 The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress and Governors elected on the party's platform have called on President Mohammad Abu Hari of Nigeria to obey the Supreme Court's interim injunction on the Naira redesign policy. With a few days to the general elections in Nigeria, the security situation across the country has continued to be of concern but how exactly will this security situation affect the electoral process? We have analysis of some of the headlines and front pages of today's National Dailies in the press of his ahead on the breakfast. Welcome, we're back with the breakfast and plus we have got the beautiful, beautiful Tuesday morning. We're reaching you live from our studios right here on Victoria Island Lagos. My name is Kofi Bartels. Once again you're welcome. We have interesting conversations ahead and of course the hot issues of the day in Nigeria have to do with the 2023 elections and also of course the Naira redesign policy or let's call it the policy, a monetary policy of the central bank of Nigeria. So counting down to the elections how exactly will the decision makers in the country sway because this will invariably have an impact on the elections in the country if you know you know. We'll talk about that along the line but as usual we start with our top trending segment where we always take a look at what is trending in the country as far as conversations online and incidents are concerned. What has got people talking? What has got tongues wagging? That's what we will look at. We start off with this very sad one. I saw it and I just could not bear to watch the videos. A woman setting herself ablaze over her inability to repay a loan. It's quite sad. She obtained a 70,000 Naira loan from a microfinance bank in Oregon State and this is a woman who could not pay this loan reportedly set herself on fire. See somebody in the poster there saying that's what we say in Yoruba or Ewo as we say in other parts of the country in Pigeon English. The woman identified as Mama Dada as such a set herself ablaze in her rented apartment in Iitoko area of Abyukta, OKKC to be precise. And she said she had lost her life and so she didn't make it out of life is what we're told. She was trying to avoid embarrassment of her inability to pay the 70,000 Naira loan. She is said to have sent her last born to buy her fuel. Then locked herself up after the boy was asked to go out, you know, pour the fuel everywhere in her apartment and then lit the flame. Her corpse is said to have been deposited at the central or general hospital, State General Hospital Ijiae in Abyukta. Of course, the political parties have jumped on this. The People's Democratic Party, Senatorial Candidate in Ogun Central Rumi Day, Adair Inokun expressed sadness over the incident. He described the tragic loss of this woman as one of the hardships that women have to endure with loan schemes, with loan schemes, OK? Some people have said the government should take a look at this because the woman's death is a direct result of the economic situation in the country. It's what they're saying. The nation's poor economy has forced the people to go abhorring and to be at the mercy of loan sharks and micro-finance companies who burdened them with unimaginable repayment plans. Subjecting them to humiliating treatment, including arresting them, locking them up in toilets and all that. It's quite sad really. So there are two aspects of this. Of course, the first one is about the woman. If you look at her state, you want to talk about her state of well-being, mental health and all that. It's something that we need to talk about. So when you're facing such a situation, you have children, you have people who are, you know, depending on you, you have loved ones. Answer, OK? Is it the answer to put yourself ablaze, set yourself on fire, to kill yourself? You know, what about your children? We have to think about these things. We'll need to make things better, 70,000 there, and then your kids will not be able to grow up with their mother again. So I think also the mental health aspect comes to this. Number one, number two, like we said earlier, the loan companies, so this is micro-finance, but do they embark or do they employ tactics that really, you know, damage the psychology, the psyche, have a damaging effect to the psyche of those who patronize their services? You know, a lot of people have complained about how the loan sharks, I could call them, these fink tech companies who send you a text message saying someone, you know, is doing their money, they are criminals, they can't be trusted and all that. They are methods. I mean, what effect does it have on the psyche? The mindset, the mentality, the mental state of their customers, you know. That's another thing to look at. A lot of people have resorted to loans. I've lost count of how many of these text messages I've gotten. I mean, since the federal government's intervention and since the Consumer Protection Council, as it used to be, it was previously known, now they're called the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission or something like that. Since they intervened to try and get these companies to do the right thing when it's a step beyond what I think humanity is to endorse what they call the right loan companies. I think they've been able to reduce how they do these things, but it's still difficult for NYC. You know, I've not heard of microfinance companies affecting or treating people this way. So we can blame the company, but, of course, we need to talk about how these loan companies behave. That is the second one. The third one is the situation in the country. Of course, economic situation in the country is highlighted by what this woman has gone through. I mean, it will be, I think, a bit too much of a fallacy to blame the federal government or any state government or any government for this woman's death