 Thank you for staying with us. You're still on to the breakfast on plus TV Africa and right now. We'll be looking at the headlines this morning It's time for off the press. Well with me is my co-host Okay, so the first people going to be looking at this morning is the Guardian and the first headline here the major headline here says 1999 constitutions were and here and let's review amendments cost national assembly one billion an hour yearly That's a lot of money. I don't know. Why don't they just jettison this Constitution and get a new one. Everybody has been complaining that the 1999 constitution has a lot of flaws So if you identify them, why are you just picking and choosing every year you find out something that is not good enough for you And you want to change it And I don't know what they do that will cost one billion narrow A constitution one item or two items or not So let's have a constitutional conference if that's the need for us in 2014 or 13 Or thereabouts we had a national conference organized by the then administration of jonathan Where they went to the grassroot and everybody contributed what the fell should change or what should be added or removed or something to the constitution that document was not implemented and To be fair to jonathan. He said he wanted the next administration to look into it See what things can be used and then implemented and the next administration of huharic did nothing about it So that documents that cost nigeria a lot of money is just there lying down It cannot be that the whole of the modern 200 million nigerians didn't know what they were saying So something good could have come out of that but that document is still there So dusted up see what you can do have a constitutional conference change the constitution if you need to Because a lot of people say this constitution came from the time of the military So 1999 till now things have changed things have evolved. Yeah, just go ahead and change it and put the rest of the things that we need to And voilà Everything well for this one. They're saying that they want to do the amendment on state police Just an item. Yes. Well state police value added tax v 80 And electoral reform. So those are the ones they're looking at Well cost one billion But guess what next year again, they might say oh, we want to change this other thing another one billion And based on inflation rates that might even be higher. So I mean have a constitutional conference and then move on That might just work All right, another one here says time to revamp nigeria's criminal justice system Yeah, I think this is this has been a long time coming. We keep crying out about this all the time We need to reform. We need to reform. We need to revamp the justice system because As of right now people don't even trust the justice system Then people say they they lack the credibility that we expect, you know from them But I mean We're still we still sing the same song every single year So when you say time to revamp the justice system, what is actually being done? Do we do anything about it or do we just is it just words that I just You know put out into the air. So it seems like what we're saying something So we're saying something but we're really not doing anything about it Yeah, what what is a crime in nigeria? We need the definitions because sometimes you see some things And it seems as if it's a crime, but you find out it's not a crime And people just do the things they want to do and get away with it What is it if you have laws that you will never implement laws that can never catch anybody? We've seen things that happen You cannot do x y z and then you see the people who are making the laws doing the same x y z and you ask yourself What good are the laws? Let's not let's not even go far Um, I think about two weeks ago or something. We had that issue of the governor of legal state um Arresting the military official who was on a motorcycle driving One way, right? So you see people put these laws, but then they they never uphold it It's just there for the common man. Yeah night in in Lagos. We don't have okada, you know We don't have okada. Yeah, but the policemen use it for okada And if they take you know, they use it as transportation That's what I'm saying. They use it And the road I literally see them They ask you they go and then you you climb on it and you pay them you pay them And then for commercial purposes. There are the people who have the jobs that are being paid Uh, maybe the salary may not be big enough But some of these people who were doing the okada work as it is Were graduates without a job. Yeah, and they had to put food on their table regardless. Yeah, so When people were even talking about the governor arresting the person The the the buzz was about the arrest of the person flying one way They were not even talking about the fact that he was using a bike Yeah on a road that should and it was carrying a passenger. Oh, yeah Yeah, and you know most times they they um confiscate these bikes from these young men You know who are riding it because obviously it's it's illegal to ride a bike in Lagos state for instance But guess what they take these bikes and they use it for themselves the bike that that man was driving. I'm not sure it is No, I'm not I'm not sure most times they just you know, they tell you oh, there's been a ban They confiscate it and then they distribute it You know amongst themselves and they start to use it for commercial purposes So the reason why you seized it from someone you take it and you start to use it for that same reason So what are we saying so that tells you when somebody tells you that okay? We caught a ship full of crude oil on the high sea and then we burnt it It gives you an idea. I never believe why why they burnt it You know they they they catch someone taking tasks from from our forests in dangerous species Um, they are being killed because