 Today on the breakfast, the federal government accuses presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Pitao B and his running mate, Dati Baba Ahmad of treason would have further conversations on the show. Also on the breakfast, the federal government secures the sum of $800 million from the World Bank under the National Social Investment Programme as part of PILOTIVE to cushion the effect of subsidy removal. Don't forget, we'll also be looking through today's newspapers and analysing the biggest stories of the day. Good morning and welcome to the breakfast in Plos TV Africa, we're reaching your life from our studios right here in Victoria Island in Lagos. My name is Messi Ibupo. Now we're almost very close to the weekend, as always we start our conversation on what's making the rounds, we call it top trending and this morning, what are Nigerians talking about or what have, we had people talk about, Nigerians have been talking about in different quarter although this is in Lagos, it's the fact that the court has actually granted Chris Lynn, it's a school, a permission to conduct an autopsy on Whitney Adedirand and yes, however it was reported, this report got a lot of people talking about the autopsy that the coroner inquest has granted, has granted the school to conduct this autopsy. Now Whitney who is a 12 year old child, I mean she's gone now, she died during the school inter-house sports in Lagos. So the magistrates, of course to spin the back and forth with the court, the magistrates granted the permission as at Tuesday because yesterday was Wednesday while ruling on the application filed by Chris Lynn school seeking leave to assess some items obtained from the cops of the disease. It's also important to note that Whitney has been buried and it's an emotional thing. Whatever the case is, you can't imagine that you have lost a 12 year old, whatever the situation is, there's nothing to write home about. So according to the report, the school said that it will enable it to consult with the independent forensic pathologist and to allow the consultant to testify accurately. So the pathologist would have to make findings before the court so he can testify. But the school told the coroner that the request was made because the representative that's the pathologist only attended the initial autopsy that was carried out by the government as an observer and did not carry out any test or dealt with any sample. So it's more like, okay, I didn't touch anything, I didn't do anything, I was just an observer. If the government did this, so you had both parties to it, that's basically what you're saying. The items ordered to be released to the applicant are the paraffin, block of the skin sample and slides from which the diagnosis of electrocution was made. Samples of the urine, blood and other body fluid collected at autopsy. The sample of bones, muscle taken from the disease for independent DNA analysis. Order items are all photographs taken during the conduct of the autopsy, copies of other working samples and documents made in the course of the autopsy and the result of all toxicology tests conducted. So the argument, I have seen the thoughts, if you go on social media, any of the social media platform, Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, there's a lot of reaction as to how would you not allow the dead to rest in peace, little we need to just have a peaceful rest. You want to exhume our body and have that autopsy conducted. Now it's far from all of that, what's going to happen is that this autopsy is going to be conducted or the fact that they have to conduct another autopsy, it's on the samples that have already collected. So the autopsy that was carried out before this time, so they still have the samples, it's the samples that they would use to conduct another autopsy. But however you look at it, it might just, those who have said that Whitney needs to rest, the family needs also to be in peace, but then of course, do the people, the school have a right to an inquiry, to, you know, for that, because part of this time there's also been, you know, judgment that's been put out, apparently there's also been the fact that the legal state government through the Ministry of Education had ordered the temporary closure of, you know, the school, Chrysler School, and they were also arranged for a couple of person, teachers and students for negligence, manslaughter, and what have you. So it just looks as if, I mean, not looks as if, but it's a case where you have an institution wanting to just get it right and say, hey, that's not the case because the original autopsy that came through or the autopsy that came through, it was an autopsy that was carried out by the government. And then you had both parties as witness observers to say that this, but then there's another argument as to, oh, I wasn't previewed to touch this and all of that, you know, touch all of that, I was just observing, I can't really say for sure. And now then you have a Corona requesting to have another autopsy, which of course, the court has actually granted fingers across. Everyone is waiting to see how the pants are bought just before that happens. The thoughts are really, you know, very saddening. Why can't the debt just rest, you know, allow Lee and me to just rest in peace and just have a great time. But because, you know, for every other time that you have a court case in court and then you have a court ruling, whatever it is, it's important that you don't preempt, you know, the judgment or just try to preempt the court and whatever it is, not looking at the merit of the case then. But the other issues that we can look at is from the inception of this conversation is that if we do the needful, I'm not sure we'll be here. So if Chrysler and as a school had done the needful and continued to look at the lapses because you don't expect to have a perfect system, but I would rather think