 For a few years now, the city of Port Harcourt in River State has been dealing with a suit problem. We'll be looking at the cause and possible health effects this could have on residents in Port Harcourt. Nigerians want a better government, but are we ready to work for it? Reviewing how turn out a voter's registration and collection of PVC in Iqiti and Oshun state. We want to know if Nigerians are ready to work the talk. And don't forget, we will be looking through and reviewing the big stories on our papers this morning. With that, we say good morning and thanks for joining us on the breakfast here on PLOS TV Africa. It's a brand new day and I'm excited about the conversations we're having this morning. I am Osaugi Obama. And I am Merciable for a beautiful morning to you. Absolutely. We of course will be looking at two major issues this morning. First of all in River State where there's an ongoing problem that has gone on for about five years now and that is the presence in the sky of a black suit. If you know any residents in Port Harcourt, you must have heard about this problem for a very, very long time. It doesn't seem like much is changing. The River State government still hasn't been able to do anything or solve that particular issue. We're going to be taking a closer look at it this morning and also seeing some of the health challenges that are possible as a result of inhaling constant black suit. And also we're going to be looking at the registration of voters as INEC prepares for the 2023 general elections. How far and how well has the Independent National Electoral Commission done? And of course Nigerian citizens, how much more interest and how much more effort needs to be put in to get in people registered and ready for the elections. But before that our top trend in the story is this morning. For everyone who has been social media active, you must have heard the Nigerian government has finally lifted the ban on Twitter. This happened late yesterday evening in an announcement by the Nigerian government. And of course it's stated that as from the 13th of January 2022, the ban will be lifted sometime around midnight yesterday even if some service providers slept off and didn't get the memo on time but they eventually woke up sometime late at night and then realized that they were meant to lift the ban. But the important thing is that the ban has been lifted. This was for about 214 or 215 days that the ban was placed by the Nigerian government. And of course this has gotten a lot of reactions from the Nigerian people which are pretty much the same. You know a lot of people have argued that we just achieved absolutely nothing. This was really just because somebody's ego was bruised in the slightest way. And funny enough it wasn't an ego bruising thing, it was a person who felt that his ego was bruised because it was simply a very very typical thing done by Twitter that they've done to, you know, that they do all the time. But the person decided that this is a bruise on my ego and I would not let this slide and so I'm canceling it for everybody. If I can't have it, nobody should have it. And then eventually this continued Nigerians eventually moved and started using virtual private networks. You know put a lot of strain on their batteries and what not. So that actually happened to me because I constantly wondered why, you know, the battery was running. Well I did it because I'm a responsible citizen. You did? My president said no to it and so I stayed off. You stayed off Twitter? Yes. But I would actually say I didn't stay off Twitter. I mean I'm sorry. I didn't actually. I didn't change anything and that's the point. It did. You know what I'm saying, the ban, it did affect a lot of businesses. Billions and billions and billions of Naira were lost to Nigerian businesses and of course the Nigerian economy because of this ban. But did it really, you know, change anything with regards to Nigerian government's reason for banning, you know, for shutting down the app or suspending the app? Absolutely. Absolutely nothing. It's pretty much the same thing with the closure of the border. We really haven't achieved that. You know, because at the end of the day you actually say, what's the essence of, you know, putting out that ban? So if you say you're putting up the ban, will we come in up with something else? What exactly were we hoping to achieve at the end of the day? Absolutely nothing. So it was just, like you said, I mean very correct. It just felt like someone felt not very comfortable with the whatever was going on and then of course I should actually put up that. But it's really, really bad because it's a means, a medium where a lot of people have to actually express themselves. I mean, put out their thoughts and all of that and government actually came through that very, very hot. And yes, it was in that space. I mean, I had to stay up till about 12 because it was supposed to be midnight. And then I really didn't understand that, you know, you had to do with service providers who didn't allow, you know, that to happen. But before now, you also, yeah, you also remember that before this time we also had 100 days, I think there was a time where the president, within last year, there was also a time before this time, where we said that, you know, the Twitter ban had been lifted. Nothing really, really, really happened. It was during one of those speeches. I can't remember one of those presentations by the president. So there's that perspective where 7 providers in Nigeria also, you know, got called out for simply going ahead with a government's suspension of Twitter without challenging it in court, because it was seemingly an illegal order, you know, that they could have challenged the court that they did it. They chose not to. There's that, you know, angle that people have mentioned. There's also the part where people have mentioned how much was lost to businesses and the likes across the country. And also, you know, the question that I asked earlier, what exactly did we really achieve from the ban on Twitter? And