Treachery      This is being false or disloyal to a friend or to a cause. It is also being deceptive; not to be relied upon. Treacherous actions always attract curses upon the person(s) involved and on their next generations. Unless the cause betrayed is ungodly itself.

And this is why we must always be very careful of the way we live. The word of God says that whatever a man sows, that he must also reap. You cannot act treacherously without reaping the punishment. If the reaping does not come immediately, still know that it will surface later.

There are people that just enjoy being deceptive or selling out. They can never be true to a friend, to an associate or to a cause to the end. They love to betray anything and everything. They are slippery. They will pretend to be loyal only to go behind and betray the cause.

They will dine with you, study your weaknesses and strengths, and then effortlessly, hand you over to your enemies.     Look at Judas Iscariot. He was an official of Jesus’ ministry. He ate with him, prayed with him and in fact, was the treasurer of the ministry. But he chose to betray his master for money. Even when Jesus predicted his betrayal, Judas also like the other apostles, asked, “Master (teacher). Am I the one, am I?”

But after all this, he still went ahead and did what he had decided to do.   A treacherous person is always heartless, conscienceless, dangerous and godless. They are always the most dangerous people to deal with; because you can never know what is in their mind, unless the Spirit of God reveals it to you.

But Jesus also has a word for the betrayer (treacherous person). He said that cursed is the man that will betray him. That it would be better for the person if he had not been born. And you saw how Judas the betrayer ended. He hanged himself; even without enjoying the ‘gain’ of his treachery. There is always a curse on deceptive, false, treacherous people. And it often goes generational.      

Let’s further look at the generational consequences of this sin by Judas. Peter while addressing about 120 believers after the ascension of the LORD said that, the home of Judas will be desolate, with no one living in it and that his position will be taken by someone else.

Read it,  “Brothers, it was necessary for the Scriptures to be fulfilled concerning Judas, who guided the Temple police to arrest Jesus. This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, Speaking through King David. Judas was one of us, chosen to share in the ministry with us.  

“(Judas bought a field with the money he received for his treachery, and falling there, he burst open, spilling out his intestines. The news of his death spread rapidly among all the people of Jerusalem, and they gave the place the Aramaic name Akeldama, which means ‘Field of Blood’).    

“Peter continued, ‘This was predicted in the book of Psalms, where it says, ‘Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it.’ And again, ‘Let his position be given to someone else”Acts 1:16-20       

This was terrible!   Now, can you see the generational dimension? The consequences of the sin will not only be on the culprit – Judas, but also on his home. Home means family, house, quarters, residence, a dwelling place. And it can also be a place of birth, home town, native land, etc.

The bible said that his home will become desolate (uninhabited, deserted, barren, austere, forbidding, miserable, unhappy, depressed, wretched, and dejected). God! Just for the sin of betrayal by one indiscreet man? Are you a betrayer??      

Let’s also see few more examples from the bible: Ham/Canaanites After the flood, one day Noah was lying in his tent naked and drunk. His youngest son - Ham saw his father in that mood and instead of covering him or even minding his own business, he derided his own father, went outside and told his brothers.

Now, his wiser brothers Shem and Japheth immediately, covering their eyes, went and covered their father’s nakedness. When Noah woke up from his drunkenness, he learnt what Ham had done and promptly cursed him and his descendants,            

“When Noah woke up from his drunken stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. Then he cursed the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham: ‘A curse on the Canaanites! May they be the lowest of servants to the descendants of Shem and Japheth.”     

Genesis 9:24-25.  Noah expected his youngest son Ham to have given him that respect and honour as a father or even as an elder, and at least cover his nakedness, but he didn’t do that. Instead he made a mockery of the whole thing.

His father felt betrayed and as a result released this generational curse upon Ham and his next generations. Ham was disloyal and unconsciously sealed the destinies of his children and subsequent generations. Why would one mock or celebrate the nakedness (weakness) of his/her own parents?  

Parental curses are very strong and always go generational. So many people are today suffering from parental generational curses.

