News

Enhancing strategic autonomy serves interests of Europe

Published

4 years ago

May 11, 2022

By Zhang Jian

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has broken the peace of Europe, which is a pernicious consequence of the containment strategy implemented by the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) toward Russia over the past decades.

As a product of the Cold War, NATO should have been dissolved when the Cold War ended. However, in order to maintain its global hegemony, the U.S. has stuck to the Cold War mentality, willfully pursued group politics, and continued to use NATO as a strategic tool for controlling Europe and containing Russia.

Europe, caught in the vortex of bloc confrontation, has become one of the main victims of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine will exert a serious impact on the European economy. In 2008, the U.S.-originated global financial crisis severely impacted Europe, plunging many European countries, especially countries in Southern Europe, nto austerity due to soaring fiscal deficit and debt.

Fourteen years later, the sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) against Russia and Russia’s counter-sanctions following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict have again made a massive impact on the European economy.

Prices have already skyrocketed in many countries in Europe. EU’s policies on decoupling from Russia have increased its reliance on more expensive liquefied natural gas from the U.S., significantly elevated production costs of European companies, and weakened the long-term competitiveness of European industry, which will disrupt Europe’s energy transition and climate policies and once again raise the levels of fiscal deficit and debt in Europe.

The combined impacts of the Ukraine crisis and other structural factors have rendered the long-term economic prognosis for Europe rather bleak. The gaps between Europe and the U.S. in terms of both economic growth rate and size are believed to become wider.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict will escalate Europe’s political and social division. Over the past more than 10 years, Europe has been plagued by increasingly prominent social and political division and polarization besides economic slowdown, which is largely a consequence of unsatisfactory economic conditions and declining living standards.

Europe has lost 10 years to the global financial crisis. Socially and politically, the continent’s countries would suffer irreparable harm if the Russia-Ukraine conflict were to drag on for another decade.

Continuation and escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict will pose serious risks to the security of Europe. The U.S. and NATO are currently escalating confrontation with Russia. As they significantly increase military spending, the possibility of a new Iron Curtain in Europe goes straight up.

Many European countries are close neighbors of Russia. Hostility, antagonism, and confrontation between them and Russia can easily spiral up and worsen, which is detrimental to Europe’s security. This can hinder Europe’s development and cause accident and misjudgment that lead to new conflict or even war.

The strategic goal of the U.S. is to maintain its global hegemony. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has severely damaged Europe’s economic and security interests, but served the strategic intentions of the U.S.

If Europe stops getting its energy from Russia, U.S. energy, which was not competitive before, will be able to quickly take over European markets.

Besides, a large portion of the substantial increase in military expenditure in European countries will flow into the U.S. and help improve the capabilities of U.S. military enterprises to develop and produce new equipment and weapons, which eventually increases Europe’s military dependence on the U.S.

With tensions between Europe and Russia mounting, the U.S. can not only use security guarantee as a pretext for further tightening control over Europe, but realize the goal of containing Russia through Europe.

Affected to different degrees by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the U.S. and Europe have clearly different strategic intentions in responding to the conflict. In the long run, Europe needs to handle its relations with Russia on the basis of its own interests, carry out more active and productive dialogue with Russia and build a new security framework that can truly help realize lasting peace and stability in Europe. Such a new security framework will also enhance Europe’s strategic autonomy to a great extent.

Europe has tried to pursue strategic autonomy for a long time, but the endeavor has been openly or secretly obstructed and opposed by the U.S.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has not only brought the fact of Europe’s lack of strategic autonomy under the spotlight, but further demonstrated the necessity for it to enhance strategic autonomy.

Facts have shown that hegemonism, power politics, and bloc confrontation pursued by the U.S. will only undermine Europe’s interests, and only a stable UN-centered international system that sticks to multilateralism can serve its interests.

In recent years, many farsighted personages in Europe have become keenly aware that the U.S. is not a reliable ally of Europe. While the extremely selfish “America First” policy advocated by the previous U.S. administration strained the relations between the U.S. and Europe, the current U.S. administration has only changed the wording, rather than the “America First” essence of the country’s foreign policy.

Many of Washington’s actions, including insistence on the restrictive “Buy American” provisions over the past years, the hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and the establishment of the so-called trilateral security partnership with Britain and Australia, have made Europe more alert to the “America First” policy.

News

‘Ombugadu Is a Brand, Not a Title’ — PDP Chieftain

Published

1 day ago

September 15, 2026

Our Reporter

By Emmanuel Kuza

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nasarawa State, Abuga Ovie, has described the name Ombugadu as a political brand, saying the popularity and wide acceptance of the name have made David Emmanuel Ombugadu a major force in the state’s political landscape.

Ovie, who stated this in an interview on Tuesday, said what started as opposition from some of Ombugadu’s biological brothers and people he described as fathers and uncles who betrayed him for personal political interests had now assumed a wider dimension, with political parties allegedly joining the battle against him.

According to him, the latest development was an attempt to undermine the political value of the Ombugadu name by presenting another person with the same surname, describing it as an indication of how far some political actors were prepared to go to weaken the PDP governorship candidate.

“Ombugadu is a brand, not a title. The people are not fools. They know their own. You cannot simply bring another person bearing the same name and expect the people to forget the political identity that Ombugadu has built over the years,” he said.