also, this really is a stereotypical, you know, way that the stereotype, you know, a manner that the current Nigeria government adds. It seems, and it's not even that it seems that it's pretty obvious, that they have zero tolerance for criticism, zero tolerance for opposing voices, zero tolerance for anybody who thinks different from what they think, zero tolerance for anything that embarrasses them. And so they take whatever steps that are necessary to, you know, shut down, you know, dissenting voices. If you remember in previous administration, Gullah Jonathan, there's no type of name, there's no type of insult, there's no type of allegation, there's no type of story that wasn't put on social media back then. And he did absolutely nothing because he understood that it was, you know, the right of every Nigerian to express themselves. And if they're upset, then, you know, they would express themselves and they would express their anger. There's also laws that have been put in place, you know, to control the, you know, illegal use of social media or, you know, to control the use of social media, that we haven't ever taken advantage of those laws or those, you know, acts that have been put in place. The Nigeria government simply went on to suspend the app. Yeah, because if you talk about the issue of libel, slander and what have you, the constitution also makes provision for that. So we constantly are in the situation where we say, oh, there's fake news, there's slander, there's what have you. But if you also say it in our laws, the laws have also made provision for that. So why do we have to, so why don't you stay on with the laws and then act on it? Now, on the other hand, a lot of people have said, there's this narrative that's going on, we just have how many more days we're counting to the 2023 elections. Of course, we've already seen some persons who have started making interest. I mean, declaration of interest, intention for becoming president. And very paramount is that of the APC. And some people are saying that it's just a few-day city elections. I mean, not necessarily a few days, one or two or three, but it's very close. And this is it because government feels like you have Twitter. Twitter has been used as a means to communicate across globe. I mean, it's such a platform that you can put out, you know, market yourself, market your strategy, whatever it is that you have. And so everyone is actually looking out from that very, very particular post from the president. You know, nine out of ten people will tell you that's very likely the reason, you know, that it finally has been lifted because they need to use the app. But what other time? I mean, what's the rationale behind the lifting of the ban at this point in time? Well, the Andrea government says that it has agreed to their terms and conditions. What terms? Are we in the know? Give them back and access so that they can delete a person's tweet and whatnot. There's a couple of things that they stated. But Twitter's statement, you know, that, you know, was put up by the Twitter policy account, said absolutely nothing about any agreement with the Nigerian government. It simply said Nigeria has finally lifted the ban on Twitter. You know, Twitter is a really good app in Nigeria, something like a pretty short, simple statement and kept it moving. So it doesn't seem like there was any agreement or there was anything in particular that was reached with Twitter because in the first place, there really wasn't any reason for any of all that. But that's where we are currently with that. And so everyone is free to communicate on the app currently. We'll move away from that and move to Abia State where there was a very shocking, and there's an embarrassing video of the governor of the state, OK, Zeke Bazou, on a radio interview when he was asked about some infrastructure projects that he had, you know, committed to doing in the state. One of them was a particular flyover. I think we have a clip of that to share with you. I'm not sure if we can share that clip with you, but if we do, the producers will quickly get that clip playing. But in his response, the governor of Abia State was simply saying there you have it. It's in the IBO dialect, so, you know, for our listeners who are not IBO, he was simply in response to the question concerning the particular flyover. He was, you know, mocking the people of the state and saying, you know, that he was the one who said he was going to construct a flyover. Why did they stop him over a flyover? And, you know, is it people that don't have cash that are asking him about flyover, making some very, very derogatory statements like that, that I can somebody without can be asking him about flyover in Abia State. But this basically paints a picture of what, for me, of the level of accountability that the state governors believe that they owe citizens and they owe media organizations and they owe on-air personalities. Because in Sena Climes, this would never happen. And we're also going to share with you, if the video is good, can we play it? Do we ever go ahead to play the clip? I think we can play it for you. But there's also something that we're going to share with you this morning. You know, side-by-side with the Abia State governor asking, you know, if people in Abia State that don't have cash, why are they asking him for a flyover? We're going to play something for you by the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden. This came out in the year 2020 and went very viral. She was basically detailing the things that she had been able to achieve in her government in the one or two years that she had been in power. So let's quickly share that with you. So you see a clear difference of a person who understands accountability to citizens. We can run through the last two years in two minutes. So here's some key headline achievements, not everything, but I'm going to see whether or not I can at least get some of it. So, start the clock. We've created 92,000 jobs. We've built more than 2,200 state houses. We've banned offshore speculators. We've