 President Mohamed Buhari rides Senate for Supplementary Budget of 2.557 trillionaires to end fuel subsidy in 2022. President Vladimir Putin says Russia does not want a war in Europe, but described the situation in East Ukraine's breakaway regions as a genocide and called for the conflict there to be resolved through the Minsk peace process. And as always, we will be taking a look at the national dailies and have a guest join the conversation. Very good morning to you watching The Breakfast on Plus TV Africa. We're back for another morning of interesting conversations right here on Plus TV Africa. I'm Kofi Bartels. And I am messy book boy. Promise us to be an amazing time of great conversation as you stay tuned with us. Fantastic, fantastic. The queues are still there. You know, the few queues are especially in Lagos. Mila Buja had, you know, we have reports of residents of the FCT trekking. You have some of the black market salespeople selling fuel for between 400 Naira per litre and 1,000 Naira per litre. And for those who are in other parts of the country who don't, who are a few Americans, send, you know, some to us in Lagos. Quite a lot of people reporting that it was finding difficult to, you know, to get home on time because of the traffic situation exacerbated by the few queues. And of course, this morning also people reporting that it's finding difficult to make their way to work because of the traffic situation once again exacerbated by the few queues. So we're back to talk again. I'm sure we'll have something in the papers. But we have interesting conversations. The situation in Ukraine, and of course, we also have conversations on the presidential move to, you know, increase the budget or to rather amend the budget. But we will start with our top training stories today. Quite interesting one. Merci. What's happening in the southwest Nigeria? Well, it's the feud between Rauwa, Raghba Shogat, Shola, Blasting, Bola, Akma, Tunubu and all of that as regards the elections that's going to happen in Oshun state. But if you see what's actually going on, the conflict, it's just a conflict of Godfraudarism and the politics of Godfraudarism that constantly happens and the back and forth. Now, some comments were being made. Some people say it is totally unfair because it feels like a Raghba Shola is biting the finger that's actually fed him. And so the issue of loyalty, but it brings us back to one conversation. Whose interest is this conflict, you know, rising from? Whose interest that they're arguing about? Because it's a situation where you have a Raghba Shola wanting to have a stooge and both parties, at the end of the day, is an interest. And you know what happens when you have a political stooge? So whoever pays the pipe, I would dictate the tune. And that has actually not made, you know, the political system and the policies that we constantly have because at the end of the day, these policies of government, when you have the politics of Godfraudarism, and I know a lot of people will constantly argue that, you know, the politics of Godfraudarism is not necessarily just in the Nigerian climate. I mean, it's not just in the Nigerian political scene. It cuts across the entire, you know, the globe. So different parts of the world, you have them practicing this kind of politics. But that's exactly what's happening. Who becomes what? And so it's a conflict of, you know, having two powerful people, you know, in the system. And that's exactly what's actually going on. Indeed, indeed. I think for me, I noticed a bit of an issue stemming from the ABC State Congresses, you know, where you had the party organizing its congresses from, you know, the world level local government and then the state congresses in the different states of the federation. And it became clear that, you know, there were factions amongst the ABC in the state chapters. You know, in some states you had parallel congresses where the official congress was held to elect a state executive and another congress was held to elect another executive and so on and so forth. So in the ocean state also, it was discovered that you had a faction of the ABC in that state that was loyal to the governor of the ocean state, governor Oyetola, and another faction that was loyal to the Eswar governor of the ocean state, Arabeshala. And so around states, even if you go to Kuala state, you see that Lai Mohammed has his faction. So you have the ministers and government appointees or former governors who want to, you know, power brokers in the ABC who want to continue to exert themselves, exert influence and call the shots. And then you have the governors, the incoming governors who feel that they should be the ones calling the shots. So for instance, in Kuala state you had what do you call it, Lai Mohammed wanting to be in charge, you know, and he has his faction. What would basically control things? And not having his way, you know, there are other states around the federation where we have these things, you know, popping up. In some states, the ABC may not necessarily be in charge. But you have, for instance, in Aqabaum state, where Aqa Nadoe is the secretary of the Extraordinary Convention and, you know, Ketika and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, the CPCC. It's kind of difficult to remember now. So you have that in Aqabaum state. He's there. You have what do you call it again? Former aid to the president on legislative matters. He's also there. That's former senator. I'm trying to memorize them. And then a minister got to Lakhpabiu. See, these power brokers will always be fighting against each other. And I think the fact