Ademola Lookman, the Super Eagles winger, was crowned the 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the Year at a star-studded ceremony in Marrakesh, Morocco, on Monday. The 27-year-old Atalanta forward triumphed over strong contenders, including Achraf Hakimi, Simon Adingra, Ronwen Williams, and Serhou Guirassy, to claim the prestigious individual honor.

This victory marks a significant milestone for Lookman, who followed in the footsteps of Victor Osimhen, the 2023 winner. It also represents the first time in over 27 years that Nigerian players have won the award in consecutive years, with Nwankwo Kanu winning in 1996 and Victor Ikpeba following in 1997.

Lookman’s stellar 2023/24 season saw him score 17 goals and provide 11 assists across all competitions for Atalanta, who maintained their place as one of Serie A’s top clubs. He also starred in the Europa League, scoring a hat-trick in the final against Bayer Leverkusen, leading Atalanta to their first-ever European title. On the international stage, Lookman was one of Nigeria’s standout performers at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Côte d’Ivoire, where he netted three goals and helped the Super Eagles secure a silver medal. His efforts earned him a place in the tournament’s Best XI alongside captain William Troost-Ekong.

During his acceptance speech, Lookman reflected on his journey, acknowledging his growth after a difficult moment in his career. He recalled his infamous penalty miss in 2020 while playing for Fulham against West Ham United, a moment that earned him widespread mockery. “Just over four years ago, I failed in front of the world. Fast forward four years, I’m the best player in Africa,” Lookman said. He urged young fans to not let failures define them, emphasizing the importance of turning pain into power.

“I want to say to the young children and people watching this: don’t let your failures weigh you down that they break your wings. Turn your pain into your power and continue to fight,” he added.

Lookman also expressed gratitude to his family, teammates, and the Almighty God for the support and blessings that have shaped his career. “This award today is a blessing to me, to my family, to my nation,” he said, beaming with pride.

The ceremony also saw other notable awards presented, with Zambia’s Barbra Banda winning the Women’s Player of the Year and Chiamaka Nnadozie of Nigeria claiming the Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year for the second consecutive year. The Super Falcons were named the Women’s National Team of the Year, while Côte d’Ivoire’s national team won the Men’s National Team of the Year.

Full List of Winners:

• Player of the Year (Men): Ademola Lookman

• Player of the Year (Women): Barbra Banda

• Goalkeeper of the Year (Women): Chiamaka Nnadozie

• Goalkeeper of the Year (Men): Ronwen Williams

• Interclub Player of the Year (Women): Sanaa Mssoudy

• Interclub Player of the Year (Men): Ronwen Williams

• Young Player of the Year (Women): Doha El Madani

• Young Player of the Year (Men): Lamine Camara

• Coach of the Year (Women): Lamia Bouhamedi

• Coach of the Year (Men): Emerse Fae

• Club of the Year (Women): TP Mazembe

• Club of the Year (Men): Al Ahly FC

• National Team of the Year (Women): Super Falcons of Nigeria

• National Team of the Year (Men): Elephants of Côte d’Ivoire

• Goal of the Year: Mabululu (Angola)

Israeli team in Doha talks on potential Gaza deal, official says

An Israeli technical team is in Doha for working-level talks with Qatari mediators on "remaining issues" in a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, an official with knowledge of the talks told Reuters on Monday.

The talks are currently focused on bridging gaps between Israel and Hamas on the deal U.S. President Joe Biden outlined on May 31, the official said.

Efforts by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to reach a truce in Gaza and a release of hostages have gained momentum in recent weeks, though there has been no breakthrough.

The three countries have, for more than a year, led rounds of so-far fruitless talks to broker an end to the 14-month-long war in Gaza.

In previous rounds, disagreements over new demands that Israel introduced about its future military presence in Gaza obstructed a deal, even after Hamas accepted a version of the proposal Biden introduced in May.

A round of talks in mid-October failed to produce a deal, with Hamas rejecting a short-term ceasefire proposal.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

West pushing Russia beyond ‘red line’ – Putin

The West’s support for Ukraine is pushing Russia to the point where it cannot help but retaliate, President Vladimir Putin has said, while warning the US against deploying medium-range missiles.

