The headless body of Kim Jong Un’s executed uncle was displayed to senior North Korean officials, US President Donald Trump told the author of an upcoming book on the US President.
Jang Song Thaek, the North Korean leader’s uncle by marriage and a hugely powerful figure within the regime, was purged for treason and corruption in 2013, in what was widely seen as Kim mercilessly asserting his authority.
Kim “tells me everything. Told me everything,” Trump told the Washington Post investigative journalist Bob Woodward, according to his forthcoming book “Rage”.
“He killed his uncle and he put the body right in the steps,” Trump said, in an apparent reference to a building used by senior officials.
“And the head was cut, sitting on the chest,” he added in excerpts from the book seen by AFP.
The North has never officially stated how Jang was executed, although multiple reports say an anti-aircraft gun was used.
Trump’s account — apparently intended as a demonstration of the closeness of his relationship with Kim — is the first from any senior official to mention decapitation.
Nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington have been at a standstill since the collapse of the Hanoi summit last year over sanctions relief and what the North would be willing to give up in return.
Pyongyang officials said they had offered to “dismantle all the nuclear production facilities in the Yongbyon area”, but analysts say the North has several other nuclear sites.
According to the book Trump demanded five sites be given up.
“Listen, one doesn’t help and two doesn’t help and three doesn’t help and four doesn’t help. Five does help,” he said.
Yongbyon was the North’s biggest site, Kim countered according to excerpts from the book seen by AFP. “It’s also your oldest,” Trump told the author he retorted.
Kim, though, would not offer further concessions, and Trump told him: “You’re not ready to make a deal.”
“I’ve got to leave,” he added, to Kim’s shock.
‘I am really, very offended’
The collapse of the summit came despite high expectations on both sides beforehand, but according to the book Trump continued to insist on full denuclearisation even after the pair’s surprise meeting several months later in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula.
“It was an honour to cross into your country,” Trump wrote in a letter to Kim two days after the encounter, when he became the first sitting US president to set foot in the North.
He urged Kim to strike a “big deal” that “sheds you of your nuclear burden”.
“Rage”, scheduled to hit the book stands this week, unveils 25 letters the pair exchanged, in which Kim repeatedly flatters Trump.
The DMZ meeting was supposed to restart the talks process but the US and South Korea held military exercises a few weeks later and Kim subsequently wrote to Trump: “I am clearly offended and I do not want to hide this feeling from you. I am really, very offended.”
Negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington have remained at a standstill ever since, and ties between the North and South have plummeted, but Trump insisted that he still had a good relationship with Kim.
The Nigeria Judicial Council (NJC) and Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) have insisted on the confirmation of Justice Akon Ikpeme as the substantive Chief Judge of Cross River State.
Twice, the NJC had forwarded the name of Ikpeme to the House of Assembly for confirmation, and twice it was turned down on the ground that she is from Akwa Ibom State and confirming her would constitute a security risk to Cross River State.
In the process, the state government went ahead to recommend its favourite, Justice Maurice Eneji, who is junior to Ikpeme, for the NJC to appoint as the acting and substantive CJ.
The NJC has appointed him twice in six months in an acting capacity but declined to appoint him as the chief judge despite serious lobby from the state government, as the act would amount to an abuse of the rule of law.
The office of the chief judge has remained vacant for about two weeks following the expiration of the second three-month tenure of Justice Eneji, who took office in an acting capacity in line with the 1999 Constitution on September 2.
The NBA, in a statement dated September 14 by its National President, Mr. Olumide Akpata, said: “The NBA is particularly disturbed by the reasons undergirding the refusal, by the Cross River State House of Assembly, to confirm the recommendation and appointment of Hon. Justice Akon Ikpeme as substantive chief judge.
“The failure of, or refusal by, the government of Cross River State to complete the appointment of a substantive chief judge is, therefore, brewing a constitutional crisis and strikes at the very root of the rule of law. This vacancy is also crippling judicial activities and is undermining the independence of the judiciary in Cross River State”.
In view of this, Akpata said: “The NJC has unanimously agreed that the reasons adduced by the House of Assembly are untenable and unsubstantiated and has reinforced its recommendation of Ikpeme. The NBA agrees with the NJC in this regard and enjoins the governor and the House of Assembly of Cross River State to complete the appointment and confirmation of Ikpeme as a substantive chief judge. To do otherwise would worsen the present imbroglio and significantly diminish public confidence in the judiciary”.
