God will never forgive me if I support Atiku for president - Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says ex-vice president Atiku Abubakar “can never enjoy” his support for a political office.

He said God will never forgive him if he backs Atiku’s presidential ambition.
Atiku served as vice-president to Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007. He aspired to succeed Obasanjo in 2003 but the elder statesman went ahead to complete another term.

By 2007 when Obasanjo’s second term ended, both men had fallen apart. Obasanjo’s alleged third term agenda was also said to have worsened their dispute.
In an interview with Premium Times, Obasanjo said he has no personal grudges against Atiku but only works with anyone “working for the good of Nigeria”.

“If I support Atiku for anything, God will not forgive me. If I do not know, yes. But once I know, Atiku can never enjoy my support,” he was quoted as saying.
“It is not a question of working with or not working with an individual. If you are working for the good of Nigeria, I am working with you. If you are not working for the good of Nigeria, it does not matter who you are, I am not working with you.

“I do not have personal grudges with anyone. If you do not do well for Nigeria, you do not do well for all of us.”
He added that his opposition to Abubakar’s ambition is only within the political sector and does not translate to other spheres of their lives.
“If my children are getting married, he has sent representatives. If his children are getting married, I have sent representatives. That is social. That is not political,” he said, adding that “on political ground, my position has not changed. If I support Atiku for a political office other than the one I supported him in the past when I did not know him … God will not forgive me”.

Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, said Thursday that Obasanjo “knelt down” before Atiku in a bid to clinch the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2003 election. - TheCable

Suspected gunmen kill 4 Bureau DeChange agents in Port-Harcourt

Four Bureau DeChange agents have been killed in Oroazi, Obio Akpor Local government area of Rivers State.

DAILY POST gathered that the four men, who were killed Wednesday night, are yet to be identified.

Eyewitnesses say the Bureau DeChange agents operate around Hotel Presidential, along Aba road but were trailed by the gunmen who opened fire on them in their home.

The eyewitness said there was no case of robbery as the men were not with cash or any valuable at the time of the incident.

In the meantime, the Northern community in Rivers State has condemned the murder in strong terms.

Leader of the Arewa Consultative Forum in the South South and South East, Alhaji Musa Saidu while speaking on the incident, described the act as barbaric.

Saidu, who is also the leader of the Northern community in Rivers State, called on the police to thoroughly investigate the incident.

“We want nothing less than for the Police to arrest the killers. We cannot remain victims in a country we call our own”, he said.

Four of them, it was learnt, have lived in Port Harcourt for over forty years.

Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Nnamdi Omoni has cautioned against any act that was capable of degenerating into a reprisal attack. - Daily Post

Russia’s Building Warships Faster Than America—or even China

The Russian navy will get a total of 26 new ships in 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putinannounced this week at a reception honoring Moscow’s fleet.

In raw numbers, the Russian navy is adding ships faster than the U.S. and Chinese navies are doing. Putin is preparing for a naval war. But the kind of war Putin is preparing for might not be the same kind of war the United States expects.

At one level, Russia’s official shipbuilding numbers are deceptive. Putin included small boats and support vessels in his tally—ship types the U.S. Navy, for one, rarely bothers to include when it counts its own warships.

What’s more, Russia’s new ships on average are much smaller than new American and Chinese vessels, and are less capable of traveling long distances to fight overseas wars.

But all that might not matter. Experts told The Daily Beast that Putin’s new fleet is well suited to his increasingly aggressive foreign policy along Russia’s borders. “They are a land power after all,” Michael Kofman, a Russia expert with the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C., told The Daily Beast. 

There are big vessels as well. The Russian navy still possesses large, Cold War-vintage warships that it’s upgrading, including an aircraft carrier and a nuclear-powered battlecruiser that’s one of the biggest surface warships in the world, plus an impressive force of submarines.

Many of these big old ships may be unreliable—they’re what Moscow deploys when it wants to make an impression—but Russia’s new warships, by contrast, are small, nimble, relatively anonymous, and surprisingly heavily armed with new Kalibr cruise missiles.

“What they are doing is selectively dipping into the best of the old vessels—surface ships and submarines—and giving them more powerful weaponry while accelerating the build rate for smaller combatants with relatively big punch,” Iain Ballantyne, author of The Deadly Trade, a history of naval warfare, told The Daily Beast.

To that end, this year the Russian fleet is accepting into service four surface warships armed with the latest Kalibr cruise missiles, plus three support ships and 19 other vessels, Putin said. By comparison, the U.S. Navy bought 14 large warships in 2018. The Chinese navy doesn’t release official ship counts, but observers counted at least 18 new vessels entering service with Beijing’s fleet in 2016.

In all, the U.S. fleet includes 284 frontline warships plus another 124 support and transport ships that technically belong to the Defense Department’s Military Sealift Command. In 2015 the Chinese fleet numbered around 300 large ships, according to the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence.

The Russian fleet also possesses around 300 ships. But nearly half are patrol boats and corvettes—smaller vessels that rarely exceed 1,000 tons displacement. The U.S. Navy operates just 13 similar small surface warships, and doesn’t even include them in its official count of frontline combat vessels.