that, you know, it's important to look at what it is that has not been done and trying to get it right. For instance, I had mentioned earlier that way back, one who grew up in Nigeria and went through the nursery and primary school, the entire educational system, I was, you know, opportune to have a fact that if you're going to have an entire sport, it's going to happen within your school premise, right? It's going to be just within the school and within the school, I'm sure that the infrastructures are 100. So but when you take, you know, activities outside of the school premise, what do you expect? But that's not an excuse. What would have been said is that if the result, because according to the result at the end of the day that came through the government autopsy, was that she died via, I mean, it was through electrocution because there was also another video that went through it where a little kid or child of school was trying to explain what had happened. She was electrocuted, how she was found. She had her tongue out, it was dark and what a view. And then the autopsy also, you know, confirmed to all of that reports. So but I think that, you know, whether or not it's crystallized right now, I think that it will be important to look at what actually led to that, what it is, despite whatever the ruling, the autopsy had said, to see how you can improve on all of these excesses. Because we call it preventives. So if there's malaria, there's some actions that you need to take to ensure that you don't have malaria. And it's called, you know, the preventives in medical science. They call it the preventive, preventive medicine. You don't have to let it happen if you act in a certain way. You can prevent the occurrence of contacting malaria. So clear the bushes around and show that you sleep, you know, in a mosquito-treated net, what a view and all of that. These are some of the issues. So organization, especially the institution, crystallized because they have been over and over and over and again in the news for the wrong reason. And I'm thinking that it would be important to pay attention, you know, to some of the lapses, whether they are true or not. Just pay attention to the issues that have been raised or the consents and try to get it right so we can protect life. Because I don't think that there will ever be any compensation for the loss of a life. So even if there's going to be closure of the school, there's going to be some sort of payment, a lot of people are going to be jailed, it cannot. As much as people will say that's some sort of justice, but that cannot equate to having to return a life. When you die, you have died and you are gone. You have no business with the living. And for a 12-year-old, first child of a family, looking at the reports of the father and the mother, I feel that it's going to be a big one for the family. Don't continue to mourn. There's nothing that's going to ever feel that vacuum. And we just think that as an institution, beyond, yes, we understand that we live in a system where capitalism is what it is. We're being driven by profit. We constantly have to make it and we'll have view. But we can also take out the fact that, hey, we're humans before we're any other thing. And so we need to pay attention to too many details, especially when it has to do with a life. It's very saddening. And I remember the last time we had this conversation was pretty teary, but of course, my emotions are in track this morning. I try not to share the tears, but I just hope that we can do better. There are too many lessons to learn from all of this, even for Chris Lan as an institution, even for every other organization and as individuals. We can also take out the fact that we're human beings. We can't lose that in the course of trying to be business peasants and make profit and profiteer from whatever it is that we're doing. We need to be careful. And everything is born out of love. Honestly, that's it. I think that the world's problem is just within the fact that if we love one another, if we love ourselves as a people, then our actions would always be 100. You don't even understand what happens when you die. Just imagine a 12-year-old, you had a 12-year-old and then they left your house. Your 12-year-old, whether I bought a girl, left your house in the morning and didn't return. The next thing you get a report that she's dead, not that she complained of any ailment. How do you even explain all of that? So yes, I grew up in a time where, yes, we had physical activities in the house, but it happened within the school premise. And then if you're going to have it externally, why don't you check the environment to ensure that it's safe for the children, the kids, because you can't even control them. These are children, these are teenagers. And really most times you don't expect that you have 100% of your judgment being fair. So we'll leave it at that. We'll just move on to the next because for the want of time. But fingers across, we just see what pants are from all of that. And we really do not. I mean, I can just only imagine how the family will be feeling right now. This can never go away, okay? So then there's serious tension as a yesterday while you and I were here talking about a lot of stuff. Tension in a sub-Delta state. And that also constituted to the crux of the matter, following the allegation of killing of a middle age businessman by a police officer after the disease reportedly refused to offer him 100 Naira, 100 Naira, 100 Naira bribed at a checkpoint. So when he died, the killing led to a serious protests in the capital city. That's in, you know, Asaba, Delta, Asaba state. Now residents of this, you know, community condemn, you know, this particular act of the police officer. And, you know, the fact that the disease was also identified as eBay, Emmanuel, Oyeka. It was shot within Asaba Metro Police. If you have visited a Delta state or