He stated that the NBA “is working with the NJC to speedily resolve this issue before it does further damage to the public perception of the judiciary. It is our duty to defend the rule of law, and we will prod the government of Cross River State to appoint Ikpeme as a substantive chief judge in line with the recommendations of the NJC and the long-held judicial tradition of appointing the most senior judicial officer as chief judge.
“There is no doubt that the casualties of this unfortunate development are the residents of Cross River State, who rely on the judiciary for the resolution of their disputes and for the remediation of their grievances. The NBA, therefore, calls on the government of Cross River State to put the interest of its people and the rule of law first by speedily resolving this constitutional crisis.”
Sophia Tommey, sister of Barbara Tommey who was shot dead by her Pastor husband, Sylvester Ofori in US city of Orlando last week has recalled some incidents that reportedly occurred prior to her sister’s death.
In an exclusive interview with Franky5 on This is Gospel show on Hitz FM on Sunday September 13, Sophia alleged that Ofori initiated plans of killing her sister after she filed for divorce.
According to her, Barbara filed for divorce after she discovered that her husband who is the head pastor of Floodgates of Heaven International Ministries joined an occult group.
She said;
“Sylvester had denounced God after he visited a shrine in Nzema and was even convincing my sister to join him. But my sister later discovered her husband had joined occult and filed for divorce”
Sophia also revealed that her late sister moved out of her matrimonial home three months ago and only returned home for some documents when Ofori nearly choked her to death. She averred that it was her brother’s intervention that stopped Ofori from choking Barbara to death at that time.
The distraught lady who alleged that her late sister was very secretive, said Ofori initiated plans of killing her Barbara upon realizing that he will lose everything if the divorce process is completed.
Sophia added;
“Barbara was the breadwinner of the family and owned all the properties; Sylvester was just a pastor so the thought of losing everything pushed him to kill my sister.
“Barbara was a very quiet person so all the things we heard were from her friends; she never told us what she was going through until her death”
Sophia said Barbara will be buried on September 26, 2020, and is confident the police will do a good job and get justice for the family.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, says the Federal Government will from October begin converting the cars and generators of Nigerians to run on gas.
Sylva said this will be done free of charge for all Nigerians to cushion the effect of the hike in pump price of petrol.
The minister said this on NTA’s ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ on Monday which was monitored by PUNCH correspondent.
According to him, cars are capable of running on both gas and petrol.
The minister said the move would reduce carbon emissions as well as the demand for Premium Motor Spirit otherwise known as petrol.
Sylva stated, “The alternative we are now introducing is gas, which is definitely going to be cheaper than the subsidised rate of PMS. So, what we are trying to encourage Nigerians to do now is to convert their cars to dual fuel.
That means your car can use either gas or petrol and that will be done for free because the government is going to ensure that you are able to convert your vehicles for free.
“And when you convert your car for free, you go to the filling station, you see the price of PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) you see the price of gas, you can decide to buy LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) or CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), you can decide to buy LNG (Liquefied Natural gas). These are all going to be available and we are going to have a roll out plan for this within October.
“Nigerians will have alternatives. It is like introducing a toll on the roads. When you introduce a tollgate, you are expected and required by law to also create an alternative. So, we are also creating that alternative so that you can go to buy gas.”
Sylva said the Federal Government launched a similar pilot scheme with commercial tricycles in Port Harcourt which they converted to gas and it was successful.
He said the initiative would be extended to small capacity generators colloquially known as ‘I better pass my neighbour’.
The former Governor of Bayelsa State stated that filling stations owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation would be the first to begin selling gas to vehicles.
Sylva said the use of gas is cleaner and climate friendly, adding that once this is achieved, Nigeria would receive funding from foreign donors.
He said, “We are going to convert ‘I better pass my neighbour’. So, you will have a situation where in your house, your gas cylinder will be connected to your generator and cooker. So, you don’t need any other fuel apart from gas to run your generators.
“It will become cheaper and cleaner. Of course, our carbon emissions will actually reduce and we are expecting to gain some money from climate change (sic) for reducing our carbon emission. This is going to be a policy direction that will create a lot of opportunities.”
He said all NNPC filling stations and also some private sector marketers had signed on to the initiative, adding that the scheme would start in one part of the country and then spread to others.
When asked how Nigeria could benefit from the free initiative, Sylva responded, “Your car should be in a fairly good condition. That is the only condition to be met because if your car is not in a very good condition, I don’t know how it is going to convert. We are already in discussion with the NURTW and they are already very happy,” the minister said.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, says the Federal Government will from October begin converting the cars and generators of Nigerians to run on gas.
Sylva said this will be done free of charge for all Nigerians to cushion the effect of the hike in pump price of petrol.
