Coconut water, often hailed as a natural electrolyte-rich drink, has become a popular choice for hydration and health benefits. But is it truly as healthy as it’s made out to be?

Let’s take a closer look at its nutritional profile and potential health benefits.

Nutritional Profile

Coconut water is a low-calorie, naturally sweet beverage derived from the liquid found inside young green coconuts. It’s packed with essential nutrients, including potassium, magnesium, calcium, and vitamin C, making it a natural alternative to sports drinks. A single serving (about 8 ounces) typically contains:

Calories: 45-60

Potassium: 600 mg (about 15% of the daily recommended intake)

Sodium: 200-250 mg

Carbohydrates: 9 grams

Sugar: 6 grams

Magnesium: 60 mg

Health Benefits

Hydration

Coconut water is an excellent hydrating beverage. It contains natural electrolytes like potassium and sodium, which help replenish lost fluids after exercise, making it a natural alternative to sports drinks. It’s especially useful for rehydration after physical activity, particularly for those who want to avoid the added sugars and artificial ingredients in many commercial beverages.

Rich In Potassium

Coconut water is one of the best natural sources of potassium, an essential mineral that helps regulate fluid balance, muscle function, and blood pressure. Potassium helps prevent muscle cramps and supports heart health, which is why it’s commonly recommended after intense physical activity.

Supports Heart Health

The magnesium found in coconut water plays a role in maintaining a healthy heart by supporting normal blood pressure and proper muscle function. Some studies suggest that coconut water can help lower blood pressure, especially in people with high blood pressure, thanks to its high potassium and magnesium content.

Rich In Antioxidants

Coconut water contains antioxidants that can help combat oxidative stress and inflammation in the body. Antioxidants neutralize harmful free radicals, which can reduce the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer. Regular consumption of coconut water may promote overall wellness and protect cells from damage.

Aid In Digestion

Coconut water is a natural source of fiber, which is beneficial for digestion. It can help prevent constipation and support healthy gut function. Additionally, the potassium in coconut water can balance electrolytes in the digestive system, helping to alleviate stomach discomfort or bloating.

Considerations and Potential Drawbacks

While coconut water is healthy for many people, there are a few considerations:

Sugar Content: While it’s a natural sugar, the 6 grams of sugar per serving might not be suitable for people who need to monitor their sugar intake, such as those with diabetes.

Caloric Intake: Though low-calorie, drinking coconut water excessively can add up. It’s best enjoyed in moderation as part of a balanced diet.

Electrolyte Imbalance: For people with kidney problems or those on medications that affect potassium levels, drinking too much coconut water could pose a risk due to its high potassium content. Always consult a doctor if you have concerns.

Incorporating coconut water into your diet can offer a variety of health benefits, from enhanced hydration to improved heart health and digestion. Its natural electrolytes, antioxidants, and low-calorie profile make it an excellent choice for people seeking a healthy, refreshing beverage. However, like any food or drink, it’s important to consume it in moderation and pay attention to your body’s individual needs.

If you’re looking for a natural, refreshing drink to hydrate and nourish your body, coconut water is a great choice!

Nigerian actress, Regina Daniels has advised her followers on steps to take if their plan A fails.

The actress gave the advice amid separation rumours from her billionaire husband, Senator Ned Nwoko.

DAILY POST reports that Regina Daniels had dropped her marital name after deleting Nwoko from her page and his pictures from her official page on social media platforms.

The development came after rumours that Nwoko was planning to marry actress Chika Ike after welcoming a child with her. A speculation denied by the senator.

In a post shared on her Instagram page on Thursday, the actress advised her followers to always have options. Reminding them that the English alphabet consists of 26 letters (A – Z).

She wrote; “If Plan A fails, remember there are 25 other letters”.

[DailyPost]

Reality TV star and actress Bam Bam has shared a troubling encounter with Nigerian police officers, describing their behavior as “inappropriate and forceful.”

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Bam Bam revealed that after completing a movie shoot, she was stopped by police officers for no reason, ordered to step out of her car, and allegedly asked for money.

Expressing her discomfort and frustration, the actress questioned what might have happened if she had refused their demand. 

She emphasized the need for citizens to feel safe around law enforcement, rather than intimidated or harassed.

Bam Bam also highlighted the difference between respectful requests and coercive demands, stressing that tips should be earned through good service, not claimed as an entitlement.

She wrote: “Just wrapped up from a movie set, heading home, and Nigerian police stopped us for no reason—forced us to step down only to start begging for money. What kind of nonsense is this? If we refused, what would they have done?

“He was a bit inappropriate and forceful. I came down, greeted him, he asked if I was okay, I said I’m fine just tired. He said “show me love now” he could have asked from the car window, but my assistant and I were down, we couldn’t drive off so I was forced to give something.

“We shouldn’t see the police and feel uncomfortable but safe. Asking and demanding are two different things. Feeling entitled about your money and tipping because they were respectful and actually doing their job are two different things.

