The Ekiti State Police Command says it has arrested eight kidnappers who abducted the Apostolic Faith School children and their teachers in Emure-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Adeniran Akinwale, while parading the kidnappers on Friday at the police headquarters in Ado-Ekiti, said one of the gang members was killed during a gun duel with the police operatives.

Akinwale further said that the gang members were also responsible for the abduction of the APC chairman, Hon. Paul Omotoso in 2023.

The CP said, “Initial investigation revealed that Sumo Karami, and his gang members were responsible for the kidnapping of the pupils and their teachers in Emure-Ekiti on January 29.

“The phone used to demand ransom for the release of the pupils and the teachers was recovered from the suspects and efforts intensified led to the arrest of two gang members in Owo forest in Ondo State.

“Many exhibits were recovered from them including one AK-47 assorted rifle, one pump action gun loaded with five lives cartridges, 21 AK-47 live ammunition, among others.”

The CP implored the citizens to cooperate with the police by supplying timely and credible information that could lead to the arrest of criminals in the state.

On January 24, 2024, Nigeria lost a patriotic citizen. It lost Mr Olaleye Franklin Adenibuyan. He died in circumstances that, at once, confounds, breaks the heart, and puts a big question mark on Nigeria’s healthcare system. To not a few people, Mr Adenibuyan’s death was avoidable if only the hospital where he died lived upto its assumed status of a Teaching Hospital.

Let me make a confession upfront so you don’t accuse me of being deliberately emotional.

Mr Adenibuyan was my cousin-in-law. A fine gentleman, he was married to my cousin, Thelma. And we admired and loved both of them “die”, as young people would put it. Theirs was a relationship built on solid foundation; a partnership rooted in time. They loved wearing uniforms, and pranced around like teenagers who just fell in love.

Mr Adenibuyan had served his country, Nigeria, as a Police Officer before he relocated to the United States of America, USA, in 1989. But that relocation never stopped him from visiting his beloved country, his beloved Ondo State, and his more beloved Community, Owo, two times every year. For him, it was a ritual. His love for Nigeria was that strong. And each time he visited, he bought more local fabrics for uniforms for him and his beloved wife Thelma. In their local fabrics, they promoted Nigeria’s culture, Nigeria’s fashion.

So, this year, 2024, as usual he set out from his Dallas, Texas, USA base for Nigeria and arrived Lagos on January 14, 2024. Each time he and his wife came home, either together, or separately, they usually checked into a Hotel at Ajao Estate. The Estate is close to the Lagos Airport. For the Adenibuyans, it was convenient as it saves them from the, atimes, punishing Lagos traffic (we call it go slow) to the Airport for a flight to Akure, Ondo State, en route Owo.

So, on this January 14, Mr Adenibuyan arrived Lagos and checked into the usual hotel. A luggage did not arrive from the US and so, he needed to buy something from a shop opposite the Hotel. That done, as he climbed up the staircase back to his room, the devil stepped in. Tragedy struck. He missed a step. And fell backwards.

As he fell, the family was told, he hit his head on the floor or wherever. The impact was grave. He lost consciousness. And was quickly rushed to a nearby hospital. I cannot confirm what attention he got there. Obviously, his state was beyond what a small private hospital could handle. So he was quickly referred to the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital, LUTH.

Established in 1961, LUTH is a Tertiary Hospital affiliated to the University of Lagos College of Medicine. It is a 761 bed Hospital established to be a Centre of Medical Excellence. To its credit are some of Nigeria’s best brains in Medicine. Many of its products are those “making waves” worldwide. They were trained there. It used to be Nigeria’s pride. As were the University College Hospital, UCH, affiliated to the University of Ibadan, and the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, OAUTH, affiliated to the Obafemi Awolowo University, former University of Ife. And some more.

I don’t know about others, but LUTH has lost its status as a Centre of Medical Excellence. It is now a shadow of itself. A shame to Nigeria. It has deteriorated. With Mr Adenibuyan admitted there, we experienced, first hand, the shadow LUTH has become. And our hearts broke.

The injury Mr Adenibuyan sustained to the head needed URGENT attention. It was a medical emergency. So, obviously, he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, ICU – private wing, no less. Meaning the attention was expected to be top-notch. When one pays millions of Naira, even as Naira has lost its value, the least one would expect would be a first class attention. But not here. There was nothing special. Patients were kept in what I choose to call “an open mini ward”. No privacy. No screen. When the question of some privacy was raised, the answer was: “it is because there is no general monitor.”

Once Thelma heard of her husband’s situation, she began to make arrangements to come home. She works in one of the biggest and best Government-owned hospitals in Texas where she has risen to the position of a Director. So, once she was briefed of the prognosis, she knew she had to rush back to Nigeria. Her mission was to take her husband back with her to the USA once he was stable enough to fly.

Meanwhile, from the US, before she was able to secure a seat on a plane, she and the family rallied round to pay every kobo required, every kobo directly and indirectly demanded, officially or unofficially. No expense was spared.

But what did the family see at LUTH.

LUTH had no equipment. Nothing. After the millions of Naira deposited, one still had to pay, separately, for soap and gloves. For a scan to determine the extent of damage to the head, Mr Adenibuyan was taken to a private facility outside LUTH. Why? LUTH said its own scan machine was not in “a working condition.” A Teaching Hospital? The scan showed a lot of blood in the skull. Nothing was done. A couple of days later, LUTH declared triumphantly that the “bleeding has stopped”. The question we, as laymen, asked was: What about the blood already accumulated there? Our elementary understanding was that the blood “has caked there!” If true, we were nervous about the implication.

More surprises were afoot.

On January 17, three days after he was admitted, LUTH said Mr Adenibuyan needed an Intracranial Pressure (ICP) monitoring machine. But this Teaching Hospital does not have the machine. When needed, it was explained to us, it is rented from outside. Cost: N400,000. The family paid. But the machine was not delivered until January 19th. And when it was delivered, it was left by the corner of Mr Adenibuyan’s bed for days, unused.

Perhaps, it was a coincidence, but the ICP Monitoring Machine was used only on the day Thelma arrived (24th) and began to ask questions. This was 10 days after he was referred to LUTH, and perhaps, 10 days after it should have been used.

Thelma arrived Nigeria at about 9.40am on Delta Airlines, and went from the Airport to LUTH to see her husband. She waited for about three hours before she was allowed to, after she incessantly requested to speak with his medical team. She wanted to know why the ICP had not been put in place as was revealed to her by Lekan, her step son, who was in Nigeria for a short vacation, and her husband’s younger brother, Deji. She wondered why the machine was just lying down there. When one of the doctors finally arrived, he tried to explain. But given Thelma’s background, and where she came from, the explanation made no sense to her. She hinted so in many ways, but was, at once very disciplined and too distraught to argue. But finally, she was told another doctor who would do that was being expected.

