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When an audio clip appeared to show a local school principal making derogatory comments, it went viral online, sparked death threats against the educator and sent ripples through a suburb outside the city of Baltimore. But it was soon exposed as a fake, manipulated by artificial intelligence - so why do people still believe it’s real?

“I seriously don't understand why I have to constantly put up with these dumbasses here every day.”

So began what appeared to be a long tirade from the principal of Pikesville High School, punctuated with racist, antisemitic and offensive tropes. It sounded like it had been secretly recorded.

The speaker went on to bemoan “ungrateful black kids” and Jewish people in the community.

The clip, first posted in January, went viral nationally. But it really struck a nerve in the peaceful, leafy suburb of Pikesville, which has large black and Jewish populations, and in the nearby city of Baltimore, Maryland. Principal Eric Eiswert was put on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.

Alfie Malone, a black man who lives in nearby Baltimore, spotted other members of his community posting the clip and assumed it was real.

“In the back of your mind you think this is probably the way people really actually feel about us,” Mr Malone said. “And then to hear that actually come across audio.”

In an effort to corroborate what he was hearing, Mr Malone checked out other real recordings of Mr Eiswert on social media and they sounded the same.

So the part-time postman, part-time podcaster hit the re-share button.

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The clip started to gain traction across social media as more people spread it online. One of the most shared versions was well on its way to passing two million views within hours. Already, that’s around 60 times the entire population of Pikesville.

But what those sharing the clip didn’t realise at the time was that another bombshell was about to drop: the clip was an AI-generated fake.

For BBC Radio 4’s Why Do You Hate Me USA, I’ve been in Maryland investigating the impact this clip had on that town. It reads almost like a fable about the dangers AI poses, especially when local communities are targeted.

Anatomy of an AI fakery

When the clip landed on the desk of Kristen Griffith, an education reporter at the Baltimore Banner, she thought it was going be a relatively straightforward story of a teacher being exposed for making offensive remarks.

But as is best-practice in journalism, Ms Griffith wanted to give the principal the chance to comment and tell his side of the story. So, she reached out to his union representative, who said not only did Mr Eiswert condemn the comments, but he didn’t make them.

“He said right away, oh, we think this is fake… We believe it's AI,” she told the BBC. “I hadn't heard that angle” before.

But when she published that explanation, her readers were not convinced. Far from raising questions about the clip’s veracity, it just fuelled backlash from people who thought the allegation of fakery was just an excuse or an attempt to evade accountability.

It was at this point that local police started investigating the case. Staff at Pikesville High told them they were feeling unsafe because of all the attention, and they were concerned that the school was bugged with recording devices.

Principal Eiswert’s reputation had taken a serious hit too. Security was stepped up around both him and the school. He became a target for social media hate and threats. I found dozens of abusive messages taking aim at him on social media.

Getty Images Dr Myriam Rogers (centre), superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools, and Police Chief Robert McCullough (right) speak at a press conferenceGetty Images
When police and the school board superintendent announced a Pikesville High faculty member had faked the audio, it sent shockwaves through the community

Then in April, Baltimore Police Chief Robert McCullough confirmed they now had “conclusive evidence that the recording was not authentic”.

And they believed they knew who made the fake.

Police charged 31-year-old Dazhon Darien, the school’s athletics director, with several counts related to the fake video. Charges included theft, retaliating against a witness and stalking.

He was arrested at the airport, where police say he was planning to fly to Houston, Texas.

Police say that Mr Darien had been under investigation by Principal Eiswert over an alleged theft of $1,916 (£1,460) from the school. They also allege there had been “work performance challenges” and his contract was likely not to be renewed.

Their theory was that by creating the deepfake recording, he hoped to discredit the principal before he could be fired.

Investigators say they traced an email used to send the original video to a server connected to Mr Darien, and allege that he used Baltimore County Public Schools' computer network to access AI tools. He is due to stand trial in December 2024.

Mr Darien’s legal representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Myriam Rogers had previously said it was “a very difficult time” for the school community, the principal and his family.

Representatives for Pikesville High School and Mr Eiswert did not respond to my requests for further comment.

Why did people believe the video?

Because the clip was audio-only, it meant there were no visual giveaways, like robotic movements that normally reveal AI manipulation. It also mentioned jargon, like “grade-level expectations”, and other details, like staff names, that only people close to the school would know.

When you listen carefully, though, there are clear edits between sentences - and the voice, while similar to the principal, sounds quite monotonous. Artificial intelligence can use several minutes of a real recording - from, say, your favourite actor in a film or a presidential candidate giving a speech - to then generate a clip that makes it sound like they said something they never did.

But perhaps the biggest reason why people believed the video was real was because it felt true, Mr Malone told me.

It tapped into his own experiences of racism as a black man living in Baltimore.

When Mr Malone heard the principal describe black students as lazy, it immediately reminded him of slurs and discrimination he’d encountered at school and work.

Months later, the effects of the fake audio clip are still felt in Pikesville. Mr Eiswert has moved jobs and is working in another school. And even though some community members told me they now accept the video is fake, the damage is done.

“This is a Jewish neighbourhood and to say something that's so inflammatory about the community was upsetting,” a woman called Sharon told me as she packed her grandchild’s pram into a car in a house opposite the high school last August.

For several minutes, Sharon talked to me as though the clip was real.

“I think when people say things like that, other people join in that and it makes me more fearful.”

When her husband chimed in from the car, reminding her the clip was actually fake, she admitted she did “find out later it was AI-generated”. But she said she was still angry about it.

Pikesville High School
The clip continues to affect the local community in Pikesville and those connected to the high school

I found that for people like Sharon, who had believed the clip was real, even for a short time, it stayed with them - especially when the message echoed genuine experiences of racism and discrimination. It reminded me of something I hear time and time again while investigating misinformation and conspiracy theories: “Well, even if it’s not real, it’s what I think they think.”

All the major social media companies say they have policies to label, remove and limit the spread of AI-generated posts. But that action only happens when it can be proven a clip is fake. By that point, it could have already reached millions of people.

Alfie Malone said even earlier that day, he spoke to a friend who still had no idea the clip was AI-generated.

“I honestly believe that a lot of people here in this city don't really know that that's not true,” he said.

He said he felt sorry that Mr Eiswert, the school principal, was wrongly accused of making the comments. He is also worried the episode has undermined real experiences of racism.

He said he’d think twice before re-sharing a clip like this again.

“I've been burnt by the fire once. I'm not touching the stove again.”

[BBC]

The UK needs a strategy to meet growing demand for data centres or risk losing its advantage in the race to develop artificial intelligence (AI), one of the sector's largest players has told Sky News.

Data centres - warehouses housing processors that power cloud computing - are central to the digital economy. They provide the power, connections and security required for the vast amount of processing power on which everything from personal device browsing to AI learning relies.

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The UK is currently Europe's largest data hub, with more than 500 data centres, the majority in the South East.

Slough in west London is the industry's historic base, largely because of its proximity to both transatlantic connectors and the City of London, whose financial services and banks were initially the biggest customers for computation power.

Last month the government classified data centres as 'critical national infrastructure', putting them on a par with power stations and railways but the industry says a broader strategy is required as it moves to meet the growing demand driven by power-hungry AI chips.

High land prices, competition for grid connections and the resistance of local residents have put a premium on further expansion in the southeast, leading some companies to look beyond the industry's traditional base.

Kao Data, which has an expanding campus in Harlow, Essex, is among those looking to beyond the South East, and broke ground this week on a £350m development at Stockport in Greater Manchester.

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"We are under pressure to be able to provide capacity and create data centre buildings to fuel the demand from AI, that's the challenge. Whether we as a country provide the environment for it is the big question mark," he said.

"If we want to be part of the global AI opportunity we need to deploy these resources in locations that are suitable, sustainable and have the opportunity for growth. We didn't really have a plan 10 years ago when cloud computing started, and by accident we've ended up where we are today which is in effect consuming all the power into the west of London.

"Now is the time to come up with a UK-wide data centre strategy and start deploying these facilities in other parts of the country, distributing them fairly."

Kao's expansion in Manchester exploits an existing industrial site - it will replace a concrete factory - and the availability of a grid connection, fundamental in a notoriously power-hungry industry in which a facility's size is measured in megawatts not square feet. A 100MW data centre consumes the same amount of electricity as 100,000 homes, a town roughly the size of Ipswich.