Seven vessels carrying imported Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, are expected to berth at seaports along the nation’s borders between Monday, March 17, and Sunday, March 23, Saturday PUNCH reports.

According to a document obtained from the Nigerian Port Authority on Thursday, these vessels carrying 115,000 metric tonnes representing 154.22 million litres of PMS will bring in products through three seaports to improve fuel supply nationwide.

The latest development follows an exclusive report by The PUNCH, which disclosed that the landing cost of imported PMS dropped to N797 per litre.

It also comes amidst the suspension of the sales of petroleum products in naira by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery following a stalled renegotiation of the naira-for-crude deal with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

Domestic crude oil refiners argued that the halt in crude supply in naira was the latest ploy to frustrate the Dangote refinery and bring back the full importation of refined petroleum products.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Crude Oil Refinery-owners Association of Nigeria, Eche Idoko, disclosed that suspending the deal defeats the efforts of all stakeholders to achieve energy security in-country.

He said some persons were aggrieved by the continuous reduction in petrol prices by the Dangote refinery and only used monopolistic talks to bring back importation as an alternative.

True to this fact, the continuous importation of refined products has persisted despite improving local capacity.

Recall that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority recently stated that the country’s three operational refineries contribute less than 50 per cent of the nation’s daily petrol consumption, with the shortfall being filled with imported products.

An analysis of the document from NPA showed that the commodities landed at the Tincan port in Lagos, the Lekki Deep Seaport in Lagos and the Calabar port in Cross River State.

The document also revealed that the Dangote refinery imported 654,766 metric tonnes of crude oil within the same period.

The first shipment carrying 20,000 metric tonnes of PMS allocated to the West African Port Services berthed at the Dangote terminal on Monday, March 17, 2025, at 4:03 pm.

On the same day, two vessels conveying 20,000 metric tonnes respectively berthed at the Tincan and Calabar seaports.

This was followed by the arrival of a 20,000 metric-tonne Watson vessel on Thursday, March 20, at 3:18 pm. It berthed at the Ecomarine terminal and was handled by a Kach maritime agent.

Similarly, a Binta Saleh ship was scheduled to berth at the Tincan port in Lagos carrying 5,000 metric tonnes of imported petrol on Friday, March 21 at midnight.

On Saturday, March 22, at 11:06 am, another vessel carrying 15,000 metric tonnes of fuel will berth at the Calabar port. It was assigned to Peak Shipping as its agent.

At the same port, a vessel carrying 15,000 metric tonnes of fuel will arrive at the Eco marine terminal on Sunday at 5:10 pm. This means the seven vessels should bring in 115,000 metric tonnes.

Going by the conversion rate of 1,341 litres to one metric tonne, it, therefore, implies that the marketers are bringing in about 154.22 million litres of petrol.

Meanwhile, depot owners have continued to effect an increase in the loading cost of petrol and other refined petroleum products at their depots.

An analysis of data obtained by our correspondent revealing petrol price movements at loading depots on Thursday showed that Rainoil Depot increased its price from N835 to N860 per litre, and MEN depot effected an increase to N860 per litre despite not making sales the previous day.

Pinnacle Depot made a similar price change from N835 to N860 per litre, while Aiteo and Nipco changed their prices to N856 and N860 per litre, respectively, from N835.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has debunked insinuations of a $15,000 bribe allegedly parceled to senators to endorse the proclamation of a state of emergency on Rivers State. He has described the rumours as part of a hate campaign directed against his person.

Akpabio spoke for the first time on the swirling rumour in the social media space that he facilitated the disbursement of the dollar for votes in his Maitama residence during the breaking of fast with senators.

Saturday Vanguard reports that the Senate President was alleged to have facilitated the disbursement of the dollars on two consecutive days; first $5,000 on Tuesday and then $10,000 on Wednesday, the eve of the vote on the proclamation.

However, dismissing the allegation as part of the campaign of hate and malice against his person, Akpabio speaking through his Special Adviser on Media, Hon Eseme Eyiboh said:

“I am aware and it is true that since Senator Godswill Akpabio, the president of the Senate assumed that position he has been breaking fast. He did it last year, he did it this year, so why is it turning it into a rumour?”

Asking why Akpabio would be giving out dollars to his colleagues, he continued:
“On the issue of the dollars, he is giving the money for what? I am aware of the breaking of the fast but I can tell you I am not aware and it is not true of the dollars, whether $5,000 or $10,000, people are just conjuring it to be able to give flavour to their malice and hate campaign.

“People are just conjuring the story of the $5,000, $10,000 to add flavour to their malice and hate campaign. He has been doing it. He did it last year, so why is this one associated with money,” Eyiboh asked?

Saturday Vanguard reports that the Senate and the House of Representatives passed the proclamation on a state of emergency in Rivers State with a unanimous voice vote on Thursday.

 [Vanguard]

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says its operatives intercepted an undeclared $193,000 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

In a statement on Friday, Abdullahi Maiwada, the NCS spokesperson, said the undeclared currency was concealed inside a carton of yoghurt.