they want to transport this thing to other places and make money They say they have seized it and then they have destroyed it They have gone to somewhere they have destroyed the legal refineries that this so it gives you an idea When a common bike will be seized that someone else is using it What is done by uh to those things that they uh the seize And when you hear that we have seen some things that what like two billion naira You begin to ask yourself was it really what two billion there might have been five billion or something It just manufactured the numbers changed the figures. It's a problem. Yeah, but then with our justice um criminal justice system, I think we Yeah, we really we really need to revamp it and let's stop talking. Let's start doing the work All right, um cbn targets 21.4 percent inflation Says naira is undervalued as of right now inflation is about 28.92 percent But cbn is targeting 21.4 percent And says naira is undervalued they should be telling us what is giving rise to the inflation in the first place And how they intend to tackle it. It's not just giving us figures that we are going to do this We're going to do that 21 percent even is still very high So Why can't they bring it to a single digit? It is possible But let them Tell us the things that will be done and let's see how we can key into it as well Or we can contribute also to telling them What really is the problem if i'm a farmer for instance I can tell you the problems that we have as farmers If the other person is a trader who imports from china or germany or anywhere You can tell you the problems that he has so that if you can address that Inflation will have to come down But if you stay stay in a glass house and they're making policies for people Whose experiences you've never had there's a possibility that you don't even their realities is totally different You're totally far far removed from the kind of feelings that your people are feeling so you just Drop numbers and say this and that some things don't work in Nigeria If you say the laws of demand and supply States that if this this this is done Supply will go higher or the demand will go higher. You bring it to Nigeria. It doesn't work So study the Nigerian terrain and not wait wait for imf to come and give you things that you need to do The world bank will come and tell you what to do and you say yes, that's globally acceptable Globally who is global when they talk about the world It's someone that's making that that's saying all of that So that's someone's personal opinion or a group of people That's their own personal opinion But it's the fact that they say Naira is undervalued as of today someone was I saw online on instagram and someone was saying how About 10,000 10,000 pounds is how many million Naira? I think Naira to the pound is about 1700 and something Yeah, yeah the dollar is one one three something. Yeah, I mean I just I feel I feel for businesses who have to deal in effects Because every single day you buy something for this amount And then you want to get something else and that same commodity you want to still get it and it's higher What do you ask yourself? What is this that is not tied to effects in the first place? Even the farming I usually always say this for you to successfully farm you you need farm tools even if you're buying a tractor You will have to deal with effects if you're buying a Heavy side you're buying heavy sides. You'll have to deal with effects fertilizer effects everything that you most of the things we use here in Nigeria your own your own strength But even your own strength you're going to buy medicine if you you foresee It's still effects, right? What is not influenced by effects? So something fundamentally has to be done about our effects if we want want our economy to grow Because if the Naira keeps going up and some experts have said it keeps going up So it might get to a point where it will be 2000 Naira to a dollar That means it will be like a Zimbabwean dollar now our money That's alarming. It's it's not good. Yeah, let's move over to the next paper All right EFCC probes 347 billion Naira funds. This is punch EFCC probes 347 billion dollar funds someone's foreign firms. So this is a forex scandal I mean, we're just talking about FXM right now 347 billion dollars How do I even do the conversion into Naira? How did how did it get to that amount? What happened? What is what is really going on? This is it a lot. Yeah, but when you say EFCC You know, why are they coming up now? You say EFCC and then you're thinking about whether there's someone there Who is in the bad books of one person or the other who is in power and all that in fact? Let me just take the writer. So he says industrial companies banks gets lion's share on the imifili Social services receive the least forex allocation An anti-corruption agency depends forex scandal probe Detectives may grill five foreign companies next week So Could I sit down? Let's I mean, let's just see let's just see how this develops how the story develops and let's see what happens But I mean properly investigation should be done into this because 347 billion Not Naira dollars That's I can't wrap my head around it. I can't even start to do the calculation. It's that's a lot So let's know what exactly happened. Where did the money go to? Where did the money come from? Where is the money now? How do they accumulate this amount? So these are the questions that we want to ask um All right, another one says FIRS projects 19 trillion revenue 19 trillion Naira revenue in 2024. So this year FIRS is looking to get 19 trillion Naira that's from all the taxes that we pay, right? Yeah, when when when I when you say You're afraid that people may be taxed more experts will tell you that it is not necessarily that they're going to bring New tax is going to make sure that the people who are already taxable Remitting the taxes for instance the