 You're welcome back. Right now we're going to take our final hot topic and that is the fact that federal government is set to sanction trade associations hiking food prices excessively. Those are the words. Federal government set to sanction trade associations hiking food prices excessively. And we have to discuss this with us, Mr. Frank Eliana, a technology and media news editor at Business Day. Good morning and welcome to the program, Mr. Eliana. Yeah, good morning. Always a pleasure to be here. Okay. All right. Now, they're saying there will be sanctions to trade associations hiking food prices excessively. Let me hear your thoughts on that before we go into the nitty gritty of how this is going to work. Yeah. So there are bad actors here in the market. We know that given what the situation is in the country with inflation at about 22.9%. But then it is it would be interesting to know how the government plans to go about sanctioning disguise or the measurements that they want to put in place to see who are the people that are taking advantage of the market. Because like it or not, everyone has been impacted, including the traders themselves, where they get these goods from and what they have to do or the logistics that they have to go through or pay through to get these goods to the market. So it would be interesting to know what measurements the government want to put in place to clearly identify who are the bad actors. But there's no gain saying the fact that everybody has been affected. And you will expect the prices of goods in the market will go up with a pure selling at 617 in some places and 568 in Lagos. Okay. Well, but is this where to start when you want to address the issue of inflation, you know, clamping down on the people that you think up, like the words you used were taking advantage of what is happening right now. If you take advantage, it means that there's a cost somewhere else that is giving you that kind of confidence to do what you want to do. So is this where the government should start? You're absolutely correct. We have said in the past that you don't start solving problems by trying to cut off or starting from the head. Oftentimes, that's where the government tends to start from. They want to go after those who are taking advantage of a situation that they themselves have created. Don't forget, it is not the traders that took inflation to where it is. Right now, it is the actions of the government or the inaction of this present government that has brought inflation to where it is. But then the government is looking for a scapegoat to blame for what is happening. So it wants to go after those. It feels like, oh, they're taking advantage of the situation. But then if you want to address this situation that you have created, you need to go back to the roots. What have you done wrong? How do you do that? And what are you admitting that there are places that we haven't done well and then start correcting them? We have spoken about production levels being terribly low in agriculture. Security issues are still persistent. The government are yet to solve it. States are still suffering from kidnapping. Bandits are still running rampage. Terrorism in the northern region of Nigeria is still there. So these things have yet to be addressed, which has prevented many farmers from going to their farms and which has also by a station led to full shortages in the market. So when you don't have supply meeting with demand, what you're going to essentially find is inflation in the market. But added to the fact that subsidy was removed from petro products and then added to the fact that the NARA Floating came at the same time or almost with the petro subsidy removal. All of that has contributed to part of the pressure that we're currently feeling. NARA is selling now at above 800. The Pounce is selling at above 1,000 NARA. Those are not situations that you look at and you have the courage to go after people to say, why are you jacking up your prices knowing fully well that these people have to buy these things from the market and have to go to transportation to bring them to the market. So I think that the government is just trying to look for who to blame for the problem that it has caused in the market. Okay. Well, you have talked about problems that the government itself caused that is giving advice or that are giving advantage to the people or opportunity to the people to do what they're doing. And now the government itself is trying to clamp down on them. Help us identify some of these things that need to be addressed if they don't have to go and start from the people who are hiking the prices because of what the government has done. What are some of these things that the government needs to address so that these people will not have the opportunity again to do what they're doing? Firstly, the government has to address the issue of a foreign debt investment, which is where the whole foreign exchange issues are coming from. We don't have enough investors coming into the country and there's no way you're going to have enough investors coming into the market when the enabling environment is very stifling. Businesses are still suffering from the problems that they suffer many years ago. Taxes are very high. Electricity is practically non-existent. 24 hours electricity is practically non-existent. The roads are terribly bad. In Lagos currently, everywhere you turn, there's a pothole waiting for you. It's as if the state governor took a break or he's taking a break. He's doing practically nothing about the roads and that also goes to other states in the country. So infrastructure is at a very poor state and that contributes to the amount of money that people pay to take their goods from one place to another. We are also talking about issues around taxation, multiple taxation from different government agencies. These guys are not contributing anything but then they want to collect money from what you have made in business. And several things, talent is also a problem because in the shopping of talent, of course, recruitment levels will be low or the cost of talent will increase. So there are several issues to address. And then also importantly is the cost of governance that we have continuously pushed that the government should cut down on. But recently