Maiwada noted that the passenger arrived in Nigeria on an Ethiopian Airlines flight, No. 951, from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

He said the undeclared funds violated the Anti-Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, which require travellers carrying over $10,000 or equivalent in negotiable instruments to declare it upon arrival or departure.

“Acting on intelligence, customs officers conducted a detailed inspection, leading to the discovery of the concealed cash,” the statement reads.

“The seized money has been formally handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation and possible prosecution.

“As required by law, we are handing over the forfeited funds to the EFCC for further necessary action.”

Maiwada reiterated the NCS commitment to enforcing financial regulations and preventing illicit financial flows across Nigeria’s borders.

He urged travellers to comply with the legal requirement to declare any cash or negotiable instruments exceeding the approved threshold when entering or leaving the country.

[TheCable]

There is no denying the fact that the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State is an ill-advised and disproportionate measure that threatens to escalate an already tense situation in the state. It is akin to using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, a classic case of applying a bigger problem to solve a smaller one. The crisis in Rivers, while serious, does not warrant the draconian measure of a state of emergency, which has historically been reserved for situations where a state has become completely ungovernable due to insurgency, war, or natural disaster.

Against the backdrop of the foregoing, it is germane to recall that Rivers State is a crucial economic hub in Nigeria that has been embroiled in a political crisis stemming from the power tussle between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, who now serves as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. Thus, the friction between the two political gladiators has spilled over into the state’s legislature, judiciary, and even the security apparatus, leading to a breakdown in governance.

However, while the situation is concerning, it has not degenerated into total lawlessness. The courts are still functioning, the security agencies are still in operation, and economic activities have not ground to a halt. The political instability is largely an elite struggle for control, and while it has trickled down to affect governance, it has not created the kind of anarchic conditions that justify a state of emergency.

Declaring a state of emergency in Rivers would mean suspending democratic institutions, imposing military rule, and giving the federal government sweeping powers over the state. Historically, states of emergency in Nigeria have led to further crises rather than solving them. For instance, the declaration of a state of emergency in Plateau and Ekiti states in the early 2000s did not yield lasting peace but rather deepened political tensions.

The implications of such a declaration are dire. First, it would disenfranchise the people of Rivers by sidelining their elected government. Second, it would set a dangerous precedent where political conflicts are met with authoritarian responses rather than dialogue and democratic solutions. Third, it could have economic repercussions, as investors would see Rivers as an unstable environment, leading to capital flight and further economic downturn.

Without a doubt, the crisis in Rivers is a political problem that requires a political solution. In fact, the crisis in Rivers is fundamentally political, and political problems require political solutions. This is as the issues at play include loyalty struggles, governance style differences, and conflicting interests within the ruling party. These are challenges that should be resolved through dialogue, negotiation, and institutional mechanisms, not military intervention.

Rather than imposing a state of emergency, the federal government should facilitate a roundtable discussion involving all stakeholders, including Governor Fubara, Minister Wike, lawmakers, traditional rulers, and civil society leaders. Mediation efforts should be aimed at ensuring that the democratic institutions in the state function optimally and that governance is not held hostage by personal ambitions.

Additionally, the judiciary must play its role in resolving the legal disputes arising from the crisis. The courts should be allowed to function without political interference so that legal interpretations of the unfolding events can provide clarity and direction.

Irrespective of the fact that Nigeria’s democracy is not new to incidents of declaration of state of emergency, the latest declaration in Rivers, no doubt, highlights the dangerousness of its pronouncement for Nigerian Democracy. 

In fact, the recently declared state of emergency in Rivers, will no doubt further set a precedent that could be exploited in other states facing political crises. This is as Nigerian politics is replete with conflicts between governors and their predecessors, rival factions within parties, and power struggles at different levels of government. Therefore, if the federal government responds to such conflicts with emergency declarations, it could mark the beginning of an era of arbitrary interventions, weakening Nigeria’s democratic structure.

Moreover, the security forces, which are already overstretched with issues of insurgency in the North-East, banditry in the North-West, and separatist agitations in the South-East, should not be dragged into what is essentially a political conflict. Deploying federal forces to Rivers in an emergency scenario would further militarize governance and increase the risk of human rights abuses.

Against the backdrop of the foregoing view, it is not a misnomer to opine that Nigeria’s democracy is still evolving, and that part of that evolution is learning to handle political crises within the framework of democratic institutions. The situation in Rivers, while challenging, is not unmanageable within the bounds of democracy. The federal government must resist the temptation to employ excessive force where political engagement is needed. Declaring a state of emergency in Rivers would be a classic case of using a bigger problem to solve a smaller one, and history has shown that such approaches often create more chaos than they resolve. Instead of exacerbating the crisis, the focus should be on dialogue, institutional reforms, and upholding the rule of law. That is the only sustainable path to peace and stability in Rivers State.