Speaking at a meeting of top Russian Defense Ministry officials on Monday, Putin accused the US of seeking “to weaken our country and inflict a strategic defeat” on Moscow by continuing “to pump a de facto illegitimate ruling regime in Kiev with weapons and money, sending mercenaries and military advisers, thereby encouraging further escalation of the conflict.”

Washington is instilling fear in Americans by resorting to “simple tactics,”Putin stated. “They push us to the red line… we begin to respond, and then they frighten their population,” he added, suggesting that the US used the same approach during its rivalry with the Soviet Union.

The Russian president also slammed the West for what he described as attempts to impose its own rules on the rest of the world while waging “hybrid wars” against anyone who resists, including Russia.

In this vein, NATO is boosting its defense spending and forming “strike groups” near Russia’s borders, he added. “The number of American service members in Europe has already exceeded 100,000 troops,”he noted.

NATO is ramping up its presence not only in Europe but also in regions that have never seen this type of military footprint, particularly the Asia-Pacific, Putin said, voicing particular concerns over US plans to deploy missile systems with a range of up to 5,500km. 

Putin was referring to a type of weapon previously banned by the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The US unilaterally pulled out of the treaty in 2018, citing Russian non-compliance – an allegation Moscow has denied.

The Russian president stressed that despite Washington’s withdrawal from the INF Treaty, Moscow made a unilateral and voluntary commitment not to deploy medium- and short-range missiles unless the US deploys such weapons anywhere in the world.

However, “if the United States begins to deploy such systems, then all our voluntary restrictions will be lifted,” Putin warned.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine reports North Korean losses on Russia's Kursk front

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Ukraine's HUR military spy agency said on Monday that North Korean units fighting for Russia sustained losses of at least 30 soldiers killed or wounded around several villages on the front in Russia's Kursk region over the weekend.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said at the weekend that Russia was using North Korean troops in significant numbers for the first time to conduct assaults in Kursk region in southern Russia.

On Monday, he posted a video which he said showed Russian soldiers attempting to conceal the identities of dead North Korean servicemen by burning their faces.

The HUR statement is the first time Kyiv has claimed North Korean losses on this scale and in some detail. It said the casualties occurred around the villages of Plekhovo, Vorozhba and Martynovka in the Kursk region. It provided no evidence.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder said the United States had "indications" that North Korean forces had suffered casualties both killed and wounded.

It was not possible to independently verify the figures.

The Kremlin declined to comment on the Ukrainian assertion, referring the question to the Russian Defence Ministry which has made no comment on the subject.

Russia has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Koreans on its side. Pyongyang initially dismissed reports about the troop deployment as "fake news", but a North Korean official has said any such deployment would be lawful.

"Due to the losses, the assault groups are being replenished with fresh personnel, in particular from the 94th separate brigade of the DPRK army, to continue active combat operations in Kursk region," the Ukrainian agency wrote.

The video posted by Zelenskiy appeared to show the bodies of North Korean soldiers lying dead in positions where they had been killed. It then showed what appeared to be soldiers setting fire to parts of their bodies on snowy ground.

"Russia is not only involving North Korean soldiers in assaults against Ukrainian positions but is also trying to conceal the losses of these individuals," the president wrote.

"And now, after battles with our soldiers, the Russians are even attempting to ... literally burn the faces of the dead North Korean troops. This is a demonstration of the contempt that now prevails in Russia, a contempt for everything humane."

Reuters could not independently confirm the veracity of the video.

UKRAINIAN INCURSION

Ukrainian troops staged an incursion into Kursk region in August, but Russia's military says its forces have regained much of the territory Kyiv's troops initially captured.

Kyiv first said North Korean forces turned up in Kursk region in October and later reported unspecified clashes and casualties. It estimates there are 11,000 North Koreans in total, adding to a force of tens of thousands of Russians.