The doctor, an unassuming guy, competent, calm and collected finally arrived. We were sitting at the ICU waiting room when he walked past. Instinctively, and I guess, from his carriage, I knew he was the one, and I told Thelma so. She sent a message across that she would want to speak with him. Over an hour later, the Doctor came out from the ICU, and asked for Thelma. We followed him. And Thelma had a lot of questions and complaints. He listened, said he had just returned to the country the previous day, and was seeing Mr Adenibuyan for the first time, but quickly added “he is being attended to by a good team.” He explained to us where he thought he should, and apologized where he thought he should. For example, he agreed with Thelma that it was not right to intubate her husband without informing the family. He apologized it was wrong not to have carried the family along every step of the way. And then, calmly, he told us what the situation was, and the way forward.

He said Adenibuyan required an urgent surgery to release the pressure on the brain. He disclosed that the pressure was 61, far beyond the normal 15. This was what Thelma and Lekan consistently, subtly, suggested and appealed for: a surgery to release the pressure to the brain. It would entail a removal of a part of the skull bone to allow the brain swell and then, compress later to normal size. This should have been done, at most, three days after the unfortunate incident.

Anyway, better late than never, we consoled ourselves.

The time for the surgery was set for 4.00pm. But again, a problem.

LUTH does not have a drill. The family was told “there is only one place to rent it. Cost N200,000. No problem. This was on a Thursday. The surgery was meant to be done immediately. But the rental place said “drill not available until Friday afternoon”. Another vendor was frantically sought. He agreed for N180,000, and promised to deliver it against the 4.00pm surgery time. Great. Our spirit lifted some.

But another problem.

Unbelievably, LUTH does not have more than two functional surgery rooms. So, there is usually a queue. Adenibuyan had to wait. One doctor, obviously frustrated by the situation told us: “Today two are functional. Tomorrow, Friday, only one will be available.”

So, I asked why: He told us: “We have 22, but there is no manpower. Doctors, Nurses, Technicians, most have left. If the 22 are open, there will be nobody to man them. Nobody. So, why keep them open?” We were appalled. Our hearts sank. But we held unto hope.

So, either as a result of the queue, or the unavailability, yet, of the drill, the surgery was shifted from 4.00pm to 8.00pm. I left, and told Thelma I would be back by 7.00pm. But just before 5.00pm when Thelma went in to see her husband again, his health had taken a nosedive. Even then, the man who hadn’t opened his eyes for 10 days, opened them once he heard his wife’s voice. She held his hands tight. “Baby, you know why I came. I came for you. We are going back together. I will put you on a flight. We go back together. Your treatment will be taken care of in the US. And, you will be perfect. We’ll be fine, you and I.” The three Doctors Thelma met, she told them the same thing. “I am going back with my husband. That’s my mission. To take him back to the US with me.”

That was not to be. While Thelma held his hands, and CPR was being performed on him, he gave up. He died. In his wife’s arms. Same day she arrived Nigeria.

Since Adenibuyan’s passing, too many questions remain unanswered about our Country’s Healthcare system. Take LUTH for instance.

It is not that there are still no qualified medical personnel, even with the exodus, but here is the problem. There are no medical equipments. The medical personnel are just managing, barely managing. Or, how does one explain that a Teaching Hospital, LUTH, no less, does not have a functional scan machine; does not have ICP Monitoring Machine, or the equipment for drill?

It is the shame of a Country. Like I said earlier, it is not the problem of the Medical Personnel. I admit that the work ethics of a number of them is zero. Compared to what we see in some other climes, they need a re-orientation. There is no sense of urgency. Atimes there is no empathy. But I also admit that their work a environment is a major problem. It is not inspiring. I admit that their welfare is a major problem. It is depressing. I admit that knowing what to do, and not having the equipment to do it is frustrating. One of the doctors who spoke to us out of frustrations said: “You are talking about the equipment.Where is the manpower? Because of our situation, most of us have left. A number of those remaining are on the verge of leaving.” When I asked if he was on his way out too, he gave a knowing smile. I helplessly shook my head.

Since Adenibuyan’s death, regrets have been our food. Many “ifs”. What if he hadn’t been referred to LUTH? Perhaps he would still have been with us. What if LUTH had used the ICP machine as at, and when due? Perhaps, he would still have been with us. What if the drill was used as at the time it should have been used, perhaps he would still have been here with us. What if some sense of urgency had been exhibited, perhaps, he would still have been here with us.

The Federal Government shamelessly laments what negative effect the ”Japa” syndrome has had on Nigeria’s healthcare system. It shamelessly tells us that 42,000 Nurses have left Nigeria in the past three years. Why not? How has the FG treated them? What have you given them to work with? Now, shamelessly, it is putting obstacles here and there to stop Nurses from leaving. Why? My response is in one word: Shame.

Isn’t it a shame that the Nigerian Government, from State to Federal Government which throws money around as if it is going out of circulation, cannot boast of one good Government Hospital except Lagos State. I am reliably informed that Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, affiliated to the Lagos State owned Lagos State University, LASU, is very well equipped by the Lagos State Government. In our doubts at LUTH, one woman called us aside and asked: “Why did you come to LUTH? Why did you not take him to LASUTH? This type of injury is better handled there.”

We spend tons and tons of money, billions of Dollars, trillions of Naira, on frivolities, on things we can do without. How does one explain that $6.2m was spent, allegedly, without authorization, on foreign election observers when LUTH has no medical equipment? Of what use was the presence of the foreign observers to the masses? Did their presence stop us from rigging, from snatching ballot boxes, from doctoring results? Nigeria spent this money when LUTH has no medical equipments, not even a functional scan machine. How does one explain that the sum of one billion Naira was recently requested to enable a Committee fix Workers salaries? Yet, our premier hospitals are empty? Can you imagine what that obscene request could have done for LUTH?

But back to Thelma. We don’t know how to handle her, or what to tell her. She is distraught. Disoriented, almost. Her mission to take her husband home to their “second Country”, US, blew up on her face. “Oh, your husband loved you to death. He waited for you to come back , to see you before he passed on. He even opened his eyes for the first time in 10 days once you arrived”, Thelma is told in a bid to console her. Where do all those leave her?

All she knows is that the Nigerian healthcare system failed her. Her mission to take her husband back to the US with her failed. She was, at a point, making inquiries for an air ambulance to evacuate him to the US. That failed. Ironically, what worked was taking him back to Owo in a body bag! Sad!!