Beware the Ides of March has been an unceasing admonition to politicians since the brutal assassination of Julius Caesar on 15 March, 44BC when events move in a certain troubling trajectory. In the case of Caesar, he was warned by a soothsayer and the wife Calpurnia as is usual with women, was ill at ease. What with their intuition which is superior to any debate. Didn’t Chief Awolowo say to the world that his wife was a jewel of inestimable value who was usually Divinely guided? And didn’t the wife of Pontius Pilate say to her husband that she was troubled in her dream all night and her husband should “have thou nothing to do with the death of that man because He is innocent?” The innocent Man was no other than the Lord Christ. This is because women have an abundance of richer spiritual content in their make-up that enables them to easily tell right from wrong than men. And so exultantly and confidently the wife of Charles de Gaulle one-time President of France, said: “Charles, you govern France, but I rule this house including you!”

Feeling confident, Caesar headed for the Senate meeting ignoring the warnings.
“I could be well moved. If I were you.
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me.
But I am constant as the Northern Star.
Of whose true fixed and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.
The skies are painted with unnumbered sparks;
They are all fire, and everyone doth shine.
But there’s but one in all doth hold his place.”
Julius Caesar was felled, stabbed by his traducers.

The struggle in Rivers State has been long coming. It began as soon as Siminalayi Fubara took up the mantle of office as Governor, but he did not have enough experience to deal with people who are adept in the power game and watch his back. As I said last week, the crisis in the oil-blessed Rivers State is unremitted power struggle for political and economic control. Nyesom Wike is undoubtedly driving at enthronement of godfatherism worship to replicate the Lagos doctrine. Governor Fubara had wondered that since Wike governed Rivers State permitting no interference from any quarters, why should he not be allowed to serve with the same free hands and latitude.

The relationship between Wike and Fubara was chummy in the early stages of the latter’s Administration. It was such that when Wike was appointed Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. Governor Fubara led some members of his cabinet, elders and stakeholders of the state to Abuja on a congratulatory celebration. There was hardly any visit to Port Harcourt by Wike that Fubara did not lead his officials to receive him at the airport. Many of Wike’s commissioners when he was governor were inherited by Fubara. Unknown to Fubara there were undertows charging in the mass of waters that is Rivers State and abutting Government House. A secret plan had reached an advanced stage to impeach him because of his stand-off against interference in his administration from Abuja. This was in October, 2023, when he was barely six months in office.

That was when things began to fall apart. Reports said he had to move fast to avert the harm to his rulership and political career so early. But some occurrence came to his rescue. A wing of the State Assembly building caught fire. The coincidence was too much not to insinuate that it was the handiwork of arsonists known to people in the executive. The Assembly members read into the incident a deliberate effort to stall the impeachment process. They removed the Majority Leader of the House, Edison Ehie. The legislators were determined to still forge ahead with their impeachment resolve to a logical conclusion. However, they were disbanded by security operatives who drove them away when they reconvened to pursue their objective to remove the governor. The Governor himself came out. He addressed them describing the attempt to impeach him a nullity.

The House was broken with four going on the side of Governor Fubara and 27 for FCT Minister Nyesom Wike. The Governor moved the Assembly to Government House ostensibly to rebuild or renovate the building damaged by fire. The governor said later that the building had suffered from integrity deficiency and had largely to be pulled down. The larger faction led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule refused to move the Assembly to Government House. On 11 December, 2023, at a reception held in honour of Tony Okocha, chairman of APC chapter in River State, they announced their defection to APC. They were shown on video standing with Okocha raising hands and brandishing broom the symbol of APC.

Edison Ehie who had become the Speaker on the side of Fubara headed for the state High Court to obtain order recognising the four members as constituting the authentic Rivers State House of Assembly. He made efforts to declare the seat of the 27 group vacant since they had changed party and gone away with the APC. Based on that recognition the 2024 budget was presented to the four-man legislators. They passed it and Governor Fubara signed it into an appropriation law on the same day. Lawyers say that there had been a similar case of thin legislature strength in Plateau State before which they could cite. The budget in Port Harcourt, anyway, covered the renovation of the Assembly building damaged.

On 18 December, President Bola Tinubu waded into the crisis, asking the parties in the rift to sheathe their swords and embrace peace. Fubara was asked to re- absorb the pro- Wike commissioners who had left the administration of their own free will. He was asked to re-present the 2024 budget as well. He re-absorbed the commissioners but he declined to re-present the appropriation bill which those close to him said had been overtaken. This led to renewed stand-off. Nyesom Wike said the only path to peace in the state is in Fubara re-presenting the 2025 budget and tabling his list of commissioners before the expanded legislative house.

As the crisis situation was deteriorating, President Tinubu came in with a big stick! He declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, 18 March, exactly two years Fubara had his electoral victory at the polls. It is not the state of emergency that is so much of a problem as the exercise of that power is discretionary and based on what intelligence reports he has, but the attendant sacking of the governor, his deputy, Professor (Mrs.) Ngozi Odu; their Executive Council; and Members of the State Assembly. Lawyers argue that by so doing the President has exceeded his brief spelt out in the constitution.