The minister said this on NTA’s ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ on Monday which was monitored by PUNCH correspondent.
According to him, cars are capable of running on both gas and petrol.
The minister said the move would reduce carbon emissions as well as the demand for Premium Motor Spirit otherwise known as petrol.
Sylva stated, “The alternative we are now introducing is gas, which is definitely going to be cheaper than the subsidised rate of PMS. So, what we are trying to encourage Nigerians to do now is to convert their cars to dual fuel.
That means your car can use either gas or petrol and that will be done for free because the government is going to ensure that you are able to convert your vehicles for free.
“And when you convert your car for free, you go to the filling station, you see the price of PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) you see the price of gas, you can decide to buy LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) or CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), you can decide to buy LNG (Liquefied Natural gas). These are all going to be available and we are going to have a roll out plan for this within October.
“Nigerians will have alternatives. It is like introducing a toll on the roads. When you introduce a tollgate, you are expected and required by law to also create an alternative. So, we are also creating that alternative so that you can go to buy gas.”
Sylva said the Federal Government launched a similar pilot scheme with commercial tricycles in Port Harcourt which they converted to gas and it was successful.
He said the initiative would be extended to small capacity generators colloquially known as ‘I better pass my neighbour’.
The former Governor of Bayelsa State stated that filling stations owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation would be the first to begin selling gas to vehicles.
Sylva said the use of gas is cleaner and climate friendly, adding that once this is achieved, Nigeria would receive funding from foreign donors.
He said, “We are going to convert ‘I better pass my neighbour’. So, you will have a situation where in your house, your gas cylinder will be connected to your generator and cooker. So, you don’t need any other fuel apart from gas to run your generators.
“It will become cheaper and cleaner. Of course, our carbon emissions will actually reduce and we are expecting to gain some money from climate change (sic) for reducing our carbon emission. This is going to be a policy direction that will create a lot of opportunities.”
He said all NNPC filling stations and also some private sector marketers had signed on to the initiative, adding that the scheme would start in one part of the country and then spread to others.
When asked how Nigeria could benefit from the free initiative, Sylva responded, “Your car should be in a fairly good condition. That is the only condition to be met because if your car is not in a very good condition, I don’t know how it is going to convert. We are already in discussion with the NURTW and they are already very happy,” the minister said.
When asked how Nigeria could benefit from the free initiative, Sylva responded, “Your car should be in a fairly good condition. That is the only condition to be met because if your car is not in a very good condition, I don’t know how it is going to convert. We are already in discussion with the NURTW and they are already very happy,” the minister said
When asked how Nigeria could benefit from the free initiative, Sylva responded, “Your car should be in a fairly good condition. That is the only condition to be met because if your car is not in a very good condition, I don’t know how it is going to convert. We are already in discussion with the NURTW and they are already very happy,” the minister said.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has confirmed the killing of two operatives on Monday by bandits.s
Ten other personnel were abducted when gunmen attacked their buses en route to the FRSC Academy in Udi, Enugu State.
Corps Public Education Officer, Assistant Corps Marshal Bisi Kazeem, confirmed the incident in a statement.
The official said the operatives travelling from Sokoto and Kebbi States were ambushed and attacked at Udege junction, along Mararaban-Udege between Adoka, Nasarawa State, at about 8am.
A total of 26 officers were travelling in two buses, the spokesman said.
One died during the attack, another died in the hospital, four were injured, eight escaped unhurt, and ten others kidnapped by the assailants.
Kazeem disclosed that FRSC Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, has reported the incident to the relevant authorities.
In any situation, one always has two options. Change or accept the situation. Most failures come from the indecision not to change or accept a situation. Excellence pursuit is a choice not to tweak but overhaul (transform) a situation. It engenders ethos of thinking, acting and performing anew.
For this reason, it triggers two opposing forces: the force of resistance versus the force of exploration. While in some cases, these forces represent preserving self-interests versus pursuing common interests, in most cases, it is fear versus risk appetite.
The force of resistance fears to forfeit the comfort zone and protects it even at the risk of becoming irrelevant. In contrast, the force of exploration heeds the advice of Greek philosopher, Herodotus: “it is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half of the evils we anticipate than remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what may happen”.
Although it is scary to abandon the comfort zone, the force of exploration is not willing to forfeit relevance. Relevance determines who advances and who perishes. Those who adapt, secure future existence and those who fall head into oblivion.
With time, in-between the two forces emerges the third force. The force of fence sitting; the indecision to play not to lose; the choice to be stuck between resistance and exploration.