planted 140 million trees. We've got better cancer care through radiation machines, pharmaic funding, and created a central cancer agency. We've delivered cheaper doctors' visits for over half a million people. We're taking mental health seriously with mental health advisers and GPs and doctors' clinics across the country. We've increased minimum wage to $17.70. We've hired 2,000 more doctors and nurses. We're building more classrooms and schools for 100,000 students. We've brought unemployment to the lowest rate in 11 years. We've got the highest increase in wages in a decade. We've helped 1 million Kiwis pay their bills with their winter energy payment. We've boosted incomes for 384,000 families through the Families Package. We've increased school funding so parents don't have to pay school donations and NCEA fees. We're breaking the cycle of family and sexual violence in funding. We've deployed 1,607 new police officers. We've made state highways safer. We've banned single-use plastic bags. We've started the cleanup job on our rivers and lakes through planting trees and fencing waterways. We've supported young people into training and apprenticeships. We've introduced a free lunches and schools program. We've provided more funding for addiction treatment beds and services. We're paying teachers, nurses and police officers more. We've resumed contributions to the Superfund. We've set standards for rental homes. We've extended paid parental leave. We've ramped up the research, development and tax incentives. We're helping homeless individuals into homes through housing first. We've banned military-style semi-automatic and assault rifles. We've introduced a zero-carbon bill. We've started fixing rundown hospitals. We've invested in public transport, extended nurses and schools to cover desal 4 and 5 secondary schools for almost 30,000 extra students. We've passed the Child Poverty Reduction Act and have lifted between 50 and 70,000 children out of poverty. We've provided the first funding increase in 10 years to early childhood education. We've banned smoking in cars with children. So those are two minutes, about seven seconds there. New Zealand Prime Minister. You know, I'm standing for me. I'm standing for me's the fact that she didn't have to do a script. Absolutely. She didn't have to do a script. She didn't have to read from any paper. So it came out, you know, from her. So two things. And for me, this is what that says. And once again, that video went viral in 2020, I believe, or 2019. What that says to me is a person who understands every single detail of what her government is doing. There's no question that you would ask her that she's not aware of. And then second, a person who understands the accountability she has to the people who put her in power. The governor of Abia State does not understand that. No. Apart from the governor of Abia State, I mean, that's just one. Because let's even assume that we have an opportunity where we have, you know, the governors of the 36 States come through, I mean, come out for an interview. Right. It will just be almost the same thing. So this is just one experience out of so many that we have not had the privilege to have. That's what it is. But I'm really saddened when I saw that particular post. And the dialect, of course, is Igbo. You have to get a translator, especially if you don't understand. It's so embarrassing because primarily the responsibility of government is that they provide basic infrastructure. Apart from security, you care for the people, the welfare of the people. And it includes provision of basic infrastructure. And you talk about public goods. Public goods are those goods that, you know, responsibility, totally the responsibility of government because of the, you know, the amount of money is involved at the end of the day. I mean, it's not expected and how sensitive it could be. So it cannot be allowed in the hands of private individuals. And so government has to take care of all of that. So I started asking myself, do these people understand what governance is about when they go out to campaign for the votes and ask to be elected? Do they understand what they are getting themselves into? That's why, you know, it's so funny that you find a governor constructing a road and then people begin to begin to applaud him. There's a little congratulation on them. They begin to say, it's like you have a parent. They're just basic things that should come to you just as a fact of just being a father and a mother to a child. I shouldn't be crying for food. I shouldn't be asking for shelter up to a particular age. So these are basic things, your necessity. You should do them. It is not rocket science. We shouldn't be applauding you for constructing a road and having a flyover. And as basic as that, the government of Abia State still doesn't understand that even as basic as something called a flyover, basic, it's like water. He still doesn't understand that he needs to even explain to the people why that has failed, as basic as that. So what happens if you ask him about health care? What if you ask him about maternal mortality? You know the funny thing about all of this is that a project that was flagged of in 2017, it brings us back to the issue of abandoned project. At the time we had a report that about 56,000 projects have been abandoned in Nigeria, which I mean, we're looking at 12 trillion error. The entire country. Because you have a project in 2017, and this is 2022, we're talking about, or 2021. And someone is asking you what's going on with that project because that project has been budgeted for. The contract has been awarded. Taxpayers' money has actually gone through. And then you think you should not answer questions. And I am really, really sad. But I'm hoping that 2023 will be a time that we wake up. We wake up to the reality of holding our leaders accountable. I'm so, I was totally embarrassed. I felt very ashamed. And I'm asking myself, are we even making progress in a democracy as this? Well, I don't know if we'll be there in 2023. But the idea for