram sect.

“Some of them are sick and currently in the hospital and we don’t have adequate drugs.

“That is why we are calling on the state government and other relevant authorities to come to our aid.

“However, we thank the Nigerian Red Cross for the recent support.”

An IDP at the Kuta camp, Ahmed Al-Mustapha from Bassa community noted that since the military vacated their communities, the criminals have continued to unleash attacks on a daily basis.

“Currently, the Boko Haram members, who are attacking and slaughtering our people, are demanding that we should vacate our lands totally,” he lamented.

Also, a widow, Hasiya Shuaibu disclosed that during the last attack that claimed the life of her husband, there was no military presence in their community, except local vigilantes who could not face the criminals.

“We are left to our fate to defend ourselves and that’s why we are calling for the government’s commitment to end insecurity,” the widow said.

According to the mother of one of the malnourished children, Halima Musa, “we need help from the government; there is not enough food to feed our children and it’s affecting their health.

“Government should come to our aid. As I am talking to you, our children are out of school because we don’t have money to send them to school.”

When contacted on the condition of the IDPs in the state, the Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Alh Baba Suleiman Yumu said over 42,000 IDPs were housed across the three most affected LGs of Shiroro, Munya and Rafi, even as about 75 communities were affected.

“The State Government has been doing its best in providing succor for the affected victims within available resources and will continue to do more,” he stated.

Similarly, the Public Relations Officer, PRO, Niger State Emergency Management Agency, NSEMA, Hussani Ibrahim, who spoke on behalf of the Director General, Alh Abdullahi Baba Arah expressed the commitment of the Governor Mohammed Umar Bago’s administration in according priority to the welfare and wellbeing of those in need, particularly during emergencies.

Ibrahim revealed that recently relief food items were distributed to the IDPs, adding that the agency was working round the clock to attend to their needs.

[DailyPost]

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ola Olukoyede has ordered the arrest of two officers of the commission allegedly involved in the manhandling of a female staff of Regional Hotel, Ojo, Lagos State.

Olukoyede also directed a detailed investigation of the incident.

According to a statement by the Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, the chairman assured that anyone found guilty will be disciplined.

“The EFCC’s boss has also ordered detailed investigations of the operation carried out at the hotel and assured that appropriate disciplinary measures would be taken against any of the officers found culpable.

“Olukoyede assures the public that the EFCC would continue to ply its job professionally and with profound respect for the rule of law.”

[TheNation]

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday gave all the state governors seven days to provide concrete feedback on their plans to rev up food production in their respective states.

Tinubu gave the directive at the 142nd National Economic Council meeting attended by state governors and some deputies at the State House, Abuja.

He also announced a National Construction and Household Support Programme which will see 100,000 families in each state getting N50,000 grant for three months, N155bn to be disbursed for assorted foods, N540bn for household grants even as 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory will get N10bn allocations each for CNG buses.

The N50,000 planned for 3.7 million families across the 36 states and the FCT, the N10bn allocation each for CNG buses in the 36 states and the FCT, as well as the N155bn spending on assorted foods, are estimated to cost over N1tn.

While emphasising the urgency of boosting food production in the country, the President urged state governors to work together to meet the needs of citizens, stating his willingness to provide the needed support to ensure that Nigerians are relieved of hardship.

“We must deliver on our targets at all levels. Please report back following your consultations and submit it to my office within seven days.

“How much support do you need from me and in what form? I am prepared to provide it. But we must achieve the result.

“There is nothing we are doing that is more important than producing high-quality food for our people to consume, buy, and sell. We create jobs in the production of it. And that is before we generate wealth by exporting the excess. It is not beyond us to achieve this for Nigerians,” he said.

The President’s comments followed multiple economic challenges rocking the country. High inflation driven by the removal of fuel subsidies and exchange rate depreciation reached 27 per cent year-on-year in October 2023.

This price surge, coupled with high food insecurity has exacerbated the cost-of-living crisis, leaving Nigerians struggling to afford necessities.

Despite adopting significant policy reforms like fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification, the challenges of poverty, stalled per-capita growth, and a weak business environment persist and are compounded by external pressures such as global food price surges and geopolitical uncertainties.