America’s most numerous warship type is the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, a $2 billion, 10,000-ton vessel capable of independently sailing thousands of miles from its home port while carrying scores of long-range missiles. 

Today the U.S. Navy possesses around 100 Burkes and other large surface warships. The Chinese fleet operates around 80 ships of similar size and armament to the American destroyers. Unsurprisingly, the Russian fleet includes just 29 such ships.

Geography favors Russia’s approach to naval warfare. Where the United States must deploy ships across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in order to wage America’s wars and China is steadily expanding its own influence across the Pacific, Russia’s conflicts for the most part are along its own land borders.

The Russian fleet can easily reach from Europe to Asia while still deploying from home ports. Russian territory stretches from Europe’s Baltic Sea to the Bering Strait, where the Russian mainland and the U.S. state of Alaska are only 55 miles apart.

The high cost of big, long-range ships has made it difficult for the United States to quickly grow its fleet. President Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to increase the size of the U.S. Navy to as many as 355 frontline ships. But the Navy recently admitted it could take until the 2050s to reach that goal. In favoring small, short-range ships that cost tens of millions of dollars apiece instead of billions, Russia can grow its own fleet more quickly than the United States can do.

In recent years the Russian fleet has directly supported ground operations in Crimea while putting pressure on NATO along the alliance’s eastern flank. Moscow’s fleet is busiest in the confined, relatively shallow waters of the Black, Baltic, and Caspian seas. Russian warships rarely venture more than a few hundred miles from their home ports. 

But the ships don’t have to sail far in order to give a major boost to Russian military operations. In early 2014 Russian ships quickly cut off and wiped out the Ukrainian navy in the Black Sea as part of Moscow’s invasion of Crimea. 

The short range of Russian warships helps to explain why Putin was keen to intervene in Syria starting in late 2015. As part of the intervention on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Putin’s fleet gained access to Russia’s only ports on the Mediterranean Sea, giving Russian ships their only direct access to southern Europe’s maritime borders. 

In October 2015, Russian corvettes sailing on the Caspian Sea fired 26 Kalibr missiles at targets in Syria, more than a thousand miles away. It was the combat debut for the 30-foot-long, precision-guided munition. “This is Russia demonstrating on a global stage that it has a lot of reach,” one U.S. military official said of the missile strike.

Corvettes armed with Kalibrs “can form a small fleet that would be able to come close to an enemy, deliver a missile strike and immediately leave the area,” Russian state media noted.

The Kalibr, a rough analogue to the U.S. Navy’s own Tomahawk cruise missile, is central to Moscow’s efforts to build a fleet of small but powerful warships. “Why build a huge surface combatant with all the complexity and expense that entails?” Ballantyne asked rhetorically. “You can churn out smaller vessels with Kalibr missiles and then distribute them to your crucial spheres of interest.”

Russian naval modernization efforts are only just beginning, following years of inadequate funding and industrial dysfunction. “We will continue taking measures aimed at strengthening and developing the fleet, making it better equipped,” Putin said.

As the Russian fleet rebuilds, small ships with big missiles will probably become an even more significant part of the overall force. With a single corvette costing just $30 million, “it’s easy to keep shipyards full of corvette and light frigate orders,” Kofman said. - The Daily Beast

PL news : Jurgen Klopp considering surprise start for Xherdan Shaqiri in season opener

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is considering starting Xherdan Shaqiri against West Ham next weekend after his impressive performances in pre-season, according to the Liverpool Echo, cited by the Daily Express.

Since joining the Reds from Stoke City this summer in a fee worth in the region of £13 million, the Swiss international has caught the eye of his new boss Klopp and despite being signed as a squad player, the 26-year-old could be in line for a surprise start against the Hammers.
The former Inter Milan and Bayern Munich star scored a phenomenal overhead kick against rivals Manchester United on his debut in pre-season in what turned out to be a convincing 4-1 victory.

And despite having a formidable front three of Mohammed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, reports are suggesting that Shaqiri could be used by Klopp in a deeper midfield role in their curtain-raiser.

Liverpool are set to get their Premier League campaign underway against the Hammers at Anfield next Sunday. - Read Sport

Transfer news : Alvaro Morata set on Chelsea stay

 Morata has brushed off lingering transfer rumours to confirm he is staying at Chelsea.

The former Real Madrid and Juventus striker has been continually linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge after an unconvincing first season in the Premier League.

He netted just one top-flight goal after the turn of the year and was subsequently left out of Spain's World Cup squad.

Gonzalo Higuain, who joined AC Milan on Thursday, revealed Maurizio Sarri was keen on taking him to Chelsea, but Morata's prominent role in pre-season suggests he still has a part to play.

The 25-year-old told The Mirror: "On the first day of pre-season I spoke to [Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia] and with the manager and I said: 'I want to stay at Chelsea.'

"They told me: 'We have a lot of confidence in you and we want you to stay too.' So everything was perfect.

"All the people said I wanted to leave, that I was not happy in London, but it's not true. Now I have taken another house, a bigger one, near to Cobham.