we have seen the government appointing eight, 28 different aides here and there and we're yet to even get the list of the ministers that should be in their positions as of now trying to put these things in place. We also saw the government also trying to get an 800 million loan that it calls palliative. But even then we now have also the National Assembly trying to also get a palliative for themselves of a 70 billion NARA. So when these things don't align with your developmental goals, there's no way you can address issues around inflation sustainably. So it's important that government, first of all, makes a sacrifice that it has been asking Nigerians to make so far, I haven't seen any form, any indication that the government plans to make any sacrifice. It is still running around with the seven aero planes. It has even indicated that it wants to sell anyone. And we now have many more people joining government that are going to contribute to the payroll. And one, I'm also hearing that the government wants to increase a minimum wage to 100,000 NARA, which I think is a terrible idea because you don't have the funds to do that. It is likely they are projected to want to go and borrow and keep borrowing more and more. But if they think that's going to be the palliative that's going to help the situation to reduce what they are only preparing themselves for is hyperinflation. So there are different indications that the government needs to sort out and they haven't yet done that. They're just issuing reforms here and there. And these reforms have no roots at all, so far. Yeah, I know you're not a government spokesman. We are wrapping up right now. I know you're not a government spokesman, but let's just give them the benefit of that. Why do you think that anytime it gets to a point where people are crying out that the prices of goods are going too high, the clampdown is always targeted at the lower cadre of the business wrongs of the ladder. They come back to the farmer, they want to they want to clamp down on the farmer and say that you must sell your rice for lower, you must sell your yams for lower, beans for lower, and they never talk to the big companies that actually make the mega box. Why is it always those at the lower level and not the ones at the bigger level? Is there anything that suggests that it is more difficult to sanction these other bigger players in the industry than the smaller ones? It's an important question that you ask. First of all, I don't even think that sanction is the way to go, whether you're doing it for the bigger companies or whether you're doing it for the smaller companies. Why do they always go for the smaller guys? It's perhaps because the smaller guys are easier to get. They don't put up so much resistance. They are always afraid when government comes to them. They are the least to go to court. You can't just go to say in Dangote, for instance, and say, I want to sanction you. You have to be taken to court and they've got the resources to prosecute or to go on and on and on with you. But the lower guys don't have the resources to take the government to court in that they are afraid, in that they also thinking that if they try to do something like that, government officials will clamp down on the little that they have. They are often the first to respond to such threats. That's why the government will always target them to get or to extract some of these decisions that they make. Again, I'd say it is not the best thing to do to always think about who to sanction. First of all, you have to look in words. You have to think about what have we ourselves, the government done to make this situation the way it is. If you clean up inside, it is easier for you to then start thinking about what you do outside. Because what then happens is that when people see that you're being sincere, that you're taking, that you're working the talk, what then happens is that they too start adjusting. And it's easier when you come to them and say, look, you need to stop what you're doing. You need to revert back to this. I think there is a stakeholder buying. What we are dealing with is a large distrust in the society. Nobody trusts the government because the government has not proven itself to be trusted. And when you have a situation like that, you always find yourself trying to wield the stick. But then there comes a time when you have to sit down and say, can we use a characteristic approach, trying to bring these people closer to see where does it pain them? These guys, the farmers that you're talking about, the small businesses that are talking about, they've got several pain points that they're dealing with. They've got the education of their children. They've got food, even to put on their table, their farmers. They too have to eat. They too have to also wear clothes. They too have to go to places. They have to, they have other extended family members they have to deal with. It is not always the case that they just wake up in the morning and say, we want to take advantage of the government. Something pushes them towards that position. And that's where a listening government have to come in to say, come, let us talk, let us see how we can help you get out of it or out of this quagmire. And when government does that, it becomes easier for you to extract good behavior from these guys. Oh, well, there's nothing we can do right now. We're going to wait and see what the government plans for us. But as a people, maybe we'll just call on ourselves to be patient enough for at least three months and see where it goes. We'd like to thank you so much, Mr. Eleanya, for coming on the program today and helping us. Thank you so much. Thank you. We're talking with Mr. Frank Eleanya, Technology and Media News Editor at Business Day. And this is where we hope to wrap it up on the show this morning. But before we go, usually like to do, we'll give you the quote for the day. Always think outside the box and embrace opportunities that appear wherever there might be. Those are the words of Lakshmi Mittal. That's how the show has been this morning. We're hoping that you're going to return us tomorrow Friday for another edition of the breakfast. For now, on behalf of the entire crew of the Breakfast on Plus TV Africa, my name is Nyam Ghul at GIG. Thanks for being there.