At Thursday’s NEC meeting, Tinubu announced new plans to boost agricultural productivity, strengthen the economy by creating opportunities in the real sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, and construction, and provide urgent economic relief for Nigerians.

This includes the immediate rollout of the National Construction and Household Support Programme to cover all geo-political zones in the country.

“Under the programme, the Sokoto-Badagry Highway, which will traverse Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos, is prioritised,” according to a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Ajuri Ngelale.

The statement is titled, ‘President Tinubu urges governors to meet target on food security; approves immediate rollout of national construction and household support programme.’

The programme also prioritises other road infrastructure projects, such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which is underway and the Trans-Saharan Highway, which links Enugu, Abakaliki, Ogoja, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa and Abuja.

Tinubu also approved full counterpart financing for Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Railway; to traverse Rivers, Abia, Enugu, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno, as well as for the Ibadan-Abuja segment of the Lagos-Kano Standard-Gauge Railway; which will traverse Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Niger, Abuja, Kaduna, and Kano.

Ngelale noted that the programme would especially prioritise the Sokoto-Badagry road project “For its importance as some of the states it will traverse are strategic to the agricultural sustainability of the nation.”

Explaining the rationale for the project, the Presidency said, “Within the Sokoto-Badagry Highway corridor, there are 216 agricultural communities, 58 large and medium dams spread across six states, seven Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, 156 local government areas, 39 commercial cities and towns, and over 1 million hectares of arable land.”

Other items under the National Construction and Household Support Programme include: “One-off allocation to states and the Federal Capital Territory of N10bn for the procurement of buses and CNG uplift programme.

“Delivery of N50,000 uplift grant each to 100,000 families per state for three months—provision for labour unions and civil society organisations. 

“Deployment of N155bn for the purchase and sale of assorted foodstuff to be distributed across the nation.”

Tinubu is attending the National Economic Council meeting, often chaired by his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, for the first time.

NEC was expected to deliberate on the new minimum wage given the president’s decision to step down the proposal of the National Minimum Wage Committee at Tuesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting to allow for more consultations with necessary stakeholders, including the state governors, all of whom are members of the NEC.

The president had said he would only submit a new national minimum wage to the national assembly for passage into law after such talks.

However, council members who briefed State House correspondents after the meeting were silent on the minimum wage matter.

Announcing the resolutions reached, the Minister of Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari, who joined the governors of Imo, Kano and Kogi to brief correspondents, revealed that the federal government has approved a $1bn agriculture mechanisation programme that will set up 1000 agro-sector service providers across the country with tractors.

He explained, “We’ll have a minimum of 2000 tractors a year for the next five years and all other aggregation of agricultural commodities is going to be utilized at least nothing less than 600,000 youths to man these 1000 service centres.”

Kyari noted that the elaborate plan is an arrangement with John Deere and Tata to provide 2000 tractors before the end of the year. They will be rolled out as soon as is feasible, he said, adding that the project was approved by the Federal Executive Council last Tuesday.

According to Kyari, the Greener Imperative Project, which he said was still in the works, is a €950m project that will soon be unveiled.

Kyari revealed that the FG was anticipating another deal with Belarus Tractors to supply 2000 tractors per year for the next five years, with 9000 implements and spare parts, among others.

The agriculture minister also said Saudi Arabia had expressed interest in providing 200,000 metric tons of red meat every year and 1 million tonnes of soya from Nigeria.

“We have already last week had a meeting with our entrepreneurs and we have come out with a roadmap where we can supply and satisfy that demand.

“We are looking at partnership with foreign governments, not necessarily trying to ask them to come and invest, but asking them what can we produce so that we can sell to you so that we can earn foreign exchange,” he added.

In his remarks, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State said that the NEC directed the sub-committee on crude oil theft right provide comprehensive recommendations to end the menace during the next meeting.

Uzodinma said that even though the sub-committee was expected to submit its report during Thursday’s meeting, “it was inconclusive.”

Meanwhile, Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State announced the constitution of the board of the Niger Delta Power Holding, which he said had operated for a long time without a supervising board.