Mr Lamb said it is a model the government should heed. "A realistic opportunity would be to allocate two or three locations across the UK which have access to power as data centre planning zones, where the local authorities understand what a data centre is, are welcoming and we can develop these buildings simply and swiftly and remove a lot of the bureaucracy that exists."

The Stockport site also has the backing of the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, who sees data as part of the jigsaw of infrastructure required to boost economic development in the North West.

"This is now critical national infrastructure as designated by the new government, and it makes sense that all of that capacity is not just clustered in one part of the country. We now need to see the emergence of a large-scale data centre industry in the north of England," Mr Lamb said.

The challenge of further expansion in the South East is evident on the outskirts of the expanding village of Abbotts Langley in Hertfordshire, where a patch of green belt has become a frontline in the debate over data centres and the new government's commitment to growth.

The 31-hectare plot, once grazed by cows that produced milk for the nearby Ovaltine factory, has been bought by property developer Greystoke Land and earmarked for a data centre.

The local planning authority, Three Rivers Council, rejected it because of the loss of green belt, but on her first day in office, Angela Rayner, the housing minister, "called in" the application, beginning a process expected to end with her over-ruling the local authority.

Labour promised to back development in government but that does not make it popular. As well as concerns over the environmental impact of a data centre, residents believe the development will remove the only buffer between the village and the motorway.

Stephen Giles-Medhurst, Liberal Democrat leader of Three Rivers Council, 76% of which is made up of green belt, told Sky News communities need something in return.
 "I'm not a total nimby, I can see which way the wind is blowing, but we will make the best case possible to say no to this development because it is an inappropriate site, which causes very high harm to the green belt.

"Ironically we do have some brownfield sites that landowners won't release, and we can't compulsory purchase, let's do something about that and bring them back into public ownership.

"But if at the end of the day we're overruled then we will be demanding the infrastructure that's for Abbots Langley and Three Rivers."

A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: "Our reforms to the planning system will make it easier to build the key infrastructure this country needs - such as data centres - securing our economic future and giving businesses the confidence to invest.

"Development on the green belt will only be allowed where there is a real need and will not come at the expense of the environment."

[SkyNews]

In pursuit of capital to finance its operations, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited offered a substantial volume of the nation’s crude oil to creditors to secure about $6 billion in loans within three years.

The NNPC is also currently shopping for another $2 billion loan that will see the company hand over more barrels to deep-pocket investors.

The crude-backed loans, drawn from four different deals, were obtained between 2020 and 2023 — a period Nigeria’s crude oil production fell from 1.49 million barrels per day (bpd) to 1.31 million bpd.

TheCable presents details of the deals.

 

PROJECT GAZELLE

In August 2023, the NNPC secured a $3 billion oil-backed loan from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to support the naira and stabilise the foreign exchange (FX) market.

In the deal, the oil company pledged a total of 164.25 million barrels of crude.

 

At 90,000 barrels per day, starting from 2024, NNPC is expected to repay the loan through Project Gazelle Funding Ltd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) incorporated in the Bahamas.

Commenting on the transaction in its 2023 audited financial statements, the NNPC said the funding was utilised to finance an “advance payment of future taxes and royalty obligation due to the federation on production sharing contracts (PSC) assets managed by the company on behalf of the federation”.

According to the NNPC, the interest rate for the facility is 11.8 percent while the margin and liquidity premium are 6 percent and 0.5 percent respectively.

In January, Afreximbank announced the first disbursement of $2.25 billion under the crude oil prepayment facility.

 

The lender also paid out an additional $925 million in June — bringing the total disbursement to $3.175 billion.

PROJECT BISON

In September 2021, the NNPC proposed to acquire a 20 percent interest in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery for $2.76 billion.

According to the national oil company, the deal was financed by a forward sale agreement of $1.036 billion from Lekki Refinery Funding Limited — of which $1 billion was paid to Dangote refinery.

 

The oil firm said it signed the forward sale agreement with the Lekki refinery to supply 35,000 barrels of crude per day (bpd) for the settlement of the $1.036 billion (N426.2 billion) funding.

The interest rate for the facility, according to the NNPC, is 11 percent.

 

NNPC said it paid $625 million principal, while $424 million (N324 billion) is still outstanding, as of December 31, 2023.

The national oil company added that the investment was initially held by the NNPC Greenfield Limited, its wholly-owned special-purpose vehicle (SPV).

 

PROJECT EAGLE

In 2020, the NNPC signed a $1.5 billion prepayment deal with Eagle Export Financing Limited.

 

Under the terms of the agreement, the NNPC commenced reimbursement of the facility on August 28, 2020, with 1.8 million barrels of crude oil every delivery period.

The forward sale agreement (FSA) was meant to provide capital for investment in NNPC’s production capacity, which is of strategic importance to the Nigerian economy and the country’s leading source of FX earnings.

“The production under the FSA will support debt of up to N627.8 billion (US $1.5 billion), which has been structured as a crude oil prepayment facility over two tranches,” NNPC said.

United Bank for Africa (UBA), Standard Chartered Bank, Afreximbank, Union Bank, as well as Vitol and Matrix — two oil trading companies — participated in funding Project Eagle.

As of December 31, 2023, the NNPC said its subsidiary, NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL), had capital commitments of $352.88 million (N158.3 billion) relating to the forward sale agreement with Eagle Export Financing for the delivery of crude oil.

“Under the contract, Eagle Export Funding Limited will make an upfront payment to NEPL for crude in a forward sale agreement (FSA),” the firm said.

“The payment received is required to be settled with delivery of crude oil volumes i.e. NEPL sells crude to Eagle Export Funding Limited based on a delivery schedule.

“Based on the agreement, at least 1,800,000 barrels of crude oil must be nominated and scheduled by NEPL and delivered at the relevant delivery terminal to Eagle Export Limited in every delivery period which commenced on August 28, 2020.”

PROJECT EAGLE SUBSEQUENT

In another deal, the national oil company obtained pre-export finance (PXF) loans, named PXF1 and PXF2, for the settlement of its debts to some import vendors of petroleum products.

According to NNPC, the NEPL had capital commitments of $159 million (N60.3 billion) regarding the deal, as of December 2020.

However, NNPC said there are no capital commitments regarding the pre-export financing as of December 31, 2023.

“As at 31 December 2023, there are no capital commitments regarding pre-export financing as outstanding PXF 2 liability balance was refinanced through a forward sale of crude valued at $694m (N278 billion) to Eagle Export Limited tagged “Project Eagle Subsequent” on 15 March 2021,” the company said.

PROPOSED $2 BILLION LOAN BY NNPC

On July 9, Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO) of the NNPC, said the company is in talks with lenders for a new $2 billion oil-backed loan to finance the NNPC’s operations and allow investment in its business.

Kyari said the company was seeking a loan against 30,000 bpd to 35,000 bpd of crude production.

He said the cash raised would be used for all NNPC’s business activities, including supporting production growth.

“We have no problem covering our gasoline payments. This is just money for normal business and not a desperate act,” Kyari said.

“It will be a syndication with critical but regular partners who have been in business with our company to forward the cash.”

In August, TheCable reported that top NNPC officials were in Europe to source the loans and were targeting Standard Chartered Bank in the United Kingdom.

If the deal is successful, it will increase the volume of crude oil pledged to NNPC’s lenders.

IMPACT OF NNPC’S CRUDE-BACKED LOANS

The NNPC said crude-backed loans are important for several reasons including accessing FX, financing its business activities, supporting production growth, and buying stakes.

However, stakeholders have raised concerns about the deals, stressing the negative impacts of such transactions.

According to oil experts, the forward sale arrangements have immense impacts on the country’s oil output, petrol availability, and external reserves.

Speaking to TheCable, Jide Pratt, an oil and gas expert, said the arrangements would negatively impact export volumes and domestic supply when crude oil production drops, as NNPC is compelled to set aside some barrels for the creditors.

“So if we have 1.34 million bpd production and 60 percent of that is for NNPC, if the company takes crude-backed loans, it reduces federation revenue,” he said.

“The impact also flows from under production as this means the company struggles to meet domestic crude supply obligation (DCSO) as we see with refineries not getting enough local crude feed.”

