 Welcome back to The Breakfast and good morning once again. It's time for Off the Press where we have a quick review of the major stories making headlines across Nigeria today. Kicking off this morning with the punch in the newspapers and it's going to be on your screen in a few seconds. There's something there on Nigeria's debt profile currently a little scary. Yes, it says debt rises by 20.8 trillion Naira on the Buhari, servicing gulps 10.26 trillion Naira. Federal government owes 26.9 trillion, state FCT owes 6.01 trillion Naira. Debt revenue ratio shows danger, says experts. And of course the federal government's borrowing not transparent, its purpose not known, says economists. Also on the punch this morning, Nigeria's house on fire, where under attack, says Bajabya Mila. And the Red Cross blames over loading as Buhari mourns 150 persons who drowned in KB state. That's such a sad story. Federal government expects first oil from new marginal fields by 2022 and experts fault Naira devaluation, say prices will rise and poverty deepen. Buhari didn't consult widely on judiciary autonomy and order 10 is 40 and that is from the Nigerian Governors Forum. Nigerians present divergent views as constitutional panel holds hearing. Also on the punch this morning, Iqiti orders probe as 100 students are hospitalized after fumigation. Contribution pension assets rise to 12.4 trillion Naira, says PENCOM. And federal government plans 1 trillion Naira, 17 smart schools and 1.2 trillion Naira model institutions. Finally this morning, Masari falls presidency, backs governors, says open grazing on Islamic. Well, Buba Mara is saying here, if cannabis is legalized, Nigeria is becoming a den of junkies and criminals. Alright, let's turn to the Nigerian Tribune. At Zonal Hearing on Constitutional Review, returned to 1963 constitution, state police fiscal federalism dominates. Accountant general makes you turn, says 4.2 million pounds Iburi loot still being awaited. Naira trades for 493 Naira per dollar at the parallel market. That's almost 500 Naira at the parallel market. FG states FCT to get $750 million World Bank grants for two years. Each state gets $20 million, FG FCT $15 million each. Affirm Thursday, appointments, promotion and remuneration of judges in Nigeria the need for change. Justice and Sports Minister says NYC won't be scrapped. Air Refuge Sacks 19 political appointees. Buhari says insecurity affecting his development plans. Lawan Badabi Amila Sultan Oni, others expressed concern over growing insecurity. Buhari's executive order 10 on judicial autonomy on necessary ill advice, that's according to the NGF. Immigration lands over 100 students in hospital in AKT. Over 100 missing, 22 rescued, 5 dead in Kebi Boat Tragedy. NIS two profile herdsmen entering through the country, who the Niger-Nigeria-Nijee border. Lastly on the Nigerian Tribune, Gonmin Attack Police Patrol Van, Q1 officer in Delta State. The Daily Independent, up next, it says there, states disagree on state police restructuring and state creation. Somolu wants fiscal federalism, special status for Lagos. Nigeria needs a new constitution, not amendments, and that's from the Delta State Governor, Okowa. And we can also see here, Kiritu Lusain, a review should address regional agitations. Afeba Balala says a constitution review will be a futile exercise. All right, 160 feared dead as boat cap sizes in Kebi. Reps someone Malami over unrecovered $60 billion, discover loopholes in EFCC reports. And also President Buhari blames international borders for insecurity in Nigeria. Peace is expensive, but insecurity costs more, says the Chief of Defence staff. And Governor Orofi sacks 19 political appointees to cut costs. I hope that includes the door opener for the door opener. That was a funny video. That was sacked. Major crisis imminent, Okotia warns. And fear grips Kubua residents as gunmen strike again, kidnapped too. Lastly, office holders paying lip service to insecurity, says Saltan. And the final newspaper here, The Nation. It reads constitution, state police, power devolution, top talks. Lagos six special status, Afeba Balala calls for 1963 constitution. Southeast says give us more states. Nigeria Delta converses fiscal federalism. Above the headline of the nation newspaper, Saltan laments in action on security plans. Don't politicians count on? He says politicians can't go home. Scores feared killed in Kebi ferry incidents. The president said he's sad. Naira crashes to 493 Naira to a dollar in parallel market. 100 Okiti students hospitalized after inhaling chemical. Also in the nation newspaper, Elrify sacks 19 aids. UNAU Ekoas express concern over Mali as presidents and prime minister resign. The nation newspaper also has the stories. Buhari not against open grazing ban says presidency. Okay, that sounds like a contradiction to the earlier stance of the president. And presidents fears about state police. Why NYC should not be scrapped by federal government? Bread price to go up. Those are the stories we're looking at on the nation newspaper this morning. Alright, just before our guest joins us, we can just quickly also share our thoughts on some of these ones. The first one there, of course, on the Poncha Shed, you know, debt rises by 20.8 trillion Naira on the Buhari. It says servicing gulps 10.26 trillion Naira. And multiple times we've also spoken about, you know, the Nigeria's debt, you know, and, you know, why it's a problem. You know, because