He revealed that it is made up of governors of Borno, Katsina, Imo, Ekiti, Kwara, and Akwa Ibom states representing the different geo-political zones.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, spoke of the activation of the Presidential Food Systems coordinating unit chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima

[Punch]

JULIAN Assange, an innocent man walked out of an American-staged court this Monday, June 24, a free man after spending1901 harrowing days in British captivity. He spent those hellish days in the British Belmarsh maximum security prison in a 2×3 metre cell, isolated 23 hours a day. Not even a dog deserves such inhuman treatment.

The sin of Assange is that he is the Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks which exposed the war crimes, especially by the United States, in Iraq; human rights abuses, corruption and serial lies by the powerful. This was before Donald Trump, who told 21 lies for everyday he was American President, made falsehood a state policy.

The dehumanisation of Assange and holding him hostage, negated the fundamental teachings of the West on journalism. One is that facts are sacred. But for them, facts are harmful and should be teleguided by nuclear missiles of lies. Another is that: ‘It is the business of government to keep its secrets secret, and the business of the press to expose those secrets’. But for Western powers like Britain and the US, the public should know only what the government wants it to know. To them, a press that keeps the people informed is an enemy of the state. In fact, as is the case of Assange, a journalist who exposes what government wants covered up is no different from a spy, and should be so treated.

The West used to claim it stood by the truth; didn’t the Holy Scriptures state that: “ Thou shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free”? But we now know that as far as the powerful are concerned, ‘Thou shall know the truth, and the truth shall send you to prison.’

A hostage of Western hypocrisy, the attempt to destroy Assange physically and mentally is a testimony to the lies  of Western press freedom, justice and commitment to human rights.

In the gathering of Western cocks led by the United States and Britain, Assange was essentially, a cockroach pleading his innocence. Only a miracle could save him as he had been held hostage by British Prime Ministers David Cameroon, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Britain acted at the behest of US Presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

In their mindless attempts to break Assange, the Western powers violated Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

They also raped several articles of the Declaration, including the fundamental right to the dignity of human person; freedom of thought, conscience, movement, fair hearing, personal liberty and family life.

Also, Britain, the jailor, violated its own laws, including its Human Rights Act 1998 which guarantees the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.

Similarly, the US violated the First Amendment of its Constitution which states that: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Although Assange spent five years in British prison, in all, he spent 14 years in that country mostly fighting against extradition to Sweden for what, in my view, were bizarre cases of suspected rape and alleged sexual molestation.

He had visited Sweden in 2010 during which two Swedish women, Ms. Annan Ardin, 31, in whose home he lived, and Miss W, a staff of Wikileaks, discovered he was simultaneously sleeping with them. The latter complained that on an occasion, he had unprotected sex with her and, Miss Ardin recalled that the condom broke while they were having sex. The ladies demanded that Assange took a test for sexually transmitted infections. But he allegedly declined on the basis that he hadn’t the time.

So, on August 20, 2010, the ladies went to the police to compel him. But the police said it could not do so unless there was a criminal aspect. The case was then reported as alleged rape and sexual assault. The latter complaint arose from Miss Ardin also claiming that Assange had one morning, exposed himself to her, and went on to rub his body against her. To Swedish authorities, such an act amounted to Assange having “deliberately molested” her. The complainants agreed they had consensual sex with Assange, but they had not consented to unprotected sex. Assange was interviewed by the police.

Twenty seven days after the complaint and on the legal advice that he was free to travel, he left for London. Same day, he was arrested in his absence. A European Arrest Warrant was issued and extradition proceedings initiated.

However, Assange, who the US was trying to arrest for exposing its classified secrets, said it was “actually an attempt to get me into a jurisdiction which will then make it easier to extradite me to the US.” He asked Sweden for guarantees that he would not be extradited to the US, but the latter declined. So for seven years, he took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

While Britain held Assange, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that Britain and Sweden were holding Assange in arbitrary detention. Sweden, in 2019, dropped the charges against him, but Britain continued holding him until June 24, 2024 when under arrangement with the US, he was granted bail, taken before an American judge and sentenced to time already served in British prison.

The release of Assange and return to his Australian home is a victory for press freedom and fundamental human rights. It shows that no matter how long dark clouds seize the sky, sooner or later, the sun will shine.