Mr Adenibuyan, as your beloved wife fondly called you, may your soul rest in peace. May you find peace in the fact that you are finally, finally back to your cherished Owo.

The joint task force of Operation Delta Safe (OPDS) says it has uncovered 14 sites illegally refining crude oil in Rivers.

John Okeke, OPDS commander, said the sites were uncovered following intelligence information.

Okeke also said the illegal refining site on Ataba Island, close to Bonny Island in Rivers, would be destroyed.

He added that even though no arrests have been made, the joint operation would not allow the Niger Delta to be a haven for criminals.

“We are going to make it very hot for them with the help of the Navy, Army, Air Force, Police, NSCDS, the DIA, amongst others,” Okeke said.

“Nobody wins alone without collaboration. With team work, we are going to achieve a lot in the fight against illegal bunkering and pipeline vandalism.

“Today we are in Ataba Island, close to Bonny Island, Rivers state, moving towards Akwa Ibom.

“What we discovered here is shocking. About 14 massive cooking sites, one of them is still hot and they must have pulled out on the arrival of the troops.”

The commander also said the OPDS would sustain surveillance and take out economic saboteurs in the region.

“We are sustaining what my predecessor did and I want to thank God that within 24 hours we are able to achieve this feat. It shows that we are performing our duty,” he added.

Okeke advised criminals operating in the area to go into legitimate businesses, warning that those engaged in pipeline vandalism and illegal bunkering would never find peace.

ON January 11, 2012, Bola Ahmed Tinubu published a sober, thoughtful, deeply insightful, and penetratingly foresightful article titled “Removal of Oil Subsidy: President Jonathan Breaks Social Contract With the People” that uncannily prefigured the untoward consequences of petrol subsidy removal that Nigerians are currently grappling with.

The article has trended on social media in the last couple of weeks, but I had never taken the trouble to read it until multiple people who I regard highly sent it to me in what seemed like a coordinated torrent of forwards.

But after reading the 4,000-plus-word article and finding out that it predicted the current petrol-subsidy-removal mass excruciation Nigeria is suffering with almost mathematical exactitude, I became suspicious of its authenticity. It was too good to be true.

My incredulity compelled me to make inquiries, which led me to realize that the Nigerian Tribune had actually fact-checked the genuineness of the article on May 31, 2023. It not only found that it wasn’t fake but also scanned and uploaded a printed copy of the article published in The Nation, Tinubu’s paper.

I encourage everyone to read it. In the article, Tinubu derided the 2012 removal of petrol subsidies as the “Jonathan tax,” and the following paragraphs are particularly noteworthy for the mysterious precision of their prescience:

“Government claims the subsidy removal will create jobs…. The stronger truth is that it will destroy more jobs than it creates. For every job it creates in the capital intensive petroleum sector, it will terminate several jobs in the rest of the labor intensive economy.

“Subsidy removal will increase costs across the board. However, salaries will not increase. This means demand for goods will lessen as will sales volumes and overall economic activity. The removal will have a recessionary impact on the economy as a whole. While some will benefit from the removal, most will experience setback.

“What is doubtless is that the Jonathan tax will increase the price of petrol, transportation and most consumer items. With fuel prices increasing twofold or more, transportation costs will roughly double. Prices of food staples will increase between 25-50 percent….

“Most people’s incomes are low and stagnant. They have no way to augment revenue and little room to lower expenses for they know no luxuries; they are already tapped out. The only alternative they have is to fend as best they can, knowing they must somehow again subtract something from their already bare existence.

“There will be less food, less medicine, and less school across the land. More children will cry in hunger and more parents will cry at their children’s despair…. Poor and middle class consumers will spend the same amount to buy much less. The volume of economic activity will drop like a stone tossed from a high building. This means real levels of demand will sink.

“The middle class to which our small businessmen belong will find their profit margins squeezed because they will face higher costs and reduced sales volumes. These small firms employ vast numbers of Nigerians. They will be hard pressed to maintain current employment levels given the higher costs and lower revenues they will face.

“Because the middle class businessman will be pinched, those who depend on the businessmen for employment will be heavily pressed. States that earn significant revenue from internally generated funds will find their positions damaged. Internally generated revenue will decline because of the pressure on general economic activity. The Jonathan tax will push Nigeria toward an inflation-recession combination punch worse than the one that has Europe reeling.

“This tax has doomed Nigeria to extra hardship for years to come while the promised benefits of deregulation will never be substantially realized. People will starve and families crumble while federal officials praise themselves for ‘saving money.’ The purported savings amount to nothing more than an accounting entry on the government ledger board. They bear no indication of the real state of the economy or of the great harm done the people by this miserly step.”

Like I have done for years, Tinubu also fulminated against “European conservatives” whose economic prescriptions are at variance “with the needs of the Nigerian populace.”He even said something that is eerily close to what I wrote in a previous column. “There has been no nation on the face of the planet that has developed or achieved long-term prosperity by devotion to conservative, ultra-free market economic ideas that dominate this government,” he wrote.

“If no nation has grown using these conservative ideas,” he asked, why are we stuck with them? I have an answer, and it’s three-fold: sadly familiar Nigerian elite self-love, xenophilic obeisance to mean spirited racist wretches at the IMF/World Bank, and a visceral disdain and blithe unconcern for ordinary Nigerians.

Like Tinubu pointed out in 2012, the removal of petrol subsidies in 2023 merely took money from the so-called oil subsidy cabal and put it directly into the pockets of politicians without hurting the bottom line of the subsidy cabal. The cabal simply pushed the extra cost of importing petrol to consumers.

In the aftermath of the removal of subsidies, allocations to the three tiers of government rose by 29.05% in just six months. By the end of 2023, governments shared N15.1 trillion, which represented an increase of N3.4 trillion from 2022.

Note that, according to the Punch of September 22, 2023, N3 trillion was budgeted for petrol subsidies from June 2022 to June 2023 (although it was N1.57 trillion in 2021 and N1.27 trillion from January to May 2022, indicating obvious fraud). In other words, the money that would have been used to keep the pump price of petrol at less than N200 per liter was simply shared between the presidency, governors, ministers, and the rest.

State governors now receive several folds more money than their normal monthly allocations without a corresponding increase in their expenditures. Because they have way more naira than they have use for(of course, they don’t care about the masses), they convert the extra naira into dollars, which contributes to the relentless depreciation of the naira, according to the Business Day of February 13.

In other words, to put it even more crudely, the masses and the economy benefited more from the corruption of the subsidy cabal than from what has replaced it since May 2023. But, as I pointed out earlier, the subsidy cabal isn’t hurt in the least by this change. Apart from pushing the cost of importation to consumers, they are now receiving subsidies through the back door to keep the price of petrol from climbing to over N1,000 a liter, which the IMF is now instructing Tinubu to stop.