On August 11, the management of AIPCC Energy Limited, operators of the Edo Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited (ERPCL), said NNPC has failed to supply crude oil to the refiner despite having several meetings, correspondences, and communications with the national oil company over the past three years.

Speaking further, Pratt said the country’s revenue would decline over low oil production or the barrels offered in exchange for loans, preventing the government from increasing FX in the excess crude account.

“As such, with less volume produced or more pledged to forward sales combined with dropping crude prices, the government is unable to increase FX in the excess crude account,” he said.

“In all of this, NNPC shouldn’t have the free reign on crude-backed loans in a proper organisation with corporate governance structures.”

Also, Oyeyemi Oke, managing partner at AO2LAW, a law firm, said Nigeria uses potential revenues, which it is supposed to get in future, for the deal.

“We have collected it, or it will be part of the amount that will be used to repay the loan. Does that mean that, essentially, our revenues have gone down? Not necessarily,” he said.

“But what it means is that we don’t have flexibility to sell crude oil to other persons. What it means is that perhaps the financers under the forward sales arrangement have already locked in the crude to be supplied at a particular price, which gives little flexibility. What it means is that we may not be able to take advantage of the increase in crude oil price.”

Oyeyemi said part of the amount which should be in the foreign reserves — as a result of crude oil sale — is used to service loans obtained from the arrangement.

“But this is not unusual. The question is: what is the interest on loan to be repaid? I don’t think it’s unusual whereby we’re using part of our revenues to service debt, just like any commercial venture,” he said.

“If NNPC did not borrow the loans, Nigeria may have more money in its reserves, but since we are using loans, part of the monies which should be in our reserves will be used for settling the debts.”

October 1 is celebrated as Nigeria’s Independence Day. But Nigeria isn’t independent. It is, for all practical purposes, a dependent state, a satellite state, whose political and cultural elites are still tethered to the coattails of colonialism and neocolonialism. Its economy is almost literally run by the World Bank and the IMF, and the older the country gets, the more it seems to tighten the apron strings that tie it to its former colonial overlord.

No one illustrates this contradiction and emotional dissonance more dramatically, not to mention more symbolically, than President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who chose to depart for the United Kingdom, Nigeria’s former colonizer, for a two-week annual leave just a day after celebrating Nigeria’s so-called 64th independence from British colonialism.

To publicize traveling to rest in a country that colonized you, a day after celebrating freedom from that country’s colonialism is the ultimate national self-ridicule. It’s like a woman throwing a party to celebrate her emancipation from an oppressive relationship with a wild brute, only to show up at her ex-partner’s doorstep the next morning to seek validation.

A president choosing to spend personal time in the country that once colonized his own projects an image of lingering dependence on the former colonial power. It’s an implicit endorsement of the cultural and societal norms of the colonizer over those of the home country and raises questions about national pride and the commitment to fostering domestic tourism and economic growth.

Most world leaders opt to spend their annual leave within their own countries or in neutral locations to support local economies. For instance, former U.S. President Barack Obama often vacationed in the state of Hawaii, his birthplace, while French presidents traditionally spend holidays in French territories. These choices reflect a conscious effort to remain connected with their homeland and to promote its attractions.

 Like Muhammadu Buhari before him, Tinubu didn’t find any part of Nigeria worthy of his presidential annual leave. London is worthier of presidential annual leave than any part of Nigeria because these leaders actually disdain Nigeria, which provides the political, social, and cultural basis of their power. That’s such an unrelieved national tragedy.

Nigeria boasts diverse landscapes, rich cultural heritage, and numerous tourist attractions—from the savannahs of the north to the coastal regions of the south, from Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi to Obudu Ranch Resort in Cross River. By vacationing domestically, the president could spotlight these attractions, boost national tourism and inspire citizens to explore their own country.

 It would also send a strong message to potential international tourists (whom this and previous governments seem fixated on attracting) about the safety and appeal of Nigeria as a destination.

But choosing to vacation abroad, particularly in the former colonizing country, redirects personal expenditure away from the domestic economy. While the economic impact of a single individual's spending might be minimal, the symbolic loss is significant. It suggests a lack of confidence in the nation's infrastructure, leisure facilities, or security— issues that are within the president’s remit to address and that he claims he is deeply concerned about.

The timing of the trip particularly exacerbates its symbolic dissonance. October 1 is not—or should not be— merely a historical marker; it is—or should be— an annual reaffirmation of Nigeria's autonomy and identity. Departing for Britain immediately after such a celebration diminishes the day's significance.

 It conveys a message that, despite official rhetoric, the ties to the colonial past remain unsevered on a personal level for the president who should symbolize our national identity and pride.

Leadership everywhere but particularly in transitional, post-colonial countries like Nigeria that are still battling national self-image issues carries the added responsibility of shaping and reinforcing national identity.

The personal choices of presidents often serve as a reflection of their commitment to this role. By engaging in actions that align with national interests and cultural pride, leaders can foster a stronger sense of unity and purpose among the populace.

To be fair to Tinubu, he has signaled from the inchoate stage of his presidency that he wants no truck with national self-pride and that he is a fawning, unapologetic crawler of British colonialism. That was why he pushed the restoration of the discredited, self-humiliating colonial national anthem through the National Assembly with unprecedently breakneck speed.

In my June 1, 2024, column titled “‘New’ National Anthem is National Self-Debasement,” I observed that it’s inexcusable national self-humiliation to discard a home-made national anthem, irrespective of its defects, for one that was made by an imperialist whose influence we’re supposed to be independent of.

“A country whose symbolic song of independence is inspired, written, and composed by the appendicular remnants of imperialist oppressors of whom the country has supposedly been independent for more than six decades isn’t worthy of its independence. Such a country has lost the moral and philosophical argument for independence and against recolonization,” I wrote.

The national anthem, as an auditory emblem of sovereignty, should carry the weight of our independence and self-fashioning. "Arise, O Compatriots," whatever its deficiencies, was a product of Nigerian composers who won a national contest in 1978.

The national anthem should be a rallying cry. It should encapsulate the country’s ideals, aspirations, and identity, as espoused by the citizens of the country. Reverting to an anthem with colonial ties is a step backward in Nigeria’s journey toward solidifying its post-colonial identity.

So, it should come as no surprise that a president who so casually and so thoughtlessly discarded a homemade national anthem for one that was composed by a British woman is so enamored of colonial tutelage that he chooses to depart for the country that colonized his country a day after celebrating independence from the colonizer.

I noticed that the usual patriotic fervor that most Nigerians evince on October 1 was noticeably absent this year. Maybe it’s because they can sense the lack of investment in Nigeria’s pride right from the presidency—in addition, of course, to the raging hunger and listlessness in the land.

What’s the point of patriotism and national pride when the president of your country is so ashamed of the country that he is restoring symbols of colonial domination?

I was especially piqued that the official statement announcing his London trip said the president “will use the two weeks as a working vacation and a retreat to reflect on his administration’s economic reforms.” What? Why does he need to go to London to reflect on the death and destruction that his IMF/World Bank economic policies are inflicting on Nigerians?

Nigeria is the theater of destruction. That’s where he should be to reflect on his IMF/World Bank economic policies whose outcome is already foretold—deepening mass poverty, hopelessness, torment, extermination of the middle class, etc.

 Maybe Tinubu doesn’t need a vacation anywhere. He only needs to descend from his Olympian presidential height to the streets of Nigeria to see the cries, tears, and blood of everyday folks being crushed by the impossibly ponderous weight of his sadistic economic policies.

 

Well, we now have a second moon from outer space. It is merrily orbiting the earth, like the good old round moon we have always known. But it is not round. It is not big either. We would most probably not have seen it, or known about it, but for the advances in astronomy and related sciences.  Worse still, this small, 10 metres wide non-round moon will go away again, beyond the earth and its orbit by the end of November. Strictly speaking, this celestial wayfarer is an asteroid, suspected to have gotten here from a set of asteroids that are less then 200 million kilometres from us.

The official view is that it poses no threat to life here on earth. But is that the same thing as saying that its presence will not have any effects whatsoever here? I think not. Consider the points to be made in the next paragraphs.

The tides we experience in all bodies of water on earth are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun. At the Bay of Fundy in Canada, where you have the biggest tide in the world, the difference between low and high tide could be as much as 16.3 metres. But leaving all that, and coming to the simple matter of tides and what causes them, we should simply note that there won’t be high and low tides if there was no moon..