It is reassuring that lawyers have been churning out quite some literature on this such that everything, the hastiness of action by the Federal Authority has sounded more like working to the answer. Many analysts say the gaze is on 2027 and Rivers State is crucial in the electoral calculation. What with Nyesom Wike conducting himself with his accustomed lack of refinement and with a certain sense of entitlement to Rivers State beyond a call to serve for which we all must bow our spirit in humility for the Grace. What with the pro-Wike State House of Assembly members not making themselves available for Governor Fubara to present his budget and list of commissioners in line with the ruling of the Supreme Court! To frustrate him, the Assembly adjourned indefinitely without any thought about his finding the resources to run and meet the obligations of the state.

Bola Tinubu and Nyesom Wike are two of a kind sharing the same political philosophy which is that struggle for power is not a child’s play. You fight for it “at all costs, snatch it and run with it.” Both will not let go on their super-rich empires.

Unfortunately, the dominant wish among our people is to line up behind the man with the deep pocket. They drop their principles.

See the spate of defections!!

The Governor said while addressing the people of River State before vacating Government House on Wednesday: “Even in the face of the political impasse, we have remained committed to constitutional order and the rule of law, putting the interest of our people above all else. This was why immediately after Mr. President’s intervention to broker peace, we did not hesitate to implement the agreed terms in good faith, including welcoming back commissioners who had previously resigned on their own volition. Furthermore, we moved swiftly to comply with the Supreme Court’s judgment immediately we received the certified true copy of the judgment to return the state to normalcy…. Unfortunately, at every turn, members of the Rivers State House of Assembly frustrated our efforts, thus making genuine peace and progress difficult.”

The craving for power and influence by man is an age-long intoxication. It was for fear of losing power and influence as well as hold on their fellowmen that the political and priestly establishments in Israel conspired and instigated hate among the people to get rid of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they executed Him Who brought the Holy Word of Salvation. The end to the intoxication is not in sight and will not be until mankind have the knowledge of the consequences of the burden in every wrongdoing which are awaiting them in life hereafter! They are severe; they are relentless. The entire Creation is governed by immutable, living and self-acting Laws.

Governor Fubara and his government should be immediately recalled. State of Emergency may be retained to curb lawlessness such as emerging oil pipeline vandalization which President Tinubu accused Fubara of not censoring. Options to return the state to normalcy can be exhausted in the arbitration of the courts. States are coordinate entities with the Centre; that is why we are a federation.

UNIQUE SEASON OF FASTING
For millions of Christians and Moslems world-wide this is a special season. The mosques are overfilling every evening. And from pulpits on Sundays an outpouring of exhortations for the good life thunders across the globe. It is yet another season of the great yearly fast, ladies and gentlemen. This year’s fasting period is unique. The last time the period for both faiths coincided was 32 years ago. Those who have pre-occupied themselves with this ecclesiastical purification of body and soul say the coincidence is indeed every 33 years. Their prediction borne out of cosmic calculation is that indeed the fasting by adherents of both Christianity and Islam Ramadan and Lent will fall on the same day, 18 February, next year. The Moslems turned their gaze upwards on 28 February with the sighting of the moon and should be away in spirit until the appearance of another crescent, about 30 days altogether. The Christians went on their knees on 05 March to begin their own 40-day retreat from worldliness.

In 1993 when this overlapping occurred, I said given the fact that a substantial majority of Nigerians subscribe to both religions, it may not be quite out of place to assume that, under normal circumstances a wave of purifying flames or currents would sweep through the country at least for the period of the fast. A great many unbelievers, too, might be wondering, shaking their heads in pity, at what sounded to them as transcendental penitentiality that demands abstinence from food, drinks and pleasure was really all about and what has befallen the world!

I do fast. And I enjoy doing so on two grounds. First it affords me the opportunity to give the body a break from its enormous workload. Withdrawal from food for some time is like bringing the city of millions of trillions of cells to a standstill on a sanitation last Saturday of the month. All the wastes that heavy work schedule locked in the closets are brought out and emptied as all energy is diverted to detoxification of the household. Thereafter, the body gets lighter, livelier, more radiant and youthful.

But by far more important is the benevolent effect of true fasting on the inner man. Man himself. True, a revitalised cloak or vessel as a refurbished motor car is to a motorist, is an invaluable asset for spiritual mobility and outreach, it is in the capacity of a fast to loosen spirit from body awhile and connect man to his Maker that its greatest benefit resides.

Man on earth is a union of body and soul, the soul itself a union of the spirit, that is of man, and his non-physical, finer coverings. The unions are held together by a mesh of radiations to which each party makes a contribution. Full consciousness is a state in which each party generates its required share of heat for the union. When the current is low from any side, the uniting mesh weakens and the union loosens. This happens often, as when the body is in a state of shock or illness, during sleep when the body goes to rest or when at the other end, the inner man loses the will to live and loses hold on the body, its cloak.