because everybody's going through a difficult time all over the world and it's not just in Nigeria and you don't go setting yourself up, please. Government can't be blamed for that. But, of course, this is not unconnected with the economic situation. So it's still also an opportunity to tell those in power to make sure they do the best they can. When they have mandates of the people to make sure that things are good. Okay, the economy is good. But in all of this, I remember Mohamed Boazizi. Now, who is Mohamed Boazizi? You may ask. So this is a very interesting one. Mohamed Boazizi was a street vendor, you know, in Tunisia. He was a street vendor who set himself ablaze on the 7th of December 2010 in a part of Tunisia called Sidi Bouzid. Right, Sidi Bouzid. He set himself ablaze. And he was talking about, you know, the state of the country. That act alone was the catalyst for the Arab Spring. Not just in Tunisia. Arab Spring means Arab Spring. Even in neighboring Egypt and other parts of the Arab world where people came onto the streets. Citizens of these countries poured out onto the streets to say, you know what? This has gone too far. This guy set himself on fire in protest. It's what they call self-immolation. And it's a matter to them. They came out on the streets and protested for days and weeks to say, we're tired of the way government has been run in Arab countries. We won't change. And it was Arab Spring that brought down the great Hosni Mumbarak, the then president of Egypt. It was Arab Spring that brought him down. So that act of self-immolation, setting himself on fire by Mohamed Boazizi in Tunisia, it was in response to the confiscation of his wares. You know, we have tax force in different parts of this country in Nigeria and Lagos, you know, in other parts of the world when they come. And then they say, oh, we are selling on the street. Ah, they take your things away. They pack your things. And then they throw it into your van in the speed of. So they throw it on the ground. That's what happened to Mohamed Boazizi. He was a street vendor. And his wares, his goods were confiscated by public officials, municipal officials. And of course, they harassed him, humiliated him, inflicted some injury on him. And he said, how am I going to survive? You know, this is my bread and butter. You know, life is over. And he took fire, petrol poured on himself, took fire, and set himself on fire. And that led to widespread protests. In fact, the protests went violent, you know, sporadic violence around Tunisia and other parts of the world. In fact, in Egypt, Hosni Mubarak stepped down. In Tunisia, President Zine El Abedin Ben Ali, who had been there for about 23 years in power, also had to step down as well. That was in 2011, he stepped down in 2011. So it's 13 years now, 12 to 13 years since Arab Spring. But it's a monumental event in history as far as Arab countries are concerned. And we have a Nigerian Spring, I don't know. But your guess is as good as mine. For now, all we can say is for this woman may so rest in peace. I don't know who is going to take care of her kids, if she has a husband. You know, but it's a sad one. It's a sad one. All right, let's stay with the Naira redesigned policy. And we go over to a neighboring state, Southwest Nigeria. I'm talking about Ogun State. Ogun State is almost like Lagos because it's like you can stay in Ogun State, live in Ogun State and work in Lagos. Some people don't even know the difference anymore. We've seen sporadic protests around the country. Banks been attacked. Auto-tele-machine points been attacked because people can't have access to the Naira. Now some of these attacks, people believe, are sponsored by politicians who are against this Naira, the redesigned policy. They feel that it will affect their fortunes at the polls. I'm sure you remember from last week, Al Hasan Dogawa, a Majority Leader, member of the House of Representatives, APC, after meeting President Buhari, taking his committee members from House of Representatives to ask him to meet with the president about his policy to tell him to either extend the deadline or to allow Nigerians use. He said he needs 70 million Naira. He's allowed by law to spend up to 70 million Naira for the elections. And he needs the money in cash, hard copy. He needs it in hard copy. That's what he said. But of course that's an aside. For now, the protests are spreading around the country. Some people feel these protests, like I said, the riots are sponsored by politicians. I mean, I saw one yesterday, not far from where I went for some business. Yesterday I saw one, got out of a compound, and I saw some people around, almost surrounding a zenith bank. You had police reinforcements were called. Soldiers, military reinforcement was called. I looked at the people standing outside the bank, and I was like, waiting when I want to do. I was like, waiting when I want to do. You want to, that's pigeoning literature. What do you want to do? You want to attack the bank? This is a zenith bank. I was a bank, actually. Why? I looked at the people out there. Like, what is it? Are you the only ones who can't access your money? There are ATMs all around Victoria Island Lagos that are paying just in the growing queue. So why are you attacking this bank? I looked at the Calibur profile of those who were there. And I wonder how much Eva told they have money in the bank. Is it a particular bank they wanted to attack? I mean, sometimes we just need to stop deceiving ourselves, and stop allowing people to deceive us. Babali said, you sang, you can fool some of the people all the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time. You're going to attack a bank. Okay. For what reason? You have money there. So after attacking, will you get your money? So, I mean, this is what leads some people to say that these royals are sponsored. Well-calculated, premeditated, sponsored