 Welcome to The Advocate and Plus TV Africa where we discuss thought-provoking topics in an atmosphere of seriousness, decisiveness and laughter. Here we call a spade a spade. Today I'm asking if we can truly have change in 2023. Comfort is asking if we the adults have failed the kids. Shall I point out the need to take action to avoid more building collapses and Tolu Moya is urging everyone to come out to vote in 2023. Sit back and after this break we'll be here to dissect it all. Stay with us. Now everybody is looking forward to 2023 all eyes on the ball. Many have called 2023 elections a make or break election. One that would determine the fortunes or misfortunes God forbid of Nigeria. Many who have lost hope in the idea of a nation called Nigeria have suddenly found their hope where it was hidden. Those who had refused to vote over the past two election cycles have suddenly realized how important it is to vote because after all we will live with what we do or do not do. The Sorosuke generation are determined to change Nigeria with their votes. They want to prove to the older generation that they have the capacity to change this great nation called Nigeria. But do they really? Does the older generation have the capacity to make the change as well? Who really has the capacity to transform on save Nigeria when even the save Nigeria group needed saving at some point? In 2023 it feels like nothing much will change because we are starting late. Yes we're starting late. The first principle of politics or election as it is this case is participation. We the people have refused to participate in party politics which is the crux of our politics. We claim we want Professor Yemio Shibaio and Pita Udubi but how do we get them on the ballot if they don't get the party ticket? We insist that the two leading parties are failed and nothing good can come out of them. Yet we call on them, I mean these two parties, to fill the candidates of our choice. If they both refuse and turn to candidates that you the people do not want what will you do? Refuse to vote? Ask President Buyeri to continue an interim government? Fight and burn down your houses? After all who bears the brunt? All hopes not yet lost. Do not join the extremely pessimistic lot who believe 2023 is just another election cycle. Your votes can still count. While many of us might disagree the Nigerian constitution is designed to favor the average man. You just need to know the constitution in order to apply it to your advantage. You have your governor state house of assemblies and national assembly. If you get the right representation in place you can get the president to do your bidding. If you think it's too late to influence the choice of a president why not turn your attention to other officers other elected officers which can influence the president's. Make 2023 counts. God bless the federal republic of Nigeria. It's very interesting that you're putting this up. This is interesting because my advocacy is more or less an extension of this. Talking about the election and looking at the past cycles and then the numbers speak for themselves. It's interesting. It's almost as if we want change but we're not willing to pay for it. We'll never get this thing on the Plata of Gold. In the history of history no one has ever gotten change on the Plata of Gold. You always fight for it and there's a price price to pay for it. The question is are we willing to pay that price? What is the price and are we willing to pay it? That first thing is the real question. What is the price? Because a lot of us don't even know the price let alone attempt to pay the price. That's why you know you don't disagree. I kind of disagree because right now we have just two options. We have the APC and the PDP. Even if you have a good candidate for another party the candidate has a very slim chance of even getting the form. We all know how expensive the form is. We had for APC it's about 100 million. So for somebody to be able to afford that form. If we want change the same things that need to be resolved from the bottom. From the bottom. Why would the presidential nomination form be for 100 million? I do not understand that rationale. I really do not. But another thing is in Nigeria we usually have two options. Some people say okay if somebody good or competent comes from ABGA. Everybody is like the person is just wasting his time. You know there is this assumption. So are we really ready for the change? We are not ready. And nobody is willing to pay that price. I know comfort is probably ready to go as well. For me you pretty much also answer some of the questions. So you said for instance that sometimes you spend too much time or attention. We give too much importance to those two people at the top. Remember they have governance to work with. They have house of assembly members. They have national assembly. I mean so it's not just at the end of the day change is not just going to come from one man sitting in Nassarok. At the end of the day we have to also hold other people responsible and allow so if we only have two parties that are vying for the highest position. There are other positions. There are other people that are vying for house of reps. There is house of assembly in your state. There are all those other things where we can actually you know like you said change starts from the bottom. That right there is the bottom. Is your