Asaba, I'm sure probably can relate with it. It's a very peaceful place. It's not rowdy like Lagos. There's no drama in Asaba. It's calm, quiet. So, but that's actually what happened. The people took to the street. But it's also reported that, you know, Oyeka, the late eBay, Emmanuel, is in his early 20s, apparently 20-something, you know, nothing is me 20s, early 20s. I was said to be a phone dealer at a popular market and all of that. So I think that we do have a track to die effect. I advise that you take caution. Some of these graphics might not just be pleasant to you. Let's take, let's roll the state down. It was just a scene. So we weren't able to, you know, put out that particular video, the pro-road of shown when he was shot and maybe his lifeless body. That's actually what happened. It's really unfortunate. We remember vividly. One of the biggest movement in Nigeria that I'm not sure any of us can forget, you and I can forget, is hashtag ANSAS or the ANSAS movement. And what actually gave birth to the ANSAS movement is because of the police brutality every other time. You're not interested to know. If you want to know, just go ahead and look at what the phrase or the slogan for the Nigerian police is. Police is your friend. Check it out. I'm not even trying to patronize you this morning. So about every other time when you look at the action of the men of the Nigerian police force and you juxtapose that with what, you know, the phrase is or the slogan is, it's different. There's no correlation. It's please really our friend. Yes, we understand. I personally can tell you because I have closely worked and done a couple of reports, interviewed, have, you know, relationship with men of some of the police. I mean, police officers, whether it be it in Lagos, but, you know, all the parts of, you know, the country and we, we can really say that the, you know, the condition of living for police officers not favorable. But hey, that's cannot be an excuse. That cannot be an excuse for, you know, put on the trigger and just square in fire. How do you even do that? So there's a lot that needs to be done. Yes, the police workforce or the security agents, it's not properly taken care of. They are on the paid, they're on the funded, welfare is nothing right on about. It's not encouraging. I have seen a police station where they have to use a lantern to work. And I can't never forget that every other time in my life. There are too many things that have gone wrong, you know, with men of the Nigerian police force, we understand that you're on the paid, we understand everything. You know, if in all of this, we say that it's not enough for you to just, because you have a gun, you just cook it and then you shoot randomly. You take a life, you know, there's no remorse. There's no consideration. How do you even sleep at night? It's worrisome. And I, for one, know for sure that that's not the modus operandi for the men of the Nigerian police force. That's not the mod of conduct. That's not what it should be. If your phrase, if the slogan says police is your friend, do you know what a friend means? Really, I think we need an overhaul of the entire system. Well, it's a good thing that you have, you know, the Delta State Police Commission or the commander, particularly, saying here, this will not go unchecked. Justice will be meted. We are not going to condole. And I'm sure that the people, the Nigerian people, those in Delta State are going to follow this to the latter. And justice also needs to be meted. Now you ask yourself, how does this continue every other time? Because this will not be the first time we're reporting this case. It probably might also not be the last time we're reporting it because there's also going to be the case of police brutality over time. But then again, we come back to justice. We come back to the fact that even as a police agency, as police responsible, ensuring that lives and purposes that maintain, you know, in a civil dispensation, in a civil society, the people really get justice. What's the level of, I mean, people pay for their crime. What's going to happen? Is it just going to be swept under the carpet? Will it be made to face the, you know, the law? I mean, there will be some investigation and then, you know, justice again should be given. Now, because every time people commit crime and they don't get punished for it, it feels like there's an impunity. We constantly enthrone it and people think that they can do whatever it is that they like and get away with it without being questioned or without being made to face the law. So yes, this is a big call to the police again, once again, to rewrite, you know, her image and the impression that she has on a lot of Nigerians asked to, is this case just going to be just one case that has gone? It doesn't matter. It's just one person. And that's very important. It doesn't have to be 10 people. It doesn't have to be 100, but we're saying this one person, what exactly is going to happen? We hope that investigation will be carried out and that justice would actually be meted at the end of the day, despite whoever is involved. And this should also serve as a deterrent because I don't think that that's, you know, mode of operation that in the course of carrying out your duty, cock a gun, if you have a gun, as the police officer, the first time I've, you know, I saw gun shot live, for no reason was unlucky. And actually, you have no idea how I felt. It was really, really on unbelievable. It's something you don't even want to experience. Anything could have happened at this point in time. We need to do better as a people. Yes, the condition is not favorable, but it's not an excuse for us to act irrational. In the course of discharging our duties, especially when we have claimed that, hey, we love the system. We're patriotic. We're here to give us time and services. We have to do better as a people. We constantly