News recap

This week has been a bit tumultuous: the crises in the Niger Delta have refused to go away; Republican president candidate Donald Trump has not taken a lesson on how to be politically correct and the Nigerian sports scene had its own share of shameful gaffes.

In case you missed these news, let’s give you a quick summary and some more.

The threat of a separatist militant group, Adaka Boro Avengers, to declare the Niger Delta region of Nigeria as a sovereign state forced the Nigerian military into action.

Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, said the army was ready to do anything possible to ensure peace returns to the oil-rich region. “The military has a constitutional duty to ensure that there is peace and we are here for peace, and whatever we need to do, we will ensure that,” he said.

Though the purported planned declaration failed to materialise, the military launched a series of attacks on militant locations, especially in the creeks of Lagos and Ogun states.

Some residents of Kaiama community in Kolokuma Opukuma Local Council, Bayelsa State, where the militants threatened to proclaim the Niger Delta Republic fled the town for fear of hostilities with security agencies.

What the Nigerian military does have constitutional duty to do is to topple democratic governments. That, it has done in the past. The Guardian’s editorial on Tuesday, August 2, reminded us of that. The editorial looked back to the very first time the military intervened in Nigeria’s politics and stated that that traumatic experience from half a century ago continued to haunt the nation and its future growth, adding that even after 17 years of unbroken civilian rule, Nigeria was yet to find its feet as a federation as vestiges of militarism still hold the country to ransom.

As the military wrestled with the Niger Delta crisis, the man it has declared as Nigeria’s most wanted terrorist, with a heavy ransom placed on his head, resurfaced. Abubakar Shekau sneaked into national consciousness after doubts were cast on his leadership role in Boko Haram.

But Shekau said in an audio message on Thursday that he was still around despite his reported ouster as head of the terror group.

“People should know we are still around. We will never cause any discord among the people, we will live by the Koran,” he said in a 10-minute audio message.

In the US, Republican Party continued to grapple with the reality of a Trump campaign that seemed out of synch with what some party bigwigs stood for.

Internal turmoil over Donald Trump spilt into public alarm Wednesday following unprecedented self-inflicted mistakes by the Republican nominee, as some conservatives prepared to do the unthinkable: vote for his rival, Hillary Clinton.

Many Republicans are holding Trump responsible for the tumult in their party. But in the Nigerian state of Edo, a governorship candidate has refused to be held responsible for the failure of past administrations in the State. Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) candidate in next month’s gubernatorial polls in the State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, said it “was malicious and spiteful to blame him for whatever might have been the mistakes of the past administrations.”

In Dubai, an Emirates plane with 300 people on board crash-landed and caught fire at Dubai airport on Wednesday, shutting down the busy airport. While none of the passengers died in the accident, a firefighter, sadly, lost his life.

The Nigerian football Olympic squad had a flight problem too. No, there was no accident but the team was stranded in Atlanta for close to a week. The Dream Team VI finally departed for Brazil on Thursday after they failed on four other occasions to do so. And the Nigeria Football Federation said the sports minister Solomon Dalung should be held responsible for that. 

Despite landing in Brazil a few hours to their game against Japan, the team won with Etebo Oghenekaro smashing in four goals.

During the week, we were told that no fewer than 1,613 ships valued at about $43.8 billion were yet to be delivered to their respective owners this year, going by the facts from Vessels Value.

According to the statistics, vessels worth about $28.4 billion have been delivered within the first half of 2016, while the balance is expected to be commissioned and delivered before the end of the year.

However, one vehicle has already hit the road. The Transit Elevated Bus (TEB), a futuristic concept bus wholly developed in China, went through a road test in north China’s Hebei Province, Chinese news agency, Xinhua, reported on Tuesday.

The test in Qinhuangdao City, evaluated the braking system, drag and power consumption, according to Tebtech, a company that helped build the TEB.

The concept bus is the latest attempt aimed at providing ease of movement on notoriously cramped Beijing roads and reduce pollution in a city reputed for having one of the world’s worst air pollution statistics. Cheerful?

Hypertensive patients also got a news that some locally available foods could help them combat hypertension. Researchers have shown that lifestyle modifications including the regular intake of local spices and foodstuffs may reduce the risk of developing the condition and help in managing it in persons already affected. On the list of foodstuffs are banana, beetroot, carrot and roselle flower juice (zobo).