Truly, it is one of the most effective I have ever seen. It is like whatever you do to your parents must come back to you. Your children will do the same to you.

I have always heard people say that their children are doing exactly what they themselves did to their own parents. It’s like a ‘standing curse’. Even the bible further said that for you to live long and for it to be well with you, you must treat your parents well.

Yes, very well.   We must respectfully, with love and gratitude, treat our parents and elders very well. (Even if you think they are bad people). So many blessings come through this. Their blessings as well as curses are very sure and generational. What is your current relationship with your parents?

Your mentors, helpers, relations, spiritual parents? Are you treating them well? If not, go look for them. Take care of them now! We will continue next week.

God bless you!

The Federal Government has converted the Gombe State government-owned General Hospital, Kumo, into a Federal Medical Centre.

The Kumo Federal Medical Centre is the second federal medical institution in the state, after the Federal Teaching Hospital in Gombe, the capital. The teaching hospital was initially a medical centre before being upgraded into a Federal Teaching Hospital.

The Kumo Federal Medical Centre will serve as a tertiary health hospital, contribute to the training of medical personnel, and boost health care service in Gombe State and the Northeast generally.

Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya formally requested the takeover of the facility. President Tinubu approved the request, given the poor maternal and neonatal mortality indices in the Northeastern region and other health indicators in Gombe State.

The Federal Government also considered the State Government's commitment to improving its health sector, which aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda, which has unveiled comprehensive reforms in the health sector.

President Tinubu commended Governor Yahaya for prioritising the welfare of the state's citizens and stressed that the takeover would improve the state's healthcare delivery system.

Bayo Onanuga

Special Adviser to the President

(Information & Strategy)

Concerns are mounting over the safety of high-caliber weapons and explosives stored at the Lagos Air Force Base, following the facility’s continued disconnection from electricity by the distribution company responsible for the area.

Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has warned preachers against using loudspeakers in public spaces, particularly markets, accusing them of causing noise pollution and disturbing residents.

Soludo stated that anyone caught violating the noise pollution order would face a N500,000 fine.

A viral video circulating on social media on Saturday showed the governor warning an unidentified roadside preacher at a market to stop disrupting traders with his preaching.

He advised the preacher to either preach in a church or rent an open field, adding that those interested in listening would seek him out there.

Addressing traders at a market, the governor said, “If you want to preach the word of God, go to your church. You are causing noise pollution here. You cannot come to a marketplace and disturb everyone.

“If you want to preach, go to a church. Those who want to listen will come to you; you cannot force people in the market to hear your message.

“This is a marketplace, not a church. You are violating the law. You cannot take over a public space and turn it into a church. Otherwise, you will be charged for using this space.

“You will pay ?500,000 because we cannot allow this. We have banned loudspeakers in markets due to noise pollution, which affects people’s eardrums. You cannot force people to listen to your preaching. We are cracking down on fake pastors and prophets in Anambra.”

[DailyTrust]

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine has said that his country is “fully committed” to having a constructive dialogue with US representatives in Saudi Arabia.

The meeting is scheduled to hold next week as countries seek ways to end the war with Russia.

Zelenskyy said on Saturday that “Ukraine has been seeking peace from the very first second of this war. Realistic proposals are on the table.”

“The key is to move quickly and effectively,” the Ukrainian president wrote on X.

Zelenskyy said he was going to Saudi Arabia next week, adding that after his meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, his country’s diplomatic and military representatives would stay for a meeting on Tuesday with the US team.

He added, “On our side, we are fully committed to constructive dialogue, and we hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps.”

Foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, and the defence minister, Rustem Umerov, will lead Ukrainian delegation to the high profile meeting.

DAILY POST reported that President Zelenskyy met with President Donald Trump and US Vice president, JD Vance at the Oval Office a week ago.

However, the meeting did not end on a good note as both parties confirmed. Since then, the Ukrainian leader has been seeking ways to mend things with the US.

[DailyPost]

The chairman, Plateau State Internal Revenue Service (PSIRS), Dr. Jim Pam Wayas, said the state raked in N31.14 billion in 2024, the first in the history of the state.