At the outset, the force of fence-sitting is transient and appears insignificant. However, if it changes heart, it can give impetus to either of the two other forces.
Just as in democracies dominated by two political parties where elections are won or lost through the swing vote of independent voters, the force of fence sitting may join and win it for the force of resistance or for the force of exploration. This makes it a force to be reckoned with and to be ignored at one’s own peril.
Excellence isbehavioural science because its primary conduit is settled character, mode of thinking and behavioural pattern called attitude. In excellence pursuit, real change is attitudinal.
Until attitude changes, excellence remains elusive. Therefore, excellence is most difficult to achieve because attitudinal change is mostly resisted. Three reasons explain why.
Firstly, the power of attitude is the power of belief. Attitude expresses people’s deepest beliefs. To change attitude is to change people’s deepest belief(s). This makes attitude most difficult to dislodge.
Secondly, as witnessed from the corona virus pandemic, it takes time to realize that change is a friend. Some people would rather perish than change their attitude. They would rather choose the fatal denialism of living as if today is yesterday; gather and drink, smoke and weaken their lungs further and hit the bars, only to go home in the morning.
Thirdly, according to Robert Greene (2006), the future belongs to groups that are fluid, fast and non-linear. Excellence pursuit seeks to make an enterprise adaptive. It prepares an enterprise to assume a vantage position in the future.
In the future triggers resistance because while excellence pursuit requires attitudinal change in the present, it promises prosperity in the future. This promise amounts to abstraction; the intangible; that which can neither be seen nor touched. Intangibility is more likely to evoke resistance than embracement.
Development of a new attitude is evolutionary alignment that mirrors the principle of causality. Robin Sharma (2004) captures this alignment with most clarity. “What separates the best from the rest comes down to habits. You sow a thought, you reap an action. Reap an action, you sow a habit. Sow a habit, you reap a character. Sow a character, you reap your destiny”.
Simply put, choose excellence habits. Practice them to develop excellence character (attitude), which (character) paves way for excellence. Bear in mind that development of new attitude is more contingent on self-discipline.
Greek philosopher, Plato, said that the best victory is to conquer self. Likewise, Paulo Coelho says that without enough self-discipline, one does not move forward. Therefore, just as the believer needs self-discipline to remain faithful to his/her belief, development of a new attitude starts with self-disciplined faith in habits; the unconditional belief that these are right fielded habits.
Where there is no self-disciplined faith in habits, their frequent practice is interrupted and discontinuity reigns. Where there is self-disciplined faith in habits habituation and attituding materialize.
Habituation is frequency of practicing habits with the objective to transform them into attitude. Attituding is frequency of living up to one’s attitude; living in character. Frequency underscores both because practice makes perfect only when the best practice is consistency.
Consistency amplifies attitude and amplified attitude paves way for excellence. In short, in habituation, attitude corresponds to habits chosen to develop it and in attituding, excellence corresponds to attitude developed to pursue it.
Habits bestow attitude and attitude bestows excellence. In reverse, if habits are flawed and the flaw is not corrected, the consequent attitude is flawed and excellence is doomed.
In conclusion, as already pointed out, excellence is contingent on attitude and attitude is contingent on habits. In turn, as the subconscious mind is the creature (incubator) of habits and attitude, habits and attitude are contingent on the subconscious mind.
Therefore, excellence pursuit is a subconscious mind mission. To this end, pioneering American psychologist, William James, concluded, “The power to move the world is in your subconscious mind”. This is why most excellent achievements are attributed to synonyms of the subconscious mind: within, inner voice and intuition.
Mozart (the great composer) said he received inspiration from within. Socrates (the great philosopher) said he was guided by his inner voice, and Albert Einstein (the genius) attributed his success to intuition.
In his study on high ranking executives, published in the Harvard Business Review, Henry Mintzberg found that high ranking executives also attribute their excellent solutions to the subconscious mind. He found that high ranking executives were “constantly” relying on hunches to cope with problems too complex for “rational thinking.” He concluded: success does not lie in that narrow-minded concept called “rationality”; it lies in a blend of clear headed logic and powerful intuition.
Sy Mokadi Learning and Development Facilitator mokadisy@webmail.co.za
Whilst change takes time and it takes time to realize that change is a friend, COVID-19 engenders ethos of immediacy. Think and act anew NOW.
COVID-19 is a valley of narrow pathways. It attacks quickly, spreads like wild fire and mercilessly punishes any shred of hesitation or decision-making misstep. To deal with it, countries have two options and fence-sitting is not one of them. Adapt or succumb. Embrace attitudinal paradigm shift immediately or face implosive consequences.
