 On the breakfast Nigerian aviation increases transportation fares, making so many Nigerians furious. Rev. Gavna Yesomuike has accused his cross river counterpart, Benayadi, and the police of attempting to prevent the People's Democratic Party from holding its rally for the Egoja Yela Federal Constituency in Aqabaio State by constituency or by election in Calabar. And as always, we'll be looking through the national dailies this beautiful morning. Rev. Gavna Good morning to you. It's great to have you join us on the breakfast right here on Plus TV Africa on what's a beautiful Tuesday morning. My name is Kofi Bartel. Rev. Gavna And I am Mesa Bokwos. Good to be back on your screen. Rev. Gavna Yes indeed. And of course we're back. Thank you for a brand new day of conversations and analysis on the important national issues that our listeners, viewers, rather would like to hear about and also discuss as well. The issues are still the same. You know, talking about the petrol queues, it seems they're dissipating, though that's not something we're looking at today. But the price is still high and people are paying a bit higher. But apart from what you and I buy, which is petrol, those who buy diesel have been complaining. And now, those who are buying what we call jet A1, aviation fuel, are complaining and it seems that they are going to be through the burden back to the final consumer. We'll look at that as we go on. But it's a worrying day. Are we all going to start travelling by road again in these times? We'll talk about that as we go on this morning on the breakfast. Of course, I'm looking at what's happening in Cross River State. I see that it's here to you and I, isn't it? It's always small. Anyway, let's get into our top trending stories this morning. I am ready to fight dirty Bola Metinbo. I am ready to fight dirty Bola Metinbo. That's not just the only thing he's quoted as saying over the past 24 to 48 hours. He's also quoted as saying that the young people of Nigeria, the youth of Nigeria, should wait for him to be president before they become president. I think he may have meant it as a joke, but sort of we're selling himself to the young people. Not a few Nigerians have not found it funny. He spoke in Yoruba while paying a visit to the Alaafi of Oyo. His Royal Highness, the Alaafi of Oyo. And he told the young people gathered there that they should make a way, clear the road for the elders to pass. After they are gone, he's gone, they can now come in to be president. He said that jokingly, but some people have said that Bola Metinbo was a leader in his youth. In 1999, when he became governor of Liga State, that's how many years ago. That's almost 23 years ago. Yeah, that he was in his 50s or 40s, you understand. And even before that, he was a senator in the previous republic and he was young. So if he went out and he vied for such positions, why is he saying the young people should wait for him to become president before they become president? And you've had to discuss these things over and over again. But some of his supporters, those who are sympathetic to his view, say that well, he was only making a case for himself to say he would like to be president and that they should just basically selling himself. Also, that's not the only statement that he's quoted as making. Apart from visiting the Alaphio over here, he also paid a visit to the Olubadon, Designate. It has been back and forth and a bit of a tussle, but we're not having Olubadon. He will soon be being installed. And he is quoted as saying to the Olubadon, Designate, that he's ready to fight dirty. He's ready to fight dirty. And let's roll the tape. Okay, and this is no longer tape. Let's roll the tape and let's listen to the man himself as she was you. Bola Admitinobu. Oh, Admitinobu. It's not all about insults. Now that may, I'm ready to listen. And I was saying no more, I don't want to listen now. I've read somewhere in a Greek philosopher's book, who said if you want to raise up with pink, you're ready to get it. You're ready with the book. I'm ready to get it. All right, so it's quite interesting. A lot of people have picked an issue with that. Those words, I'm ready to get dirty. And they're looking at it negatively. Some are looking at it as well. He's just saying if those who are competing with him, maybe the pigs refer to them, not directly, but you know what I'm saying. It means people who are dirty in nature. So he is also ready to play their game with them. But majority of those who have been commenting think it's a negative statement. It's potents maybe underhand tactics or negative stuff during the elections or maybe even violence and all that. And some people are saying, oh, we saw M.C. Oluomo the other day saying that arranging his boys and strategizing. So he's going to be dead to you. Nigeria, you've got to get your PVC. And let's fight these dirty politicians and all that. So it's been a back and forth between those who are proteinable and those who are anti-snow. But I mean, it's trending. For instance, Renault Mokri has had a field day on Twitter talking about Tilebu playing dirty and all that, asking several questions about it. So it's not been too much