that Ayatollah's faction really pulled through may have been also an issue in Oshun state, you know, regarding that. So it's quite interesting. I remember some time ago that the current, the former governor of Oshun state had to apologize if I'm not mistaken, to Tinibu. If listeners will remember, I think he went across the street at a point to say, I'm sorry. I need to check that footage to be sure it was him. But this is not the first time. Back to February, early February, it was reported that Ayatollah's faction, or camp, rather, had flawed their regular Sholah's faction in court. You know, so it's been ongoing. All this was still down to the state congresses, local government congresses, and what congresses of the AAPC were. Justice Emmanuel Ayolah of the Farahai court in Oshubu, Oshun state, struck out a case filed against the validity of those congresses. So, you know, I agree with members of the party, loyal to Rao, Rao for Oshun state, have been trying to get there. And I think we cannot divorce what's happening from the tussle to control the AAPC in Oshun state. So at the end of the day, you just find out that outright lead has been some comment that's been accredited to Rao for Oshun state. Even though some people say, hey, he did not make those kind of statements saying, oh, they are urinating on themselves already. That's how it works. During the campaign and all of that. Some people say that's a very, very horrible thing to say despite whatever it is. But if you see the blast at the end of the day, you find out that at some point that Bola Akma Tunubu has been responsible for him becoming, you know, a time what he became in Oshun state. And so what's really going on, like I mentioned earlier on. It's just, you know, too political interest. You have interest because at the end of the day, everyone is looking for who becomes the stooch, who becomes the next governor. Of course, you also have a regressualizing. We will ensure that nobody becomes a God. We'll remove them. That's paraphrasing, you know, some of the things that were being said, not wanting to have a particular person control the Southwest as it is. But people have also accused him saying, oh, yes, we don't remember the time where you actually called out the government. I mean, you called out bad policies and bad things that actually happen in the state. And the issue of oil pollution in the state still, it's ongoing. So the big question here is whose interest is all of this blast and fighting and attacks going forward? Because at the end of the day, you find out that everybody has an interest who becomes governor of the state. And because if you dictate who becomes governor, then you find out that the policies will not always reflect the interest of the people. It would be the doings of, you know, those who actually install this stooch and really, really sad. But that has constantly dominated, you know, the political scene. But fingers crossed and we see how all of these things unfold. Before we move on, you know, one of the interesting aspects of this is people have said, at least two are really friends. If you go online, you see recently pictures have been shared, throwback pictures, you know, while they build up to the whole campaign of Tinibu and go, you know, throwback pictures of a younger Bola Tinibu back in the day. And you would see the likes of Vice-President Emi O'Shibaj over there. You see the likes of BRF, Babatuni Rajifashal, who is the Minister for Works and Housing there. You would see Raul Varebeshwala also there as well. And some have said, you know, what this man has been good to you, that Tinibu good to Varebeshwala. You're not from Lagos State and he made you commissioner in Lagos State because you're part of his circle. And from being commissioner, you know, he supported you to become the governor of O'Shiba State. And so he's basically made you who you are, so simple to say. He's basically made you who you are. And so he shouldn't be biting the finger or the hand that fed you, you know, basically. So some of these thoughts are what people are saying out there on social media and on electronic media as well. So I remember one time you saying, you know, it's the issue of politics and that's what always happens. So politics is what's being played as a game of interest. Oh, yes, yes, yes. And how about the case is... It's democracy right now. So we have... Do you say that's democracy? Do you say that's democracy? What do you want to do? No, no, it's politics that's being played out because we're in a democratic dispensation. Absolutely, absolutely. Or, you know, you constantly have... Well, the kind of politics that's being played, like we're seeing, the blast that's still going on or the feud between Rauf al-Baghbashala and the former governor of Lagos State, you want to look at it. He was responsible for... I mean, Tunibu was responsible for... It's known that he made him what he became political. I mean, if you look at his political career, you would give credit to him. I think that this whole loyalist kind of system still continues. Well, at the end of the day, you also find the person who has an interest in the state and wants to control what? Because that's what politics is about, who controls the resources, the state resources, who gets what at what time and at what point. But, you know, really, I don't think this is for the interest of the masses, but quite sad, and we hope that we get to a point where the masses will determine who becomes the governor of the state. They're not necessarily having... It's democracy. ...political godfather. Political godfather. We understand that it's democracy, but