me is to ensure that these questions continue to be asked. Because I had a conversation yesterday and I was saying that one of the reasons a governor would get to a radio station like that and give that type of very, very disgraceful response to a question on the most basic thing that his government should have done in six months is because the media organizations themselves would succumb to the presence of a governor because they want him to keep coming. Because a lot of these organizations in some way do not want to put pressure on the governor in his state. And we've seen that happen so many, many times. In certain states where the governor pays radio and television stations monthly stipends to keep them going because of the economy. And so when a governor decides out of four years that one time he will grant you an interview, you can't poke him too hard. You ask him the question when he answers as disgraceful as that, you laugh with him and then interview is over. So there's a lot of work that needs to be done in accountability from the media space, the civil society organizations and then they electorate themselves. Too much work needs to be done. So that person who are trying to get into office understand the level of accountability that you have to the people and they would not dare fail. If you saw the video of the British prime minister that's been all over Twitter where he was completely disgraced for attending a party in 2020. That's the level that their society has got into. But we are still asking Governor Okezepas with half hour of flyover. And he's saying that... He's saying you that don't have calories asking me about flyover. That's his response. I mean things that should come by the virtue of you by the fact that you are a citizen but the fact that you pay your taxes these are things that should come through for you. It's embarrassing. Those are of course our top trending stories. Of course there's also an Instagram skit maker who was arrested by the NDLEA yesterday that got a lot of people talking. I'm not sure if we have time to quickly run through that. His name, popular name is the general. The key points with regards to this particular story are the fact concerning how he was arrested. And of course it's reported that they broke into his house sometime around midnight or even later than midnight on a seeming search operation. It's not clear if they came in with a search warrant or not but in that encounter it also showed that he was physically abused by some of these NDLEA officers. Yes there's a picture of that but it's some other thing that you would also notice the charge and the things that he was found with. The NDLEA put out a statement saying that they had intelligence reports of drug dealers and drug peddlers in a certain location. They chased them. It seems like they run into this particular person's house and so they followed them into that house and all of that. But in that encounter he was physically abused mostly because Nigerian security agencies do not understand the rights of the citizen in any way. And so he was eventually arrested and mock shots that we just shared with you showed that according to the NDLEA some of the things that they found were the drug, tramadol and also marijuana. But looking at the, understand that possession is a crime in Nigeria along with the selling and peddling. But 15 grams of tramadol is a bit embarrassing to be arrested with. And also the 14 grams of marijuana. Well in all of this the question is is it possible that we have our security personnel carrying out a duty in a civil manner as long as I was just sharing my experience with you yesterday where I encountered first hand. Not like I haven't seen but this was really traumatizing for me because the police officer had to you know put out some shoots. I mean he cocked his gun and then he was shooting. It was so scary at very close range. And one of the things I was trying to draw his attention to at the time where he was very calm was we understand that you're carrying out your duty but you don't, you have to do it. I mean the fact that you put out that, you shot, you were going to shoot at someone. The only reason for me I thought he didn't shoot, that happened in Lekhi, you know somewhere in Lekhi. And the only reason that didn't happen is because I think he had too many witnesses. There were too many persons there including myself. And it was really, I can't even forget the experience because I was just wondering too much. Yes it was. So the challenge with you know the idea of respecting the rights of a citizen you know by security agents in Nigeria is something that might go on forever and I talk about it forever. They would never understand it because they themselves do not even understand the laws or understand the value of the Nigerian life. And I've said it to you, I believe, that the Nigerian police itself which eventually has now transformed into the NDLEA, the FCC and every other security agency in the country, it seems like they are a cancer in the system. You cannot fix the disrespect for the rights of the Nigerian by sacking one or two officers. There's so much work that needs to be done. Why are they so angry? They're very angry and very bitter. Very, very angry. I mean I could see the anger and angry. He was so angry. He was too angry. And I'm asking myself why are you so angry? What's going on? And he really shot the gun. He was going to shoot it at this young man but he shot it finally in the air a little bit, you know, just a little bit like this at close range. I'm hoping that we can do better because we can't continue like this and expect a different society. Yeah, we need to go. No one is stopping the NDLEA from doing his work but security agencies across Nigeria need to be more professional and there's no excuse for moving around with hard drugs in Nigeria. If you are arrested or if you are found, you will be arrested. Those are our top trending stories. We'll take a short break and when we come back, off the press what stories I'm making headlines this morning. We share with you.