In expressing solidarity with him and the millions across the world who campaigned for his release, I specially salute his wife, Stella, a Swedish-Spanish lawyer and human rights defender. Apart from standing firmly by his side, she showed remarkable commitment, taking care of their children, Gabriel and Max, while he was in prison.

The couple had met while he was holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy. So, this will be the first time the family will be meeting from the prying eyes of prison guards.

Assange has been prised out of the hands of the powerful. But the hounds are still out there waiting to snap journalists who dare publish the truth and make governments uncomfortable.

It took the conviction of Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, for me to conclude that the most significant thing that would happen to the United States of America is for Donald Trump to return to the White House.

When Hunter Biden was found guilty of lying about drug use while buying a gun, his father issued a statement saying he was disappointed at the outcome of the trial but that he still had confidence in the jury system. What kind of nonsense statement is that?

When Trump was found guilty of falsifying business records, he did what every sensible and responsible man would do. He attacked the prosecutors, judge, jury, and the city where the trial took place. He said if he had the power, he would have moved the trial to a city where he could get a fair trial and not New York City littered with sinners, Trump haters, and socialists.

I am already preparing for Trump’s second coming.

I have checked how many people a train from Chicago to Los Angeles can transport in one trip. It turns out that it will take 1000 people at once. I checked the Boston to Los Angeles route, too. I’m figuring out how long it will take Donald Trump to deport 14 million illegal immigrants in America back to Latin America.

Because I am compassionate, I thought about collateral damages. I calculated how many people real Americans would harass, attack, and kill in the process.

I used the figures of how many people died during the partition of India in 1947. I know it won’t be anything like that. But I didn’t want to use a conservative estimate on possible deaths and displacements. In India, over one million people died, and 10 – 20 million people were displaced.

Even though I do not expect a number like that, I am sure the United States can live with casualties of that magnitude. After all, during the US Civil War, over 620,000 died out of a population of about 32 million. With a population of 333 million today, the US can afford to lose 6 million people, which is today’s equivalent of the Civil War casualty. We can have another 30 million displaced without any problem.

The most important thing is that the collateral damages would be worth it. I saw empty houses that would open up in Boston, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and other cities all over America. Home prices will drop, and our fellow MAGA, who now works at Wal-Mart, will have houses to buy. There would be ten million job openings. Companies will offer a minimum wage of $50 an hour to toilet cleaners, and school teachers will make six figures in Alabama.

For those worried about where replacement workers will come from, with abortion banned across America, saving 626,000 babies each year, real blue-blood American children would be born all over the country. I see the end of people from despicable countries coming to America to give birth so that their children would become US citizens.

For those nincompoops who still oppose the return of Donald Trump, let me remind you of one divine part that you have not considered.

Like Jesus Christ, Donald Trump left his father’s paradise in New York, where he shepherded his father’s business to greatness to come down to our level and serve us mere humans. You know how Jesus fed 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish; in 1975, Trump’s father gave him a loan of $60.7 million (about $600 million in today’s dollars). He turned that meager amount into the billions of dollars we now see at Trump universities, airlines, vodka, steaks, magazines, casinos, resorts, and hotels from New York to New Jersey, Florida, Scotland, and Moscow.

Like Jesus, Trump decided to put his life on the line to defeat the deep state and all its tributaries, including the original military-industrial complex, the woke gang, and the sneaky BLM. America must not miss this opportunity to reconcile with their founding fathers and the original saliva of their mouths, the living text of their constitution, and the patented pleasant smell of their farts.

As one of those wretched of this earth poisoning the blue blood of America, I have looked at this matter of Donald J. Trump critically. From all that I learned from the shithole country where I was born, I can say without any equivocation that Donald Trump is the man that America needs at this time.

Please don’t come for my head yet. I will explain in a moment.

You see, some people live in America, but they do not see America. They can correctly spell America but not see the letter k in it. The so-called decline of America has been nothing but the inability of its citizens to embrace the true American essence, which Trump epitomizes.

