 On the breakfast, the official foreign exchange receipts from Kudall sales has been depleted from over $3.0 billion monthly in 2014 to $0 today, according to CBN. What does this mean for an all-producing economy like Nigeria? Also on the breakfast, Ministry of Finance's budget to national planning denies allegation of budget padding leveled against it. And we have a usual Nisrpa review segment going through the Nisrpa headlines, analyzing the biggest stories of the day. All right, we're back with the breakfast of plus-CB Africa, just trying to get some coffee into my system so we can have a good show of mercy. Very good morning to you. Morning to you. Interesting. It's a beautiful day. I hope you've had your morning tea and we're ready and set to have a fantastic show today. We have interesting conversations ahead with an interesting lineup of guests. So we implore you to sit down, relax, and enjoy the show. My name is Kofi Bartels. I am messy. Yes indeed. As usual, we start with our top-trending segment. We usually look at the top-trending stories on social media. We bring them on TV. Look at what Nigerians are talking about, look at what the world is talking about. The first one is another market fire. I mean, this year has been a year of fires. I remember in Pohakot they had several fires back to back to back. It was almost as if something was wrong, you know, they began to say, maybe we need to have a go and ask God for mercy, maybe we've done something wrong. In Lagos, we've had dollars and three market fires, you know, this year. This time, we're looking at Onitsha, main market. And this is a very popular market for anyone who has traveled through Onitsha, at least moving from east to west, east to west and part of Nigeria by road. Like I've done a number of times, you would be familiar with the Onitsha main market or like some of my friends would call it Onitsha main market. So it's unfortunate. It's a very important market, not just in a number of states, but in Nigeria, as far as the economy of Nigeria is concerned, we here, some people call it the biggest market in West Africa. But the fire we had was raging, it tore through a section of the market. It's not the first time this year that we've seen something like that happen in that market. Some sources quote some traders in the market saying that two blocks of fire have been got at a time, reports, you know, got to the press. A section of the market known as Kano Street is what we are talking about, where the fire affected. Yesterday morning, we hear that the number of state fire service were there. They tried to extinguish the fire, but the fire refused to go away. You know, the fire service in the number of states are saying that they were promptly at the scene. Immediately they got the alert that the fire was on. It started about 1 a.m., according to the fire service, and it quickly got there. So far, at the time the report was being filed, they had gone to refill the fire, trucks with water. They had done that twice, you know, two times with water. And the third time they went to fill the trucks with water and the fire was too big for them to handle, it seems. But you can see the fire service, you know, the firemen trying their best. Sometimes you can blame them because they just do what they can with the resources they're given. But this isn't the first time the Onitsha, a section, let's call it, of the Onitsha main market has been gutted by fire in recent months, and it's really a sad one. Well, and that's very true and correct. So it brings us back, you know, to the conversation of what we actually learn from time to time when it has to do with the fire. Now, I remember VV Leader, there was a report from the Anambra fire service. He said that it recorded a total of 114 fire outbreaks, which resulted in 15 deaths and five injuries across the state in 2021. And so fire incidents are no longer, you know, strange to us in our country. It has become, you know, part of the system that every other time there's fire. But one thing about this is that we're excited that, you know, no life was actually lost, although you have properties according to the report, you know, what millions that have been lost. But as long as there's life, there's hope. But I think that, you know, we need to also look at what the functions of the fire services, even though it's also highly dependent on the government. And so one of you, you begin to say that, should we begin to think that the, you know, function of the fire services is just limited to rescue operations? It goes beyond rescue operation. And it's important that we prevent, because prevention is part of it. As much as we tackle the fire, prevention is part of it. So yes, it's almost about where, about the time where you have a lot of fire incidents, because usually at this point, so if it's like a seasonal, where you have fire outbreaks in different parts of the country, and at this time, there's also going to be, you know, a lot of fire outbreak. Well, it's expected, we expect that, you know, the fire service across, you know, different states of the Federation will step up to her responsibility of ensuring that the populace, the people are educated on the danger of fire and how to prevent it. So we don't even have to get to a point where we're talking about rescue, education, sensitization. That's what it should be. That's it. So if we're big on educating the people, talking about it, creating awareness, what people need to do, the practices, behavior, and what people need to do, the active view, then it would actually go a long way in helping us getting to this point. So we prevent the issue. I mean in medicine they'll say it's preventive medicine. It just prevents us from getting to the actual problem. Right. It's unfortunate, but I hope that we can do better. And that's