every year, you know, we have to create some space to pay back those funds in our budget. And it's taken out some of the money that we should use for, you know, better things, you know, and fix in the country. If we continue to service debt and the percentage of our, you know, a budget that goes into debt servicing continues to rise every year. You know, analysts have also said that there's nothing wrong with borrowing. It's not a crime to borrow. Bigger countries, you know, than Nigeria still borrow. The United States is owing billions and billions of dollars. I'm not sure who they're owing. But it is what exactly you use these funds for. And can these funds and the utilization of these funds eventually roll over and pay back, you know, the funds that were borrowed? If not, then you're putting yourself into more and more trouble. So the question, of course, that I believe Nigeria should be asking is, what have these funds been used for? If we are owing trillions of Naira, what were these funds put into, you know, on the federal level, on the state level also? If states are owing as much as six trillion Naira, what were these funds used for? In what ways have these funds become, you know, what projects have you seen? Is it in healthcare, in infrastructure, roads, bridges, and everything, you know, that is possible, you know, that you can point to? Where exactly have these funds gone into? And so it is a legitimate question that Nigerians need to ask. By the time this administration leaves power, if we're going to be in 30 trillion Naira, 23 trillion, 40 trillion Naira debt, what will the administration boast of, that these monies were borrowed for? In just eight years, what will be those things that we can point out and say, oh, you know, these are the things that we achieved with the amount of money that we borrowed. Now we have, you know, 70% better infrastructure than we had before. Now we have trains running across the country. Now we have better roads. Now we have, you know, bridges and all of that. But if we can't boast of some of all these things, then it should be frightening for Nigerians. And they are legitimate questions once again. Our senior news editor, Kairi Eladende joining us this morning. Thanks for joining us. Good morning, sir. Good morning. Good morning. All right. Good morning. Yes. We've taken a look at the papers this morning. And the current story has been of the Constitution Review. Just how states basically disagree on state policing on restructuring state creation. We know that South is sustained in one more state. You know, there's just so much anger coming from here. How do you interpret the stories regarding the Constitution Review? Okay, let me start by saying that there's absolutely nothing new in what has been debated. Every four years, this has been the ritual. When I make it a defense, this time is how speedy and how fast they can get this thing signed up for the president to give his assets. So that we are not put in that conundrum of, oh, the time is gone. The lawmakers are on recess and we end up going the same circle every four years. Now, this is very critical. And for a lot of people who believe that it's still window dressing. It's still form of symptomatic treatment rather than going to the root of the issue. What do I mean by the root of the issue? A new constitution, a new constitution that will not only seek to address the advantages for the governor. Because the governors are for devolution of powers. They want more powers. They want more revenue into their forces. But that's not the whole idea of restructuring. When we talk about restructuring, we're talking beyond the governor's having more power. We want powers to the people. We want people to hold the government closest to them to accountability. Because it's not about the governor's having more powers coming from the center. But the governor should also devolve power to the third chair of government, which is the local government. So the state policing is a lovely idea. We hope it will not be abused. Even though there will be some skirmishes where some governors will use it to, you know, which aren't their opponents. That is, that cannot be taken away. But it's much preferred than the current structure. Then the issue of one must stay for the southeast. This is also very, very important. A region cannot have seven states, like the Northwest have seven states, and the Southings have always had five states. So what does it take to make it six? However, we must also remind people that over time the state's creation has always been the executive fiat of the military president, the military head of state. Sorry, pardon my language. I don't want to use the president for a man that came in through the barrels of gum. So it is only important that it is fair. It is equitable to have one state in the southeast. Okay. One of the stories also, of course, is on the daily independent, the president blaming foreign borders for Nigeria's insecurity. Do you think that we maybe have spent too much time and that excuse may not work anymore? I don't want to fall into the trap of headline custom. We might need to go deeper to understand what the real issue is, because saying that is not only insulting to our intelligence, but it's just to let us know that there is lack of willpower by the people at the hem of affairs. So I want to treat it on the ground of thinking beyond the headline. Now, when you talk about the borders, we