He further alleged that a former governor was working to introduce a political associate who had served as Accountant-General of Nasarawa State into the political equation, with the alleged objective of destabilising the PDP and weakening its chances by ensuring that the party fields a less competitive candidate in 2027.

“The plan, as we understand it, is to destabilise the PDP and make sure the party presents a weak candidate, thereby creating an advantage for the former governor’s preferred candidate. But all those efforts have proved abortive because the national leadership of the PDP stood its ground and refused to lose its best bet for the 2027 governorship election,” Ovie said.

The PDP chieftain said the resolve of the national leadership to retain Ombugadu had demonstrated the confidence the party had in his capacity to win the governorship election, despite what he described as attempts by some political actors to frustrate his ambition.

Ovie urged political parties and their leaders to resolve their internal differences instead of concentrating their efforts on Ombugadu, whom he compared to David in the Bible, saying he remained focused despite betrayal and opposition from those close to him.

“Ombugadu is like David in the Bible. Even when his brothers forsook him, he remained focused. Today, despite the people who have betrayed him, he remains focused and has a blueprint that can rescue Nasarawa State,” he said.

He said political parties should concentrate on presenting their programmes and convincing voters about how they intend to address the challenges confronting the state rather than expending their energy on attempts to stop Ombugadu.

“Political parties should fix their problems instead of wasting their strength fighting Ombugadu. Let everybody bring their blueprint before the people and explain what they intend to do for Nasarawa State,” he said.

Ovie maintained that the 2027 election should be about ideas, competence and the future of Nasarawa State, rather than attempts to manipulate political structures or undermine individuals perceived to enjoy strong grassroots support.

He urged the people of the state, particularly the Eggon community, to remain politically vigilant and resist what he described as efforts to make them settle for less, insisting that voters would ultimately determine who enjoys their confidence at the polls.
Reduce repeated references to Ombugadu

News

200 widows benefit from empowerment outreach in Plateau

Published

2 days ago

September 15, 2026

milcah

By Israel Adamu, Jos

Two hundred widows from communities across Langtang North Central State Constituency of Plateau State have benefited from an empowerment outreach organised by Gimbiya Gani Nandir Lar under the Jagoran Talakawa movement.

The outreach, held at Pilgani in Langtang North Local Government Area, was aimed at supporting vulnerable women and drawing attention to the challenges faced by widows, particularly those struggling to provide food, pay school fees and meet other basic needs for their families.

The organiser, Nandir Lar, who is the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate for Langtang North Central State Constituency, said the gesture was motivated by compassion and concern for vulnerable members of the society.

She stressed that the outreach was not a political programme but an expression of love and support for humanity.

Nandir Lar said: “The plight of widows may not always make headlines, but their struggles are real, painful and deserving of our collective attention.

“This is simply an expression of compassion and love for humanity. It is not a political programme.

“Our constituency is home to people with diverse needs, including mothers, widows and young people who are seeking opportunities to improve their lives.”

Former Provost of the Federal College of Education, Pankshin, Amos Chirfat, commended the initiative, saying it had brought smiles to the faces of vulnerable women in the constituency.

Minority Leader of the Langtang North Legislative Council, Dirya Sheni, also commended Nandir Lar for supporting widows and other vulnerable members of the community.

At the end of the outreach, each of the 200 beneficiaries received a 10-kilogramme bag of corn flour, seasoning and N10,000 cash

News

SCUML, REDAN Strengthen Collaboration on Anti -Money Laundering Compliance

Published

2 days ago

September 15, 2026

milcah

By Francis Wilfred

The Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML), and the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) have expressed commitment to ensure a full compliance with the Anti Money Laundering/Counter Finance on Terrorism/Counter Proliferation Financing, (AML/CFT/CPF) laws within the Nigeria’s real estate sector.

They made the resolve during a stakeholders’ engagement held on Thursday, September 10, 2026

The engagement focused on Mutual Evaluation readiness, risk-based supervision, beneficial ownership transparency, customer due diligence, internal controls and stronger collaboration between SCUML and the real estate sector.

Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE 1 Ibinabo Amachree, speaking on behalf of SCUML highlighted the strategic role of real estate operators in protecting the integrity of Nigeria’s financial system, particularly given the sector’s vulnerability to money laundering and other financial crime risks.

Amachree encouraged REDAN members to move beyond registration to ensure that compliance is embedded in their day-to-day operations. He mentioned the areas to include: understanding institutional risks, knowing customers and beneficial owners, identifying politically exposed persons, conducting appropriate sanctions screening, maintaining effective internal controls and meeting applicable reporting obligations

He, therefore, reaffirmed readiness to working closely with REDAN and other stakeholders to improve compliance, build capacity and promote a stronger culture of accountability across the real estate sector

“The message is clear: effective compliance is not just about meeting regulatory requirements; it is about protecting businesses, strengthening the real estate sector and safeguarding the integrity of Nigeria’s financial system”, she said.

In his remarks, the Chairman of REDAN, Lagos state, Mr Tony Kolawole pledged readiness to partner with SCUML in ensuring compliance with AML/CFT/CPF in the real estate sector to uphold financial integrity.

The engagement also provided an opportunity for REDAN members to share practical regulatory and operational challenges affecting the sector, reinforcing the importance of continuous dialogue between regulators and industry stakeholders.