A report from the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity (CeFTPI) has ranked 510 ministries, departments and agencies of government low in transparency and integrity.

The report, which was released yesterday in Abuja tagged “Transparency and Integrity Index 2024” assessed 514 different MDAs out of which only four were ranked high.

Presenting the report, the Executive Director of the centre, Mr. Umar Yakubu said the MDAs were assessed based on sub-variables including “anti-bribery policy, whistleblower policy, conflict of interest policy, control of corruption implementation report and citizens engagement,”

He added that the report “Is geared towards assessing openness and transparency of public institutions by evaluating the publication of vital information relating to good governance, as it aims to evaluate the publication of information that is statutorily supposed to be within the public domain,”

Other variables used in scoring the MDAs according to him include “Budget allocation of last eight years, budget released in the last eight years, budget implementation in the last eight years, revenue remitted in the last eight years as well as auditor general’s report of the last eight years.

 A breakdown of the report by Daily Trust shows that among the least ranked agencies, who scored only 4 points out of 100 include the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, National Assembly Service Commission, Ministry of Police Affairs, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations

Other least ranked MDAs who scored 8 points out of 100 points include Nigeria Football Federation, National Broadcasting Commission, Ministry of Petroleum resources, National health insurance scheme, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council (FCCPC).

Others are National Hajj Commission, Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Ministry of Transportation, NAFDAC, Ministry of Défence, Ministry of Aviation, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Transportation.

Also on the least ranked agencies are the Bureau of Public Procurement, Nigerian Communications Commission, Nigerian Shippers Council, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Debt Management Office, Office of Auditor General of the Federation, NNPCL, Nigerian Ports Authority, Nigeria-Export Import Bank among others.

On the other hand, the four agencies that were ranked high are National Oil Spill Detention and Response Agency, Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, Development Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies.

Earlier in his remarks, the Director General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) noted that “The BPSR’s partnership with CeFTPI is inspired by the bureau’s strategic role as a driver as a driver in MDAs strategic reforms which aligns with the development objective of the public financial management reforms,”

He further stated that since the commencement of the Presentation of the report in 2021, “Records have revealed that most public institutions have adopted the methodology matrix, although responses remain low, the BPSR intend to intensify drive towards a broader awareness by all public institutions.”

[DailyTrust]

Fulham star, Alex Iwobi has named his four best ever Super Eagles players of all-time.

Iwobi spoke ahead of Nigeria’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, qualifier with Libya on Friday in Uyo.

In a recent interview with PoojaDissects, Iwobi was asked to name his four best ever Super Eagles players.

The former Arsenal player simply said: “[Austin] Jay-Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Joseph Yobo and Victor Osimhen.”

Okocha, Kanu and Yobo have all retired from football.

Osimhen, meanwhile, is currently playing for Galatasaray on loan from Napoli.

Petrol pump prices rose to N998 and N1,030 per litre on Wednesday at various outlets of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) in Lagos and Abuja, respectively.

The recent development comes after the NNPC decided to terminate its exclusive purchase agreement with Dangote Refinery.

Here are five ways to reduce fuel consumption

1. Use AC when driving at higher speeds:

While it might seem counterintuitive, driving with your windows down at speeds above 80km/h can actually use more fuel due to increased wind resistance. In this case, it’s more efficient to switch on the air conditioning—your car will glide more smoothly without the extra drag.

2. Accelerate smoothly:

Rapid acceleration and revving your engine to high RPMs might feel powerful, but it guzzles fuel. A steady, smooth acceleration keeps your engine running efficiently and helps conserve fuel, making your drive easier on both your wallet and your car.

3. Brake gently:

Slamming on your brakes not only wears them down faster but also forces you to burn more fuel when you accelerate again. Try to maintain a safe distance from the car ahead, so you can brake gradually and avoid wasteful fuel usage.

4. Turn off the engine when idle:

If you’re waiting for more than a couple of minutes, it’s a good idea to turn off your engine. Even when you’re stationary, an idling engine continues to consume fuel unnecessarily. A quick switch-off can save fuel and reduce emissions. 

5. Keep your tires properly inflated:

Underinflated tires create more friction with the road, causing your car to work harder and consume more fuel. Keeping your tires at the right pressure not only enhances fuel efficiency but also extends the life of your tires, saving you from future expenses.