we're saying that it selects few peasants. I mean, some peasants, they're called... They are the elites. They have been put in this class. They are the king-makers, the power brokers, as you want to call them. They sit down and they forestall who they want, you know, to put in the system. And that's because there's an agenda. But when you have this person, you already know that he that pays the pipe, I would dictate the tune. And so that's what happens. They begin to do their biddings. And so you see policies that at the end of the day do not reflect the interest of the people. And this has constantly crippled, you know, the entire economy and the political system. I mean, look at Oshun state. You will not say that they're not, you know, they're without no troubles. And how come a regressionalist calling, you know, Bola, I mean, because he said that he doesn't want the interest of Oshun people. But does he really care about the Oshun people? I mean, how far has he spoken all the while? But while we definitely need to move on. And what next are we going to be looking at? So, you know, we look at how that moves on. But we also, by the train of story, regarding a village that was burnt down in Kaduna by a suspected militia. And of course, if you've been following what's been happening in Kaduna, you know, especially the southern Kaduna, we've been seeing sort of an ethnic conflict over there with hundreds of lives being lost. Last week or so, I mean, the governor of Kaduna state, Nasser Erofa, he did come out too, to decry the amount of, you know, people who have been killed. The number of lives that we say, better put, lost in the clashes and the attacks in southern Kaduna. The governor also said, you know, something urgently needs to be done because it's not normal. The statistics we've seen, you know, even if one life is lost, it's also really sad. And the suspected to be Fulani militia, and I say this with a heavy heart because, you know, we always try to downplay the ethnic side of things. But that is the report we're having. And something needs to be done to really go get to the bottom of this. It can continue forever. So these suspected militias last night, we told, attacked more two nights ago, rather, attacked the Apia Babum village in Atiyab, Chiftam, in Zangong, Katafloko, government area of Kaduna state, burning all the houses after killing three persons. You know, burning all the houses after killing three persons on Sunday night. A source from the village said that the suspected, what do you call it, the suspected militia members fled but returned on Monday night in their large numbers to burn down the entire village. And it's really sad. Almost all the people in the village were told that they have to manage sleeping outside their homes depending when they're able to put up structures that they can rely on. It's really unfortunate what's happening in Kaduna state. And we need to have a sense of what is going on. You know, because we hear bandits, we hear headsmen, now we're hearing militia. So what is going on? There should be some sort of explanation from the security agencies to say, this is who these people are, what is going on. I mean, we're reporting, reports are coming in from people on the ground reaching out to the media. This is what's going on. But we can't connect the dots, you know. We can't connect the dots. I would say that we haven't been very sincere with the fight against insorgency. We haven't been very sincere with the protection of lives and property, which should be and which is, you know, the commandate of every government across the globe. It's the primary responsibility. It's the reason why government exists, the reason why we have all collectively come together and say, we submit our rights and our wills, you know, to a set of person or to a government and say, hey, we will do XYZ, we will pay taxes, we'll be loyal, we will do this, we'll be patriotic and in turn we expect that government will protect us. We no longer live in a dispensation and that's why jungle justice has never been argued for, you know, as a plus or a merit in any system. That's why you have, you have government because government needs to provide order, government needs to protect. You can't allow people to take laws into their hands. People can't act anyhow because there would be and that's why the system, that's why government exists and in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria it is clearly stated, section 14, if I'm not mistaken, it talks about the reason for protection of lives and property which would include, you know, to what extent, so it's really worrisome whether or not it's militias, whether they are bandits, whatever it is that they call themselves. The thing is, lives and properties are not protected. Absolutely. And so you will find out that the argument would be who controls the security architecture of, you know, the country. You want to talk about the police. Of course it's in the exclusive because it's sensitive and that people have constantly say, okay, let's devolve the powers, let's, you know, shade the responsibility and have the state governments have control over the police architecture. But it feels like, I mean, it is what we can see. You have the police whose primary responsibility is to ensure that there's protection of lives and property in a civil society, in a democratic, in a civil, so that's the responsibility of the police and the question is where are the police officers? Western Nigerian police force across the entire country in Kaduna State. Don't we have police officers? You know. What about the joint tax force? There