companies that are removing money from their staff as tax Money should remit this money because they do not in most cases remit this money to the government and all that But we'll see we're sitting here now You're seeing that you have to do renewal of your car, whatever they were talking about 1000 every year Something that was a one-off is 1000 every year and you tell yourself that oh 1000 is not so much It's just one off and you're paying 1000 and then there are small things Before you know it you're paying That you were supposed to pay So what are they really doing to make sure that money comes into the into the coffers of the nation without necessarily Having to tax people Where is the subsidy money going to are they sincere about how much has been made? Where is the money for all other natural resources that we are mining in this country going to do we have a figure for that All that will give us a lot of money. Where is even the money that is being repatriated from from other places? corrupt Amounts of money that we'll give paid into Coffers of other countries Switzerland and the rest of them Do they even account for it in the time of buhari when abacca lude was repatriated to nigeria It wasn't part of the budget as some of the money that will be used to be spent, you know When it came they did trade that money Trade that money I don't know how Oh god I want to say oh my god, you took him right out of my mouth. I just want to say that but like Hold it in hold it in so well. Yeah Well, let's move over to politics. Um on the assembly screened new deputy governor as ayedati was sacks cabinet What's your thought? I know you have a guy like with the whole undo thing. I'm sure you have more more knowledge on that So no, not really but people like they said and you said that the people expected that the deputy will come from on those central but ayedati were Graciously, I would like to use that word graciously choose someone from The elite governor's place. I think I think that was a good consolidation to the people of the war He might want to test To contest the next time He will choose a deputy maybe from somewhere else, but for now I think it was a good move for him Let the people of our war feel that they're still there in government and they lost a brother But they didn't lose everything even though. I know that It doesn't necessarily mean that if someone comes from your place, you just have will have a good life, you know for instance There were people who were complaining was it last week that uh, they They they they walked so hard for a muslim muslim ticket now. They are suffering These people so it doesn't mean that someone in your religion will necessarily give you a better life Someone from your locality will necessarily give you a better life I don't know if the people of bayals. I will say when jonathan was there. They were better than now or or before then I don't know if the people of dow rap will say they were better. They are better off Because buhari was the president and all that. I don't know what people just see in My person has to be the person that is there And I don't know why it's also connected to why the northerners are saying that you cannot move any department of cbn Or any other thing to lego state. You're depriving the knot. I mean if something is located in your place What does it say does it mean that everybody in that village would be employed because there's further character So wherever it is people from the north south, yes, they have to be represented. So I don't know We have to change that psyche We do all right. Let's move over to the nation and The us6 removal of barriers to investments. So blanking lots to new boys economic policies Nigeria offers compelling opportunities for investors. But then blanking I said that Nigeria must remove the barriers to investment That we have currently what do you think about that? I mean the president goes to different countries Seeking foreign investment Now he has gone on a private visit I do I wonder what that means a private visit is on is he on leave We need a president right here at home and he's going for private visits to France So a private visit is he going to pay his own way to that place? Will he use the money the taxpayers money to go on a private visit? I don't know what it says is globetrotting To make sure that he will Get investors to come into the country and all that then is the is the environment conducive enough For foreign investors to want to come in and stay and thrive Because I mean if I'm putting my money somewhere, I expect profitability. So how is the social Social economic environment in Nigeria as of right now For foreign investors to come in and say, oh, yes, I can come here and I know I'll be profitable my business You know would thrive and whenever the business is no longer profitable and I want to go and I can't leave They handcuffed me Anyway, I think it's just a subtle way that blinkin has used to tell him that conditions are too too Bad in Nigeria and you have to do something about it and we cannot come Even though he said oh blinkin said The biggest economy the largest population he was giving all the good things about Nigeria But after that he said that the economic the barriers have to be removed for investments What are these barriers? I'm sure the presidency And all the people in government and know it but are they ready to do it? Because first of all no matter what you see as an economic expert or anything You have to think about security. The security is not there. So How can I come and invest in a country where there's no security? I can I come and invest in a country where I'm not even sure of the stability of your your currency I'm not sure today. It could be anything to so there is no way I can plan Yes, your currency is stable. The planning is difficult So investment will be very difficult in this place. It will be very difficult And now