what it is. It's also commendable that, you know, from the report that the fire service, as soon as the call was put across, you know, to the fire service, they responded, you know, talking about a response and we hope that that happens. But we're saying that if we have to be progressive, if we have to be, if we have to move forward, then we need to do a lot of prevention, preventives. So we don't have to experience the fire. Yeah. Indeed. Mercy, you say it all, you know, prevention is better than cure. Like we say in this part of the world. I mean, Odecha Market is said to be one of the, you know, richest in Africa, you know, in South Saudi statistics, you wonder how they come by them. But they are no volume of trading in Odecha Market. It's said to be in excess of three billion U.S. dollars. You know, I'm sure that if you look at the tax that is collected on a daily basis from the market, we're talking about, you know, hundreds of millions of Nara every day. That being said, when you look at these markets around not just Lagos or Onitsha, rather Nambra seed, we look at markets in Lagos state, which is commercial of Nigeria, but other parts of the country. You would want to see a conversory investment in these markets, a conversory investment in the market. At least let's see that if they're paying monies to people in the market, to market leaders who are there to introspect some of these monies to the government of the day, there should be a program to upgrade these markets, to make sure that they look like markets. We see in other parts of the world, you know, invest in the markets. You're making money, hundreds of millions every day from markets in Lagos, in Onitsha main market to make hundreds of millions of Nara every day and pay for this one, pay for that one, pay a container of loading fee. You know, they pay for all these things. So why can't you as a government, state government in Lagos, state government in the Nambra state, you know, why can't you say we're going to have a standard fire fighting station in the market, in the market? All right, we're going to have a standard fire fighting station in the market, not down the road, not the next nearest point, no, in the market. These guys are going to be there two, four, seven. They don't need to wait for anyone to come from far. Number two, why can't they build fire hydrants? All right, have water in the market, have fire hydrants all over the place. So these guys don't need to go back and fill their trucks. You see the firefighting chief, the head of fire service in the Nambra said, or in Onitsha said they had to fill, at the time the press was interviewing him, they're going to fill their truck the third time. You know, that shows to an extent, maybe may give an indication of why they found it hard to put that fire out. So they went to the one truck, one truck, finish exhausted water in, went to refill, came back, second one exhausted the water, went to refill, came back, third one exhausted the water. With all the money they're making from these markets, can't they put a water system in that market and then have fire hydrants at different points? You know, we do things supposedly, you know, we just have people build shops and do everything. It's all skyrocketing. You know, why wouldn't fire destroy things? You go to Balungu Market here, where sometimes you want to get my stuff on a chip, I go there messy. You have to wait through. Sometimes you can't even get network. Nalai, messy Nalai, messy does not go to Balungu Market. You can't even get network. I like how you speculate. You know, is it a lie, it's true. Okay, I'm sure the camera guy is on the guy. No, no, but to be very honest, if we talk about it so yesterday. You can't just land, you can't just land, you can't just land, you can't get network at Balungu Market messy. Sometimes if you go to Balungu Market. Coffee is not even Balungu Market. Just tell your people, that's it. Yeah, okay, just tell your people, you're not going to be able to get me for the next two, three or four hours, you'll be hustling for your things and argue with the traders. So the point I'm making is, we need to see government putting in commensurate investment, investment into these markets to build proper markets, pull them down, build proper markets, make sure it's well-planned and arranged, so that fire will not find it easy to jump from one shop to the other. Okay. And it's an unfortunate coffee, I mean, really, it's really an unfortunate, you know, scene. I have been, I've visited, you know, a scene where fire happened and it's very emotional. You've been around the market, right? Yes, I've been around the market, not necessarily maybe in Lagos, but I've been around the scene where fire happened. Is it Rua what? No, it's a Kaikau Kua. My good old guy, I love that one. And it's, you know why I say it's emotional because you would see people have lost a lot. It's a very, it's an emotional scene to be in. You know, a market was one of the most planned markets in this country. They planned, they planned, I've been going there since I was a child, this is in Kalabawa by the way, and they planned that market so well, they had an incinerator. When I was a kid, one of my uncles would take me to that market, Kaikau Kua market in Kalabawa, okay? And I would sit in the kawao, he would sit in the kawao, his wife goes to buy, to shop in the market. There was an incinerator building, building where they would take the refuse, put it inside and burn it. That's how I knew what I'd incinerate. No, no, that's history. That was, when you enter through the other gate, the main gates, the main main gates, you see a building, you know what? Nowadays what they use it for, last time I checked, they've turned it into a shop and they collect rent from people to sell there. I'm not sure you want, if you