are several joint tax force that we've had over time. You know, combination of different government has set up everything. What is going on? What is the state government doing? The state governor cannot say that there's nothing they can do because it's already looking like a helpless situation. That's what it seems right now. And it feels like this peasants, category of peasants, the militia, the bandits, the Boko Haram have empowered the Nigerian state and so we're so helpless and there's really nothing that we can do. And some quotas have said, let's begin to take up arms to protect ourselves because it feels like the government has actually failed. And let, you know, the argument where you have governor saying, oh yes, we can't be responsible because we do not control the security architecture is a big excuse as a chief security officer of your state. The primary response to be your consent should be about the protection of lives and properties. And if not, then let's get a better explanation to what happens with the security votes that's been gotten. So there's no sincerity in the fight against all of this. The president on the other hand, people have said that, you know, constantly they say he's treated some of these issues with kid gloves. I mean, he's not been very, you know, hash. You can't see any sincerity in the fight against security. And so we constantly just forward the arms and then we're waiting for a miracle to happen that can never happen because there's always a human path to every miracle. So it is so sad that every day the lives of Nigerians do not mean anything to anybody, including the governors of this state. And we wake up and we make excuses. So what is now the fate of the Nigerian people? Where do they now run to that every day lives have been killed, lives have been taken. And this person's constantly paid taxes. It's so sorry. So, you know, I always feel that Nigerians should be paid. So I just feel like being a Nigerian is a lot of job. It's a job that, you know, you should be put on a salary scale. You should be earning salary or just being a Nigerian. It's so much to bear. I mean, maybe I'm getting very emotional. I need to put my emotions in check at this point. You know, it's a sad situation in Kaduna State because, I mean, almost, it's just about three weeks ago when governor of Kaduna State, you know, he wasn't there in person anyway, but he was represented by commissioner of his, had a meeting, security meeting with the village chiefs, traditional rulers, you know, and community leaders from two local government areas, Kauru and Zango Kataf. The governor wasn't there. But when he spoke, he said, and this was a bombshell, people started talking about it. And when people talk about Kaduna State, a lot of people don't really understand what's going on there. So just because of sentiments, just jump into it and start talking. You know, that's why some of the headlines that we see, we have to be a bit circumspect and try to understand the situation. There's a lot of tension between the ethnicities in the area. You know, and it's not just a one-way killing. It's both ways, you understand. But the governor said something, which is really, really worrying. 387 people killed in two years in just these two local government areas, Zango Kataf and Kauru. And just barely three weeks, you know, after the governor said that, we have this group of people going to Zango Kataf, a village in Zango Kataf, LGA, and to burn all the houses there. And in most times, when these moves are made, it's reprisal. It means maybe they want to go back and revenge something. So the ethnic groups, they are forming themselves into militias, into, you know, into local armies of sorts and attacking each other. So it's a situation that you ask, I mean, can't government do anything about this? When El Rufi, a governor of Kaduna State, meets with the chiefs, traditional rulers, religious rulers, or leaders, rather, and come to leaders and tries to appeal to them to be more tolerant of each other and not to continue the killings and counter-killings that they are unjustifiable, you see a governor who doesn't have the power to do much, you ask him, does he have the power to do much more than just talk to the traditional religious and community leaders to sit down with them? Is there much more to do? Because this is your state, you know. Also, some would say that the statement is credited to the former, to the governor, his utterances and his body language may not have given people confidence, especially outside Kaduna State, that he is being fair or is being hands-on to solve this situation. Just like what's happening, not exactly what's happening in Benoistia, but a bit of, you know, the federal government keeps talking and pushing the blame to the federal government, but the neutrality of El Rufi is a symbol of question that because of his statements, you know that North and South in Kaduna are not just divided along ethnic lines, but also to larger extent religious lines. So you have Christians in Kaduna State as well. He is Muslim, you know. So this suspicion has been there in the public. That's why people always say, ah, this means what El Rufi says, you know. So for me, I totally understand that you have different kind of conflicts. So you have conflicts from ethnic crisis differences and what have you. And that's why I say government exists. Government exists for this purpose because these things will happen. Government cannot just wake up and say to ethnic groups, ah, so they're fighting. So don't we have the police? Don't we have system to resolve all of this? Don't we have system to