of a good PR day for a few days for Bola Mettinbu. The young people now are trending answers. The young people now are linking his statements to answers and to what happened there. His name is family and the legal state government and political establishment as a whole being identified with the answers, you know, massacres if you want to call it that. So maybe his peer guys need to do a heavy page. So it's actually not very strange that that kind of politics that we get to practice you if you have heard the Machiavellian kind of theory. There you go again. No, no, but that's real. And the crux of everything is leadership stuff. Have you heard? Yes, I have. A little bit of it. And it talks about, you know, the end justifies the means. And so however you get it, it doesn't really matter as long as you get it. And so that's the kind of politics. I mean, for him to say he's getting dirty, he's ready to be dirty. It's just what it is. I'm ready to get dirty. And what does that mean? Whatever it takes to get it, I will get it. And that's it. The goal at the end of the day is getting it and not how you get it. And that is actually not new for us in our politics. In Nigerian politics. Exactly. Because we see all of that. I mean, we see the thogry. We see how these politicians and those who are aspiring would go to any length just to acquire power. It doesn't really. So there's no morality in this conversation. And it's not a new thing. But we're hoping that we gradually get to that point where there's morality. Some people will say you cannot. You can't practice politics and morality at the same time. And so yes, this kind of theory has been imbibed by some of our political, you know, what you call them, elites. They go a long way. They can do anything, whether fetish, whether. And some of these things you would, a lot of people can actually, you know, relate with them. Some would go ahead as far as having thugs and what have you to truncate the system. So it's the interest. It's what they want. And that's what it is. So it's really not new. But we need to also understand the fact that until we, the people, understand that power resides with us, that the people have the power, until we begin to, you know, kill all of the sentiment. Yes, we understand that there's a trust deficit in the system. A lot of people no longer trust the system, the electoral process. But hey, and that's why people don't come out. So all of the elections, you want to look at it from, I mean, 1999 and all of these elections that we constantly have, one of the things that has always been constant is the fact that you have political apathy. People don't like to turn up. People's participation is really, really nothing to write on about. Even with all of the buzz on social media and all of that, at the end of the day, does that translate to people turning out and showing up to vote and exercise their rights and franchise. Now, they already understand, because it's a game of numbers, if the Nigerian people understand that they show up, it would be difficult for these persons to manipulate the system and try to override the figures and what have you and steal it. So until Nigerians understand that power is in their hand and decide. Now, on the other hand, the truth is everyone has a right. Like we talked about it. I think we've actually mentioned this when we had the 102-year-old woman who is actually a second female, was declared her interest to become president of Nigeria. Some people would have said, oh, it's in different strata, different meaning. Maybe she just wanted to prove her point and what have you. But the point is the Constitution gives everyone a right. You have a right to vote and revote it for. And so as long as you are of age and talking about age now, there's no age barrier. So like, okay, so you have that age as long as you're 18. Age limits, yes. Yes, age limits. But you don't have any restrictions saying when you get to a certain age you can't contest. So no one has said if you get to 100, you get to 170. But naturally, the reason why a lot of persons have actually spoken, because if you follow the internet, I mean, if you see the boards across different space and reactions from Nigeria, you'll find that a lot of people have been very particular about it. Not necessarily that age is a bad thing. I mean, as we grow, we're going to age. All of us are going to get very old as part of life. It's the process. But the argument over time is that as you grow old, your capacity to perform, you know, drops. Physically, your body degenerates. I mean, you ask the medical practitioners, all of the system begin to slow down. And so everything is going back, you know, the other way. And that also... How does that connect with that? No, because it's a performance thing. So some people would say, for instance, now, you have seen Bola Ahmad, I mean, two weeks in, two weeks out. And so that's what people say. So you have two weeks in on the campaign. And on the other hand, you have to run, you know, probably go have some medical checkup. You may not be too strong at this point. Because age is telling. And as much as you can't cheat it when age comes. So some people are saying