[TheNation]

The National President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Garima, has stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited owes petroleum marketers almost N15bn.

Garima stated this on Thursday when he was featured on Channel TV’s Sunrise Daily.

According to him, its members have yet to load a single truck since the NNPCL increased its pump price.

Responding to a question about how much NNPCL is owing its members, he said, “Roughly, it is almost getting to N15bn. Our money is already with the NNPCL. It has refused to give us the product we paid for and is asking us to complete the difference.

“Our money has been with the NNPCL for almost three months now. Either they sell for us at the same rate they are getting the product from Dangote Refinery or refund us so we can buy directly from Dangote Refinery.”

Recall that PUNCH Online had reported that after one week the NNPCL commenced loading Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, most filling stations across the country have yet to get the product.

PUNCH Online had also reported that IPMAN in its independence message on October 1, 2024, urged the Federal Government to allow its members to source a direct supply of petroleum products to ease the pressure in the sector.

[Punch]

When one of the Afenifere chieftains who had gone to commiserate with Pastor Enoch Adeboye over the death of the son reported that the man showed them a video of Sunday Igboho insulting him, it occurred to me how much this big man of God is affected by public opinion. Otherwise, why would someone like Adeboye care about the opinion of someone like Igboho that he would justify his politics? Some people’s criticism of you should always fly beneath the radar of your notice. For Adeboye to pay attention to critics, to the point of even singling out an acerbic individual, something has shifted in the social culture.

For a society that lacks a culture of accountability, the internet has made imperviousness to the critics harder. So much has the internet shrunk the social distance that the influential class must now deal with a plebian public whose existence they would not have been aware of before the age of Web 2.0. From the political class who will send the police after you over social media comments, to Nobel Laureates and even megachurch pastors, the internet has bent the hierarchical relations of power between the big man and the small fries. The radicalism the internet allows is both the anarchist’s ideal universe and the conservative’s nightmare. No one is spared criticism or ridicule in the internet’s court of public opinion.

Someone like Adeboye has greatly suffered on the internet and in many cases, his own words were parsed to convict him. Things pastors used to say within the confines of their churches now hit the internet and make them sound unreasonable.

Take, for example, the story Adeboye told of the billionaires in his church who paid “hefty” tithes and demanded a monthly account of how the money was being spent. He said he did not find a biblical justification for their request, and those people suffered severe repercussions for daring to challenge him. A story like that tells you so much about Nigeria’s culture of underdevelopment. The RCCG churches in the USA, do they not give regular account to their congregation? If the IRS demands to see their accounts, will Adeboye tell them there is no basis for giving in to such request? Their society is organised, and their God is not so shady that he would destroy people for making reasonable requests.

Adeboye’s recent admission of doctrinal error over tithes is another victory for the internet. Daddy Freeze (Ifedayo Olarinde), who galvanised other disgruntled elements over the issue of tithes should be proud of what he has achieved. When he began to claim the doctrine of tithe as preached in the contemporary Pentecostal church was unbiblical, hardly any famous Pentecostal pastor did not demystify himself just to attack him—a mere individual. Yet, no matter how much they spun it, nobody who has read the Bible or history books properly would ever agree that tithes can buy you eternity or a good life. That is a transactional gospel, tantamount to the Catholic Church’s selling indulgences in the Middle Ages.

By publicly apologising, Adeboye joins the league of famous prosperity gospel preachers like Benny Hinn and Creflo Dollar who have also admitted their errors over tithes. Except that Adeboye’s apology came across as a non-apology. He could have stopped at saying he was wrong, but no, he still dug further by saying “ten percent was for beginners” and people should “give violently” (what does that even mean?). He could have stayed focused and stopped putting percentages on people’s money.

It would be setting the bar too low to applaud Adeboye for making the minimum effort of apologising. Merely saying “sorry” is the easy part. The real test of Adeboye’s remorse and integrity on this matter would be him dedicating himself to undoing the structures that the wrong doctrines have created within the RCCG and across denominations where people have looked up to him. The doctrinal and administrative mechanisms for milking people of their money must also be systematically dismantled. He must actively preach against a religion where the things of God have become commodities to be purchased, and where worship means nothing without money.