American essence is not just a perpetual performance of an experiment on the sustainability of the “government of the people for the people and by the people.” It is, more importantly, a constant renewal of the bold and brave DNA that inspired the founders of the United States to cross seven seas and seven rivers to arrive at God’s own country built on the shining mountain.

Who else embodies this divine invocation other than Donald Trump? Who else exhumes that childlike naivety that drives great explorers of yore? Who else spews the bombastic confidence of the dragon slayers who chart new paths along dreaded frontiers full of vicious natives? Who else massages his own ego in the worship of a thirsty Id? How else do you make a great leader? Where else in Western civilization can you find a leader willing to turn some of his people into expendable for the good of all?

To renew the American hope, you need to enslave some Americans to do the kind of work that enslaved Africans did for 400 years. There is just no other way. Don’t listen to what liberals and socialists say.

Our forefathers were right. When it is time for a dog to die, placing heaps of feces on its path will not stop it from proceeding at maximum speed to where a car will knock it down.

I am ready to welcome Donald J. Trump back to the White House on January 20, 2025. I will be a CNN analyst that day, helping Americans understand what Trump’s 2nd term in office will look like. I will tell them the kind of things liberals and socialists told Germans in the 1930s. These were things Germans did not listen to and later regretted.

After several false starts, America is finally getting it right. Things that killed other great empires before America are not finally going to kill her. Thanks to Trump. Only Trump is going to stop what was written from being fulfilled.

Please correct me if I am right.

Ogoo Okonkwo teaches Post-Colonial African History, Afrodiasporan Literature, and African Folktales at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is also the host of the Dr. Damages Show. His books include “This American Life Sef” and “Children of a Retired God,” among others. His upcoming book is called “Why I’m Disappointed in Jesus.”

Only politicians and their supporters numbed by greed and insensitivity to human suffering, and (there are many in Africa), did not anticipate the “Youth Revolt” of 25 June 2024 in Kenya.

But this appears to be the beginning of a renewed “people power” revolution against bad governance, even though the death of more than 20 Kenyans was avoidable and unnecessary before President William Ruto could withdraw his government’s anti-people Finance Bill 2024 after the June 25 mayhem.

He was probably riding on the crest of 15 minutes of fame from his recent well-choreographed validation-seeking photo-opportunity visits to Washington DC and Asia.

The controversial bill was passed by 195 out of 304 members of Parliament and was then waiting for a presidential accent. But Kenyans, especially the youths said they have had enough.

Widespread protests were unleashed on the country under the slogans #RejectFinanceBill2024 and “Seven Days of Rage.”

A week earlier, the government in a typically condescending official response, had announced the scrapping of some of the many tax increases under the bill. A proposed 16% value-added tax on bread and taxes on motor vehicles, vegetable oil and mobile money transfers, were among the taxes axed, but angry Kenyans were unimpressed.

When demonstrators poured on the streets, the government responded by deploying military personnel to reinforce the overwhelmed police force.

In scenes reminiscent of the 6 January 2021 invasion of the American Congress by defeated President Donald Trump’s supporters, aggrieved Kenyans on Tuesday 25 June, marched on their country’s Parliament in Nairobi and set part of the building alight.

The ceremonial mace of the parliament was stolen, while the Nairobi City Hall, the Office of the Governor of Nairobi, was also set on fire.

Kenya was in a forced shut-down, but despite disruptions to the Internet, the protesters still mobilised in their thousands against the Ruto government bill.

Some of the protesters hurled stones at security forces, who responded by firing tear-gas and live bullets resulting in the deaths and dozens of the wounded. Former American President Barak Obama’s half-sister Auma Obama was among those tear-gassed.

Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga urged the government to “immediately stop the violence its agencies are meting out on citizens.”

President Ruto’s former boss-turned-political opponent, ex-President Uhuru Kenyatta, has also called for restraint.

The Embassies and High Commissions of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States in Kenay, said in a joint statement that they “are especially shocked by the scenes witnessed outside the Kenyan Parliament.”

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres, through his spokesman Stephane Dujarric called on the police and security forces to “exercise restraint.”. At the same time, the African Union Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat appealed to “national stakeholders to engage in constructive dialogue to address the contentious issues that led to the protests in the supreme interest of Kenya.”