that, hey, for a country as Niger, you need someone who can be... That's the system. I'm not a medical practitioner. But, I mean, it's just basic that you will know that as you go older, you know, the organs of the body begins to, you know, go down. They degenerate. And that's what happens. Memory, you know, sometimes, you know, a lot of things you probably will have a little bit of loss of memory, not necessarily because you're running mad or anything is wrong with you, but it's part of it. You're already getting very old. And it's not a curse. It's a blessing. It's part of life. But we need to know when to take a bow and walk away. And so we will, for a country, 211 million people, we need someone, we need someone who, you know, would be there thinking everything. Yeah, that's it. But you see the problem that we have just before Eletchia Inn now is that we constantly have people who do not put the interest. Kofi, the day Nigerians will begin to have leaders who put the interest of the people above their interests, above their interests, then Nigeria will become a great nation. Now, all of the things that we constantly say is as a result of, you know, personal interest. Personal interest, for instance, you have 100%. Personal interest is 80. The national interest is 20. Where does that leave us? So you see the governors. You see the contractors. You see whoever is in charge of anything. So your being is just that your personal interest is more than national interest until we get to that point where we're very patriotic. We have leaders who think about the people and would constantly put their interests, I mean the interests of the people and the nation above their interests, not just their interests. Now in the kind of politics that we will preach, you have people not just representing their interests but the client. And so when you have the politics of God, fadarism, some people put you there, you would be representing their interests. You do what they say. It doesn't necessarily matter about the people. But however, it is what it is. Yeah, you know, regarding the statements, you know, sometimes it's easy to take, even though I think Tinibu said he's ready to play dirty. Maybe the response sometimes could be overblown. You know, I mean it's true that you don't want to hear politicians say, you know, I'm going to fight dirty. But it's part of the game, like you said. And then whether they say it or not, it'll be dirty, you know. It depends on the extent to me of the debt. That is debt? Yeah, for instance, I mean yesterday, the court, I think the Federal High Court also struck out via the citizenship case against Tikop Walker. I mean, since we're taking the court to prove that he was an Nigerian citizen, and the case was struck out. I'll be, it'll be hard to convince me that whoever took that case to court, you know, may have just done that because they just, you know, loved Nigeria and all that. Even if they did, I don't know if they were, they were, you know, encouraged by some politicians. All I'm saying is that even if politicians who oppose to a TIKO are not behind that case, it'll benefit them. So in a scenario where they have to support or to push something like that, they will. I'm not saying that's what happened. But I'm saying that people dig up stuff. You know, for instance, a joke I say, before you come out to this whole context, make sure you file. You know, it's safe that nobody can pick it up and dust it, because everybody has a file. You know, even in governance, we see that the government fights dirty. It's bad. I mean, in politics, nice guys, if you're too nice, you finish last. You know, you finish last. You have to do some hard things. You have to, it means you're decamping. If it means to, look at those politicians. And that's what we're saying. Look at those politicians who, when they, when they decamp, okay, or they lose out, they throw things at their party. Look at the APC in the state. The other guys have said they're going to show them shaggy. Look at the APC in the river state. Magnus Avey lost out. And he went to court and said, if I'm not going to get it, the party will not be on the ballot. But it was on the ballot. So it's part of it. But it depends on the extent of the dirt, you know, to me, the extent of how far you're willing to go. That is this. Yeah. I mean, in the United States of America, you had them, I mean, Donald Trump, he played dirty. He said they should lock Hillary up. He called them her names, you know, brought up some allegations. Even before he became president, the same Twitter that Donald was, was lambasting. He used Twitter to rise to prominence. Remember when he was tweeting that Obama was not American? He was a foreigner. You know, some people consider that racist. And when he came into the House, I mean, the Republicans also fought dirty as well. They tried to, you know, impeach him. They brought up, they went to dig up records of his escapades with sex workers. And, you know, brought the videos up. Even videos where he said he was going to group certain parts of women and all that. It was played on CNN everywhere. It's part of the game. But, you know, it depends on what extent these