So, it is possible that any stary object will saunter into our planetary space and orbit and not have its radiation and even gravity leave some impression? I think not. But let us take the conversation further, by listening in on a conversation between Celest and her friend, Jasmine, on recent events going on around us. Let’s follow them, as Jasmine brings up something in the news that made her think that life on earth was almost about to come to an end.

Jasmine: Celeste, sorry I have to impose on you right now, but I saw something in the news report of July 30, 2024, about a killer asteroid, coming towards the earth from outer space?

Celeste: Yes, I read about it in Yahoo News. And now a new moon hanging over, and around our dear earth.

Jasmine: Yes, and that is very scary. I was worried, when I read about the approaching asteroid, that it would hit the earth and wipe out all life. The report said that preparations were underway to prevent a possible cataclysm, so I figured that we were on the verge of being wiped out. Now I am relieved that it has moved on.

Celeste: The report did not say that the asteroid was about to hit our earth, but the title of the report: “Preparations underway as ‘planet killer’ asteroid, the size of cruise ship, nears Earth” must have created the impression of a looming disaster. But let us go into the science of it all, if you don’t mind?

Jasmine: Very well then.

Celeste: The asteroid mentioned in the July 30, 2024 global media reports is called Apophis. It is about 350 metres wide. It would have caused quite some damage to life and environment if it had struck the earth.

Jasmine: Well, I am glad that it has carried its trouble elsewhere.

Celeste: Going by its size, it would have completely destroyed a big country in one fell swoop if it impacted land here on earth.  It would have triggered floods and tsunamis across beaches and coastal cities all over the world, if it struck ocean or sea. That is what would have happened if it struck the earth. It is expected again sometime in 2029, and again in 2036.

Jasmine: The asteroid is named Apophis by scientists. Now, that is the ancient Egyptian god of Darkness and Chaos; who was constantly fighting the Sun god, Ra. The report also said that scientists were sending their “RAMSES” into space to learn more about Apophis. And is Ramses not the name of one of Egypt’s Pharaoh.

Celeste: Yes, it is.

Jasmine: So, what is all this romance with ancient Egypt right now?

Celeste: Sorry, I don’t understand, Jasmine.

Jasmine: Ramses died many centuries ago. But here we are, with scientists trying to dispatch him to deal with this invading Apophis, the ancient Egyptian god of darkness and chaos? Has science suddenly turned to voodoo and witchcraft?

Celeste: Voodoo and witchcraft? C’mon Jasmine! The RAMSES mentioned in the report is an acronym for “Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety”.

Jasmine: Oh, really?

Celeste: Yes! If you had read the report in greater detail, you would, perhaps, have noticed that RAMSES was part of a Planetary Defence Program, to study and better understand the makeup and behaviour of the more than 1,000 other so-called “planet killer” asteroids that cross the Earth’s orbit from time to time.

Jasmine: And this particular asteroid will be here again in about five years time, right?

Celeste: Yes.

Jasmine: Tell, me, what genuine risks do asteroids pose to the earth?

Celeste: Our earth passes through a lot of what astronomers call interplanetary dust daily. Some of the objects there are the meteors, or the shooting stars, we sometimes see at night.

Jasmine: Really?

Celeste: Oh yes! Some are about the size of pebbles. Others are like bowling balls in size. They enter the atmosphere three or four times everyday, causing some of the brightest flashes in the night sky. Something as big as a truck does not come in so frequently. But there was a hit in 2013, when a massive fireball smashed windows and injured pedestrians over the city of Chelyabinsk, in Russia.

Jasmine: So, a big asteroid can really do a lot of damage?

Celeste: A big asteroid measuring anything from 150 metres across would have a devastating effect. If something about 1km in size should strike the earth from space, that could end civilisation as we know it today.

Jasmine: I don’t get it. How could something that small end civilization?

Celeste: With its speed and all, it would dig a massive crater, trigger devastating tsunamis, throw fireball as far across the earth as possible, create huge clouds of debris that would block out the light of the sun, and most likely bring about a new ice age.

Jasmine: Hmmm, that is very scary. Well, I hope that none is coming our way right now; really!

Celeste: Maybe, maybe not. What I do know is that there is so much going on out there right now. The earth has attracted a new “moon” for itself, has it not? Then there was the comet (named Devil comet by scientists) which was visible during the 2024 eclipse. Do they all mean anything other than the mere fact that they appeared and we saw them?

Jasmine: How would I know? You are the science person between the two of us. New moon, eclipse and Devil comet, why?

Celeste: My concern is that we cannot say what the effects of the radiations of these heavenly bodies on life on earth might be. The earth’s overall vibration and even on its magnetic field may all be in the line of fire.

Jasmine: Aha, there she goes again! Always looking for an opportunity to talk about Armageddon!

Celeste: And there you go again, forgetting that a little knowledge of astrology and physics tell us how everything is in what can best be described as a network of radiations. Our way of living could “invite” triggers of a new wave of experiences, just as objects from outer space could have specific effects on us and the world around us. Take Climate Change, for instance.

Jasmine: What about Climate change?

Celeste: We keep thinking that it is just about the weather and air emissions. We do not know that earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, weather catastrophes and much more are linked with it.

Jasmine: All that can be linked to Climate Change?

Celeste: I have often said that the earth’s climate is changing too fast for many things to return to normal again. Temperatures are rising in some areas, while wildfires and phenomenal heat waves are rising in other places. There are more downpours, droughts, storms, devastating flood and rapid melting of glacial ice in different places.

Jasmine: Well?

Celeste: Well, what? The world’s glaciers lost their ice at the rate of 267 billion tonnes of ice per annum, between 2000 and 2019.

Jasmine: And what is wrong with ice melting as it pleases?

Celeste: Such melting ice contribute to rising sea levels. Rising sea levels means that more coastal city flooding, more erosion and other hazards should be expected. Our changing climate will be contributing to the number and frequency of natural disasters occurring on the Earth’s surface. And there could also be other dangers from beneath the Earth’s surface, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Jasmine: Climate Change can also induce all that?

Celeste: But of course! Rising temperatures lead to a warmer atmosphere. A warmer atmosphere retains more water vapour. The retained water vapour leads to higher levels of precipitation, or rainfall. And geologists have long since established some connection between the rate of rainfall and volcanic activity. Catherine Brahic’s 2008 piece “Heavy Rain Can Trigger Earthquakes”, which appeared in Scientist, established that fact. This book, and similar works, show that the number and frequency of earthquakes is influenced by the annual rainfall cycle of what is called the summer monsoon season in the Himalayas.

Jasmine: Really?

Celeste: But of course! There is ample evidence, showing that some 48% of Himalayan earthquakes strike during the drier pre-monsoon months of March, April and May. Only 16% occur in the monsoon season.

Jasmine: Hmmm. Alright, so the ongoing glacial meltdown caused by global warming is also likely to increase the number and frequency of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in the future?

Celeste: That is the implication. The effects of Climate Change are everywhere for us to see. All the sings of the End-Times are also here, but no one is paying attention.

Jasmine: What did I say earlier about you leading conversations like this towards some kind of end of the world scenario? You may know all the science in this world, you may have all the information on ancient prophesies and predictions, but I dare say that this world of ours is not coming to an end anytime soon. You can take that from me.

Celeste: No problem, Jasmine. As for the new moon now orbiting the earth, I also dare say that it is likely to introduce a new variable into the cosmic ecosystem of our earth.

KEY POINTS
  • As Apple prepares Apple Intelligence to jump into Silicon Valley's AI race, it's relying on one of its strongest advantages: Its army of 34 million app developers.
  • For Apple Intelligence to interact with the millions of non-Apple apps, it needs developers to create as much as hundreds of snippets of additional code called App Intents.
  • If Apple's Siri is poorly supported by developers or it fails to impress, it could cool iPhone sales, and customers could wind up choosing to use a rival's voice assistant instead.
 
 

As Apple prepares Apple Intelligence to jump into Silicon Valley's AI race, it's relying on one of its strongest advantages: Its army of 34 million app developers.

IPhone users will get their first taste of Apple Intelligence, the company's artificial intelligence system, later this month. The company is relying on Apple Intelligence to be the strongest selling point for the iPhone 16, its latest generation of smartphones.