As real change is attitudinal, attitudinal paradigm shift is essential preventative measure. Those who change attitude minimise fatalities and live to see tomorrow and those who opt for gross negligence and disregard for human lives by continuing to live as if today is yesterday live to suffer from the hind-sight of regret.
Leadership is a daunting calling for the devoted and righteous. It is immutable and venerable: more so during a pandemic. COVID-19 is evolutionary and resonates with leadership adaptation loop, an ecosystem in which integrated leadership style optimizes itself as a pandemic worsens.
Leadership adaptation loop is common where there is a team of leaders with diverse strategic, thought and servant leadership skills. As assumptions create confusion and worsen a crisis whereas empirical evidence provides clarity, in the leadership adaptation loop, strategic leadership is the first port of call. Firstly. because it is change management leadership.
Secondly, because to eliminate or minimize assumptions, strategic leadership fosters creative and critical thinking in order to have deep understanding of the veracity of a pandemic. This empirical task includes conducting research and /or analysing existing research data, to find empirical evidence.
The sanctity of empirical evidence is the reason why in the fight against COVID-19, medical research evidence is relied on to develop modelling strategies. As creative and critical thinking fosters systems thinking, the solution developed from empirical evidence is likely to be integrated and satisfy integrated solution efficacy test.
Integrated solution efficacy exists when all impact indicators are qualitative: leadership, human capital, resource infrastructure and ultimately, attitudinal paradigm shift. Deficiency in the first three bestows deficiency on the last one.
Development of a goal from empirical evidence is the primary task of thoughtful leadership. The purposeful (envisioned) expression of leaders to do the right thing. In a pandemic, success depends on single-focusing; ability to close off distractions and foster lucid focus.
This happens when the goal: to save lives is supreme and the mission: through attitudinal paradigm shift is pursued through precise messaging, preferably, coming from a single source.
Lastly, a pandemic presents the opportunity to elevate altruistic (conscientious) behaviour and save lives and opportunity to elevate amoral behaviour and endanger lives. The former thrives in altruistic environment, and the latter pounces when leadership succumbs to self-interests.
Altruistic environment is a forte of servant leadership. Servant leadership is humanist and ethical – a realm of selfless behaviour; the quest to sacrifice for and serve others against all odds. Servant leadership is a reminder that the foremost responsibility of a leader is to serve others.
Sy Mokadi Learning and Development Facilitator mokadisy@webmail.co.za
This is the dramatic moment that French police raided Conor McGregor’s £3million yacht and took the UFC star away after claims he ‘exhibited his private parts’ to a young married woman as she entered a bar toilet on the holiday island of Corsica.
The retired mixed martial artist, 32, was pictured surrounded by gendarmes at the Port of Calvi, on the French island, on Friday morning.
McGregor was presented with a summons and later spent two days in custody and was later released without being charged.
The alleged victim has claimed the 32-year-old Irishman showed off his manhood and then assaulted her following a heavy drinking session in the upmarket port town on September 6.
France 3 Corse – the major TV broadcaster in the area – said it had spoken to a friend of the alleged victim of the alleged incident which led to McGregor being taken into police custody last Friday before his release on Saturday.
He is now waiting for the results of ‘key physical tests’ and ‘the examination of film evidence’ before learning whether he will be re-arrested over alleged sexual assault and indecent exposure.
Emmanuelle Ramon, McGregor’s lawyer, said his client ‘vigorously denied any wrongdoing’.
A France 3 Corse report reads: ‘According to a witness who spoke with the complainant that same evening and whom we were able to question, McGregor, accompanied by his bodyguards, allegedly exhibited his private parts to the young woman without her consent as she made her way into the bar toilets.’
The source said what happened ‘deeply shocked the woman, who was on holiday in Calvi with her husband.’
The source said he had no information as to whether McGregor also assaulted the woman, who has not been identified.
As the alleged victim of a sex crime, she will be entitled to anonymity while pursuing her complaint, said the source.
McGregor was released without charge, but the criminal case is still active and he could be summoned before a magistrate later this week.
Key physical tests were carried out on the suspect, but the results will not be known until after the weekend,’ an investigating source said on Sunday.
‘These tests are of a routine nature following incidents like this, but they take time, to make sure there is no doubt about them.
‘It is also possible that the incident being complained about was filmed. It took place in a very busy place, where fixed cameras are situated everywhere.
‘Lots of holidaymakers would also have been filming and taking pictures on their phones, so they also need to be spoken to.’