by politicians who are against. This is what some people are saying. I have no proof. What I know is that those I saw surrounding the particulars in the bank yesterday when I went for business, I don't know how much they have in the bank. And I don't know if all of them are customers of that particulars in the bank. Okay. I don't know how many of them. And you can see, this is what I saw yesterday. Okay. You know, so I'm asking, you want to go and attack a bank? Soldiers, what exactly are you attacking it for? What is the aim? To force them to give you your money? This is what we saw yesterday. Now, you know, why don't they just look at that and tell me what reason under God's son, on God's earth, those people suddenly outside have to attack this bank. What exactly is the reason? But this is not the story. In Shagamu, Oakland State, the riots erupted yesterday over the scarcity of the new Nara notes. Some youth besieged a place called the Akari Sabo Road in Shagamu, or Sagama as they say, over their inability to withdraw the new notes. They could not withdraw the money in the late siege to that particular road. And so videos online showed that banks within the area had to close down for fear of being attacked by protesters. You know, the youth made bonfires on the road tearing up, you know, some posters of some candidates, presidential candidates, to ignite the fire. They tore up the posters of APC's Bala Medinobu. And they made bonfires on the road. And then, of course, the bank staff had to run for their life. So what we see is 10 people, 20 people march, you know, start breaking things as you're marching. Then people in the area run, help us, help us. Then they just put bonfire on the road, two or three tires, and then people will fail. See, this bonfire thing is not going to deceive me. You can light 10, 50 fire. On 31st December, people light tires on the road. That is not going to deceive me. You know, people do these things just to make it feel so grand. And then some will be there. Okay, film, now film. And then the person starts filming and starts crying, you know, and then they'll put it on social media. So it's like something is happening. Come on. Even the one that happened to Ojota, the natives, those who live around the area, that was last week or so, you know, Ojota area of Lagos, something like this happened. You know, those who were driving were turning around on the equal real road, expressway. People who live in the area didn't know what was happening. Those who actually used the bank were running, you know. So what are these people coming from? It is hard to argue against those who feel that these attacks are sponsored. Because the real people who have the money in their bank wouldn't want to attack the banks because they don't want the banks to shut down perpetually over security concerns and then they can't get their money at all again. You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? The real customers of the bank won't, they don't behave like this. They don't behave like this. No, no, we won't be deceived. We won't be deceived. The people who live in the area themselves who access the bank easily and versus the people who are in their whole rooms, you know, doing anything. Versus boys who are working from far, breaking things in the process. Haba, Haba, Haba. Like Ken Sonbiki said. You can fool some of the people all the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time. You can fool some of the people all the time, but you can't fool. So for me, I'm not saying all the protests around the entire country are staged as sponsored. I'm saying some people are sane. Of course, there are people who will actually out of genuine need and want protests. But I ask you a question. When you block the road, when you break an aid, what will that achieve? You know, it's like school. You know, when we're in university, when they are riots, when they are, look at them, look at them. Like I said, you can't fool, you can't fool. Even the residents, those who have money in the bank are running away. You know, if they drama, if they drama, this country is just too much. You know, it's like school. When we're in university and then they say, oh, maybe school fees, something, the VC, Vice Chancellor is not acting well and stuff. They're going to break stuff. You know, when they shut down the school, the students suffer. They'll be at home for some time, but their mates in other schools are going for lectures. When they eventually reopen the university, the school come with a bill. That these are the things that students destroyed. They're going to add it to your school fees. You have to pay for it. And then everybody, even those who are not part of the riot, we have to pay for it. And then you ask yourself, what was the benefit of such a riot in the school? So I know the customers of the banks will be asking themselves, if I go attack this by my bank or a bank, you know, in my neighborhood, how will that affect my ability to access funds, cash, in the foreseeable future? Those will be shut down. It's hard to argue with those who say these protests are sponsored. Let's leave that drama for now. I think we see drama every day in this country. We'll go to another one. Of course, Lord Musk has been tweeting about his project, his internet company Rwanda is the second country in Africa to have access to, you know, Musk's Starlink. I think Starlink should be paying plus C before this. But Nigeria was the first country. Some people have been talking about the experiences. Some of the experience is good. Some of the experience is not so good. Congratulations to Rwanda. But it's not free. They're going to pay for it. So I don't know whether we should congratulate them. Well, leave it at that. Leave it at that. We'll take a break when we come back to look at what the people have to say right here on The Breakfast in Plus, CB Africa.