Ukraine, nearly a fifth of which is controlled by Moscow's forces, has carved out an enclave in the Kursk region which its troops have been battling to hold as a potential bargaining chip for any potential peace negotiations.

RT/Reuters

If you have ever witnessed the Ede masquerade, the Aladoko, or the Alamudu perform, you will instantly appreciate the poetry of Niyi Osundare, the world-renowned poet. Osundare hails from Ekiti, as do these mesmerizing masquerades. Had education not found him, Osundare might well have been a bearer of one of these magnificent masks—adorned with multicolored feathers and mirrors cascading from the nape to the feet—chanting profound verses with the captivating grace of tradition.

The Ede masquerades are revered for their boundless knowledge, weaving chants on any subject with a voice as sonorous as a nightingale’s. Their repertoire spans reflections on nature, the environment, the economy, the essence of power, and the tribulations of life. These living archives of wisdom mirror the poetic genius of Osundare, who embodies the spirit of his Ekiti heritage.

Yet, education found Osundare. Had it not, he might today be a celebrated Aladoko or Alamudu, thrilling audiences with the eloquence of the masquerades.

I first encountered Osundare in 1982. That year, word spread one evening that emerging poets and performers would gather in one of our lecture theatres. Joining the crowd of eager students, I witnessed a creative spectacle featuring Wole Soyinka,  Oyin Ogunba, Niyi Osundare, Kole Omotosho, Odia Ofeimun, Funso Aiyejina, and our American professor, Bob Fox, performing their works. Literary critics like Biodun Jeyifo, Ropo Sekoni, Bayo Williams, and Wole Ogundele were in attendance, while a young East African lecturer, Mutambuka, served as MC.

Osundare etched himself in my memory that evening with the refrain of one of his poems: “Jenje kiti, kiti jenje.” It immediately struck me that this poet must be Ekiti. My curiosity piqued, I became one of the first to purchase his debut poetry collection, Songs of the Marketplace, published in 1983. This book would later win the 1986 Association of Nigeria Authors prize and joint winner of the Commonwealth Prize.

The release was a sensation—not in the way of pop culture, but among us, young students of literature, who were grappling with the frustrations of a repressive regime. In that collection was a poem that became an anthem of our restlessness: “I Sing of Change.” Interestingly, this poem was reportedly the original title for the collection before it was changed to Songs of the Marketplace.

Change, as we yearned for, would come eventually, but Osundare has never ceased to long for a deeper transformation in our land. With awards upon awards and prizes upon prizes, he has dazzled the world with his creativity and prolificacy. And while we marvel at his accomplishments, we await the ultimate recognition. I promise you, it shall come—In Our Own Very Eyes. It shall be part 2 for our glorious land if you know what I mean.

There appears to be panic and deep pain in Afe Babalola’s actions since the publication and sales of the new international bestseller, Dele Farotimi’s book, Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System. It became a bestseller precisely because the all-powerful Babalola is determined to stop Nigerians and the international community from reading it. Apparently, no one has explained to him that the best way to get everybody to read a book is to tell them that they must not read it. Babalola has however persisted in his errors by getting a court to restrain Dele Farotimi Publishers, as well as bookshops, from circulating and selling the book. MA Adegbola, the presiding judge, restrained the defendants and their republishers, including Amazon Online Bookstore, Rovingheights Bookstore, Booksellers Bookstore, Jazzhole Lagos Bookstore, Glendora Bookshop, Quintessence Lagos Bookstore, and Patabah Books Limited, from further publishing and selling the book. Deep panic.

Penultimate week, the Ekiti police command, acting on behalf of Babalola, had arrested Farotimi over alleged defamation and cyberbullying. The activist was accused of spreading false information against Babalola. That was not enough, subsequently the inspector-general of Police filed a 12-count charge bordering on cybercrime against Farotimi. The ruling on the book followed an application by Kehinde Ogunwumiju, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and managing partner at Afe Babalola & Co. seeking N500 million in damages from Farotimi for allegedly defaming him in the book. The said book, Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System, is an unfiltered, freewheeling critical account of Farotimi about some top Nigerian legal firms and the Nigerian judiciary.