visit that market, you probably might be traumatized. It was a war plan when I was a kid, that market happened. You might be traumatized. So my point is, it's unfortunate. I understand that the people need to work, you know, it's okay to say yes, people are making a lot of money from the market, revenue generation, but we can't continue like this. I mean, for me now, and it feels like every other time you hear about a fire incident, we should just relax. And maybe you should just say, okay, well, what's one of those things that happened? But it's unfortunate, because if you're not talking about the loss of life, you're going to be talking about the loss of properties, what millions of dire. And you don't want to be around that scene. People have lost their livelihood. Some of these persons have even cash, physical cash. In those shops? Yes. They can't appreciate cash. I'm not even joking. I'm not even joking. Coffee, I'm not even joking. You know, somebody that's the case, it's unfortunate. But the issue is, we need to get back to the root. And if you have issues occurring over time, over and over, you haven't occurrence, then what do we do? How do we prevent it? Because we need to get to the point where we look at prevention. We need to stop it. So what are we learning? Yesterday, one of the traders was telling me, because we had an argument, not an argument debate. You know, as to whether the markets were shut down in Lagos on Saturday, when the Yellow Way of Baramatu Kingdom held his homecoming presidential campaign rally at the Slimba Lago Stadium. Some were saying markets were ordered to close down in Lagos, the others were saying markets were not ordered. Let's do that for another day. But one of them was giving me his own experience. In the market where he operates in Lagos state, to get his container in, he has to pay some money to offload his container to the market unit. Maybe some agrarians around. To offload his container, he has to settle people and he has a fee. There's a standard market fee he pays apart from settling agrarians to offload the container. They'll come and stand there, invest the money. So these guys go through a lot on a daily basis to just to do business, to just to survive. And their contribution to the economy cannot be understated. Okay, so now, if you are getting these amounts from them as government, what are you giving them back in return as services? That's all the government is meant to do. Kofi, that's a very valid question. That's all the government is meant to do. So the government of Anambra state needs to wake up to its response when you say, we're making money from these market, a market in Onitsha that has a volume of trade in excess of $3 billion annually, right? And there's a lot that goes out of the system that we don't even calculate. What are we gonna give back to them? So that what the government of Anambra state needs to do? Well, we can also not overemphasize the fact that the function of the fire service is not limited to rescue operation. We need to get to the point where we ensure that there's a preventive, let's think about that. If we work on that, maybe we might not even be in that situation, we'll talk about the fire. But quickly, Nigerian issues travel advisory to Nigerians going to the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe. And that has been, you know, that has gotten a lot of Nigerians talking because the federal government seemed to be very concerned as she has advised. I like to say she, every other time. We get that, you know, countries are she. No, we're not dragging, you can't say she. You guys can't have the government. We're not dragging, you guys can't have it. We can't ask you. So the advice has been put out to Nigerians. I mean, I'm really shocked because when I start this I'm like, oh, really, that's very interesting. But I hope there's no kind of sentiment. There's no emotions around all of this because if you talk about advice, and you know the recent one and how we have reacted over time, but let's quickly get to it. It's that Nigerians have been advised, you know, those who are traveling to United Kingdom, the United States and America, and some other country in Europe have been asked to be security conscious following the issue of thefts. He said that it's worried about the rate of Nigerian travelers have lost, you know, cash, international passports and their belongings in two countries. And so that's why, you know, this is coming out. And Lai Mohamed, of course, in an event, you know, put that out, I'd like to quote this. He said, the most recent victims of this travelers to the United Kingdom, most of whom are disposed of their belongings at high-brow shops, just like, you know, you talk about Victoria Island now you're here and then all of a sudden, that happens. You're particularly in high streets of Oxford. This is not your typical travel advisory issuing such as within the rights of the embassies and high commissions as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But I just said it's merely a piece of advice in Nigerians who may be visiting the affected parts of the world. Merci, it's interesting. Why not? So in this, this, you know, some people say travel advisory. It's not travel advisory because you usually travel advisory, you know, officially you issue a statement. People can go to government website and see it there. But this was, like you said, the minister giving a speech or giving them, sorry, addressing the press, okay? On the scorecard of the administration of President Mount Wari, this is a fifth edition of the PNB administration's scorecard series in Abuja. Okay, and he said that he's come to the attention of Nigerians, government, the Nigerian travelers to the U.S. and some countries in Europe are having their belongings, especially money and international