News

U.S. will finally hurt itself by weaponizing its economy

Published

4 years ago

April 7, 2022

By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily
Countries are in a tough situation today, having to cope with COVID-19 while ensuring economic development and livelihood.
However, ignoring global stability and livelihood concerns, the U.S. has imposed a series of unilateral sanctions against Russia and forced other countries to obey them through the threat of secondary sanctions. Its practices of weaponizing its economy, economic hegemony and financial terrorism have triggered widespread concerns of the international society, and are condemned by many countries.
Since the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the U.S. has made every effort to avoid direct military engagement. However, by providing massive military assistance for Ukraine and imposing sanctions, it has launched hybrid warfare against Russia.
The U.S. not only imposed sanctions on Russian government officials, but also excluded a number of Russian banks from the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) messaging system, the main system underpinning global financial transactions. Besides, it has frozen the assets of Russia’s central bank, placed new debt and equity limitations on Russian enterprises and entities, imposed bans on the exports of over half of its high-tech products to Russia, and prohibited the purchase of petroleum and natural gas from Russia.
The facts demonstrate that the target of these unprecedented sanctions is not a truce, but rather the militaristic and economic annihilation of Russia. Even after positive signals were released from the new round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine held on March 29, the U.S. and its allies still said they would keep intensifying sanctions on Russia. It’s fair to say that the Ukraine crisis once again revealed the true colors of the “sanctions superpower” – to safeguard its hegemony by fair means or foul and at the expense of the interests of all the people in the world.
Driven by economic hegemonism, the U.S. implemented comprehensive and indiscriminate sanctions, which impeded global economy and hurt the people.
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted that the war in Ukraine and massive sanctions against Russia have triggered a contraction in global trade, driving up food and energy costs and forcing the IMF to lower its global growth forecast. According to Oxford Economics, the sanctions against Russia may bring down the GDP in the Eurozone by 0.5 percentage points before the end of 2023.
It is obvious that if the U.S. further escalates its sanctions, a major crisis may hit global trade, finance, energy, food, and industrial and supply chains, wreaking havoc on the already slow global economy..
Plundering the world with financial terrorism, the U.S. has exacerbated global poverty and inequality. The middle-income trap in Latin American countries, Japanese economic crisis and Southeast Asian economic crisis were all related to American financial hegemony. The number of sanctions imposed by the U.S. has surged tenfold during the past 2 decades.. Economic and financial sanctions are what the country constantly resorts to.
Recently, the White House unfroze and embezzled $7 billion in Afghan funds in U.S. banks, sparking protests in many places across Afghanistan. Such practice was called a bare robbery. Today, freezing the assets of Russia’s central bank, the U.S. is once again making the rules of international finance a tool for it to plunder others.
The U.S. will definitely hurt itself upholding economic hegemonism and financial terrorism. Chief Economist of Euro Pacific Capital Peter Schiff believes that the U.S. would suffer a long-term consequence of turning the U.S. dollars into a weapon with sanctions, which will cause countries to worry about whether this weapon would be used against them one day. IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath said the world would reevaluate the security of taking U.S. dollars as foreign exchanges. Zoltan Pozsar, a senior adviser at the U.S. Department of the Treasury noted the U.S. and other Western countries have shaken the foundation of the existing international monetary system by freezing the assets of Russia’s central bank.
Even the allies of the U.S. are trying to mitigate the damaging consequences of U.S. sanctions. An expert pointed out that a crack is appearing in the monetary system from which the U.S. has long benefited, and the Ukraine crisis will hasten the process.
It is neither responsible nor ethically justifiable for the U.S., under the disguise of the so-called “rules,” to undermine international order and provoke confrontations with economic and financial hegemony.
The U.S. should immediately discard the Cold War mentality. It needs to see farther and pursue common interests, rather than hegemony and private gains, so as to work with all relevant parties to safeguard the long-term stability and sustainable development of the world.

News

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

Published

2 days 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.