The only losers are ordinary Nigerians, small businesses, the informal economy, and the manufacturing sector. After Tinubu said subsidies were gone in May 2023, the GDP of the transportation sector contracted by 50.64% in the second quarter of 2023 and by 35% in the third quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The road transport sector is the most reliable barometer to measure the health of commerce and of the informal economy in Nigeria. Petrol subsidy removal is killing it. A November 28, 2023, Business Day headline succinctly captures this: “Subsidy removal pushes transport industry into recession.”

My job as an inveterate opponent of subsidy withdrawal is made easier by the knowledge that Tinubu knows the truth. He knows for a fact that petrol subsidies are not a waste, especially if the corruption in the administration of subsidies is addressed. He knows that it’s an investment in the people and in the economy.

Petrol doesn’t just power the transportation sector, it’s also the main source of electricity generation for industries, small businesses, and the vast majority of our people. Given that Nigeria has the worst electricity generation record in West Africa (and possibly in Africa), it’s easy to see why a drastic rise in the cost of petrol activates an across-the-board cost-push inflation and deepens the misery index in the country.

Tinubu knows this but has chosen to care more for the validation of the sadistic bastards at the IMF and the World Bank than the comfort and wellbeing of his people.

There’s no doubt that it’s the IMF and its evil twin, the World Bank, that are ruling Nigeria. Tinubu’s government is just a proxy. For example, just two days after the IMF told Tinubu he must remove electricity subsidies (I had no clue such a thing existed given the unreliable electricity in Nigeria) Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu announced that the government would withdraw electricity subsidies.

The same IMF has also instructed that the surreptitious subsidies the Tinubu administration is paying to stop petrol prices from getting to—or even rising above— N1,000 a liter must be stopped. Get ready for another bumpy ride, Nigerians. Until half the country drops dead from starvation, the IMF, which is the real government in Nigeria, won’t rest. I can guarantee you that.

The environment is getting increasingly toxic. The toxicity is so palpable you would think it can be held in one’s hand. It is flowing out of outcry of anger which in turn is primarily from experiencing hardship and a feeling of uncertainties of daily living in these times. In Nigeria, the outcry is over escalating prices of foodstuff, in several cases shooting beyond reach, beyond the roof. Transportation costs have similarly gone up astronomically. What makes it all the more troubling is the security problem in many places which keeps farmers away from their farms. The situation is such that the Emir of Kano, a normally reserved institution, has had to parcel complaints of hunger in his domain wrapped in a message to President Tinubu through his wife, Remi. The Sultan of Sokoto has spoken about how much efforts traditional rulers in the North have been making to calm the nerves of their youths who have been restive. He was kind enough to state that the difficulties in the land did not start with the Bola Tinubu Administration and that the Administration is a continuation of the previous one.   

In some parts of the world, there are already signs of economic heat flashing in the horizon, too. Take as an example the number of years that may be required of a first-timer to be able to buy property today in London. According to The Telegraph digital edition, first-time buyers of property in London are now to save for 31 years for a deposit as homes today cost 12 times the average yearly salary. The newspaper reports as follows:

“A typical first-time buyer in London will have to save for 31 years to raise a deposit on a home, twice as long as their parents, analysis shows.

“A Londoner on an average salary would need to save 10 percent of his take-home pay for three decades to afford a 20 percent deposit on a 438, 000 Pounds property—the average price for a first-time buyer in the capital. However, in 2003 the equivalent figure was just 15 years.”

Although, evidently we are living in unusual times, with several parts of the world engulfed in one affliction or the other, Nigerians believe the hardship in the country is peculiar. Last week Thursday, South-West Iceland experienced a volcano for the third time since December. Amidst assurances by the Federal Government spokesmen that the hardship in our land would soon be over, Nigerians believe that the Nigerian troubling situation was complicated and some think, triggered by the peremptory withdrawal of petroleum subsidy without cushioning effect mechanisms already in place before the announcement was made. What is not often stated is, yes, Bola Tinubu formally removed the subsidy, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for Economy in Buhari Administration, Mrs. Ahmed, said the Buhari’s government did not make provision for subsidy in the budget Tinubu inherited. The error of Tinubu was that he did not handle the issue with enough care. Brave though he was, he walked through landmines and he did not tiptoe; he did not exercise enough care; he did not handle the issue diplomatically enough. The consequence is that he has had to carry the can for accumulated failings of recent years.

A litre of petrol, PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) rose from between N178 to N650. Because motion is a Law, movement of persons and goods constitutes foundational factor in the affairs of man. We move from home to work and from work back home. The farmer transports his produce to the silos from where in a chain they finally reach the market and the end user through one form of movement or the other. The transporter buys fuel. Therefore, whatever touches movement must trigger ripples in the affairs of daily living. And so, everyone talks about costs and margins. A bag of rice has shot up from between N30,000 and N35,000 early last year to N65,000 currently. Transport is thus admitted as a major expenditure head and catalyst of cost-push inflation. Indeed, it was the currency change fiasco of late 2022 to early last year that moved the price of rice from N18,500 to N30,000. The price of garri has gone up in a similar sharp manner.

Swarovski in his book, The Time is Ripe, says: “The only one way out of the dilemma, chaos and confusion besetting nearly all humanity and our world is to understand the wider correlations.” What are these wider correlations? He continues: “We must realise that all there is, all that lives, owes its existence to an extra-material Force which in the last analysis dominates everything. Beauty and harmony are obviously the main concern of this marvelous Force and we human beings must strive to make this concern our own and translate it into reality.”

In other words, we are not heeding the fundamentals.  And it is hard to admit that as Cassius says, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings.” The Law of Movement is exhaustive. It makes for freshness, constant renewal, and preservation. Non-observance of the Law of Movement makes human beings prone to illness. There are birds that have lost their wings with which to fly and there are fishes at the bottom of the sea that can no longer swim. To prevent illness we are admonished to exercise our bodies. The Law is such that when we sleep, we roll from one side of the bed to the other. The Law makes the earth to move round its axis every 24 hours to give us day and night and round the sun in 365 days to give us seasons which in the temperate region are distinctly four: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. These are hardly distinguishable in the tropical region. The seasons in the tropics are simply rainy season and dry season. One month of what is known as the Platonic Year or the Great Year is 2, 160 years and it gives us an Age. The Platonic year itself spans 25, 920 earth years. We can from this see this period in which we are — between when the Lord Christ left the earth and now which is the proverbial End-Time — is the Age of the Holy Spirit. It should stand to reason that the closer to the Source of Life, the faster movement is. This is why as we are told in 2 Peter 3:8, “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years.” This is saying, therefore, that three days in the Light Realm translate to three thousand years on earth. The power that is active in the Law of Motion cannot permit a standstill not, above all, in the quest for higher knowledge, spiritual knowledge.  Physicians admonish us to take a walk, to exercise ourselves for good health. Scientists, geologists in particular, would tell you that there is movement even in the rock as it consists of chemical compounds that are inherently animated and which in turn are composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons.