This is clearly evident when a tired body falls asleep, its contribution to the rays diminishes and the soul is freed through a weakening of the union hold, soars away, in what the brain, memory brain also called cerebellum, is later to remember faintly as a dream, having not fully and consciously participated in the experiences of the soul. It is the same principle that is enunciated by such alternative forms of medicine as acupuncture, acupressure, reflex zone therapy and iridology. Those channels of energy they speak about are nothing other than paths of energy flow.

Fasting may indeed have a spiritually composing effect if it turns man away from earthly trivialities and assists him to seek connection with his Maker. This will depend, however, on the inner state. For once the deprivation of nourishment to the body compels it to weaken; the union with the soul loosens somewhat, and the soul thus freed may easily gain the necessary connection with finer, that is immaterial currents. Gratitude arises to flow to the Throne of Grace. With finer currents come blessings, clarity, guidance, protection etc.

It needs be pointed out, however, that not all fasting brings blessings. There cannot be blessing where fasting does not engender an awakening inwardly. In fact, many who fast in this expectation are inwardly dead and do fast only out of habit or society expectation. For those who cannot fast for whatever reason or do not believe in it, that awakening is by no means unattainable through other agencies. Many souls are known, for example, to open up in the woods, seashore or in music halls. It is important for each person to find the key for unlocking the treasures of his own inner life. Above all, however, there is no better way to the unfolding than what The Grail Message by Abd-ru-shin points out: “He who bears within himself the firm volition for what is good, and strives to give purity to his thoughts has already found the way to the Highest! All else will then be added unto him.” Elsewhere, The Grail Message states: “If you deal exclusively and earnestly with what is good all else follows of its own accord. Thus it is not at all so difficult! But in your volition you constantly reach far beyond this, thus from the outset making the most simple things not only very hard for yourselves but quite often even impossible.”

The award-winning Nigerian author and Beyoncé-sampled essayist is back with her first novel in a decade, which makes now a great time to get to know her work.
She’s won multiple awards for her novels, had her Ted talk sampled by Beyoncé, and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2015. Now, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is back with her first novel in 10 years - so if you haven’t read anything by the Nigerian author yet, it’s a good time to catch up.

The entry point

Adichie’s second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, not only won the Orange Prize for Fiction (now the Women’s Prize for Fiction) in the year I was a judge, but also its Winner of Winners in 2020, and was made into a 2013 film with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandiwe Newton. It begins after Nigerian independence in 1960, telling the story of the Biafran war via “The Master,” a maths lecturer in Nsukka (where Adichie grew up), his London-educated lover Olanna, and teenage houseboy Ugwu. The traumas of war are preceded by joyous intellectual jousting, fuelled by Ugwu’s mouthwatering jollof rice and pepper soup. While Adichie once acknowledged to me her debt to Romesh Gunesekera’s Sri Lanka-set novel Reef for this master chef culinary device, her breakthrough novel earns its place as a West African War and Peace.

The credo

Adichie’s essay The Danger of a Single Story, first given as a 2009 Ted talk (and available as an eBook), sets out her stall as a storyteller as succinctly as Orwell’s 1946 essay Why I Write. Joining novelist Chinua Achebe’s call for a “balance of stories,” it echoes Binyavanga Wainaina’s How to Write About Africa, the 2005 satirical bombshell in Granta magazine - reprinted in a posthumous 2022 collection for which his bereft friend Adichie wrote the introduction. “Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story,” she writes – a flattening of experience that “robs people” of human complexity and dignity while exaggerating their differences. “Africa is a continent full of catastrophes … But there are other stories … just as important.”

The spectacular debut

The consummate coming-of-age novel Purple Hibiscus, which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for the best first book, explores faith, freedom, sexual awakening and religious hypocrisy through a 15-year-old girl, Kambili, growing up in south-eastern Nigeria after a military coup. Her father, a “Big Man” factory owner, is a patriarch and religious zealot whose wife-beating tyranny devastates the family, even as he garners human rights awards for defying the new regime. Where the Catholic church demands prayer in Latin, not Igbo, and cash-stuffed envelopes get things done, a brother’s act of defiance leads ultimately to prison. Yet Kambili blossoms with a scholarly aunt in Nsukka, a university town where questioning and debate are encouraged not slapped down. To the strains of Fela Kuti, she exults because, for all its potholes, “Nsukka could free something deep inside your belly that would rise… and come out as a freedom song.”

The epic love story

The 600-page, tricontinental novel Americanah, winner of the US National Book Critics Circle award for fiction, is as much sharp observational comedy and critique as romance. Its heroine Ifemelu, a fellow at Princeton, is first seen having her hair braided for the journey home after 13 years away. Fleeing military-ruled Nigeria, she felt the burden and pathologies of race only in the US – as explored in her flâneur’s blog, “Raceteenth, or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black”, which ranges from Barack Obama to the vexed politics of black hair. But her homesickness is partly for her first love, Obinze, the “only person with whom she has never felt the need to explain herself”. Having failed in the visa lottery for the Land of the Free, he languished in London before making it as a property developer in his newly democratic homeland. As the novel traces their sundered lives towards reunion, the question is whether their love is beyond rekindling.