that companies are leaving What is being done by the government to encourage the companies that are already indigenous companies that are staying here Even the indigenous companies are thinking about leaving to Benet to Ghana to other places and just using Nigeria as the market Why do we even keep looking for foreign investors? Because I remember China had to you know block their borders They had to go through that process of saying, you know what we're shutting out of the world We want to start producing our things and I remember one time they started this whole campaign of Buy buy Niger to grow the Naira. I can't remember how the phrase was coined But it was some was of some sort buy buy Niger to grow the Naira So they got all their costs from outside the country They were going to buy 160 million Naira SUVs The yacht as well that's from outside of the country But yes, how do we promote Nigerian goods because all we do like I mean we're talking about forex now all we do is buy things From outside all we do is imports Are we looking at how to export because that's even how you grow your revenue? So we need to start looking at you know Encouraging the businesses that are here Producing for ourselves at least let's even produce what we use first before we say, okay The standard is good enough for us to export now. Let's try it out because if you never try you never know So we I don't know if I'm capable of producing this This the ceramics of you know to create this mug right now I don't know what the capability of Nigeria is to say, okay Yes, we can produce it and it's good quality that we can use and what we say Oh, this is amazing We start to export that and that brings more revenue into Nigeria So we need to start looking for you know, not just looking for foreign investors The ones that are here from what they encourage them to be able to do better Well, there was this story. I was told a long time ago how someone perfected The yam pounder he invented it in Nigerian because of course they don't pound yam in china or So he did that and was looking for support and all that he never got it Then he sold the patent to somewhere someone else Abroad and then the person produced it and brought it back to Nigeria They don't pound yam in china Now we have yam pounders from other places and we're so happy that it's not from Nigeria and all that Well, there's even that stereotype the moment, you know, that it's not it's Nigerian You're like, I don't want it but you say oh, it's imported. Oh, yes, definitely It has to be of good quality But we can also make things that are of, you know, good quality all Nigerian products are not inferior So I saw I saw a small a young boy hocking or her or her is a vegetable Yeah, so he was hocking or her and he said this or her is from Italy, you know And people were just laughing and they were enjoying it But it just told me the kind of mentality we have so that everything has to come from outside before it's regarded as something that is good enough Yeah It's it's it's a very bad thing for us very bad Okay, um well Let's just take maybe let's just take one more before we wrap the wrap up this segment so Chairs of government share 1.1 trillion Naira from federation account revenue They keep sharing our money I was having a conversation with someone yesterday and I said I feel like Nigeria the money they've collected it They've shared it and everybody's just looping right now and that money is just It's just with some select few the one percent of the one percent Because you hear that they are borrowing money. They are getting money from this a batch of looters call me game Yada yada yada, but then we're not seeing this money How is the tiers of government sharing 1.1 trillion Naira from the federation account revenue yesterday? There was this news that um Oil producing states there was a an amount that was given that the oil producing states have Shared among themselves within a particular time Yet their debt profile is rising even higher and higher and I was just asking myself What is the reason for this when you talk experts will tell you that borrowing is okay So long as you're using it well, but are they using it? Well, and why are they borrowing? Because whatever they are doing I must say whatever they are doing in the states and most of the states that I know Money that they could get from the state itself can do all those things. So what are you borrowing for? We are not seeing any significant improvement in your state because of the money you're borrowing In fact, some of the things are dilapidated. You go to cross river for instance The obudu cattle ranch that used to have wonderful facilities is going down The tinapa project that had so much money pumped into it is going down So every every government comes and they want to have a legacy project And when they have this legacy project the next one that comes there's a continuity And I say government is a continuum. You are just sharing this money and nothing else You go there share it put it in garamos go and then that's the end So government has to show working and yes, I love that show workings You have to win the trust of the people because if I see that There will be quality education the roads will be good security will be good And everything I need health will be good. Then you ask me for tax I will have no problem even if I'm giving you half of my salary because I know that half of my problems are already solved Yeah But I pay tax I still have to be the one to go and scoop Soil from somewhere to come and fill potholes. I still have to be the one to go to a private school and put my child I still have to be the one to secure myself And to look for good health everything for myself. So why am I paying tax? Well for you to share Well, this is where we have to wrap it up on this segment. When we can't when we return we'll be looking at a hot topic Please stay with us