There is also the Law of Cycle and there is the Law of Reciprocal Action. This latter Law ensures that the harvest is tied to the sower. It is thus said that what a man soweth that shall he reap — in multiples. The Law of the Cycle ensures that the end goes back to the beginning. This demonstrates to us that what is sown as seed goes back to the sower as fruit for harvesting. The maturation period of each plant depends on its nature. Bitter Kola takes between 29 and 32 years to produce harvestable fruits while maize takes only three months, vegetables, 12 days, and yam nine months. We sow in thought, in speech, in our volition, and in our action. When we harvest, the consequences depend on its nature. What else do we want as proof that the Laws work collaboratively, manifesting the Will of the Almighty Creator? Because the Creator is perfect and eternal, it should follow that the Laws issuing from Him must be perfect and eternal. Being perfect, they are not in need of improvement. They are immutable, they are self-acting and self-enforcing; they are incorruptible. They are the mechanisms with which the Most High governs His Creation, seeing to the germination, maturing, and ripening of fruits. Mango trees are bringing forth fruits now. From one seed of mango, we have a giant tree brandishing its fruits that will be ripe very soon for harvesting. Yam and cassava are both tubers, but they are different species. To harvest yam, we have to plant yam, and to harvest cassava, we must plant cassava. The Laws are the manual of Creation, which demonstrates to us what Creation consists of and how the Almighty God works in His Creation.

The other Laws are the Law of Attraction of Homogeneous Species; the Law of Balance and the Law of Spiritual Gravitation. The Law of Attraction of Homogeneous Species stipulates that like attracts like. The Law is reflected in the popular saying that birds of the same feather flock together. In the animal kingdom, in the gathering of giraffes, no one can find sheep or goats. Thus, people of the same tendencies are pulled together. They gravitate readily towards one another to form their communities where they are nourished by the radiations peculiar to their native soil, the stars, the wind, and the plants. They would have practically similar if not the same world view, values, relative strengths, and weaknesses. When Africans meet in foreign lands, there is a stirring within their souls, there is uplift in their souls and it is easier for them to strike a relationship, seeing themselves as brothers, than others who are fundamentally alien to them. In their home countries, political competition could be fierce. There will be those who will rise above the din; such a situation is an indication of inner radiance and polish. In another incarnation, such will move to a higher level where their new spiritual maturity places them.

We experience the Law of Balance every second — in breathing and in give and take. There must be balance in inhalation and exhalation. In business, we balance the books. We strive for balance in measures of articles to ensure fairness. Equity is equally found, applying the Law of Balance. Where there is imbalance, there is instability and there are complaints of lack of consideration for others. We observe the Law of Gravitation in the weights of objects. What is light floats to the surface. A ball no matter the efforts which may be made to have it kept at the bottom of a river will float whereas a sinker or a stone thrown into the same river goes to the bottom of it until it can find its level and balance. The Law of Spiritual Gravitation determines who takes flight at the end of our sojourn on earth to the Light Region, the Spiritual Realm that is Paradise, and who goes down to the Dark Region. Purity and nobility make the spirit light, but wrongdoing constituting guilt and dross gives the spirit weight which makes it sink into Darkness and damnation.

It is these Laws that give expression to the Will of God. Since Creation came out of His Will, it is governed by It. This Will is unyielding.  It is this Will that His Messengers, Prophets, and Teachers of Mankind came to explain to mankind at different epochs as the Commandments of God. The Teachings were in the measure of the development of the people among whom they incarnated. Moses, one of the leading Teachers of Mankind, for example, received the Ten Commandments of God on Mount Sinai. No sooner than these Servants of God left than mankind formed religions around their Teachings and formulated doctrines and creeds that were and still are at variance with their true Teachings and instructions. The teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Truth Bringer was Himself not spared. He was received with intense hate and envy, especially by the religious and political establishments of the time who saw Him as a threat to their power and influence on the people they led. His Teachings were distorted and are so to this day. That Will, rightly understood, meant to lead us mankind away from wrong causes that in turn lead away from tribulations has been replaced by the will of men in parliaments and other levels of political leadership. Laws are enacted by consensus and by show of hands.

There is hardly any point I have not hinted at before in this column. In view of the pervading hardships, disasters — natural and manmade — wars, economic collapse, and political instability, it bears repeating that they are largely consequences of obstinate deviation from the Will of God and replacing it with man’s will expressed in human laws. The higher knowledge of Truth existing on the face of the earth today permits us a good grasp and understanding of all events in our world. The laws of parliament are subject to debate and regularly amended, Lawyers are required to interpret them and it is not all the time they agree on the interpretation of these laws. Higher, appellate Courts are required for the interpretations which are regarded as final. And the esteemed jurist, Oputa, Mr. Socrates of our time, thoughtful, quotable, and quoted said referring to the Supreme Court: We are final not because we are not fallible, but fallible because we are final.”

The hardships, which arose out of the ongoing compulsory purification, will not cease until the return to that which swings with the Holy Will on earth—until we adjust ourselves to the Supreme Laws which are at work. Swarovski, an author and industrialist, said: “All through the history of mankind up to the present time the necessity of what will give us high value has been given far too little attention, if any, and that is the cause of a great deal of hardship and trouble—the cause of restlessness afflicting the world today many things which are obviously wrong are said to be in the spirit of our times, of the changing times.”

TIME FOR EVERYTHING

There is time for everything. There is time for joy and rejoicing; there is time to mourn and go sorrowing. Publications have been made and going viral in social media about Herbert Wigwe, the Managing Director/CEO of Access Bank, and to a lesser extent about Abimbola Ogunbanjo, corporate lawyer and one-time Chairman of the Stock Exchange. The publications purportedly detailed what can be regarded as dirty deals in the acquisition and development of Access Bank.