Many of my readers will wonder how some top lawyers can pursue routes to futility with such determination. The  book gained tremendous traction, reaching a top spot on Amazon’s bestseller list within days of cascading police actions against Farotimi, following Babalola’s petition last week. PDF copies of the book, which was launched in July, have circulated widely in the last one week due to the free publicity offered by Babalola. Now the entire Nigerian Police Force might be placed in streets all over the country on a “search and hide the book” mission. Goodluck Babalola.

Meanwhile, all that the 104-page book did was to research what led to the accusation that the law firm was guilty of “compromising the integrity of the Supreme Court,” scheming with “crooked lawyers and incompetent justices,” and “doctoring” a Supreme Court judgement. It also accused Babalola of corrupting the Supreme Court in the service of his clients. The problem is that most Nigerians would consider such accusations to be most likely TRUE.

The response of Babalola, the police, and the judiciary has been extreme punishment for Farotimi for daring to tell his story. It is for this reason that civil society organisations strongly condemn the arrest, detention, persecution and torture of Farotimi. The manner of his arrest was an aberration and Farotimi should never have been subjected to the criminal justice process in this case. In addition, the prohibitive terms of bail for what is supposed to be a misdemeanour raises the real possibility that Farotimi’s right to be tried – as required by Nigeria’s constitution – by a court “constituted in such a manner as to guarantee its independence and impartiality” has been compromised.

There are many troubling aspects of Farotimi’s encounter with Nigerian law enforcement, beginning with the unnecessarily aggressive and confrontational manner in which his arrest was affected. The CCTV footage released by his office after his arrest revealed the thoroughly unprofessional and violent nature of the police officers who travelled out of the state of their posting to arrest him. The officers were not dressed in uniform and could have passed as armed thugs. They also threatened Farotimi’s staff for no reason after unlawfully seizing their phones. The brutal manner of his arrest suggests the apprehension of a bandit on a most-wanted list, rather than a publicly accessible human rights lawyer.

Even more troubling than the manner of the arrest was the reason adduced for it. Before he was unlawfully “picked up” from his office on the 2nd of December, Farotimi had foretold the Nigerian public of his impending arrest. In a press release that went out from his office a day before, he stated that the police had invited him to answer certain claims he had made in his most recent book. Farotimi went on to state that his impending arrest was being orchestrated by two powerful individuals – Tony Elumelu and Babalola – who were apparently displeased with the unflattering depictions he had made of them in his book. Rather than challenging his claims by suing him for defamation in a civil court, they decided to wield their enormous influence to have him arrested, detained, and charged to court for a crime that does not exist in the jurisdiction of his arraignment.

Defamation is a civil matter and should be treated as such. Section 4 of the Police Act 2020 clearly forbids the police from wading into civil matters. In an orderly society built on the rule of law, those contending the veracity or otherwise of the claims Farotimi made in his book or who feel he has defamed them in any of his writings or speeches would seek justice in the civil court, where Farotimi would have had to defend his claims or provide redress, should he have been found to have maligned their character. In the process, the resources of the Nigerian state, our law enforcement agents, and our criminal justice system would not be trivialised and expended on pursuing personal vendettas. When a person feels that his or her reputation has been tarnished, the law creates opportunities for redress in a civil court. As Nigeria’s Supreme Court pointed out in 2021, criminal defamation was invented by the ‘Star Chamber” in late Mediaeval England. That is why it has been written out of the law in most states in Nigeria, as well as in many more Commonwealth countries.

Another troubling aspect of this saga is the fact that Farotimi was charged by the Police before a Magistrate Court in Ekiti State on 16 counts of criminal defamation. However, criminal defamation is unknown to the Ekiti State’s Criminal Law of 2021, which currently spells out the criminal law regime in Ekiti State. It also does not exist in the Criminal Code of Lagos where Farotimi resides, works, presumably wrote his book, and was abducted from. Our Constitution provides in Section 36(12) that “subject as otherwise provided by this Constitution, a person shall not be convicted of a criminal offence unless that offence is defined and the penalty therefore is prescribed in a written law”. The Nigerian Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed this canonical provision as the anchor of our criminal jurisprudence, so we are left to wonder under which powers the court in Ekiti presumed to order the remand of Farotimi. Moreover, the act of charging Farotimi before the Magistrate Court for a “crime” that the Court clearly did not have jurisdiction to entertain, is an abuse of legal processes.