Pam said this is in contrast to the N25.8 billion made in 2023.

Speaking to reporters in his office on Friday, Pam said the service has also received a tall order from Governor Caleb Mutfwang to increase the revenue to N52 billion 2025.

He said the service is however starting on a good footing, as it already collected N3.3 billion in January compared to N1.6 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Pam said the service was able to achieve this through improved revenue collection by bringing more tax payers into the tax net and blocking leakages in the revenue system.

He said, “In 2023, we were able to jack the revenue to N25.8 billion from somewhere around N15.8 billion in the preceding year. But as at close of business last year, the revenue closed at N31.14 billion.

“And that’s the first time the Plateau State has hit the benchmark of above N30 billion in revenue generation. However, there’s hope that we need to start 2025 on a tall order because even the state government has given us a total revenue target of N52 billion in 2025.

“But we started 2025 on a strong footing. As at January, we collected about N3.3 billion, which is not even the highest that we ever collected in any given month, but I think compared to last year, by January, we did about N1.6 billion.

“That shows significant improvement in revenue generation.

Pam said though the state had witnessed an increase in internally generated revenue, it’s federally allocated revenue had for the past six months come with a minus, owing to foreign debts that the state had incurred in the past and fluctuations in rate of foreign exchange.

[TheNation]

The United States may still have the world’s most powerful navy but it seems to have realised that this is no longer sufficient to reassert US supremacy over the high seas.

If President Donald Trump’s pronouncements on shipbuilding, the Panama Canal and Greenland are anything to go by, he wants to increase US sea power on several fronts – just as China is already doing.

Beijing’s expanding influence on the world’s oceans is a challenge to Washington’s efforts to protect its interests.

While the United States still dominates the seas militarily, it is weaker in other maritime sectors, such as merchant shipping and shipbuilding itself, analysts told AFP.

Trump told the US Congress last week that his administration would “resurrect” the country’s nautical construction industry “including commercial shipbuilding and military shipbuilding”.

On China, he has complained that Beijing “controls” the Panama Canal and has refused to rule out military force to wrest control of a vital strategic asset.

The president has been equally blunt about wanting to take over Greenland, a Danish territory whose untapped mineral and oil reserves he covets.

And he wants to tax any Chinese vessel that docks in US ports.

Researcher Sophie Quintin, of Portsmouth University in the UK, said Trump’s approach smacked of a return to “navalism” — a theory stressing the importance of sea power espoused by 19th-century US naval officer Alfred Mahan.

On the other hand, Trump might just be appealing to his populist voter base, the Make America Great Again (MAGA) faithful.

“It’s difficult to know if it’s the fruit of a real strategic reflection,” said Alessio Patalano, a specialist in maritime strategy at King’s College, London.

“In the end, it doesn’t matter. Serving the interests of MAGA voters by restarting naval shipyards or taxing Chinese boats leads to a navalist policy.”

– Chinese sea power –

In any case, China understands the importance of sea power, said Nick Childs of Britain’s International Institute for Strategic Studies.

At a Paris conference last month, Childs pointed to China’s rapid expansion in maritime sectors other than its own navy.

“There are the investments we’ve been hearing about in global ports, global maritime infrastructure and the weaponising of the fishing fleet,” he said.

Washington is concerned by the expansion of Chinese shipping companies, which they see as serving the interests of the Beijing government.

“Beijing’s economic control of port operations at strategic chokepoints across the world — many of which are part of the Maritime Silk Road initiative — pose a threat to the United States and its allies,” opined US think tank the Jamestown Foundation in February.

It cited in particular two state-owned firms, COSCO and China Merchant Ports.

Beijing could also exert “significant influence” on a third, the privately owned Hutchison Port Holdings, which controls two ports on the Panama Canal, it said.

But Paul Tourret, of France’s Higher Institute of Maritime Economics (ISEMAR), cautioned against too “simplistic” a reading of China’s maritime policy.

“COSCO, for example, follows a financial logic. It merely delivers to the United States the goods that Americans consume,” he said.