Through the legitimacy tithe sermons like Adeboye’s provide, some preachers have run amok with a transactional gospel that sometimes even puts Adeboye up as the quintessence of the truth of such theology. Even some preachers whose sons have become ministers actively carry on with the same doctrine of give! give! give! as if that is all there is to religion.

Things are so bad in some Pentecostal churches that preachers now claim that Adam was sent out of the garden because he did not pay tithes, or that Job faced tribulations because of tithes. By what theological permutation does one even arrive at such a twisted conclusion? Some of these preachers forget that some of us can read the Bible for ourselves, and we have access to a wide variety of literature written by erudite people against which we can crosscheck their preaching. Like the Berean church, we can study to discern and reject nonsense. Thanks to social media, we can also broadcast our dissent.

Let me preempt those about to tell us to mind our business because tithe and Adeboye’s doctrinal errancy are a family affair. First, you are mistaken because there is something called “a matter of public interest.” Look it up on Google. A society where your preachers teach that God punishes people for asking a pastor to give account is one where politicians too will adopt the same standard. Second, tithes and the religious relationship they spawn are transactions of faith. The people who seek refuge from a troubled world in the church give in good faith; the tithe-hustling pastors who manipulate them into giving what they cannot legitimately afford confront them with bad faith. Society itself is built on the infrastructure of faith; whether you are a believer or not, we all have the collective responsibility to ensure that people’s faith in certain institutions are not abused. Looking away from the abuse of faith in religious institution is one step away from looking away from similar abuses in the integrity of healthcare, banking, educational, and other social systems.

Finally, I must restate that the issue at stake is not whether people should give to churches. Worldwide, non-profit organizations rely on public donations to run. Personally, I would not mind giving to my former university, but nobody has ever asked. As far as I know, no Vice Chancellor has taken the initiative to create a scheme that allows regular donations from alumni. The result is that outside churches that have created such a structure, our part of the world hardly makes public donations. What we do is more at a personal level rather than institutional. It is a culture that has both its good sides and its shortcomings.

If you belong to a church or similar community, you should give to support them. Churches need regular donations to operate. Many local churches have social welfare projects, and their efforts are why society has not broken down entirely in this Tinubu economy. Their efforts might be invisible to the public, but they have helped families pay house rent and school fees, sent food items, and even paid hospital bills. All these they do in addition to other moral support they provide. Initiatives like that deserve support, and whoever is led to give to support should do so. What is unacceptable is making exaggerated promises to get more money out of people. No, God will not make you billionaires because you paid tithe. And no, your life is not guaranteed because you paid tithe. Pastors who espouse that logic are no different from money ritualists.

AS a journalist, I admire cartoonists, the visual artists who draw and create engaging captions, for their genius. They are not only creative and original, but also investigative, often incorporating humour, wit and satire in their works. When they are in their element, they graphically capture the imagination of the audience, as the trending cartoon in the BUSINESSDAY newspaper showing President Bola Tinubu having his day in the sun with his four ‘dogs’ – agbero, judiciary, INEC, police – has done.

“I will not be running in 2027 election… I can walk comfortably,” Tinubu crowed. It was simply ingenious, such that a senior journalist who forwarded it to me gushed: “I have never seen a more meaningful cartoon.”

It aptly illustrated the phenomenon of “state capture,” and why many Nigerians believe that 2027 is already a done deal for Tinubu. The cartoon also illustrates what it means to have capacity in Nigerian politics, a euphemism for political brigandage. The idea of having political structure, which is what the absolute control of the umpire, judiciary, state and non-state actors typifies, is nothing other than the criminalisation of the democratic space. 

Our democracy has become a game not birthed in the rule of law and the value of decency but a game where the rule of strong men has become the norm. Anyone who is in doubt should dispassionately analyse what happened in Rivers State before, during and after last Saturday’s local government poll.

The judiciary and police – the primary law enforcement agencies – have aided INEC in making a complete mess of Nigeria’s democracy. Under President Tinubu’s watch, a Nigerian judge ordered the Nigeria Police Force to abdicate its constitutional responsibility as the principal law enforcement and lead security agency in Nigeria and violate Section 4 of the Police Act and Regulations by shirking its responsibilities of prevention and detection of crime, apprehension of offenders and preservation of law and order.