The one everyone should read

We Should All Be Feminists speaks to successive generations of women and men in its efforts to reclaim feminism’s high ground from a mighty backlash. Expanded from a 2012 Ted talk – since sampled on Beyoncé’s Flawless – it bristles with outraged anecdotes and observations on how women are still taught to shrink and silence themselves, how gender bias becomes normalised through repetition, and how the cage of masculinity breeds men’s fear of weakness and vulnerability. “We must raise our daughters differently. We must also raise our sons differently,” Adichie writes in a book that could be read alongside her advice for parents, Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. Embracing her great-grandmother, who ran off to marry the man of her choice, as a feminist avant la lettre, Adichie rebuts notions of feminism as “un-African”.

The one that will make you feel less alone

Published the year after her father’s sudden death from kidney failure, Notes on Grief is a doting daughter’s reckoning with her father’s loss. It contains rare confidences from an author who guards her privacy and a bracing confession of the rage and turmoil of mourning. Though the family met on Zoom, Adichie had not seen her father in the flesh for months when he died during lockdown, and her “leaden heart” feels only fury at condolers’ presumptuousness (“he is in a better place”). Flashes of obituary reveal a man, deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Nigeria in the 1980s and a leading professor of statistics, who had returned from doctoral studies at Berkeley shortly before the Biafran war when all his books were burnt by Nigerian soldiers. Years later, he was kidnapped for ransom because of his famous daughter. Yet his humour, “already dry, crisped deliciously as he aged”. Was he “the reason I have never been afraid of the disapproval of men?” Adichie asks. “I think so.”

‘Cancel culture? We should stop it. End of story: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on backlash, writer’s block - and her new baby twinsHer first novel in 10 years, Dream Count, charts the interlinked lives and desires of four women during the Covid-19 pandemic. Adichie’s mother, who died in 2021, was an inspiration for its mother-daughter relationships. Central is Chiamaka, a Nigerian travel writer living in the US, considering her body clock and missed opportunities. The character of Chiamaka’s housekeeper, Kadiatou, was inspired by Nafissatou Diallo, the Guinean woman who in 2011 accused the then IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault in the New York hotel where she worked as a maid - though the case was dismissed because she was said to have lied about her background. “A victim need not be perfect to be deserving of justice,” Adichie notes in the novel’s afterword, arguing for the need for “imaginative retellings”. Fleshing out this character while preserving as sacrosanct her account of the alleged assault, was, for Adichie, “to ‘write’ a wrong in the balance of stories”.

Dream Count is published by 4th Estate.

British Writer and Critic Maya Jaggi wrote for The Guardian, London

In this piece, Senator Bunmi Adetunmbi, who represented Ekiti North District between 2011 and 2015 in the Senate, urges the National Assembly to consider the imperative of e-voting, instead of using the ‘voice vote’ to arrive at decisions.

Some of the decision-making methods generally employed by parliaments all over the world include voice voting, rising voting, show of hands, roll call, e-voting. All except for voice voting, provides a means to directly measure the voting pattern of individual members of parliament. Since the inception of the 4 Assembly in 1999, the Senate has largely employed voice voting for practically all of its decisions with the notable exception of constitution amendment bills and rare cases of call for division. Majorly, “Say Aye” and “Say Nay” have been the voting habit, which sometime gets challenged and a call for division demanded by members who feel strongly that the Senate President, based on his discretionary interpretation of the relative decibel level of response, has not dispensed his judgement fairly.

In his epochal and widely publicized legislative agenda, Senate President Bukola Saraki identified legislative best practices as one of the pillars of a comprehensive agenda at reforming the legislative business of government. Under this pillar, he promised an E-Parliament “using ICT in the regular conduct of legislative activities of the Senate, such that modern information communication tools will be used across the activities of the National Assembly” He went further to specifically declare that “the Senate will make e-voting a regular feature of Senate legislative business. The adoption of E-Voting is to clear any iota of doubt on the credibility of the voting process in the Senate. The method will ensure transparency and accountability thereby restoring the credibility of the voting activities in the system.” These are laudable initiatives and Dr. Bukola Saraki should be commended for offering these radial steps at reforming the way the business of the Senate is conducted.

The recent passage of the harmonization report on the order of elections, which led to a walk out by 10 senators, brings to the fore the issue of transparency and public accountability in National assembly voting process. One wonders why despite the promised voting reforms of Senator President Bukola Saraki, some of the recent sensitive decisions of the Senate have been dogged with controversy and protests by aggrieved Senators that the Presiding Officer is undemocratic and nursing a hidden agenda. This is a serious allegation that could have been addressed if the proposed e-parliament envisaged by Senator Saraki had been implemented.