Nevertheless, pressure from Washington seems to have had some effect.

Hutchison announced last week it had agreed to sell its lucrative Panama Canal ports to a US-led consortium, although it insisted this was a “purely commercial” decision.

– Gaps in US presence –

While the United States may have the world’s most powerful navy, its merchant fleet is not in such good shape, said Quintin.

“US shipping companies have significantly declined and what remains of its commercial fleet is ageing,” she said.

“That has repercussions for its strategic fleet,” she added, referring to civilian ships used for military transport.

“Furthermore, the shipbuilding sector is in crisis.”

Tourret agreed: “There’s no way the US can build ships quickly.”

“The problem with US shipbuilding is that they don’t have the know-how of the Japanese and Koreans, and they don’t have the scale of the Chinese, who churn ships out like biscuits,” added Patalano.

“When Europe is one year behind on a military programme, the US is three or four years late,” said a European industry source on condition of anonymity.

Trump’s avowed desire to seize control of Greenland and Canada can also be viewed as a bid to regain US dominance over the seas.

Global heating is melting Arctic ice at an alarming rate, endangering natural ecosystems and contributing to further climate change.

But that melting could also open up the region to vessels – both commercial and military – and to oil and mineral exploration.

Those prospects have not been lost on China, Russia or the United States.

“The Arctic space will become increasingly important for power projection, especially for missile-launching submarines,” said Patalano, who sees these as “an essential component of deterrence”.

Here again, “the United States is lagging behind”, said Quintin.

“While China is capable of deploying three icebreakers, the US Coast Guard struggles to keep its two ageing vessels in service,” she said.

AFP

The Nigerian Senate last Thursday suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) for six months for what it called her total violation of the Senate Standing Rules which allegedly brought the presiding officer and the entire Nigerian Senate to public opprobrium.

The suspension was announced by Senate President Godswill Akpabio following the approval of the recommendation of the Ethics and Privileges Committee to penalize Natasha for the said infraction. Public responses to the development have been varied. Whereas the majority of senators supported the suspension, some analysts believe the approach of the senate did not project its members as true democrats.

The senate relied heavily on the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act of 2018 which among other things regulates the conduct of members and other persons connected with the proceedings of the Legislative House. Of particular importance is Section 21(2) of the Act which provides that ‘where any member is guilty of contempt of a Legislative House, the House, may by resolution, reprimand such member or suspend him from the service of the House for such period as it may determine.’Although this law may on its face valuelook harmless to the House, there is doubt if the attempt by our legislators to cover themselves with a cloak of tyranny can stand the test of time.  

A body such as the senate which does not have the power to make a senator, cannot give itself the power to unmake any senator. There are only two authorities that our constitution empowers to remove a legislator from office. These are: an election tribunal and the people that elected the legislator to represent them in the legislature. If an authority has no legal powers to remove a person from office, such an authority cannot validly exercise the illegal power by making the removal a short-term matter. Removal by one day in the name of suspension is a removal, it is irrelevant that the length of time of the removal is long or short; because as the saying goes, no person, group or authority can give what it does not have. 

The senate or any group or organization is no doubt entitled to making its own rules for the smooth running of the body. It is therefore in order for the senate to make rules to penalize its members for any infraction, but such punishment must be within its powers. If the senate is satisfied that Senator Natasha Uduaghan breached any of its rules, it can remove her from a chairmanship position of a committee or any other privileges hitherto bestowed on her by the senate. It can however not extend the punishment beyond its own power. This point has been repeatedly made and one wonders why our Legislative Houses have continued with the illegality of purporting to have the power to suspend one of its own.

If they really don’t know, the courts have since severally said so. First, Femi Okurounmu, (Ogun Central) was suspended in 1999. This was followed by Joseph Waku, a senator from Benue State who was suspended in 2000. Senator Arthur Nzeribe from Imo state was suspended in 2002. Senator Ali Ndume, a former Senate leader was suspended in 2017. Next was Senator Ovie Omo Agege form Delta state who was suspended in 2018. There was also the recent case of Senator Abdul Ningi from Bauchi state who was suspended in 2024. Interestingly, the Judiciary quashed all the suspensions declaring them as illegal and unconstitutional. The case of Senator Omo Agege probably stood out because of the initial insistence of the court that the other party – the senate must also be heard. At the end it was also quashed.