And the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, a man with a PhD in Peace and Security Studies, did the unthinkable – ordered his men off the streets. And when to his mortification, the election was conducted in a relatively peaceful atmosphere, he disingenuously ordered that the 23 local government secretariats which they had occupied since July be unsealed even when there was ample intelligence that hoodlums intended to attack.

And they struck, maiming, killing and destroying public property. As I write, despite the fact that the hoodlums struck in broad daylight, nobody has been arrested and none will be arrested because democracy in Nigeria has become a criminal enterprise. It is about having the capacity to visit terrorism and violence on the people and properties of government. Capacity in Nigeria’s democracy means ability to build structures of criminality.

Penultimate week, I gave an unsolicited advice to Dr. Asue Ighodalo, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate in the September 21 Edo governorship election, thusly: If I were him, I will not go to court to seek redress. The matter will be settled in the streets.

Some people accused me of calling for anarchy. Far from it. Those promoting anarchy are people who work against free, fair and credible polls. In any case, what can be more anarchic than the events that unfolded in Rivers State on Monday?   

Besides, as Frederick Douglass, the escapee slave, who later became the most important leader of the movement for African-American civil rights in the 19th century, once noted: “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” Douglass further opined that “the limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” In other words, power yields nothing until it encounters superior force.

So, as long as the onus is on Ighodalo to prove that the result declared by INEC was not a true reflection of the wishes of the electorate, rather than the responsibility being on the umpire, going to court is an exercise in futility, because he will depend on the benevolence of the same institution that committed the unconscionable electoral heist to prove his case.

Now, INEC under the chairmanship of Professor Mahmoud Yakubu is not known to be charitable. Predictably, it has refused, even when ordered by the Edo State Governorship Election Tribunal, to grant the PDP and Ighodalo access to the materials used for the election.

The enrolled order given in the suit marked EPT/ED/GOV/01M/2024 between Ighodalo Asuerinme and PDP as applicants and INEC, Okpebholo Monday and the APC as respondents and dated September 29, 2024, was unambiguous.

Signed by the tribunal secretary, Mu’azu Ibrahim Bagudu, and chairman, Justice W. I. Kpochi, it ordered INEC to grant the PDP and its candidate “unfettered access to and open up for inspection all electoral documents or any document in the custody of the National Chief Electoral Commissioner or any officer of the Commission/1st Respondent, particularly the Voter Registers, Ballot papers, the BVAS machines, Forms EC25B, EC25B(i) Forms EC40A and Forms EC40C which were utilized for the conduct of the Edo State Governorship election.”

Armed with the order, Ighodalo’s team led by Olusegun Jolaawo, SAN, on Monday, visited the INEC headquarters in Benin City, to access the materials but met a brick wall. The Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Anugbum Onuoha refused to see them. After waiting for several hours, they were directed to come back on Tuesday. Unfortunately the same condescending treatment was meted out to them when they returned.

But I doubt if any discerning Nigerian is surprised that despite the explicitness of the enrolled order, it was only going to be observed in the breach. INEC, like the police, judges and, of course, thugs are on the leash as depicted in the sublime cartoon and only hearken to the voice of their master, the man whose time has come to rule Nigeria.

Meanwhile, even as INEC was playing hide and seek, APC supporters, also on Monday, besieged its headquarters in Benin City to ensure that the documents were not released. How lawless can a society get?

The tragedy in all this is that if INEC refuses to release those materials as ordered by the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, nothing will happen. Nothing happened in 2023 when such malfeasance was exhibited. Why will it happen now?

But even if Ighodalo surmounts the INEC hurdle, the judiciary which appears, according to Mr. Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, “to have taken a stand and seems to be siding with the people who have no regard and respect for the sovereignty of the people,” will do maximum damage because the requirement that no subpoenaed witness can testify unless his or her frontloaded statements on oath are filed along with the petitions within 21 days is tantamount to leading the petitioner to a judicial guillotine.

This is where Nigeria’s democracy is right now. Conscienceless men and women, playing god, wilfully subvert the electoral will of the people and ask those handed the short end of the stick to go to court, only to lay ambush at the temple of justice.