politicians are willing to go in terms of the word dirty. If you remember, in Los Angeles, it was who said that the election was a do-or-die affair, you know. People read all sorts of things into it. You know, it went so far, you know. So, this is my means that you're going to kill people. But, you know, that was not what he meant, you know. So, I do hope that when Bola Mettimbo says he's willing to fight dirty, it will be within the confines of the politics, you know, not something that would disenfranchise Nigerians of their rights or scuttle the nations. Not necessarily that. You know, so anyway, let's move on to the next one. Abba Kerry. Sue's federal government seeks for freedom from detention. This is quite interesting, mercy, because the man Abba Kerry is embattled, you understand. He's embattled, and he's been taken to court. Of course, he's been taken in rather by the National Drug Law enforcement agency and them. Not a few Nigerians are surprised to hear that the man who has been accused of being part of a drug ring, the National Drug Ring, is now suing the federal government, demanding 500 million narrowing damages from the National Drug Law enforcement agency over what he terms his unlawful arrest and detention. In an originating motion, on notice filed before the Federal High Court in the Buja, he's also seeking an order directing the NDLE to tender a written apology to him in two national dailies. Of course, the motion was initiated February 16 and filed on February 17 by his lawyer. He's seeking an restraining order, an order restraining the respondent. This is NDLE, its agents, servants, previews, police or anyone acting on their behalf from further harassing, detaining, intimidating, arresting or him unlawfully. So I do not know how this will go, because it doesn't mean that if the police evidence against him or the NDLE or EFCC, that they can't arrest him again, they can't detain him within the lawfully or legally allow them time frame to question him. They can't, I mean, they can be arrested again. But anyway, the word he has unlawfully, unlawfully, so what is unlawfully? That is what is within the realm of speculation. So it came as sort of a surprise, if you want to call it, to some persons out there to say, see that this man who is being accused by, and of course, you are not guilty onto proven guilty, you understand. So we have to allow the law to run its full course. It won't be fair of us to sit down here and conduct the media trial on Abba Kerry. But of course, people have already passed the verdict, but we here, we know better than to. So the surprise there was that this man had your audacity to sue the federal government in the NDLEA. So I think he understands the system, he understands the law and how it works. Because usually, I mean, when you have to keep a person, if you should be able to establish all of the facts and then if, what he's trying to say is, where the facts establish it, and if there's a case, let's get to court. And that's what it is, I think. But however, let's see how all of this actually unfolds, like we rightly mentioned not here for the media trial. It has been innocent until being proven guilty by a court of competence jurisdiction. So and that's so, you know, it's almost very difficult to... He's within his rights. That's what I'm saying. Some people don't understand that, you know, everybody has, needs to have their same court. I remember during the Namdi Kano, you know, the last resumed hearing, you know, trial, whatever it's called, where his lawyer insisted that his personal issues and complaints must be attended to by the judge. The judge was interested in hearing them. Some people didn't understand why, you know, we're accusing his lawyer of wasting the court's time wasting taxpayers' money in talking about Namdi Kano's clothes, Namdi Kano's eyeglasses, Namdi Kano's, you know, sleeping issues. But nothing has changed. But the thing is, when you get to court, the judge will ask you, are you treated well? Is everything fine? And if you have any complaints, no matter how accused or guilty people think you are, you have a right to seek justice. That's why it's called justice. You know, so people have to tell some people, you know, on radio, say, hey, see, Kano is Nigerian with rights, criminals or suspects rather accused persons have rights. That's why they are taking to court. Otherwise it would be jungle justice, which is just catching and throwing in jail, you understand. But that is not being done. So whatever Kari does is within his rights, I mean, the things that you and I will go to court for, you know, for instance, citing the international conventions on human rights and all that, that people like you and I, Abdi Kari is within his rights to apply for this. And I think let's allow the court to its work. Definitely. Well, that's the size over conversation on top trending. Tomorrow we'll return with more interesting conversations, making the rounds in different spaces of the country. We will definitely step on the break. When we return, it will be time for us to be looking at the top stories on our national daily, as we call it, the newspaper review or off the press. We stay with us.