News
World leaders are getting older—except in democracies
Advances in medicine over the past 50 years have allowed leaders to live longer, with 11 autocrats today aged over 75.
(The Economist)
▪︎UGC by Ohibaba.com
The advanced age of many world leaders came into sharp focus in 2024 when 81-year-old Joe Biden was pressed to withdraw from America’s presidential race over concerns about his mental acuity. Americans then elected Donald Trump who, at 78, is no spring chicken.
Mr Biden is far from the world’s oldest leader. Paul Biya, who has led Cameroon since 1982, is now 91 years old. Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is ⁷2.
The world’s two most populous countries, China and India, also have leaders in their 70s.Going into 2025, the world’s leaders are, on average, older than ever. Over the past five decades, the average age of all leaders has risen from 55 to 62.
The trend in democratic countries, however, is the opposite. The average age of freely elected leaders is 59, a bit younger than fifty years ago.
In 1975, no democratic country’s leader was under 45. Today, three are.Some are older, too: in 1975, no leader of a democratic country was older than 75.
Now five have passed this milestone, including Mr Biden and his successor.America is an outlier among democracies. Not only is it electing older presidents, its legislators are the oldest in the world.
The new administration is unlikely to change that.Meanwhile, the worldwide trend toward ageing leaders is largely being driven by autocracies.
The average dictator is now 64—12 years older than in 1975. This isn’t surprising, as autocratic leaders have historically been reluctant to give up power.
Advances in medicine over the past 50 years have allowed leaders to live longer, with 11 autocrats today aged over 75.
But the same forces letting leaders live longer affect the general population, too.
While the average leader is seven years older than 50 years ago, the average age of citizens has risen by eleven years.Older leaders are not necessarily a problem.
Experience can bring wisdom. But slowing down, physically and mentally, is inevitable with age.
Research has found older politicians are less concerned with the needs of the young, and spend less on child welfare and more on benefits for seniors.
The increase in life expectancy around the world, together with the stalling of birth rates, means that leaders have on average become more like the populations they govern.
In the years ahead, expect world leaders to become increasingly grey.
In 1975 the average age gap between leaders and their subjects was 42 years; now it is 39. But the rest of the world will be greying with them.
Finnish prosecutors on Friday said they had charged a man with inciting terrorism online who a media report identified as Nigerian separatist leader Simon Ekpa.
According to the prosecution authority, the accused remained in custody and denied the charges.
AFP reports that Finland’s National Prosecution Authority said in a statement that it had charged “a Finnish individual in a case involving suspected public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent and participation in the activities of a terrorist group.”
It added that the alleged crimes had been committed in the city of Lahti between 2021 and 2024 and were related to the suspect’s efforts to establish Nigeria’s Biafra region as an independent state.
The prosecution authority did not name the accused but Finnish public broadcaster YLE identified him as separatist leader Simon Ekpa.Ekpa — who claims to lead the Biafra Republic’s government in exile — was detained in November.
According to the prosecution authority, the accused remained in custody and denied the charges.
News
Tinubu to attend Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration May 18
The inauguration marks the formal beginning of the Pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart Abuja on Saturday for Rome, Italy, to attend the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV as the new head of the Roman Catholic Church.
The President will be accompanied by a delegation that includes the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos; and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, confirmed in a statement via X.
‘Tinubu is travelling at the invitation of the Vatican and will lead Nigeria’s delegation to the solemn installation mass scheduled for Sunday, May 18, at St. Peter’s Square.
The inauguration marks the formal beginning of the Pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome.”
A fire broke out on Thursday at the General Hospital in Ifako-Ijaiye, Lagos, engulfing parts of the three-storey building and causing panic among residents and patients.
Videos from the scene showed thick smoke pouring from the hospital building as onlookers gathered in distress. Firefighters later arrived to battle the blaze.
An eyewitness, Modinat Melemuku, who shared footage of the incident on Facebook, called for urgent help.
She said: “Happening now at General Hospital Ifako-Ijaiye, College Road. Please repost.
Help is needed,” she wrote.
An eyewitness also told reporters the fire began in one part of the hospital before spreading to other sections.
“The fire then spread to the prenatal and postnatal rooms, after which it affected the pediatric ward,” the eyewitness said.
There were concerns that nursing mothers and infants might have been trapped inside, although no casualties were confirmed as of the time of filing this report.
Emergency responders were still on the ground trying to bring the situation under control.
Pat Utomi replies DSS on Shadow govt
Simon Ekpa denies terrorism charges in Nigeria and Finland
JUST IN: Former Cameroon Football Legend Emmanuel Kunde Dies In His Sleep At 68
Tech Expert, Zuckerberg trains with UFC champions, Adesanya, Alexander
Organ Trafficking: Ekweremadu bags 10 years in UK prison
SAINT OBI: Between his marriage and his death
-
News3 days agoUTME 2025: Candidates scheduled for resit will get text messages from today
-
News3 days agoTension in Ogun, Lagos over alleged ‘deadly rice’ in circulation
-
News3 days agoJUST IN: Lagos govt bans night construction
-
Crime3 days agoBREAKING: Ondo APC chairman’s abductors kidnap ransom bearers, make fresh demand
-
News2 days agoFormer South Africa Rugby winger Hendricks dies at 37
-
International2 days agoGlobal Oil Market Report – May 2025 by IEA
-
Business3 days agoBREAKING: Goodnews, as Nigeria’s inflation rate nosedives to 23.7%
-
International2 days agoFormer Mauritanian president jailed for 15 years following appeal