But when it is their turn, rather than swallowing the same pill of going to court to ventilate their grievances, if any, they call out their dogs of war, as it was the case in Rivers State on Monday, plundering the commonwealth, maiming and killing.

Perhaps, IGP Egbetokun does not yet realise the enormous damage he has done to the reputation of the Nigeria Police Force in the last one week with his unseemly disposition to duty and appalling subservience to the powers that be. Now, Nigerians know that they don’t need 35,000 police men to have a peaceful election. 

They also know as a matter of fact that the police only provide cover to government-sanctioned heavies rather than guaranteeing the integrity of polls. Egbetokun’s anti-democratic reflexes is a proof that the concept of democracy in Nigeria has become a farce.

The wanton display of sophisticated weapons in Rivers State by non-state actors in the past week is scary. Nigeria is in a bad place. If only Tinubu can read the axiomatic handwriting on the wall and unleash his four dogs to serve common good rather than selfish political ends.

Greek football was in shock Thursday at the death of Panathinaikos and Greece international George Baldock, with tributes uniting even the country’s usually hostile rival fans.

The 31-year-old English-born right-back — a former Sheffield United stalwart in the Premier League — was found dead on Wednesday evening in a swimming pool at his home in the southern Athens suburb of Glyfada.

“We can confirm that George has sadly passed away. As a family we are in shock at this terrible loss,” his family said in a statement.

News of Baldock’s death dominated social media with the top-flight Super League and clubs sending condolences even before Panathinaikos posted their own statement.

Even fans from clubs hostile to Panathinaikos expressed grief at the loss of a genuinely well-liked player.

State TV ERT reported that Baldock was “at the bottom of the pool” and that a bottle of vodka was found at the scene.

State news agency ANA said Baldock’s wife, who is abroad, alerted the owner of the residence after unsuccessfully trying to reach the player on the phone.

As police cars and an ambulance were dispatched to the scene, several Panathinaikos players gathered outside the building and a coroner was called.

A first examination did not reveal signs of foul play, ERT said Thursday, adding that the player had been dead for about five hours when he was found. The home also showed no evidence of forced entry.

George Baldock joined Panathinaikos in May after a seven-year spell with Sheffield United, relegated from the English Premier League to the Championship last season.

Of Greek origin through his father, he was called up by the Greek national team in 2022 by then-manager Gus Poyet.

Poyet said he was “devastated” by the news. UEFA said the European football community was “deeply saddened”.

Baldock had 12 caps, but had not been selected for the team’s Nations League match against England at Wembley on Thursday because of injury, ERT said.

– ‘One of our own’ –

The Greek federation called Baldock “one of our own” and has requested that Greece’s players wear black armbands for the game.

There were calls under UEFA’s post on Baldock for the game to be postponed.

Baldock had featured for Panathinaikos in a 0-0 draw with Olympiacos in a Greek Super League match on Sunday where he played for 75 minutes.

The club’s training sessions for Thursday and Friday were cancelled.

Both the Greece team’s official website and his club’s social media sites on X and Facebook, were blackened in tribute to the player.

Messages of support poured in from Premier League clubs including Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, who face Panathinaikos in Conference League action later this month.

Manchester United’s England international defender Harry Maguire, a former Sheffield United player, posted “RIP” and a heartbreak emoji alongside an image of Baldock on Instagram.

Sheffield United changed their homepage to a black and white photo of their former player with the words: “RIP George Baldock.”

“Sheffield United Football Club is shocked and extremely saddened to learn of the passing of former player, George Baldock,” said the club.

Northampton, where Baldock had a loan spell in 2011, wrote on X: “We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former loanee George Baldock at the tragically young age of 31.”

Baldock’s boyhood club MK Dons said they were “deeply devastated and saddened to learn about the shocking news”.

“George started his career at Stadium MK, where he worked his way through the youth ranks and made his senior career debut at the Club before reaching the heights of the Premier League in later years.

“You will always be one of our own, George.”

The Football Association in England wrote on X: “We are devastated to learn of the passing of George Baldock at the age of 31. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with George’s family, friends and team-mates at club and country.”

Baldock was nicknamed “Furious George” by Sheffield United fans in tribute to his uncompromising style.