Apple's AI isn't as advanced as the state of the art coming out of the most advanced labs, such as rivals like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini and Meta's  Llama. Apple isn't using the biggest models, nor can it pull off some of the more show-stopping tricks of the bleeding-edge voice models — OpenAI's latest can sing, for example.

Where Apple is hoping to distinguish its AI is that Siri may actually be able to do things on your phone — send emails, decipher calendars and take and edit photos. That's something other company's AI chatbots cannot currently do, and to accomplish this, Apple is beckoning its army of third-party developers to fine tune their apps to collaborate with Apple Intelligence. Eventually, Siri may be able to trigger any action in an app that a user can take, part of the company's long term vision for Siri, Apple said in June.

"Siri will have the ability to take hundreds of new actions in and across apps," said Apple's Kelsey Peterson, director of machine learning, in the Apple Intelligence launch video.

Apple can easily make this happen for its own apps, but for Apple Intelligence to interact with the millions of non-Apple apps, it needs developers to embrace a new way of programming their apps. This means developers will need to create as many as hundreds of snippets of additional code called App Intents.

Apple has a strong history of getting its developers to support new platform initiatives, and it's running a well-worn playbook to get them on board — personal attention from developer relations, a party-like atmosphere at the company's annual developer's conference and most importantly, it dangles App Store promotion that can lead to millions of downloads for developers who get on board.

If third-party developers jump on board and the Siri system works as advertised, it could represent one of Apple's biggest and most durable advantages in the AI race.

"You should be able to string things together and kind of get that future we've all been envisioning where you can use Siri conversationally, to do a bunch of things at once," said Jordan Morgan, an iOS developer who's written a tutorial about App Intents.

Whether Apple is successful at cajoling its millions of developers is a critical question, and the stakes are high for the company. 

The company is relying on Apple Intelligence, which only works on last year's iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 models that came out this year, to spur a wave of upgrades and boost flat iPhone sales. If Apple's improved Siri is poorly supported by developers or it fails to impress, it could cool iPhone sales, and customers could wind up choosing to use a rival's voice assistant through an app instead of the built-in Siri.

What are App Intents?

Inside the Music app, for example, Apple has built about 10 intents, including actions like "Add to Playlist," "Play Music," or "Select Music." A single app intent should define a single action, programmers say. 

If you take a caffeine tracking app, for example, one intent would be the ability to show an overview of exactly how much caffeine the user has logged today, Morgan said.

When that App Intent is finished, Apple's various "system experiences," such as widgets, live activities, control center and Shortcuts, will be able to quickly display a current running tracker of how much caffeine has been logged without the user ever opening up the tracking app.

System search is another big draw for some developers. App Intents will allow apps to surface specific emails or other more granular data inside Spotlight, Apple's system search.

App Intents don't take that long to write, developers say, often requiring only a few lines of code. 

In previous years, Apple recommended that developers adopt App Intents for their most important features, said Michael Tigas, the developer of Focused Work, a productivity app.

"Now, if there's a way to adjust your app to perform any general action then you should create an App Intent for it," Tigas said.

Fortunately for developers, they still have time to write all the code necessary for App Intents. While Apple Intelligence is starting to roll out next month, the biggest improvements to Siri aren't scheduled to be released until next year.

Apple has to incentivize developers

Apple's new Siri system will better understand questions even if a user makes a speaking error, a direct result of Apple's work with language models, a relative of the large language models that power systems like OpenAI's ChatGPT.

That means that Siri will be much more flexible in understanding the hundreds of different ways a user could phrase, for example, "apply a photo filter to an image I took yesterday."

Apple has to train and test its model to understand the range of the most likely commands and questions for any given category of apps.

A downside to Apple's approach is that only a few categories of apps will be supported by the new Siri at first, starting with photo and email apps. Eventually, Siri will support apps that focus on books, journaling, whiteboards, managing files, word processing, browsers, camera and photos, the company said.

Developers are already imagining how they might plan for users to interact with their apps with their voices.

A representative for Superhuman, a premium email app, told CNBC that it plans to use Apple's AI system to enable questions about the contents of emails, such as "Hey Siri, when does my flight depart?" or "Hey Siri, when am I meeting with James to review his proposal?"

There's a downside to Apple's plan in the eyes of some developers who worry that users will spend less time inside their apps or confuse Apple Intelligence with the AI features they've built themselves.

"If this story were only about App Intents, developers would worry that their products might be reduced to the role of the plumbing that powers Siri, and leave them unclear on how to build sustainable businesses around it," Igor Zhadanov, CEO under of Readdle, which makes email app Spark, wrote in an email.

Another drawback is that Apple Intelligence features will only be available on the latest iPhones, a small subset of the total iPhone user base. That limited market of iPhone users may discourage developers from investing time and effort into supporting the technology in the near term.

"Apple are limiting these kinds of Apple Intelligence features to the new 2024 iPhones and the expensive models from last year, so you won't be able to build something for the masses anyway," Tigas said.

[cnbc]

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC), Mr. Bismarck Rewane, has warned that sustained monetary tightening could discourage investments and slow down economic growth.

Rewane, therefore, called for an urgent handshake between the fiscal and monetary authorities to avert a situation where continued monetary tightening would lead to economic recession.
He expressed these views in his October 2024 presentation at the Lagos Business School (LBS) Breakfast Session in which he stated that the new minimum wage of N70,000 was a money illusion.   

The LBS’ breakfast session presentation was titled, “The World Awaits in Nervous Anticipation….for Madam President?,” an allusion to Vice President Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party winning the November 5, 2024, United States of America’s presidential election.

Arguing that monetary policy was necessary but not enough, Rewane stated that, “sustained monetary tightening can slow down economic growth as higher borrowing costs discourage investment and consumption.”

He, therefore, highlighted that, “the necessity for a handshake between monetary and fiscal policy in Nigeria is critical,” warning that “without this balance, monetary tightening could lead to a recessionary environment.”

According to him, “Businesses are struggling under the weight of high borrowing costs while consumer spending contracts.”
Rewane, also observed that the high cost of borrowing was already taking its toll on the private sector’s economic activities, which contracted for the second consecutive month to 49.8 in September 2024, by 0.2 per cent from 49.9 in August 2024

“The decline is largely attributed to weak consumer demand and rising cost of inputs, amid the lingering inflationary pressures.

“Activities are projected to fall further to 49.7 in October 2024 due to the high-interest environment and expected rise in inflation,” he said.

He stated that the handshake between the monetary and fiscal policies would enable the central bank to focus on controlling inflation through contractionary monetary policy such as higher rates, higher cash reserve requirements (CRR), sales of treasury bills, open market operations (OMO), etc, to mop up liquidity while fiscal measures could target underlying structural problems in the economy, such as insecurity affecting food supply chains, investing in infrastructure and social programs that enhance productivity.

He noted that higher borrowing cost at 33-34 per cent would, “stifle investment growth as businesses adopt a wait-and-see approach focus” and cause a “potential shift in investment.”Commenting on the minimum wage, Rewane stated that, “a minimum wage hike in an inflationary environment can often be considered a money illusion

“The core issue of rising prices persists, leaving workers with little or no real improvement in their financial situations” because “real wages may not significantly improve due to rising prices.”
He observed that workers have been focusing on the N70,000 nominal value of their minimum wage without considering its real value, which he put at slightly below N53,000 in the face of the current 32.15 per cent inflation rate.  

Rewane also warned that the impact of further increase in the pump price of petrol for the market would be heightened inflationary pressures, reduced consumer disposable income, lower consumer demand, and supply chain disruptions.

He also highlighted that the impact of further surge in petrol prices on investors is that “inflation will put pressure on the currency” and cause investors to “become wary of sectors affected by low consumer demand due to petrol price increase.”
But for business and corporate organisations the impact would be “increased cost of production, reduced output, shift to alternative sources of energy like solar.”

He added: “SMEs will be hit the hardest due to lower capital reserves and less ability to absorb increased costs,” which could trigger shutdowns or job losses.
Rewane also projected that the Naira would come under renewed pressure through “persistent forex demand stemming from stockpiling ahead of the festive season, high import demand, and speculative activities.”  