passers-by that hire it. So I don't know, is this the case of people reported to him? Maybe they have, maybe they've been getting reports and it's okay to advise them. But should it come in such a press conference alone or such an event alone? Can there be an advisory issue to Nigerians, not just from the Ministry of Information, you know, portals, you know, social media handles on the website, but from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, very important, because Nigerians are traveling should, and I expect to always refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website and online platforms, I mean. So is this, if this is, if it is this important, why hasn't the government or the Federal Republic of Nigeria put out an advisory, official advisory on all its- Are you saying it's not important? No, I'm saying if it is this important, why haven't they put out an advisory and official statement out there on the places that people who are traveling to other parts of the world, even on Nigerians will go check, you know, if our American, you know, I will be checking the American, you know, Department of States website to, you know, states.gov.us or something like that to know what to do. I'll be looking at their, to be getting our lets, you know, COVID is out there, there's some things that are out there, you know, but if you just give a statement, I do not know, I'm just injecturing here. If it's not on the website somewhere I can go to, then it is what, I mean, if it's important, you must make a statement of it. Okay, that's number one. Number two, is this in reaction to, you know, the advisories that the U.S., the U.K. and other countries have issued, so okay, let's also do them. Do me, I do you. Ask them, let's paper them. Ask the sweet thoughts, if they paint them. No. Ask them, if they paint them. But you know, coffee in the local currency is like, do me, I do you. Yes, okay, so you just say do me, I do you, case. You know, that's another question I'll ask. The third question is this. Are Nigerians facing a better situation in the country? You know, if you're saying that, oh, they're having their, their money stolen and all that, because they would also want to ask the government, how far have you fed in protecting us at home? How far have you fed in making sure that our belongings are safe? How far have you fed in making sure that we are not kidnapped? All right? How far have you fed in making sure that our children are not kidnapped, you know, and killed? We saw what happened in Port Harcourt recently. I'm not saying that Muhammad is in charge of security, but as a midst of information, when you say stuff like this, we will also say, you know, are you protecting us as a government securing us? Are they, you know, looking after our welfare? These are the questions to ask. But if this is the case, then people should be careful. They should be careful. But why do we have official statements? But you know, see, the issue of being careful, it's generic, because there's no society where you get to, I mean, there's no country that's perfect, or there's no country that exists without, you know, crime and pickpockets and what have you, the issue of thefts. So it's just a generic situation. As much as you be careful in your home country, it's important you're careful outside. That's what it is. But, you know, you have raised very valid questions, if that's really important. But of course, the minister stated clearly that it's just, you know, mere advice, it's not necessarily that advice. But let me say, some of these things seem to trivialize the important things that we're talking about. When the United States issues travel advice free, they're not talking about, you know, it's just a statement by- They're not talking about generic issues. Yeah, this is a statement by the ministry, it's not a travel advice, this is a statement by the minister of information of the entire country that's gonna go around the world. And you're advising people, you know, about pickpockets. You're advising people about, you know, petty theft and petty robbery, which are global issues. I mean, everywhere, in Johannesburg, in New York City, in Paris, in Brussels, you know, in London, I'm sure you have people, even the locals themselves who are being picked. So these are ordinary things. So they're picking people's pockets. Are they targeting Nigerians? Is it happening on a larger scale than normal? Is there an unusual situation that you have to evacuate? I mean, you know, let's not trivialize issues. Let's not trivialize these things. You know what I'm saying? But until we get to it, we need to move on so we can, I mean, you know, quickly move to other issues. But until we get to a point where we have those who are in the political class who care really about the people, because we see the body language over time. Every other time in Nigerian is affected outside of Nigeria, just like, you know, Kofi had mentioned, there would be question whether or not we have better treatment in Nigeria or whether we're treated well. I mean, you need to ask yourself, what's the essence of all of these exodus? Why are people really moving away from their hometown? So up until we get to a point where we have selfless politicians, those who seek political office, not for political gains, but for the people. And that's when we'll begin to have, you know, a different attitude and not really have this, because at the end of the day, it just looks like, you know, you're just trying to trivialize the issue and maybe it's like a revenge, you know, just do something. You know, it's quite a situation, merci. We can do better, we can do better. Let's take a break and we'll be right back. I'll just continue to see me, my Kofi, and when we return, of course, we'll look at what people have to say. Stay with us.