Parliamentary vote by roll call to enumerate those that say “yea” or “nay”, on specific issues provides verifiable and empirical record on how parliament voted. It enables the general public, constituents and political parties to know how their representatives voted on issues of interest and concern to them. This form of transparent and open balloting system is considered the best for any deliberative and parliamentary assembly that is accountable and responsible to a constituency. Although Rule 73 of the Senate Proceedings provides for dissenting members to call for division to call for recorded votes, but under the proposed e-voting reform of Senate President Saraki, this should have been the rule of voting rather than the exception. I believe this is the anomaly that the laudable declaration of Senator Saraki intended to address and reverse at the onset of his Senate Presidency in June 2015. Unfortunately, this is yet to happen in the eighth assembly. 

There were many instances during the 7th Senate where I served, that I wished my choices on major issues were placed on record beyond the untraceable “Yeas or Nays have it” that characterized most of the decisions of that era. Only during constitution amendments and a call for division by Senator Babajide Omoworare of Osun State did I recall the use of recorded voting during my four-year tenure of 2011-2015. Calling for voting history of representatives to know their positions on important parliamentary debates is impossible as a result of this casual style of voting. This makes it practically impossible to assess the quality of representation and how much parliamentarians toe party lines on policies and electoral promises. Voice voting, in my view, should be limited to simple decisions such as adoption of record of proceedings and the likes. Other serious business of the parliament such as resolution of motions, passage of bills should be resolved through recorded voting.

For a parliamentarian, the duty of representation, in my view, is superior to that of law making because you have to be elected first as a representative before being law maker, in other words, without being a representative, you cannot be a law maker. Therefore, as representative of constituencies, senators have the primary and sacred duty of advocating the priorities of their constituents and constantly balancing local and national interests, and providing the constituents feedback on the choices he or she makes on their behalf. This is the soft underbelly of democracy and can only be measured if voting records of representatives are recorded and open for scrutiny and compliance trail by those whose mandate he or she carries and the party that gave it expression. Part of the reasons for the current poor public perception of the National Assembly is largely due to poor understanding of their roles and the value attached to it. The e-voting reform initiative proposed by Senator Bukola Saraki, if implemented, will give the media more work to do by creating a wider agenda of issue-based discussion on the deliberations of parliament and specific roles of individual parliamentarians and clusters of partisan and multiparty interest groups. This way, we can further build public confidence in the institution and further demonstrate its value to our democracy as well as justify the cost of running parliament in a democracy.

This is why Senator Saraki’s e-voting reform must be revisited to address a critical need for transparency in our legislative practice, boost the peoples’ confidence in the parliament and deepen our democratic culture. The public needs to be provided with relevant information to measure the quality of representation in the legislative chambers through transparent and responsible accounting of parliamentary votes. This is why, as much as practicable, voice voting should never be allowed to become the popular method for serious decision making in the legislative chambers. To the extent that it veils the voting identity of elected representatives, voice voting is fundamentally flawed and is a form of political corruption that should be discouraged in taking important decisions in the National Assembly. As it has played out in the current issue of the bill on the amendment of the timetable for the 2019 elections, e-voting would have established attendance, whether or not quorum was formed and how members wish to vote. Adoption of a voice call in such a sensitive issue is susceptible to controversies of the interpretational judgement of the Presiding Officer with the undesirable potential of promoting over time, the erosion of trust and confidence in the quality of decision emanating from leader of the deliberative assembly. Worse still, it helps to mask the face, muffle the voice and veil the choice made by each representative, this can promote indolence and non-transparent representation. It reduces public accountability on parliamentary decision to unacceptable minimum and provides undesirable cover for truancy on the part of some representatives.

On the other hand, any other form of decision-making that maintains the record of individual choices provides transparent measure of the representative’s quality of decision making. It becomes easy to know how the choices made by each representative hurt or promote the interest of their constituents, supports or undermines the policy preferences of their political parties. Recorded decision-making tools also promote the emergence of ideological differentiation within the various parties in the assembly and brings into full public glare what side of issues their representatives stand on major social and economic policy debates.

Luckily for us, our Senate and House of Representatives chambers have fully installed, functional e-voting systems which can easily be put to use to put names to votes and give specific identity to decisions in our National Assembly. It must be emphasized that e-voting is just another form of recorded voting that can promote decision integrity in NASS and make our Chambers truly hallowed. It follows logically that even if the e-voting system is not employed for whatever reason, manual recording is very possible, roll call, division and several other manual forms parliamentary vote recording exist that can be utilised.

To improve on the quality of legislative representation and promote transparency and accountability at this critical stage of our democratic evolution, our Senate and House of Representatives must move away from the convenient but controversial voice voting to recorded voting. Every legislator should be identifiable with and account for the choices he or she makes on behalf of the general public, their constituents and the political parties that gave them electoral platform. It is on this score and in the interest of building the institution of parliament, that Senator Bukola Saraki should not abandon his original commitment to e-voting and thereby giving room for imputation of wrong personal motive or partisan interpretation to his role as Senate President. He owes it a duty to his tenure not to allow  drift of a noble mission, and in his own words, he owes the public a legacy that will “clear any iota of doubt on the credibility of the voting process in the Senate.” There is still time for him to make good this ennobling reform.

originally published in The Nation, Feb. 23, 2018.