He, therefore, recommended that “a scheduled and systematic forex supply program could provide the much-needed support to stabilise the Naira” that have already “fallen to a low of N1,700/$ at the parallel market on September 30.” 

[ThisDay]

Meta seems to be leaving no stone unturned in its bid to dominate the AI landscape. On Friday, the Mark Zuckerberg-led tech giant announced that it had created a new AI model named Movie Gen which can generate realistic video and audio clips in response to prompts. The company claims that it can rival some of the most capable AI video tools from the likes of OpenAI and ElevenLabs.

This development comes months after OpenAI introduced its video model Sora to the world. Even though Sora is not yet out in public, demos shared by OpenAI created a frenzy on the internet especially owing to its hyperrealistic footage and motion that seemed straight out of Hollywood.

What is Movie Gen?

Meta’s Movie Gen generates videos with the help of text inputs and it can even edit existing footage or still images. Reportedly, the audio added to the video is also generated by AI and this is in sync with the visual. Meta’s AI model also allows users to generate videos in different aspect ratios.

“Our latest research breakthroughs demonstrate how you can use simple text inputs to produce custom videos and sounds, edit existing videos, or transform your personal image into a unique video,” Meta wrote on its official website.

 

According to the research paper shared by Meta, Movie Gen is an advanced AI video creation tool that has been designed to create high-quality 1080p HD videos from prompts in natural language along with synchronised audio. Along with producing videos in various aspect ratios, it is capable of doing specific edits to videos and even creating personalised content using images provided by a user.

How does Movie Gen work?

Movie Gen is powered by large AI models also known as foundation models to create media. However, the main components of the model are Movie Gen Video and Movie Gen Audio. Movie Gen Audio is a 30bn parametre model that can produce videos based on text prompts. This model combines text-to-image and text-to-video capabilities to come up with realistic videos that last up to 16 seconds at 16 frames per second. On the other hand, Movie Gen Audio is a 13 bn parametre model that generates audio to match the video or text prompt. This can create realistic sound, ambient noise, or even music that fits the scene being described in a prompt.

According to the research paper, Movie Gen uses methods like temporal autoencoding to compress video information to make it easy for the model to process longer and higher-quality videos. Much similar to language models, Movie Gen also uses Transformer Architecture, but for visual and audio data.

How is it different from OpenAI Sora?

Movie Gen stands out with its superior video resolution, synchronised audio generation, ability to personalise videos based on images provided by users, and advanced video editing capabilities. Based on the paper, Movie Gen is more a dynamic and high-quality tool for AI video generation.

 

When it comes to video quality and resolution, Movie Gen creates 1080p HD videos and Sora although produces similar output but its overall quality is not as high as the latter. Generating synchronised audio to match visual content is Movie Gen’s distinction as so far Sora solely focuses on video creation and lacks audio generation capabilities.  We do not know if Sora is capable of offering personalisation based on user-provided images or if it will come with built-in editing capabilities.

On the technical side, Movie Gen uses a 30bn parametre model for video generation and a 13 bn parametre model for audio. It needs to be noted that the larger the model size and extensive training data, would make this model come with complex scenes.

Sora was demoed in February this year. The AI video generation model from OpenAI can create HD videos spanning a minute using prompts in natural language. Sora can be described as a diffusion model that is capable of creating videos and even extending existing videos. Much like movie Gen, Sora uses a transformer architecture that allows for superior scaling in performance. At the time of its launch, OpenAI revealed that the model has been built upon past research conducted for DALL-E and GPT Models.

 

When it comes to availability, the paper does not offer any specific details of Movie Gen’s release. For now, the model is in the research and testing phase.

[indianexpress]

“Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”

-Romans 13:7

I have, in my little way and from my very small corner always celebrated excellence. I celebrate people, low or mighty; dead or alive. But it is always better to celebrate them whilst alive. We have a local adage in my Weppa Wanno, Etsako and Afenmai language which says "Akha tse nokha,lobo the luo khao ( translated, it means it is when you eulogise an achiever that his hand is strengthened to perform more" ). Steve Lavin once moaned: "We have a tendency to celebrate people when they pass away. Why don't we do the same when they are alive? That's when they need us the most". He is not alone. Stacye Branche drives the point home when he intoned, "Let's start appreciating people while they are here". Such is the case of Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, CON, OFR, FCIArb, LL.D, etc, one of the most influential figures in Nigeria.

THE LATEST HONOUR

I had wanted to write this piece for him on his 96th birthday which comes up on 30th October, 2024, having been born on 30th October, 1929. But I could not wait for this as I am compelled by a unique thing worth celebration that just came up. On 23rd August, 2024, His Royal Majesty, the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Dr. Adeyemo Aladesanmi, on behalf of the good people of Ekitiland decided to give honour to whom honour is due; and to pay tribute to whom tribute is due (Rom 13:7). On that day, the respected monarch made a royal proclamation, declaring that this pride of Ado Ekiti, nay Nigeria and Africa, Aare Afe Babalola, would henceforth be honoured and celebrated with pomp and pageantry in Ekitiland on the 18th day of October of every year, starting from 2024. In effect, 18th October is now to be known as "AARE AFE BABALOLA DAY". What a gift! What a giver!! What a recipient!!! By my reckoning (and I stand to be corrected), this is an unprecedented honour in Nigeria.

I congratulate Aare Afe Babalola and the entire people of Ekiti land on this landmark proclamation. This is the very first time a day is declared to be marked in honour of an individual in this clime. Aare is indeed worthy of the novel honour; deserving of the proclamation; and eminently qualified for the celebration.

I have always over the years respected and admired the Aare. This is not only because of his strong personality, but most importantly, because of the way he audaciously defied all man-made obstacles. His “grass-to-grace" story (very similar to mine) through sheer dint of hard work and elevation by God Almighty is a ready plot for poets, novelists and movie makers. His is a fairy tale. Aare’s life is a product of raw and unflagging doggedness, tenacity of purpose and an uncompromising determination to succeed and leave a mark in the sands of time. These qualities endeared him to me as our humbling story is similar in many respects. In more ways than one, the Aare has been a silent mentor and inspirer. He may never have known this. I am telling him now.

AARE’S TOUCHING STORY

Aare was born into an agrarian family in Ado Ekiti about 96 whopping years ago. However, because his parents were illiterates, he does not really know the exact year, month or date he was born. He merely conjectured. While growing up, he lost 6 of his siblings to poor maternal care and preventable diseases. This story of “Impossibility Made Possible” (the very title of his personal autobiography) is one that rends the heart.

He was raised in the farm with his parents in a mud house, covered with thatch roof. They used to sleep on banana leaves at night, which they usually change after about 2 or 3 days. But, he not only enjoyed it, he actually thought it was the best thing in life. Afterall, he had never experienced better life due to his humble beginnings. Thus, Aare was not even born with any wooden spoon in his mouth at all, let alone a silver or golden spoon. Nor was his case that of a child of destiny who had his palm kernel cracked for him by a benevolent sprit (thank you, Chinua Achebe- “Things Fall Apart”). He was simply a case of Romans 9:15; and raw dint of hard work and perseverance. As he once put it, "we didn't bother about clothes. I was a young boy, I didn't wear clothes, of course, there were no shoes at that time. I thought and I prayed then, that one day, I will inherit part of my father's farm. I will inherit part of his cutlasses and hoes. That was my ambition."

Babalola’s father had himself inherited a portion of his own father’s land at Ajipon, towards the present-day Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti. He later moved to Odo Asa, Igirigiri, seeking fertile land for cocoa cultivation. He did not strike gold, forcing him to again relocate to Alayegbe, 8 miles from home. This forced the young Babalola and his father to stay in the farm for about 3 months at a time; coming home merely to participate in annual festivals like Ogun or Egungun. So, the Aare grew up in farm settlements, romancing with elephants, antelopes, tigers, gorillas, monkeys and pythons.

Thus, from 6am to 6pm, the Aare and others would work in the farm and also hunt for animals that would serve as delicacy with pounded yam at about 7pm. Farm life was not without its inherent dangers. Huge snakes mistaken for rodents dug holes; and menacing tigers were common place.

Aare’s only romance with a school was Emmanuel Primary School, Ado Ekiti. Yet today, he is a lawyer, Barrister, Economist, teacher, industrialist, Scholar, University administrator, farmer, Philosopher, author, Philanthropist, educationist, etc.