“I just love winning. I hate losing and I even hate drawing,” he told local media.

Vanguard News

What Israel is doing in the Middle East is more than just fighting to stay alive. It has passed that peak. What Israel is doing is showing them nkali. The trouble with nkali is that it has limitations. If you defeat an enemy, they typically walk away and lick their wounds. But if you show your enemy nkali, they always return to fight again. But that is not what is dangerous about it. Because of the nkali, today’s enemy vows to measure up not just to fight and win but to wipe away the shame that nkali splashes on the face of its victims.

Before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to the UN to speak, I assessed what he was doing in Gaza, the West Bank, and the surrounding environment as not different from what Moses and Joshua and other prophets of Judaism did in the Bible. When in his speech, he referred to Moses in his UN General Assembly speech; I knew he knew what he was doing. The Bible depicted God as the power behind the Israeli wars. In our time, God is the United States of America. It makes the law, changes it, and enforces it at will. As it did to God in the beginning, Israel still chooses when to obey and ignore America.

Netanyahu is doing what his forbearers did. In the last 2000 years, what dividend has this nkali brought to Israelis besides wars, expulsions, and exoduses? And the worst characteristic of nkali is that it is not a permanent state. No empire has maintained a state of nkali forever. Eventually, the inferior one today becomes superior tomorrow. And when he remembers the nkali, it triggers revenge. And the circle of violence continues.

The way nature does not accept a vacuum, it does not entertain a lopsided power structure forever. It balances it. That is why nkali does not last forever. Nkali ultimately withers like the penis in a refractory period.

Nothing justified the terror Hamas rained on innocent Israelis on October 7, 2023. At the same time, nothing justifies what Israel is doing in retaliation. October 7 is not a justification for the use of starvation as a weapon of war, the disregard of the Geneva Convention and all the international treaties as it regards prosecuting a war.

If you must reply evil with evil, be bold enough to say you are just as evil as your enemy. Own it. Don’t rationalise or justify it. It is okay to be as evil as your enemy. You can even surpass them in evil. It is within your rights. But don’t insult our intelligence by making it appear as if your evil is less cruel. Don’t invoke a higher moral ground or claim that you are fighting for our civilization when you are deploying the primitive tools humans have used all through history.

Nietzsche noted, “He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.” Human development has never followed a straight line. We often go in a zigzag form. We understand. Now and then, we have enough of our humankind ready to reopen the gates of hell we thought we had closed.

I never fail to remind myself that if Israel can do it, so can Russia. If Israel can do it and justify it, so can Nigeria. Who knows how long it will take before Nigeria does the same thing Israel is doing in the Middle East to those who are fighting for a Yoruba nation? If I cannot defend what Nigeria did during the Biafran-Nigerian Civil War, I cannot defend what Israel is doing now in the Middle East.

Nkali is sweet to the benefactors. It sparks cheers and wanton justification. Luckily for us, time surpasses nkali.

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

When the Israeli-Hamas war started one year ago, it didn’t look like it would last long. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise to avenge the deaths of over 364 Israelis killed and dozens taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 at a music concert left little doubt it was going to be a bloody phase. But how long, ugly or bloody, it would take for Netanyahu to kill the last Hamas, which was his minimum condition for peace, was hard to tell.

Unfortunately, with over 42,000 killed in Gaza, including women, children, UN workers and journalists, over 1500 Israelis killed and the fate of 101 hostages unknown, the last Hamas is still at large. The war has spread to Lebanon, and Iran is enmeshed.

War coming?

The regional conflict the world had tried to prevent is upon us, and with less restraint and increasing provocation, talk about another world war that sounded farfetched only months ago now seems probable. 

The war may not yet be on Africa’s doorstep, but the continent has not been an onlooker. There have been widespread pro-Palestinian protests in South Africa, increasing domestic pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government. Art was weaponised in Cape Town flats, with some residents deploying murals and graffiti in Palestinian flag colours. 

South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has been perhaps one of the most audacious jurisprudential efforts to hold Israel to account. Since South Africa dragged Israel to the ICJ last December and obtained a ruling to stop Israel from potentially genocidal acts, Africa’s involvement in the war by other means has become more salient.