resolve the conflict and boundary issues? We know that boundary and conflict and, you know, land issues would always arise. It has always existed. But we can't just act as if it's mission impossible. It is not mission impossible. I remember on this platform, we've had a conversation right here. And I'm sure at that time you weren't here. Well, we spoke to different parties from these different, you know, communities. And then these persons were, you have this group of persons saying, we're not, these persons killed our cows. We didn't kill them or they did this and they did not do this. And you can hear people saying, oh, we did this or we're doing this because our cows were killed, they attacked us. The question is mother is mother. Who are these persons committing this crime? And Kofi but else to say that these people do not leave. My question is these people do not leave and it's like you have a family, but I'll finish up with that thought. These people do not leave in a space. They don't leave in space. They don't leave in the moon. And even in the moon, people will actually go to the moon and go to space. So there can be found. So if you have different communities, you know, perpetrating all of these crimes, committing mother, how come the security apparatus, the people who should make arrests, who should ensure that there's law and order, have actually failed in doing that. That's where the question lies. So we know that conflicts would actually come from different issues. So this is a conflict where you have different tribes having this clash for whatever reason it is. But the law does not permit that you take, you take the laws into your hands by killing another life. So if there's any grievances or any dispute or whatever, there's a system that this can actually be resolved. And so these persons who commit all of these crimes leave in our society. We know them. They are our uncles. They are our brothers. But we have constantly tolerated them. And that's why we have emboldened all of this. I don't think it's an excuse when we say we don't know when we call the tradition. The traditional rulers, at some point you begin to, because before we came an entity called Nigeria, we had a way of administering our government. We had a system where you had traditional rulers playing the major role, where they were, where you had peace in different communities and where people, you had a system of policing, where you had the youths and what have you. And so the role also of traditional rulers, we can't take that out entirely. So what are they doing in all of this? Is it that we don't know the people who are killing? If somebody has killed somebody, it's a crime in the law. The criminal code states that. And so the point is the law, there's no implementation of the law. There's no arrest. People are not being arrested. Because somebody killed your cow, does not mean you should kill another person. And so when you have the attacks and reprisal attacks and then government is saying, oh, there's really nothing we can do because that's what it feels like. And that's what it sounds like. We're helpless. And so let them continue the fight. So what's the essence of governance? So let all of us continue to fight. Imagine that there's some conflicts in the office and you don't have a system. Then you have to probably take something and go very violent. That's all we're saying, that government has missed it. Yeah, I think we'll have to move on at this point. It's a fortunate situation. In Kaduna State, if you have 387 people killed in just two local government areas, is it maybe not time for a solution, a hard-hitting solution? We know what happened in Platteau State in the time, I think, of Joshua Dairie as governor and Ulusha Kobasa Angel as president. And maybe it's time for such a solution to be employed in Platteau State. It's time for politics in Kaduna State, sorry. It's time for politics to go out the window and the right thing to be done, which maybe an emergency situation could be declared if it's just maybe these two local government areas. You understand? He declared and then quelled attention. This is not a situation that can be solved by arresting people because it's whole communities and whole tribes against whole tribes. So you don't solve this problem by arresting people. You can arrest and you won't have space in the prisons. You have to de-escalate, call the leaders, sit them down and talk. Is it that leaders of these communities are not listening to the governor or not? Because he said that they should stop. He's met with them. And even though he didn't meet with them directly. The escalation doesn't seem to stop the problem. Is it that he... I mean, the message is not getting to them or is it that they are not able to talk to their youth to stop these killings? So I think maybe it's about time that an emergency situation is declared in that part of at least, if not the whole of Kaduna state, in that part. But hopefully if such an emergency situation is declared it's also will be necessary for the military to be impartial, to be neutral in that instance. Because even some of the tribes of those who are involved in the killings, they have their kinsmen in the army. And it's not new to hear people complain that some soldiers are being partial to their brothers in conflict. So this is what they have to look out for. We really hope for the best and a resolution in Kaduna state. We have to move on. We have up next a look at what happened today in history and of course when we come back we'll dive straight into what the national dillies have on their front pages of the press. We'll be right back.