When the cerebral legal pugilist was about 8 years old, a Reverend Father came and pleaded with his father to send one of his children to school. As he was the eldest child, his father ordered him to go to school. This was how he left the farm house in 1937, to live in the city. Even then, it was not easy, as he had to walk about 5 kilometres everyday from his family house to Emmanuel Anglican Primary School, Okesha, Ado-Ekiti.

This disruptive ritual went on for about 7 years. Even then, he did not have any interest in learning, principally because on the farm, he did not have to bathe; or change his clothes; or clean his teeth. But in the school, he was compelled to do these. Nonetheless, the renowned Senior Advocate managed to complete his primary 6, where he obtained his standard six certificate. That was the end of his formal education in a school setting. All the other educational qualifications listed against his name were obtained through private study because he could not afford school fees for secondary school. He later attended the University and obtained his degrees in both economics and law. I will tell you how the Aare wielded this Professor Peller’s abracadabra magic wand.

Chief Afe had taken advice from a white man and ordered some coursewares from Wolsey Hall Oxford, one of the oldest home-schooling colleges in the world. It was founded by Joseph William Knipe in 1894. The school offered courses for Primary, Secondary, IGCSE and A Level subjects to home-schoolers. This is similar to what is obtainable on internet nowadays as e-learning.

For a course that should take him 6 years to complete, Babalola chose to do it in 5 years. He would read, prepare, write exams and send his answers by post to England where it would be marked, with necessary corrections and sent back in 14 days. By 1950, he had attempted both Cambridge School Certificate Exams (the equivalent of Senior School Certificate) and Cambridge Advanced Level Certificate Exams, all at home. Although he passed the exams, he was however not satisfied with his grades.

Consequently, he repeated the Advanced Level exams to enable him prepare for university degree. By 1953, he had cleared all the 4 subjects at the advanced level, more than the 2 that was required. At that time, there were only 3 Nigerians who had passed 4 subjects at one sitting in the Advanced Level Exams. The other 2 Nigerians aside the Aare were Igbos. It was a record at that time.

He then went further to prepare for a B.Sc degree in Economics from the University of London, still studying from home. In 1959, he obtained BSc in Economics. He then proceeded to study from home for his LL.B (Hons) degree, from the same University of London. He completed this in 1963. He had to travel to London to sit for the Bar Exams.

Upon completing his law exams in London in 1963, he was called to the Bar as a member of the Lincoln’s Inn, London; and he registered as a member of the Bar of England and Wales. Thereafter, he returned to Nigeria to begin his legal practice as a litigation lawyer at the Chambers of Olu Ayoola in Ibadan, until 1965, when he established his own law firm, Afe Babalola & Co (Emmanuel Chambers) in Ibadan.

His Chambers has since remained one of the most reputable and leading law firms in Nigeria with offices in Ibadan, Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. He has produced over 1,500 legal practitioners, including Judges, Senior Advocates of Nigeria and Attorneys-General.

In 1987, he became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the highest rank in the legal profession in Nigeria. After reaching the pinnacle of law practice in Nigeria, he was offered the position of a Judge by Justice Oyemade who was then the President of The Court in the Defunct Western Region of Nigeria. He declined it, because he wanted to remain in active legal practice.

As a Solicitor and general practitioner, Chief Babalola has handled over 10,600 court cases, many of which were such landmark cases that could have scared away the cowardly. Many of such cases have helped to redefine the law and recreate our jurisprudence.

As a Presidential Nominee at the 2005 National Political Conference, the Aare chaired the Revenue Allocation and Fiscal Federalism Committee, arguably one of the most sensitive Committees. The living legend was twice offered the ministerial position of the Attorney General of the Federation by former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, but he twice rejected it.

In 2001, he was appointed, Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. He held the position till 2008 during which he emerged as best Pro-Chancellor of Nigerian Universities consecutively in 2005 and 2006.

With the awards of CON and OFR firmly in his kitty, the cerebral Advocate was in 2008 conferred with the title of the Aare Bamofin of Yoruba Nation by His Royal Majesty, late Alayeluwa Oba Dr. Lamidi Adeyemi II, the Alaafin of Oyo. This was in recognition of his legendary exploits in the legal profession and his fame that spreads like manure, beyond the African shores.

The Alaafin in pronouncing him as Aare Bamofin, decreed his preeminence as a Royal Highness and tribal legend. He was forbidden thenceforth from ever prostrating to any man, except God. He was required to carry himself in the manner of royalty.

The Aare has won several awards and honours locally and internationally. He has bagged the LL.D (Honoris Causa) from Universities in Ekiti, Kogi, Lagos, Jos, Akure and the University of London. The LL.D degree award made Afe Babalola to belong to the elite class of honorary recipients of the degree of the University of London, having been preceded by only two Africans in the history of the University, Nelson Mandela and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu.

In 2009, Chief Babalola, at the ripe age of 80, established the now famous popular Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Ado-Ekiti on a 130 hectares vast expanse of land to promote education in Nigeria. The university's College of law has at different times, been rated best in Nigeria. Indeed in 2013, the university was ranked the best private University in Nigeria and one of the leading 400 Universities in the world.

The ABUAD with a 3-star guest Inn facility offers academic programmes in the six Colleges of Law, Natural Sciences, Engineering, Social and Management Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences. It also offers Postgraduate Studies. Its College of Engineering is built on nearly three and half acres of land and is well equipped with sophisticated state-of-the-art facilities imported directly from Europe and the Americas. It is reputed to be one of the largest in Africa. ABUAD’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences and its Multisystem Teaching Hospital with theatres, 8 modular CT and MRI scan machines, ICU and 16 kidney dialysis and machines are nullus secondus in Nigeria, given their sophisticated medical facilities and the professional expertise with which patients are handled.

When I first visited this living legend at ABUAD in May, 2018, he spritely took me from his office upstairs to the downstairs and handed me over to a high-ranking university official, who took me round on a guided tour of ABUAD’s facilities. I was showed vast expanses of agricultural trees, mangoes, guavas, oranges, pineapples; fish ponds; factories to process, package and sell the fish; potteries; piggeries; etc. The university is a city within the Ado-Ekiti city. Aare fondly calls me, “Ozekhome, my son” (never Mike), an acknowledgment I relish. He fires the embers in me. He is an inspiration to many Nigerians, Africans and the black race.

MY LIFE ENCOUNTERS WITH THE AARE

FIRST ENCOUNTER

On this special occasion of the Ewi’s declaration, I cannot but recall some of my encounters with this unrepentant workaholic and teetotaller. My first close encounter with this legal iroko was when we fiercely crossed legal swords at the Federal High Court, Abuja, between 2001-2002. This was before the then Chief Judge of the FHC, Hon Justice Rose Ukeje. The legal fisticuffs was over the Electoral amendment Bill. Senator Anyim Pius Anyim was the then Senate President. This Education Czar was Counsel to the Federal Government; and I was to the Senate and the National Assembly. When one of the court sessions ended with me sweating profusely, I met the Aare outside the court. He gently patted me on the back and said, “Ozekhome, I thought you are just a handsome boy; I didn’t know you are also good in court and deep intellectually. Come and visit me at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel where I am staying.” I was flattered by his kind lofty words. They dropped on me like raindrops on parched flowers. I quickly visited him at Transcorp Hilton hotel. Who would lose such a golden opportunity to visit one you idolise? He laid his hands on me and blessed me with unforgettable words and pieces of advice and encouragement.

SECOND ENCOUNTER

My second close encounter with the distinguished Elder Statesman was at the NBA Annual General Conference held in Enugu in 2003. On his invitation, I visited him in his hotel room in Enugu. He expressed his admiration for me as a fierce and courageous human rights activist and pro-democracy campaigner during successive military juntas. He again lionised me with unforgettable words of encouragement, thus further firing the embers of activism in me.