By deciding to drag Israel, South Africa risked bilateral relations of R876 billion in trade. Still, it counted it as a fair price not just to assuage domestic pressure but also as a matter of conviction for ties that run deep and to honour its own historical experience.

Beyond South Africa

Israel has managed to ignore the court and taken advantage of the U.S., blindsided by weak leadership and the November 4 presidential election, to ramp up attacks in the region. With no let-up in the Russia-Ukraine war and the supply chain problems it has created, the escalation in the Israel-Hamas war has forced African countries to brace up.

Egypt has been on edge because of the impact refugee spillover and possible military action could have on its fragile economy, never mind the potential influx of militant Palestinian jihadists. It has resisted suggestions for refugees to camp in Sinai. 

In August, Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune promised to send troops to Gaza. Yet, the president and Hamas leaders knew that was only a political statement – Cairo would never grant passage that could potentially bring the war home.

In Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Kenya, the sentiment is pro-Israel, particularly in Kenya. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, President William Ruto tweeted that Kenya stood side by side with Israel and condemned the October 7 attack outright. 

One year later, Kenya’s position has not changed, which some have argued is partly informed by the robust economic ties with Tel Aviv, especially in agriculture and the security challenge that al-Shabaab poses to Kenya. 

The authorities believe whatever weakens Hamas weakens al-Shabaab, a terror group that staged more than 10 attacks last June/July alone in eastern Kenya, killing 30 security officers. In Israel’s pursuit of the last Hamas, Kenya feels obliged to take more than a passing interest because a defeated Hamas means less oxygen for its radical sympathisers elsewhere, including al-Shabaab.  

Giant asleep

Nigeria, the continent’s largest economy and its most populous, has offered a muted, somewhat confused response to the Israeli-Hamas war. The official line, worn for use after decades of lip service and repeated at this year’s UNGA, is a two-state solution. That’s also the official position of the African Union (AU). However, the precarious, almost 50-50 Muslim-Christian population leaves the Nigerian government walking on eggshells in Israeli-Palestinian matters. 

It is cautious not to offend the predominantly Muslim North and potentially spark deadly pro-Palestinian sectarian protests. It is also careful not to offend Christian sensibilities in the South, especially a growing evangelical population that considers itself a part of New Testament Israel. 

Over the years, Nigeria has cooled from a radical supporter of liberation struggles on the continent and elsewhere to a somewhat insular patron. It has been subdued by its internal problems of insecurity and economic hardship.

It’s not certain how the Nigerian government would respond to Israel’s current two-pronged war in pursuit of Hamas and Hezbollah, with Iran in the mix. But an escalation might, among other things, affect oil prices, Nigeria’s mainstay, and complicate the already fraught domestic petrol product market. 

Experts have said a repeat of the oil market chaos caused by the Middle East crisis of 1973-74 is unlikely. However, with a far larger population and a barely competitive economy, today’s Nigeria is far from the conditions that made it benefit from the Middle East chaos five decades ago. 

More migration headache

Yet, the price Africa is paying is beyond the reading of its vital economic signs. Of the thousands caught up in Lebanon, the new epicentre of the conflict, many are African migrant workers. Following the escalation of the conflict, the Kenyan government has asked approximately 26,000 nationals in Lebanon to get help if they need to evacuate. 

The governments of Ethiopia (another African country with a significant migrant population in Lebanon), Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa are watching closely in a phase that may worsen the already complicated global migration and humanitarian crisis.

What started as the hunt for the last Hamas a year ago has grown into the pursuit of the last Hezbollah, and now, it seems, to their last supporters as well. However, as I wrote in a previous article, history teaches that war against an idea is unwinnable. Israel’s existence is proof enough if Netanyahu and the remnant hardliners in his cabinet cared to learn.

Untested leverage

Unlike in the 1970s, when few African countries had diplomatic ties with Israel, the country’s footprint on the continent has grown to the point where 44 of 54 countries have recognised Israel’s statehood. 

It’s fair to argue that Netanyahu only listens to Netanyahu. Yet, for whatever it is worth, the continent does not have to wait to pay a much higher price for this war before closing ranks and leveraging its closer ties to pressure Israel to accept a ceasefire. Except, of course, if the closer relationship means nothing.