local government chairman. You know is the councilor. That's where it actually starts. I'll tell you a story on that but let's go to Afuja. Comfort. What's your view on this? Your take? My answer to that is no. No. It's a simple no. There cannot be any change. Whether it's even a light change. It will not happen in 2023. And this is why you put it down to the fact that we need to get our PVCs and go and vote. The problem is way beyond just voting. The whole structure is wrong. Someone mentioned the issue about even the cost of the forms for various parties. I don't know how much SDP is asking or Abga. These are the other ones and the core party and these are the ones that are you know we can remember their names. But the point is why I don't know who is supposed to complain about that really make an issue of that. That should have been brought to a standstill. You cannot give you cannot send a form for 100 million in the country that we know right now. We are grappling with poverty, hunger and bills from what do you call this when you woman and they come and start knocking on the door for it. Then we are now still collecting aid. We have all these things and we think it makes sense to ask somebody to pay 100 million. Have you seen the number of people that have come out in each of these parties that they are both formed for this position? I think 24 right now from the south. What do you say? So that's 400 million. That's already 400 million. More than 24 people out for the south. That's 2.4 billion. But I think that's who APC is. So what I'm saying is that and nobody has asked them to come out and how did you make that money? We have not come out to ask them. Exactly. There was one flowery place that you said it's just for them to understand the constitution that the average man has a lot of what do you say, a lot of hope, a favor that the constitution, how many Nigerians who are even not average understand the constitution. Talking of the average man that you're referring to. So that money, that in itself is a huge issue. Then I'm part of the pessimistic lot. We don't call ourselves pessimists. We call ourselves realists. The 2022 is just another election cycle because as long as it is these old people and these not these usual suspects that we're recycling and are coming going to can afford the 100 million to be able to get onto the ballot box, then why isn't it just another election cycle? So the answer to your question again is still an emphatic no. Thank you. But you see let me combine what you just said with what Toluse said. And I'm going to do this, give you a very real life experience. I have a colleague or friend who just relocated to the UK and says where you got to? Is this Southampton or where? I can't really remember the area. He said this area was just classified on another local council. And developments, I was sure when he said they were not getting the kind of development they want. I said you can't see where we need development for Africa. So he said they were not getting the kind of development they needed. So they complained to the council. The council didn't do anything. I think they took it to a higher authority that take us out of this place. You're not getting what we needed. They didn't get the kind of response they want. They needed and they just did one thing. Collectively register the party. And right now, you guys tell me right now, there are five candidates that are ready to vie for the next election within the council. And immediately they did that. The council that, I mean, they're in charge of them, now came to that. Well, you didn't need to go there. We're telling you we're bringing developments. It's just a process and all that. Now what I'm saying is this. There is nowhere in the world, like Toluse rightly said, where change is given. You earn it. You fight for it. And you keep changing strategies till you get the one that fits your option. Now in Nigeria, where we are today, I don't care about you having 200 parties. It's not a big deal. INEC would not stop you. All INEC is saying is they cannot have a party and be irrelevant without the seats. So what's the best way to get the seats? Local government elections. ADC, I think they have one chairman or councilor somewhere in Lagos, one of the states. They have about two. And I think they have one Senate or someone in National Assembly. They don't have any governor. And they are not, they were not registered. So as the people, you see, we, the people need to come to that conclusion that listen 2023, leave the presidency, just saying that on the side. Let's focus on our House of Reps. Let's focus on our governors. Let's get the results we need for these people. And everything, it will change. It will align. You just need to start that process. Yeah, absolutely. So I totally agree with you. I don't think it's going to be drastic or abrupt or instant overnight. I think that there will be change. But it's going to start little by little. It's not going to be drastic. And one drop of water is progress. Yes, exactly. Right. And once it starts to get the power of volume, power of numbers, then for you know, one day is a cup of water. For you know, it's a bowl of water. For you know, it's a drum. For you know, it's a notion. Yeah, so 2023, the youth should not give up if they don't see the names of the people they want on the ballot sheet. Well, up next is comfort. Stay with us.