The publications at the time of sorrow and grieving are in very bad taste. True or false is not the point. The publications should have waited. An unspeakable tragedy has just hit the nation. Even if to demonstrate our deep feelings, humanness, and sense of propriety, the publications should have waited for perhaps six months for the families and friends to be relieved of their pains. Here was a man who met what we would call, in general parlance, his untimely death in a gruesome manner. Wigwe lost his wife and son and his lawyer and there is an atmosphere of gleefulness and gloating suggesting that the death served Igwe right and I ask myself: Have we been so drained of our humanity and deep sense of empathy for our fellow men? Their remains had hardly even been gathered how much less flown back home in Nigeria before the publications began. Abimbola Ogunbanjo died in the tragic crash barely three months after the exit of his illustrious father, Chief Chris Ogunbanjo. The wreckage itself was mindboggling.

This is a mourning period for the nation no matter how we look at it. So devastating is what has happened that the President, Bola Tinubu wasted no time in sending out a proper condolence message to the families and the nation at large. Most of the people said to be involved in the deal: Aig Imokhuede, Emir Lamido Sanusi, and Mrs. Oputu are still much in the flesh. Why the haste? It rings in the ears of a determination to completely rubbish the memories of the departed in the eyes of those who love them. The publications are indecent, insensitive, and cruel.

As reactions continue to trail the recently concluded 2023 African Cup of Nations, Here are ‘prophecies’ and predictions of some clerics that attracted knocks and kudos from netizens

There was a high level of anxiety among football lovers in Nigeria as the senior national team, the Super Eagles, squared up against the host of the 2023 African Cup of Nations, Ivory Coast, in the final in Abidjan, last Sunday.

Millions of Nigerians at home and in Abidjan had high hopes that the Eagles would crown their impressive campaign with victory at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium.

But the match ended 2-1 in favour of Ivory Coast and came as a rude shock to Nigerians and other supporters of the Eagles who expected the Nigerian team to lift the trophy as the favourite, based on its impressive performance.

No doubt, the tournament came with different surprises, including a shocking exit of some highly ranked teams.

However, among the other interesting features of the competition were the several prophecies and predictions made by religious leaders on and off social media about the outcome of scheduled matches leading up to the finals.

In Nigeria, prophecies about the outcome of football matches are not new and are studiously followed by many football fans, some of whom use them as their tips for sports betting. 

Saturday PUNCH learnt that while some of the prophecies do have true outcomes and tend to authenticate the spiritual calling of the men on the pupil, others fail woefully, resulting in the clerics being viciously trolled online by angry Nigerians.

For years, the late founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Temitope Joshua, was known for giving prophecies about the outcome of football matches, several of which his followers claimed were accurate.

Last Tuesday, an old video of the late cleric predicting the outcome of the 2012 AFCON final match between Zambia and Ivory Coast went viral on TikTok.

The 12-year-old video which was shot live at the SCOAN, located in Ikotun, Lagos, captured the moment the well-known preacher shared what God supposedly told him about the winner and the penalty shootout that would decide the outcome of the 2012 match.

“This victory is for a country you are not expecting. Just to make them smile because of the past record they have – what happened to them in their history. God wants to make them happy because of the victims of what happened to them in the past,” he was quoted by the church’s Emmanuel TV website as saying.

The match ended in favour of Zambia. Although Joshua did not disclose the name of the team that would secure victory, the church said the outcome of the match was “true to the prophetic word” of its founder.

2023 AFCON ‘prophecies,’ predictions

Yul Edochie

A day before the semi-final match between Nigeria and South Africa, actor-turned-pastor of True Salvation Ministry, Yul Edochie, said that Nigeria might be in for a surprise.

Taking to Instagram, Edochie wrote, “Why am I having the feeling that South Africa may surprise us tomorrow? God abeg oo. Super Eagles no gree for anybody oo. Kwechili. Leave no stones unturned. Bring home the trophy.”

Our correspondent observed that the actor came under fire for his post. For instance, a netizen named John Peiller wrote, “Very smart way to prophesy. So you can say you say that South (Africa) won but if Nigeria wins, then you can say you prayed against defeat. This country and cruise.”

Another netizen, Akosa Obinna, wrote, “Because you are carnal and guesswork without faith is just as good as guesswork period! Man of gosh. There are no supernatural powers, (it) is either you analyse with experience or expertise or rest till the game is over.”

Before the final match, Edochie, in a post on his Instagram page gave another prediction that the Super Eagles would defeat Ivory Coast.

“Today’s game will not get a penalty shootout. Nigeria will comfortably defeat the Ivory Coast,” he had written.

However, on Sunday, February 11, the Super Eagles of Nigeria lost 2-1 to the Elephants of Ivory Coast.

Edochie’s page was swamped by Nigerians expressing their dissatisfaction and called his prophecy bogus.

One of them, named @iam_baron, said, “With due respect sir, close down (your) church.”

Another user, @Official queendee, wrote, “And then what should we think now? For the second time you have prophesied lies.”

Reacting amid the backlash, on Monday, Edochie in a post attached a photo of the Super Eagles team and its coach, Jose Peseiro, wrote, “It is well. Thank you Super Eagles.

“Getting to the finals is as good as winning. We are proud of you all. Great performance in the tournament.”

In a subsequent post showing the Nigerian flag, the Nollywood actor turned pastor added, “I love my country, Nigeria. Win or lose, good or bad, we pin here. Better days ahead. Giant of Africa.”

Elijah Ayodele

The spiritual leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Oke-Afa, Lagos, Primate Elijah Ayodele, who garnered much popularity for his predictions about politics, economy, and sports, also gave his prophecies regarding AFCON.

In a video said to be dated September 17, 2023, and shared on his TikTok page and which went viral before the final match on February 11, the cleric was heard predicting that the Super Eagles would be knocked out of the semi-finals.

He stated, “Talk about CAN 2024, if Nigeria will do much preparation, listen, and do all that is needful (sic), Nigeria will get to the finals. And if they do all that is needful (sic), they can lift up the cup.

“If they don’t do it, and do ‘bigmanism’ in the Nations Cup they will not perform. They will have a heavy crash.

“They will survive the elimination series but they will be knocked out of the semi-finals. That’s the fact. Nigeria has all it takes to win Cote d’Ivoire 2024 irrespective of anybody that is going to play but if they are doing big, big then they will fail.”

In another video that was not dated but was also shared via his TikTok account, Ayodele was heard saying, “The Nations’ Cup 2023, or 2024 in Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria is supposed to qualify. If Nigeria listens, Nigeria can go far but of course, if they score best, Nigeria will lose it with slim chances; they will slip out the cup from them.

“So it’s quite unfortunate that Nigeria will go into this cheap… I see this as a cheap World Cup. Of course, Ghana, and Egypt will qualify in the B, and Senegal and Cameroon will qualify also.