The Police should drop the charges against Farotimi and he should be immediately released without preconditions. The Attorney General of Ekiti State should step in immediately to officially discontinue the case against Farotimi if the police do not act fast enough in doing so. All laws that support criminal defamation in Nigeria’s criminal jurisprudence should be immediately repealed and cases initiated under those laws should be struck out by the courts. We need to make the case that our law enforcement agencies need to uphold their constitutional mandate to serve and protect citizens, rather than act as tools for the powerful to silence dissent.  

In school, I never enjoyed group work. Being at the mercy of another person’s effort was frustrating to me — and still is. That’s probably why I picked a career where most of my day-to-day tasks can be done solo.

Still, it’s impossible for most people to go through life without any professional collaboration. And while it can be fun to work with someone who’s also a friend, it can make collaboration even more complicated. 

Recently, I listened to an episode of Simon Sinek’s podcast “A Bit of Optimism” where he asked restaurateur Will Guidara about advice for maintaining a friendship with someone while working with them. 

The key, they agreed, is communication, something every relationship needs to thrive. “The motivations have to be similar and very clear expectations set early on,” Sinek said. “Because we will make assumptions about the other person’s commitment.”

The same can be said of tackling team projects at work. If you assume someone will finish something by a certain deadline but they aren’t aware of that expectation, resentment can build.

Communication is even more important if you’re friends with your colleague, as you then need to interact on two different planes: personal and professional. 

“You can’t stop being friends,” Guidara told Sinek. “You don’t replace the friendship relationship with a colleague relationship. You now have two relationships.”

I’m not sure group projects will ever be my preferred way to work, but now at least I have some guidance that will make collaborating more pleasant and less likely to ruin a friendship.

CNBC

In a recent exchange between Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the UK’s Conservative Party, and Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima, two prominent figures have engaged in a spectacle of misplaced pride and denial that only highlights their disconnect from the harsh realities facing Nigeria today. Badenoch, who has openly criticized the country of her birth, and Shettima, who represents the very political class responsible for Nigeria’s current state of disarray, have both displayed a level of delusion that must be condemned.

Badenoch’s remarks about Nigeria are sharp and uncompromising. She describes a country plagued by corruption, insecurity, and political dysfunction, a place she fled at the age of 16 to escape what she witnessed as systemic misgovernance. Her words echo the experiences of millions of Nigerians who, like her, have endured the ravages of poor leadership, social inequality, and violence. From her own harrowing memories of constant fear, poverty, and instability, Badenoch’s criticisms are rooted in personal experience — and they are undeniably valid. To be clear, her comments are not the reckless slander of a detached outsider; they are the anguished reflections of someone who has lived through the very conditions she now condemns.

Yet, it is her critics, particularly Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who must bear the greater responsibility for the current state of Nigeria. Shettima, an architect of the status quo, represents a ruling elite that has presided over a nation where more than 133 million Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty, where insecurity reigns supreme, and where basic human dignity has been eroded by the very political leaders tasked with safeguarding it. His criticisms of Badenoch ring hollow, for they come from a man who is part of a government responsible for the suffering of millions of citizens. Shettima, whose administration has overseen rampant corruption, a failing economy, and an out-of-control insurgency, has no moral ground to stand on when chastising anyone for speaking out against Nigeria’s ills.

To quote the seminal work of Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks, both Badenoch and Shettima embody the psychological scars of colonialism and the profound effects it has on identity. Fanon’s exploration of how colonized individuals internalize racial inferiority and disassociate from their own culture resonates deeply in the case of these two figures. Badenoch’s comments reflect a complex, albeit painful, relationship with Nigeria — a country marked by colonial legacy and an inability to reconcile its past with its present. Shettima, on the other hand, represents the perpetuation of colonial structures within the Nigerian state, where the political elite remains disconnected from the suffering of the masses, clinging to power while the country disintegrates under its own weight.