remember when government looked at the borders, there was some huge crime from businessmen who felt that you cut them out. Even some ECOWAS member states, you know, kicked against it that this is not part of what we signed in the ECOWAS Treaty. And there were a whole lot of things that we had some infractions on. And at the end of the day, government had to come down and do all those things. So for us, it's not enough excuse. It's for government to ensure that if you want to play the big brother's role in the sub-region, then you also need to play the big brother role by providing necessary security at your borders. You need to be firm and strict on your rules of engagement so that you don't come and make your people victims of all these genius crimes that have been perpetrated either by locals or by foreigners. Alright. But why I brought that up is because I felt we've spent almost six years with the current administration. Shouldn't that have been enough time for us to have done better with our borders? Protecting Nigeria's sovereignty and of course closing those loopholes with our borders. Yes, I totally understand your view. And that's why I said it's quite insulting for us to still be passing the buck. In every civilized crime, leaders don't give such kind of excuses. They need it in the bud. They protect their citizens. That's their primary responsibility. You need to give us security. You need to give us welfare. And this can never be mudged, even though some of us may not agree with the way the constitution was written and how it was written, but that particular sentence is something that we will stand with. And that is the protection of, it must provide the security and welfare for the citizens. So I totally agree with you. Let the government do the needful. If it's going to cost us some economic gains, then we need to be alive for us to even have food. And looking at the story we've seen on all papers this morning about the Naira trading for almost 500 Naira to a dollar at the parallel market, how do you think this would basically affect the prices of things locally, especially when they're imported? It's quite disturbing and it's something that we had expected. And it appears we're doing little. We're working towards addressing these issues. You remember the time of putting so much attention on local rise when we're paying attention on local manufacturing, but it appears that it has simmered down, things are beginning to go back to what it used to be, and until we prioritize the issue of local production, this will continue. I remember one article, I don't know whether you came across it. When someone was doing the analysis that it's not about the exchange rate, it's about the worth of the Naira and the worth of these dollars. That what can $10 due to you, what can 10, I mean the worth of it in Naira due to you. Someone was saying that this amount cannot get you accommodation, this cannot do you this. I think it's something for us to look at. And we may lose our breath, we may lose our senses if we continue with this exchange rate, because let any government come in and promise us it will turn to one Naira to one dollar. It's something that I don't think will ever happen in our lifetime. I'm still talking about money. We know that this issue of the 4.2 million pounds Ibori Loots is still very controversial. They had earlier said Delta State government is not a signatory to the MOU and the Repatriation Agreement. I think it's just the issue of bureaucracy. I don't think the accountant general would come on air. I mean while he was responding to questions from lawmakers and he would say that Delta State is getting the money. So or has gotten the money. So let's not pay too much attention on semantics now. The bottom line is Delta State is having their money, whether they will have it or they don't have it. It shouldn't be... We don't want to wrap up this one without saying something quickly about the 160 lives that have been reported, lost in a boat that capsized in Kebbi. The president of course has sent a message mourning those lives. But shouldn't it be big enough for national mourning, the 160 Nigerians? I don't know why you're bringing this up. This is not something we should gloss over. This is not something we should rush. It's a topic on its own. It's something that deserves a whole lot of attention. And it underscores the kind of disrespect that we pay to the issue of lives in this country. It is not just boat capsizing. What about the kidnapping that are happening every now and then? What about people that are being wasted on our roads? It just tells us that there's so much we need to do about the way we prioritize our lives. And for me, I don't know whether Sao Kee has engaged in some water transportation. Even Lagos that should be doing very well, sometimes when I see the way the boats are, I remember my experience. I was to come from Ikorodu to the island one of those evenings. And when I saw the old arrangement, I said I would rather go by the road and spend all the hours on the road. That's to let you know that we are not yet serious. So if Lagos is still seen in that light, trust me, it doesn't be worse in many places. All right. Thank you. Always a pleasure speaking with you and hearing your perspective. Thanks for joining us this morning. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So we'll take a break here and return to this class events that happened today in history.