“This Cote d’Ivoire 2024 is for Nigeria, but will they be able to coordinate and do what is needful (sic) for them to lift up the cup? That’s a question that I couldn’t answer.”

Nigeria went through to the final after defeating South Africa 4-2 on penalties.

Joel Atuma’s green-coloured flag prediction

Another cleric who is the senior pastor of the Lord Graces Provinces Church, in Umuahia, Abia State, Prophet Joel Atuma, in a YouTube video titled, ‘Another prophecy for AFCON,’ posted by the cleric on February 2, he said, “I want to say again and again that if you don’t have the colour green on your flag, you can’t carry this AFCON cup, and a northern nation can take up the cup. These are two things that Jesus said to me because what is happening on that soccer field is strategic to the voice and rising of the African nation.

“And I remember that I said on Sunday that Osimhen has been released from that place and he is going to get closer and closer because there is something that God is doing in African nations. I want you to watch what is going to happen, because the Nigerian match is going to be minus one.

“The people who know my format know my format. That match is going to be minus one. I want to reiterate that if you don’t have green, the Nations Cup is not for you.”

Atuma, who claimed to have received a message from God, added, “God said to me that this AFCON is a statement (and) not a tournament. Angola has never beaten Nigeria.

“I will come back to tell you if Nigeria will win this trophy or not but I won’t be open. I will still encode it because the prophet will speak in quotes and parables, it is not for everybody, but let Osimien (sic) know that there is a gang up against him. All I will do for him is to slow down the time.”

Marcus Tibetan

Ahead of the Nigeria versus South Africa match last Wednesday, a prophet from the Celestial Church of Christ, Marcus Tibetan, expressed confidence the Super Eagles would defeat the Bafana Bafana in the AFCON semi-finals, claiming that “the Lord” revealed it to him.

“You know, the Lord revealed this to me. I’ve seen it before and I’ve told you that the first and second matches are going to be slow, but the third match is going to be firebrand.

“I told you in the Wednesday service that we are going to buckle up to take the trophy because the trophy belongs to us. But with what the Lord revealed, as they did to Cape Verde in the last match, because the people of South Africa are too diabolical, and playing with four penalties into one direction, it has an ulterior motive. There is something behind it.

“Our own we need to kill the match in the first half and they have to change some of the players but most of the players that should have been used have gone. 

“(Victor) Osimhen has to step in a little. It could be 4-1 or 4-0 tomorrow, 4-0 is very eminent (sic). Tomorrow is our day and we will get it tomorrow,” he said in a video shared on YouTube by 12 Start TV.

Elijah Abiri

The founder of Jesus Alive Ministry International, Elijah Abiri, describes himself as a “prophet of fire” on his Facebook biodata. On January 26 he prophesied in a post that Cameroon would defeat Nigeria by three goals to one.

The Cameroon-based cleric, who told his followers not to see his prophecy as a parable, also instructed the coach of the Indomitable Lions, Rigobert Song, and another ex-international, Samuel Eto’o, to let the players use olive oil and salt to bathe in a bucket before the game commenced to secure victory.

He wrote, “Any arrow fired at you, backfired right now! Three-one is the score for Cameroon versus Nigeria in favour of Cameroon. This time I’m not talking in parables, I said Cameroon is winning Nigeria period! it’s written and it’s done, watch.”

But the game ended in Nigeria’s favour. Angry netizens dug up the cleric ‘prophesy’ and lambasted him.

In another video posted on Instagram on January 19, Abiri could be seen being conveyed on a motorcycle while he reeled out a prophecy about an impending match between Cameroon and Senegal. 

“It is 30 minutes to the game between Cameroon and Senegal and I’m here to announce to you that Cameroon will win (against) Senegal. Cameroonians start celebrating, Cameroon will win Senegal today.

“We are going to trash Senegal. Three goals for Cameroon and one goal for Senegal. Tell the world that I am coming from a mission, I am done with the assignment. It is written and it is done.”

Again, at the end of the match on January 19, the reverse was the case as Cameroon lost 3-1 to Senegal.

Clerics using fake prophecies to make money – Mbaka

The Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry in Enugu, Fr Ejike Mbaka, expressed displeasure over some Nigerian clerics who regularly dished out fake prophecies and conducted false miracles to make money and fame.

The cleric, who stated this in a video clip uploaded on the ministry’s official Facebook page, and YouTube channel on Sunday.

He said, “Many of us (clerics) have started using this preaching and prophecies to mine money. I call it ‘money mining.’ The worst is that they have started using prophecies as though it is betting. Prophetic trial and error. 

 “Such things do not last. What is fake will fade. If you want to make money, enter into business and do it. Stop using the name of God to dupe people. If you want to be famous, you can be famous by any other means.”

Also speaking in a phone interview with PUNCH, the pastor of Multiply Christian Network, Daniel Okunoye, described predictions for football games as an aberration that had replaced the gift of prophecy in the church.

According to him, the gift of prophecy, as contained in the Bible, is operated based on some guidelines.

“For instance, true prophecy is directed at the church for edification, exhortation or comforting a member of the body of Christ. A prophecy wasn’t meant to be like predictions utilised for mundane issues like soccer or other things that have no bearing on the church.

“There is a difference between prophecy and psychic reading. True prophecy comes from the Spirit of God and not from the heart of the person speaking it and it’s not based on lucky guesses or human knowledge.

“These people who make it their trade to predict outcomes of football matches under the guise of Christianity are making a mockery of the faith they profess. They worship money and fame,” Okunoye added.

Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe seems to be edging towards a Real Madrid move, with excitement already building in the Spanish capital.

The 25-year-old France captain informed PSG officials he intends to leave in the summer at the end of his contract, a source close to the Ligue 1 champions said Thursday.

Madrid are in pole position to sign a player whom they have moved for several times in the past only to be rebuffed, although they declined to comment when asked by AFP.

Spanish media report Madrid’s offer to Mbappe is lower than in 2022 when he decided to renew his PSG contract, with Cadena SER saying he wants 50 million euros ($54 million) gross a season along with a hefty 120 million euros signing-on bonus.

Media outlet Marca claimed that Mbappe has already informed club bosses “that he only wanted to play for Real Madrid” and added that he informed the Spanish giants of his decision to leave PSG on Tuesday, 48 hours before it was revealed from a source close to PSG.

With the numbers and financial fair play impact left for Madrid’s accountants to manage, supporters and local media are starting to dream of what may come.

“The countdown has started,” wrote Marca earlier in the day.

“Seven years later everything points to Mbappe’s arrival being a reality from July 1.”

Mbappe had the chance to join Madrid from Monaco in 2017 but chose PSG instead, perhaps cowed by the difficulty of ousting Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale or Karim Benzema from the attack.