Incidentally, there has been no report of any official reactions by regional organisations -Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD), and the East African Community (EAC) to the Kenyan crisis.

In his initial response t, President Ruto said the security of families and property was his utmost priority. He said events marked a “critical turning point” in how the government responded, “to grave threats to our national security.”

According to him, Kenya was “infiltrated and hijacked by a group of organised criminals.”

“Today’s attack on Kenya’s constitutional order has resulted in the loss of lives… destruction of property and desecration of institutions and emblems of our sovereignty,” he said, adding that the government has mobilised all resources at the nation’s disposal to ensure that a situation of this nature will not recur again, at whatever cost.”

However, after reality dawned on the embattled President Ruto, he announced the withdrawal of the controversial Finance Bill 2024.

Like in many developing countries including in Africa, the Ruto government’s miscalculation is in trying to please external partners at the expense of their country and the well-being of their people.

But beyond greed, selfishness, incompetence, lack of vision and lust for political power, or a combination of these vices, is there any reason African leaders would be adamant in sheepishly following externally driven economic policies destined to failure?

Despite the well-documented and evidenced experiences that prescriptions by the two Bretton Woods Institutions - the World Bank and the IMF - have hardly lifted any countries from poverty, why are African leaders such as President Ruto, who should know better still falling victims?

More than half a century ago, Walter Rodney in his 1972 book "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa," argued that “centuries of slavery, exploitation and imperialism by Europeans led to the poor state of African political and economic development.”

He said the “colonial and imperial powers did not merely enrich their empires but reversed economic and social development in Africa.”

Rodney, therefore, concluded that a combination of power politics and economic exploitation of Africa by Europeans was responsible for the situation in the late 20th century, (and by extension today.)

If that was not enough, William Easterly, a former Economist with the World Bank in The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good" 2001 documented the pitfalls of international Development, foreign aid, and Western intervention, including by the World Bank and the IMF.

The findings build upon themes and topics, which the author explored in another 2001 book - "The Elusive Quest for Growth."

And what about the “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, a semi-autobiographical book by American economist and essayist John Perkins, first published in 2004 or the 1998 warning by Robert J. Barro a professor of economics at Harvard University and a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution?

Citing IMF’s interventions in Brazil, Mexico, Russia and the role of the United States, 98_1207_imf_bw.pdf (harvard.edu), Professor Barro in an Op-Ed entitled  The IMF Doesn’t Put Out Fires, It Starts Them, posits that “With help from the U.S., the fund encourages bad economic policy by rewarding failure with showers of money.”

He concluded: “Countries such as Brazil and Russia, would have had the appropriate incentives to implement good policies. instead of knowing that the IMF or the U.S. would respond to bad policies with showers of money.”

The tragedy of Africa is that it ignores/neglects or kills its heroes but goes to bed with any foreign.

When the World Bank and the IMF hoisted the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) on hapless so-called developing and least developed nations - many of which are in Africa – Nigeria’s late Professor Adebayo Adedeji and fellow pan-Africanist thinkers developed the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programme (AAF-SAP, 1989) followed by the African Charter for Popular Participation (ACPP, 1990), as legendary blueprints for the continent's home-grown development and governance paradigms.

Mentioned in a 2006 publication as one of the world's 50 influential thinkers on development, Adedeji after setting up the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) advanced his integration campaign to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa where he served as UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary for 16 years (1975-91).

His dynamism under the UNECA platform also resulted in the creation of two more Regional Economic Communities (RECs) - the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in 1981 and 1983, respectively. He will also be remembered for his other ground-breaking initiatives, such as the Lagos Plan of Action (1980), and the Final Act of Lagos (1980).

These timeless economic documents are as relevant today as they were decades ago. Why are African leaders groping in darkness, and hiding their Biblical lamps under the bushel?