"My wife is very happy. When everyone is talking about the possibility to leave I am here looking for a house. So the story is finished and I can't wait for Sunday's game [against Manchester City]."

Chelsea meet champions City in the Community Shield at Wembley before their league campaign commences with a trip to Huddersfield Town next weekend. - Goal

PL news :Arsenal defender Kolasinac faces lengthy injury absence

Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac will be sidelined for up to 10 weeks with a knee injury sustained in Wednesday's friendly win over Chelsea.

The left-back was withdrawn 20 minutes from full-time in Dublin and is expected to be unavailable until October.

He could miss as many as eight Premier League games and two Europa League fixtures, with the Gunners setting a minimum recovery timeframe of eight weeks.

A short note on their official website regarding his health reads: "Sustained an injury to his left knee. Will be out for 8-10 weeks."

Kolasinac's setback comes just over a week out from the club's season opener at home to Manchester City on August 12.

Having signed for the club on a Bosman deal from Schalke last summer, he made an impressive start to life at the Emirates Stadium, playing regularly in the first half of the season before becoming more peripheral after an ankle injury sustained on New Year's Eve against West Brom.

In total, he has featured 36 times for the Gunners, scoring five goals and creating four more.

Aaron Ramsey is expected to return to training in the week leading up to that match after missing the Chelsea clash with tightness in his right calf.

Arsenal claim victory over Chelsea in midweek thanks to a 6-5 penalty shootout victory, which came after Alexandre Lacazette pinched a last-second goal for them in normal time.

Unai Emery's side complete their pre-season preparations with a friendly against Lazio at the Emirates on Saturday. - Goal

2019: ADP urges landlords to quit tenants without PVCs

Chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP)in Edo State, Mr. George Oloruntobi, has told landlords in the state to issue quit notice tenants without permanent voter cards.

Oloruntobi said voting during election was a civic duty every adult must endeavour to participate in as part of electoral processes.

Addressing party supporters at Uselu, Egor local government area, Oloruntobi said many Nigerians in the northern part of the country including beggars have collected their PVCs.

The Edo APD chairman noted that the northerners were more politically enlightened than the people of the South.

He also urged Southerners to marry more wives and have more children to stop the North from having dominance in terms of highest number of voters during election.

According to him, “We should endeavour to marry more wives in case of future elections. In the South, we say marry one wife and have four children but in the North, they marry many wives and have plenty children.

“We should change our attitude towards having small families, we should get more children so that the North cannot continue to lord over the southerners. Those of you who are youths should get marry and have children as well.” - The Nation

Three university students killed colleague over phone

Three university students- one from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the other two from the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai in Niger State have been arraigned before a Minna Senior Magistrate’s Court for alleged murder.

The suspects were arrested on July 23, 2018, for allegedly causing the death of another 300-level student, Sanusi Mubarak.

They were docked on Thursday before Senior Magistrate Fatai Auna on a two-count charge of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide contrary to section 97, and 221 of the penal code law.

Narrating the incident, the prosecution told the court that the deceased Sanusi Mubarak was beaten to death by the suspects after he was alleged to have stolen a HTC android telephone handset that cost N32,000, belonging to one of the accused persons.

According to the prosecution, “The accused persons picked up the deceased from Etsu-Iko hostel and took him to Cheche village where he was illegally detained.

“During the detention, the deceased was beaten to stupor before being put in a toilet where he lost consciousness.

“He, however, died on his way to the hospital after the trio later tried to help him regain consciousness.”

The case, according to the prosecution, was reported at the Lapai Division of the Niger State Police Command by the Chief Security Officer of the IBBUL, Captain Aliyu Mohammed (rtd), leading to the arrest of the accused persons.

Senior Magistrate Auna, in a ruling said he had no jurisdiction to entertain the case and therefore advised the prosecution to duplicate the case file and forward one copy to the Ministry of Justice for legal advice.

Auna also directed the counsel to the accused persons to apply in writing for the bail of the suspects and directed that they should be remanded in prison custody till September 4, 2018. 

Why Nigeria is only African country with polio burden – UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has revealed why Nigeria is the only african counry with polio burden.

According to UNICEF, religious beliefs and ignorance were the major factors responsible for Nigeria’s status as Africa’s only country with high polio cases.

This was disclosed during an engagement with media practitioners in Yola, organised by UNICEF and the Adamawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency (PHCDA).

In a presentation on a ‘paradigm shift in media engagement on oral polio vaccines administration’, Dr. Amos Ujulu of PHCDA noted that ignorance, misconception and beliefs were among the factors affecting the eradication polio in Nigeria.

Explaining further, Ujulu said “Nigeria is the only country where polio is still raging on the continent of Africa”, adding that “only three out of 10 children have been immunized in Adamawa State”.

Speaking further, he gave the background of the National Immunization Coverage Survey, NICS, stating that low coverage was recorded due to ignorance.

“In Adamawa State, the coverage was 59 percent, but we are targeting additional 29 percent before the end of the year,” he said.