have to hold ourselves accountable. And we know that we have a system. So yes, again, police brutality continues, despite the protests and, you know, all that has happened in 2020. And then there's no result. Quickly, there's also another that's of interest to a lot of Nigerians. I mean, it gets everyone talking, especially when you have former president, Ulushagon Obasanjo, put out a letter. He's known for letter writing. I remember that that's also cost, you know, the cost of, you know, schooling. So if you ever went through the fallows of Nigerian education system, you probably would have written a letter or not, whether it's a fiction or non-fiction, you'd be told to write about how you spent your holiday, even if you didn't go for a holiday, and what have you. But, you know, letter writing is one of the things that former president has been known for, especially when he's left office, he's been very vocal with letter. He put his thoughts about issues and people have different thoughts, a lot of Nigerians. So one of such is that he's asked that, you know, in the case of Ecuador Madu, he's asking that they should temper justice. The United Kingdom Court should temper justice with mercy over the Ecuador Madu's case. He's saying temper justice with mercy. He appeals to the United Kingdom Court over Ecuador Madu, his wife, and, you know, the case involving their child and organ harvesting. So yes, like I rightly mentioned, the former president, if you don't already know, Ulushagon Obasanjo has pleaded with the Central Criminal Court of England, otherwise known as the Old Bailey, to temper justice with mercy. It is also called, you know, leniency. He's appealing that there should be lenient in delivering judgment. So yes, in all of this, like I said, that the need or the essence of this letter was that mercy should be tempered in May 5th. Because in May 5th, there will be sentencing of convicted Deputy Senate President Ike Kwer Madu and his wife, Beatrice, after a six-week trial at the Old Bailey last month, or the couple had their donor, and their donor, their doctor, I beg your pardon, were convicted of organ harvesting in a ruling which was said to be the first of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act, which is, you know, it's in public domain, in that particular letter that was dated April the 4th, the president, former president, I beg your pardon, addressed it to the chief clerk of the court. He said he was saying that he's advocating for leniency for the lawmaker and his wife. He also acknowledged in the implication of the couple's action, which he described as unpleasant and very condemnable and cannot be tolerated in his sane, ossable society. I mean, wisdom, a man who's real wisdom is what you describe former president as. So he said, a treatment in which someone is punished or judged. I mean, he's acknowledged the fact that, yeah, this is what it is, but then again, we go to what the case of leniency is, a treatment of someone which is punished or judged less strongly than it should be expected and different, however, defending lawyers are asking for the leniency on this particular grounds. That letter is quite lengthy. It's a two-page letter. So you have the first page and the second page, if you haven't seen it already. For the want of time, I can't really go through the details of that letter, but in summary, what he's asking for is that, hey, Ikoromadi, Kikoromadi, his wife, the doctor, everyone is involved. What they've done is not acceptable to mankind, it's inhuman and worldview. It's condemnable, but we're asking that for the fact that, hey, he has, in terms of character, he's a jolly good fellow in terms of social relations and also in the course of Karina's duty, please, it's important that you just consider some of these issues and also look at the fact that there's a daughter that needs to be considered. But that hasn't sat well with a lot of Nigerians. That hasn't sat well. Some people think that, hey, Ikoromadi should pay for it. What it is, it is what it is. And there's no gain saying, you can't go back and forth with all of that. But yes, it's normal. This actually happens, leniency, it's always a case. People make this appeal, but it's also on your other hand for the court to pay attention to it. What I've said that Obasan just let out over time has not yielded any result. I mean, there are too many letters he's written. How effective of this result been if the Nigerian populist or the Nigerian system has not taken him seriously, do you think that the court, that's entirely not my decision, I can say. We'll just fold our hands and see how all of these pants are. But what has happened is he's making an appeal based on character and other issues and saying, hey, we're asking. Yes, what he's done is very, it's the tasteful, it's not important, but then it should go ahead. But also another on the line question, how come, is this because, does this happen to every other Nigerian? This is because he's a prominent person. He's been number three person in government at the time. He's very powerful and public, public seven. Would the former president make this commitment for a lot of Nigerians who are going through a lot in diaspora, I mean, in other cases, will this statement be put out? But you don't really put out such comment if you're not close. There has to be a close relationship with this other person. I see the thoughts of Nigerians across, but then this has been made fingers crossed. Let's see how this pants out. That's the much we can take at this point on a top trending. We will return tomorrow with more interesting conversation. Thank you so much for staying with us. Now, when we come back, is it going to be joining us this morning on Off the Press, where we look through the front pages of National Dailies and bring you up to speed with the biggest stories and great analysis. I ask that you stay tuned. Good morning.