Badenoch’s dismissal of Nigeria as a “socialist nation” is misinformed but not entirely unfounded, considering the pervasive corruption and mismanagement that define much of the political landscape. However, her view of Nigeria as a hopeless, irredeemable place is dangerously simplistic. As Fanon would argue, colonialism and its psychological aftermath are not an irreversible sentence; they are a system that can, and must, be dismantled. In this regard, Nigeria’s potential for transformation remains strong, and its people, despite the betrayal of their leaders, possess the resilience and capacity to reclaim their country.

The reality is that Nigeria’s greatest hope does not lie in figures like Shettima or Badenoch, who are too distant from the daily struggles of ordinary Nigerians to understand the depth of their pain. Rather, the hope lies in the Nigerian people themselves — those who continue to fight against overwhelming odds, who struggle to survive in the face of monumental challenges, and who dream of a better future. They are the ones who will eventually push back against the incompetence and corruption that have held the country hostage for so long.

In the words of Frantz Fanon, “each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.” The Nigerian people, despite being betrayed by their leaders time and again, will not give up on their mission of creating a just, prosperous, and secure Nigeria. The battle for Nigeria’s future will be long and hard, but with a new generation of committed, fearless Nigerians emerging from the social firmament, there is hope that a new dawn will emerge after the defeat of the current crop of disastrous leaders.

In conclusion, while Kemi Badenoch may find solace in her new identity and career in the UK, and while Shettima may continue to play the part of Nigeria’s status quo defender from the comfort of power, the real heroes of this story will be the Nigerians who, against all odds, continue to fight for a better tomorrow. The road to that better future will not be easy, but with unwavering resolve, Nigerians will take their country back and build a nation worthy of pride — a pride that is, and will always be, rooted in their struggle for justice, dignity, and freedom.

As President Bola Tinubu prepares to present the 2025 national budget to the National Assembly, the Federal Government is poised to significantly overshoot its domestic borrowing target for 2024 by N4 trillion, representing a 67% increase from the initial budget projection.

The escalating borrowing comes despite widespread concerns about the nation's mounting debt burden. Preliminary data reveals that the government has already borrowed N8.93 trillion from domestic investors in the first eleven months of 2024, compared to the planned N6 trillion for the entire year. Current borrowing trends suggest that total borrowing could reach N10 trillion by year-end.

This borrowing surge coincides with the government's plans for the 2025 budget, which aims to finance a deficit of N9.22 trillion through domestic and external borrowings. This represents an 18% increase from the N7.808 trillion deficit in 2024.

According to the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, the 2025 budget deficit will be financed through:

- New domestic and foreign borrowings of N9.22 trillion

- N312.33 billion from privatization proceeds

- N3.55 trillion in drawdowns on existing multilateral and bilateral project-tied loans

Detailed borrowing breakdown shows that in the third quarter of 2024, the government borrowed N2.134 trillion through various instruments:

- Nigeria Treasury Bills (NTBs): N1.181 trillion

- FGN Bonds: N939.246 billion

- FGN Savings Bonds: N14 billion

The Debt Management Office (DMO) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data also highlight significant growth in domestic debt. In the first half of 2024, the Federal Government's domestic debt stock increased by 38.6% to N66.957 trillion from N48.314 trillion in the same period in 2023.

Borrowing composition in the first half of 2024 included:

- NTBs: N11.8 trillion (17.64% of total borrowing)

- Monthly FGN Bond auctions: N52.315 trillion (78.13% of total)

- Sukuk Bonds: N1.092 trillion (1.6% of total)

- FGN Savings Bonds: N55.196 billion (0.08% of total)

The significant increase in borrowing raises questions about the government's fiscal strategy and long-term economic sustainability.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have agreed to extend a six-month grace period for Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, giving them time to reconsider their planned departure from the regional bloc. The decision follows a summit on Sunday, where ECOWAS leaders sought to address the countries’ scheduled exit, set for January 29, 2024, exactly one year after the three nations announced their intention to leave.