Ejime is an Author, Global Affairs Analyst, and Consultant on Peace & Security and Governance Communications

This week has been particularly raw in Africa. The continent continues to face severe economic challenges, spending more on debt servicing than on health and education. But nothing evoked more emotions than the horror of policemen shooting at rioters on the streets of Nairobi as they protested against what they considered a most draconian fiscal legislation in the country. Over two dozen Kenyans were killed after the protesters entered parliament, smashing windows and doors and setting part of the buildings on fire. They have been protesting against a piece of legislation known as the Finance Bill 2024, recently passed by parliament and set to be signed into law by President William Ruto. The enactment essentially imposed higher taxes on practically every item in the country, from bread to tire to TV to motor cars. In Kenya, a finance bill is usually presented to parliament before the beginning of the financial year that runs from July to June, detailing government’s fiscal agenda. For the 2024/2025 bill, the government planned to raise $2.7 billion in additional taxes to reduce budget deficit and state borrowing.

But Kenyans would have none of it. Protests erupted nationwide culminating in Tuesday’s total shutdown which quickly turned violent as police fired rubber bullets and live rounds. Initially, the government responded tepidly by scrapping the 16% VAT on bread along with taxes on motor vehicles, vegetable oil and mobile money transfers, but when it became apparent that the violence would not abate, President Ruto addressed the nation Tuesday night, describing the riots as threats to ‘’national security’’. He said the rioters were criminals and vowed a massive crack down. ‘’It is not in order to, or even conceivable, that criminals pretending to be peaceful protesters can reign terror against people, their elected representatives and institutions established under our constitution, and expect to go scot-free’’, the president said. But early the following day, President Ruto, made a sudden climb down. Surrounded by the same lawmakers who passed the bill, he announced that he would no longer sign it and that legislation would be withdrawn. He promised to consult with a cross section of Kenyans on the way forward. By end of the week, Kenyans were getting set to go on a one-million-person march to continue the protests, not only against the bill, but also against endemic corruption in government. At dawn Friday, policemen and soldiers had taken over the streets, firing tear gas at the people who were now shouting ‘’Ruto must go’’. There were stalemates and tension in the country. This is a recipe for disaster. Most violent revolutions in history were instigated by hunger.

Like most of the continent, Kenya is gripped by severe debt burden. Yet it is the continent’s fastest-growing economy. Its domestic and foreign debts stand at a staggering $80 billion, about 75% of GDP, according to a recent UN report. Kenya faces a spectre of a default, and it in a desperate bid to avoid this that the government proposed those draconian tax hikes. As I watched the rioters on TV, I recalled the SAP riots of 1989; the series of June 12 riots in 1993, 1994 and 1995 and the 2020 anti-police brutality riots in Nigeria. My mind also went to our own dire situations in Nigeria. Every year, Nigeria spends all of its revenues in servicing a total public debt of N121.67 debt (over $800 billion at today’s exchange rate); and this is the reason the country borrows to run the government, pay salaries and fund social services. In addition, rising inflation and unbearable cost of living crisis have rendered ordinary people poorer by over 35%. Food, medicines and basic necessities have become unaffordable to majority of the citizens, rendering a lot of our people hungry while children are facing severe malnutrition, especially in the northern region. We are sitting on a keg of gun poweder!

What irks Nigerians more is that in spite of the untold hardship and sufferings in the land, the political class continues to live in utmost lavishness and ostentations. The federal government had last year spent billions to purchase vehicles for the president and his wife; and renovate the vice president and the president’s official residences in Lagos and Abuja. Currently, there are plans to buy a brand-new plane for the president. Meantime, presidential travels, usually made up of bloated delegations, continue to sap the treasury of scarce of foreign exchange, while corruption goes on unabated within the bureaucracy. In the state capitals, the governors are living in unbelievable opulence at the expense of the public. The insensitivity of these people are simply jarring.

 Nigerians are keenly watching as Kenya boils. Public anger is rising in Africa’s most populous nation, but so far, it is not boiling over. Over Christmas, the federal government and states like Akwa Ibom, Oyo, Rivers and Lagos as well as companies like Dangote Industries Limited spent billions to buy and distribute food items to citizens. ‘’Through our massive food distribution programme across the nation, I was able to appreciate the scale of hunger and poverty in the country’’, said Anthony Chiejina, DIL’s chief branding & communications officer to this writer recently. But for how long will these palliatives assuage the simmering furore across the land? As boxing legend, Mike Tyson, put it, ‘’everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face’’.