THIRD ENCOUNTER

Our third meeting was in his sprawling Emmanuel Chambers office at 80, Adekunle Fajuyi Way, Adamasingba, Ibadan, Oyo State, which he founded in 1965. He had given me an appointment to see him on a Sunday. Sunday? I thought he was mistaken; and I told him so clearly. He laughed, nay, guffawed, and told me he worked every day of the year except on Christmas Day, because of the name, “Emmanuel” ("God with us") by which his Chambers is called. I was amazed; even dazed. When eventually I went to the office, it was a beehive of legal activities like any normal working day. Lawyers and para-legal staff were on their desks. I gawked. I learnt great lessons from that encounter which again sharpened my resilience, work ethics and devotion to my profession. Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, GCON, SAM, my late mentor and to whom I was Deputy Head of Chambers in 1985, together with Chief Kanm Isola-Osobu ("People's Lawyer") with whom I interned for four years whilst at the University of Ife (now OAU), Ile Ife, had taught me as much. But Aare sharpened these. Till date, I still work and sleep in my offices many days in a week.

A TOWERING FIGURE

THE FOURTH ENCOUNTER

Aare is a rare diamond; a towering pride to the Black race. For our fourth encounter, I was honoured and privileged when in 2022, he personally signed a letter inviting me to deliver the 10th ABUAD convocation lecture, and also receive its LL.D doctorate degree (Honouris Causa) in Law. When I visited him on 20th October, 2022, at the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), to receive the ABUAD doctorate degree and deliver its 10th convocation lecture, I prostrated flat on my belly to greet him, as is the endearing custom of the Yorubas (even though I am not one; I am Afenmai, Etsako and Weppa Wanno).This was past 11pm. The legend was still in his office, working with the Vice Chancellor of ABUAD, Prof Smaranda Olarinde. I was shocked that at 93 years then, he could still be in the office at that late hour of the night when nonagenarians like him should be snoring away in a deep slumber.

After my lecture on the 20th, I again visited him at his modest office that neither reflected nor befitted his larger-than-life stature. Aare profusely prayed for me and decreed that I would not just be great but greater than him. Ha! I was dumbfounded when I heard those words from a mortal being. Here was a living legend praying that I should be greater than him! Who does that? The only person that I have read who dared make that utterance was Jesus Christ when he said in John 14:12:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

Before Aare uttered those words, he had instructed ABUAD Vice Chancellor, Prof Olarinde, to take me round on a guided tour of ABUAD University premises- the hospital, factory and the industrial hub, so that I could better appreciate his thoughts and prayers for me. Thus, when he prayed for me at past 11pm, I clearly understood what he meant. Besides the serene atmosphere of prayers we were immersed in, I saw an incredibly hardworking nonagenarian who was still engaging some of his staff on the minutest details at that late hour of the night. I marveled and I counselled my children and some members of my staff who had accompanied me on the trip that if Aare could still be working like that at this stage of his illustrious life, then I had not even started at all. I then challenged them to embrace and imbibe the virtues of hard work, industry, honesty, dedication, character, integrity and prayers to God, as the Aare exemplified.

ABUAD, A WONDER!

FIFTH ENCOUNTER

During my second visit to ABUAD in 2022, I noticed that everything had changed. I beheld many industries and state of the art facilities that were not there four years earlier. There was so much remarkable transformation within a space of just five years. I just could not comprehend how one person could constitute such a one-man riot squad that decreed into existence such monumental development that would make many State Governors green with envy.

The ABUAD University can now process grains, poundo yam, elubo, garri and fufu for local assumption and export. It provides its own bottled water, t-shirts, faze caps etc. The University generates its own electricity up to 5 mega watts. The ABUAD state of the art hospital with modern hitec facilities and gadgets is certainly one of the best in Africa (no hyperbole here).

AARE 'S PERSONA

Wealth or money? This is no longer Aare’s pre-occupation or headache. He is rated among the top 10 richest lawyers in Nigeria; and the highest private investor in Ekiti State; with an estimated net worth of $350 million (about 560 billion naira).Even with his stupendous wealth, inexhaustible goodwill, societal reach and intellectual fecundity, Aare Babalola still wears humility like a second skin. At his age of 96, when his peers should be relaxing, sleeping, enjoying holidays, or smoking a pipe, the first class lawyer still works round the clock. He personally oversees and supervises his vast education empire called a university. As a multi-columnist in several Nigerian newspapers, he influences and leads national discourse with his rare weekly insights and lucid adumbrations. This includes his well-known recommendation that Nigeria should put in place a brand new people’s autochthonous Constitution that will bring about social justice, egalitarianism and allow young, creative, patriotic and selfless Nigerians emerge as leaders. This has always been my stand.

Believing that “no idea is stupid; it is better carried out than ignored”; the Chief once said: “The only change that can be a lasting change, that would change the world and change the people, is changing the mind of the youths.” Then, he added the clincher: “Hard work does not kill; what kills is indolence.” Then the icing on the cake: “My legacy is not in the buildings I have, not by the money in my account, but in these children, students of my school.”

My good friend, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, once described Chief Babalola as a man who has broken into smithereens, the usual adage that a tree cannot make a forest. I agree with him that his gargantuan contributions to national development have put the proverb to severe test, as the national icon has singularly become a huge forest, both metaphorically and literally.

Aare’s imprints in the legal profession in Nigeria and indeed Africa are simply inerasable. This is why he has since emerged in several leadership capacities in the noble profession, one of which was as President of Arbitrators in Africa, among others. His iconic imprints in the legal profession have served as major reference points for many legal practitioners and the Bench.

While some people in the legal profession in Nigeria have also achieved similar legal feats, I dare say Aare Babalola has however surpassed them in one major respect: becoming a highly successful and influential entrepreneur in several other sectors such as education, agriculture and leadership. The Aare currently has in his employment over 7,000 Nigerians working and earning their living in his University which also consists of the fast growing and very large university farm and one of Africa’s best and most equipped hospitals, the ABUAD multi-system hospital. ABUAD is rated the best university in Nigeria and one of the 400 leading universities in the world. Such is the vision and feat of one man. Just one man!

What is very unique about Aare Babalola’s highly influential and humanitarian life is that all classes of humanity enjoy his kindness, large heart, benevolence and mentorship. They include the educated elite; the ruling class; the middle class and power wielders; the middle class; and more importantly, the poor masses, comprising mainly of uneducated Nigerians- the hoi polloi and the Frantz Fanon’s “Wretched of the Earth”.

The legal colossus and education czar is a man that never forgets his lowly roots and humble beginnings. As one born into a family of poor farmers and who had to be sleeping on banana leaves on reptile-infested farmlands, his love for farming till date is unquenchable. He owns very large farms and plantations in many towns across Nigeria where he cultivates teak trees and various food and cash crops. He is also one of the biggest fish, piggery and poultry farmers in Nigeria. He is already at the stage of processing sausage, bacon, ham and minced meat to be sold to shopping malls in Nigeria and abroad.  

Aare has not only instituted an annual award for farmers in Ekiti, but recently complemented his love for agriculture by setting up an industrial park in Ado-Ekiti where various crops such as cassava, tomatoes, yam among others would be processed into finished products, thereby helping to reduce the huge waste always encountered while storing such perishable items. Aare Afe Babalola has run a good race. He is simply a living legend; a colossus of law; an unmatched philanthropist; a trail blazer; a builder of generations through education; an unrepentant workaholic; and a great humanist. I am very proud to be associated with him and to drink from his bottomless pool of knowledge. The sage epitomizes 1 Cor. 9: 24. “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? So run that you may receive it”. Aare has run the good race and he has received the diadem.

It is my hope that Ekiti State and the federal government of Nigeria would borrow a leaf from this innovative declaration of Afe Babalola Day by the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti to honour this towering national figure, a global icon and an international hero who deserves to be celebrated as a model of patriotism and a symbol of our collective vision and commonwealth.

For him are surely the blessings of Genesis 6:3; and Philippians 4:7, which I wish him. Aare, your case is one of Vini Vidi Vici.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has conferred the nation’s second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.

In his 64th Independence Anniversary Speech on 1 October, President Tinubu conferred the Commander of the Federal Republic( CFR) on the speaker and the deputy senate president.

This development led to a debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, calling on the President to confer a higher honour on the Speaker.

President Tinubu was persuaded by the House of Representatives position and has decided to remedy the historical error and oversight.

Thus, he has decided to upgrade the Speaker to GCON from CFR, in accordance with the National Order of Precedence.

The speaker, the Senate President, other principal officers of the National Assembly and the Chief Justice of Nigeria will be formally decorated with their new honours later.


Bayo Onanuga
Special Adviser to the President
(Information and Strategy)