The exit marks a significant reversal of decades of regional integration. Despite ECOWAS efforts, the junta-led governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—located in the insurgency-ravaged Sahel—have increasingly distanced themselves from the bloc. These countries have formed their own alliance, deepened defense ties, and even considered abandoning the West African currency union.

In a joint statement on Saturday, the three countries reaffirmed that their decision to leave ECOWAS is final. They also announced that, even after their exit, they would maintain visa-free travel for all ECOWAS citizens—a move seen as an attempt to mitigate concerns about the impact on the bloc’s freedom of movement and common market, which serves 400 million people.

The planned withdrawal comes at a turbulent time for the Sahel, a region plagued by political instability and military coups since 2020. The junta governments have increasingly aligned with Russia, shifting away from their historical ties with former colonial power France and other regional partners.

Dismantling Lies: Report Finds Hamas Used Inflated Gaza Death Figures That Included Natural Deaths and Cancer to Stoke Anti-Israel Sentiments

While pro-terror cheerleaders screeched on college campuses and flooded streets around the world, they used death figures in Gaza, provided by Hamas, to justify their anti-semitism.

According to a new report from the Henry Jackson Society, unsurprisingly, the figures from Gaza used by the terrorists to justify their ongoing terror were inflated to include natural deaths and deaths from cancer.

The report also notes that the numbers falsely listed men as women and registered adults as children in an apparent attempt to garner sympathy.

In his report, Questionable Counting: Analysing the Death Toll from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza,  Andrew Fox noted the disturbing findings coming from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, used to gaslight the world.

Men listed as women to inflate female fatalities. Analysis of Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH) fatality data reveals repeated instances of men being misclassified as women. Examples include individuals with male first names (e.g. Mohammed) being recorded as female. This misclassification contributes to the narrative that civilian populations, particularly women and children, bear the brunt of the conflict, potentially influencing international sentiment and media coverage.

Adults registered as children. Significant discrepancies have been uncovered where adult fatalities are reclassified as children. For instance, an individual aged 22 was listed as a four year-old and a 31-year-old was listed as an infant. Such distortions inflate the number of child casualties, which is emotionally impactful and heavily emphasised in global reporting. These misrepresentations suggest a deliberate attempt to frame the conflict as disproportionately affecting children, undermining the credibility of the fatality data.

Disproportionate deaths of fighting-age men. Data analysis indicates that most fatalities are men aged 15–45, contradicting claims that civilian populations are being disproportionately targeted. This age demographic aligns closely with the expected profile of combatants, further supported by spikes in deaths of men reported by family sources rather than hospitals. This evidence suggests that many fatalities classified as civilian may be combatants, a distinction omitted from official reporting.

Inclusion of natural deaths in reporting.Despite the typical annual rate of 5,000 natural deaths in Gaza, the fatality data provides no accounting for such figures. This omission raises concerns that natural deaths, as well as deaths caused by internal violence or misfired rockets, are being included in war-related fatality counts. Instances of cancer patients, previously registered for treatment, appearing on war fatality lists further support this assertion. Such practices inflate the reported civilian death toll, complicating accurate assessments of the conflict’s impact.

Media underreporting of combatant deaths. Analysis of media coverage reveals that only 3% of news stories reference combatant deaths, with outlets like the BBC, CNN, Reuters and The New York Times primarily relying on Gaza Ministry of Health figures. These figures often lack verification and fail to distinguish between combatants and civilians. The omission creates a skewed narrative that portrays all casualties as civilian, thus shaping public opinion and international policy based on incomplete or manipulated data. For example, more than 17,000 Hamas combatants are estimated to have been killed, yet these figures are largely excluded from global reporting.

The legacy media has little interest in reporting the truth. Unsurprisingly, the report finds reporting on Gazan deaths is no different.

In a survey of media organizations, 98% cited the false figures provided by the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

A mere 5% of the surveyed media organizations cited numbers released by the Israeli authorities.

The Gateway Pundit