The House of Representatives has also had its own string of illegal suspensions that have similarly been quashed by the Judiciary. One would have thought that the National Assembly should have by now realized that it has no powers to suspend its legislators. But that has not been so. Instead, there have been reports of how some State Houses of Assembly have also followed the same line as their federal colleagues. Luckily for our democracy, it was one of the suspensions from one state that gave the judiciary the room to throw ample light on the subject of Legislative Housesand their powers to suspend their members. The celebrated case involved one Rifkatu Samson Dannaswho was suspended in 2012 by the Bauchi State House of Assembly.

The offence of Dannas, the then only female and Christian member of the House was her objection to the proposed relocation of Tafawa Balewa Local Government headquarters from Tafawa Balewa to Bununu- a location heavily populated by Muslims.  She was suspended without listening to the voice of reason that the headquarters of local governments listed in the constitution cannot be changed without constitutional amendment. She went to court to challenge her suspension which the court declared as illegal and unconstitutional.The House appealed but the Court of Appeal also ruled in Danna’s favour just as the Supreme Court declined to order a stay of execution of the Appeal Court judgment that reinstated Danna. Aptly put therefore, the state of the law in Nigeria today is that it is illegal for a legislative House to suspend any member.

Beyond the law, it is also a notorious fact that a legislator is not an employee of a Legislative Chamber. Leaders of the latter need to therefore appreciate that they cannot hire and fire their members. It is true that section 21(2) of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act of 2018 earlier referred to empowers anyLegislative House to penalize members who breach any rules of the House. It is equally true that the Act was signed into law in 2018 making it appear to be a valid law but any aspect of the law which is at variance with the constitution is without doubt illegal. Thus, Legislative Houses ought to listen to the persuasive argument that it is unfair to penalize a constituency in the guise of sanctioning an offending legislator.

Section 39(1) of the Nigerian constitution grants every person freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference. To underscore the importance of this freedom, Section 39(2) explicitly empowers citizens to “own, establish and operate any medium for the dissemination of information, ideas and opinions.” For as long as any such opinion is not defamatory, no one including a legislator can be deprived of his freedom of expression. Accordingly, the senate cannot penalize Uduaghan for expressing an opinion.At the same time, internal rules of the senate cannot take precedence over the nation’s constitution.

Again, the posture that the legislature cannot be stopped from doing its job appears misconstrued because legislative functions are in the words of our constitution subject to judicial review.  Perhaps it is important to restate the relevant provision of Section 4(8) of our constitution which states clearly that, “the exercise of legislative powers by the National Assembly or by a House of Assembly shall be subject to the jurisdiction of courts of law and of judicial tribunals established by law, and accordingly, the National Assembly or a House of Assembly shall not enact any law, that ousts or purports to oust the jurisdiction of a court of law or of a judicial tribunal established by law.”

For this reason, the courts have continued to insist that “access to court is a fundamental right in the Constitution, which cannot be taken away by force or intimidation from any organ.” We know Uduaghan is already in court and that the details of the case are still sketchy. But,whether or not the senate has correctly handled the subject would become clearer shortly. To start with, it is unimaginable as one lawyer suggested the other day that although Order 67(4) of its own rules limits the suspension of a member of the upper chamber to a maximum of 14 days, the senate went ahead to violate such rules by suspending Uduaghan not for 14 days but for 6 months. 

From the points we have made in this article, we insist that the senate has no powers to suspend any member adding that the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan representing Kogi Central, for even 30minutes has no legal backing.In addition, we urge our legislators to refrain from the tendency to now and again give themselves powers that are at variance with our constitution. The current National Assembly in particular should seek to set a record of an institution which does not function outside the rule of law by serving as democrats who never seek to act in excess of the powers given to them.