Now he could lead the line alongside Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham.

“That would be perfect,” Luis Caceres, the president of Real Madrid’s fan club federation told AFP.

“He’s the best player in the world, that’s undeniable. We’ve seen him play and we know what he can do, he’s a great player.”

Mbappe, yet to win the Champions League, could still cross paths with record 14-time winners Madrid in this year’s competition.

Spanish newspaper AS say Madrid will “keep silent” on Mbappe while the two sides are still competing in Europe.

Last June a Real Madrid fan did manage to lure club president Florentino Perez into giving a clue away about Mbappe’s future.

Enrique Higueras, 22, stumbled across Perez outside a restaurant and asked him if he would bring Mbappe to the Santiago Bernabeu.

“Yes, but not this year,” replied Perez.

Higueras, a student doctoring in sports science, told AFP he believes Mbappe will succeed if and when he arrives.

“I am sure that he will play at Madrid and make history,” said Higueras.

“I don’t think Madrid needs Mbappe to win the Champions League… but obviously if Mbappe joins then the chances of winning that precious trophy go up a lot.”

‘Bitterness’

However some supporters still recall Mbappe’s snub and perceived slights since.

Oscar Movellan Martinez, a 42-year-old business consultant and self-described “huge fan” of Madrid, said he was not happy with Mbappe seemingly mocking Los Blancos after renewing his PSG deal.

“What happened in 2022 I can understand, for the pressure the kid received… in the media all the way up to (French president Emmanuel) Macron,” said Movellan.

“What I didn’t like was the attitude after… I understand that he might have been pressured to renew with PSG when he wanted to come to Madrid, but I don’t understand his reaction.”

If Mbappe does join Madrid in the summer then it may take a few goals from PSG’s all-time top scorer to smooth things over.

“I think the fans at the Bernabeu will have a bit of bitterness at the start, but look — it’s a fanbase that even whistled (Zinedine) Zidane back in the day,” added Movellan.

Others are cautiously choosing not to trust Mbappe will join until it is made official.

“Until I see him sign, I won’t believe it, after what happened in 2022,” added Caceres.

A former Edo Deputy Governor, Lucky Imasuen, has withdrawn from the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship direct primary election holding today.

Naija News reports that Imasuen announced his withdrawal in a letter released on Saturday morning.

Recall that Imasuen and 13 other governorship aspirants were screened and cleared by a committee constituted by the National Working Committee (NWC) of APC.

The ex-deputy Governor’s withdrawal letter, which was addressed to his “highly-esteemed supporters,” explained he withdrew from the race in the interest of peace and unity.

He said: “I have come to the conclusion that since members of our National Working Committee (NWC), in their wisdom, have expressed their preference for zoning the governorship position to Edo Central Senatorial District, it is wise to align with the decision of the party.

“I am immensely grateful for your unwavering support and belief in me throughout this journey. Your dedication and passion have been the driving force behind my campaign.

“While this decision was not made lightly, I trust that you will understand and continue to support our party as we work together towards our shared goals.

“From the foregoing, I am ready to support whoever emerges as our candidate in the primary election.”

Recall that a former Edo governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, had on Friday also pulled out of the APC gubernatorial primary.

[NaijaNews]

International students studying for a master’s program less than two years in length are now eligible for a three-year post-graduation work permit (PGWP). 

Previously, the duration of a granted PGWP was linked to the duration of the study program. However, acknowledging the potential of master’s students to excel in Canada’s job market, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has opted to broaden the eligibility criteria for these students to receive extended work permits. 

Details of the eligibility  

Nairametrics learns that PGWPs issued to students enrolled in programs other than master’s level will still align with the program’s duration, capped at three years. 

Additionally, students in programs at PGWP-eligible designated learning institutions (DLIs), which are at least two years long, qualify for an extended three-year PGWP. 

In the coming weeks, IRCC will also revise regulations regarding spousal work permits for international students at the undergraduate level.

Consequently, only spouses of students at the master’s and doctoral levels will be eligible for a spousal work permit.

However, this adjustment will not affect spousal open work permits for the spouses or conjugal partners of Canadian citizens or permanent residents. 

What are the PGWP eligibility criteria? 

For international students to qualify for a PGWP, they must meet the following criteria: 

• Completion of studies in an academic, vocational, or professional training program lasting at least eight months at a designated learning institution (DLI) eligible for PGWP issuance. 
• Enrollment in a program leading to a degree, diploma, or certificate. 
• Maintenance of full-time student status in Canada throughout each academic session of the completed program or programs of study, as indicated on the PGWP application (with certain exceptions permitted). 

• Provision of a transcript and an official letter from an eligible DLI confirming fulfilment of program requirements, both of which must be included in the PGWP application. 
• Have graduated from a public post-secondary institution such as a: 
• College; 
• Trade or technical school; 
• University; 
• CEGEP (in Quebec); 
• Private post-secondary school (in Quebec) that operates under the same rules as public schools in Quebec; 
• Private secondary or post-secondary school (in Quebec) that offers qualifying programs of 900 hours or longer and results in the issuance of a diplôme d’études professionnelles (DEP) or an attestation de specialization professionnelle (ASP); or 
• Canadian private schools that can award degrees under provincial law (for example, Associate, Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctorate) but only if the student was enrolled in a study program that leads to a degree as authorized by the province. 

According to the new rule, from September 2024, some students will no longer be eligible to apply for a PGWP.

These are students attending a program that utilizes a curriculum licensing framework (where a private college has been licensed to deliver the curriculum of an associated public college). 

[Nairametrics]

Super Eagles and Chippa United goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, has said he is in no rush to move to a European club.

Nwabali was one of the revelations of the just concluded 2023 Africa Cup of Nations where the Eagles finished as runners-up.

He was only drafted into the squad just few weeks before the commencement of the tournament and handed the first choice position.

The 27-year-old went on to impress as he kept four consecutive clean sheets.

Also, in the penalty shootout win against South Africa, he made two saves.

According to reports, his brilliant performance for the Eagles has attracted interests from some European clubs and one of such clubs is Belgian side Royale Union Saint-Gilloise.

Commenting on talks about a move to Europe Nwabali told Arise News, via Soccer Laduma:“People have been sending messages like they want me to move to Europe or they want me to move to a bigger club.

“I really appreciate that, but to be honest, one thing about me is that I always feel comfortable even if I’m in a small place; I don’t like to rush.

Meanwhile, Nwabali could be back in action for Chippa on Saturday when they will host Cape Town City.

Chippa United, on 18 points, are 13th on 18 points in the 16-team South African Premier Soccer League (PSL).

[Leadership]