 Welcome back to the breakfast in Plasti, Africa. Let's take you through the front pages of a national dailies. As usual, we'll have Ezekiel and Yahya to join the conversation. I set off with the Daily Independent newspaper this morning. Let's find out what's making it on the Daily Independent newspaper. Banks hedge against new credits, prefer CBN-LD fines. That's CBN loan-deposit ratio. That's what you find. Board caption on the Daily Independent newspaper this morning. 2023 presidential election. PDP must conduct fresh convention if not picked ticket. But a judge is quoted on that. And you also have the writer saying, No concrete decision yet on zoning of presidential ticket says party. That's for the PDP. E-Swap terrorist regrouping around Lake Chard. That's what Ndume is quoted to say. And you also have another header saying, IPUB acts South East Governors to release Biafran detainees. Military vows to deal with those drawing it into politics. Anyone who plots my governments downfall will go down and say, Governor, yes, I'm Wike. And you also find, Don't allow direct primaries, rose, cuttle, electoral bill. And you also find Buhari attends IATF summit in South Africa today. Oya's IGRO growth result of hard work. That's what Mackinlay is quoted to say. That's so much you can take on the Daily Independent newspaper this morning. Right to the punch, Needswapers. Big one there says, To conduct direct primaries. And the officials, federal government schools, lecturers, agencies and commissions, Commissions workers rather lined up. NYSE remains largest single pool of personnel available to INEC, says ex-director. Also, NDLEA launches fresh raids, seizes $4.9 billion worth of cocaine in Lagos ports and others. Invasion, provosts, blames, land grabbers and miners, as Oshun queases principal officers. You can also find here Benenoir Kihl's daughter, Bihed's neighbor's corpses as money withdrawals fails in Ogun. None of our 41 members in short ICOE collapsed buildings, as NIA. And also this one in underpunch, Nigerian banks lend private sector $4.1 trillion NIA in one year. I don't know what happened to the camera. I recovered at Lecky Toe Gate, says agent Fash. And we can also find here 5.1 million retirement accounts, documentation incomplete, says PENCOM. And finally, or a few others this morning underpunch, ISWAP regrouping around Lake Chad, plotting fresh attacks over commander's killing, says Undume. And I think those are the major stories that we can share on the punch newspapers this morning. Away from the punch newspapers, let's check out The Nation this morning. Board caption says, how federal government plans to utilize fresh foreign loans as boldly written on the nation. And you have some of the projects that wish to use those fresh loans for. You have the Ligas, Abad and Real. You also have the Apapatinka Island port. And the cost of all of that will be $225.12 million. And of course the source will be the China Bank. Well, all of that on the nation newspaper this morning. And new borrowings push Niger's debt stock to $52 trillion, that's what you find. Dume, ISWAP regrouping in Barununnaf, that's what you also find. Man worried over looming $1.9 trillion revenue loss. And 3,500 killed by cholera says NCDC. 100,000 cases reported. And another caption says, Governors to senators, reps, remove direct primary costs. That's also still dominating the conversation up until this morning. Collapsical new building not insured. IDPs calm opens in Ligas, that's what you find. That's the much we can take on the nation newspaper this morning. And on the Guardian, manufacturers lose 50%, a half-year profit to operating and forex costs. Epileptic power supply exchange rates raise costs of production by 30%. Also stakeholders urge federal government to reschedule existing loans, grants, tax holiday to firms. We can also find Diego Dallo, Pitao B. and others, Fort Buhari, say field education system driving Nigerians abroad. Southern groups talk tough, insist zone must produce president in 2023. It also says here, ESWAP regrouping around Lake Chad. Undume warns. All right. Good morning once again to Mr. Ezekiel in Ayatok. Thanks for joining us. Good morning. Thanks for having me. Always a pleasure to be with you. All right. Undume is one name that has made headlines across the papers this morning. And it's with regards to regrouping of ESWAP militants or terrorists around Lake Chad according to him. I'm not sure why he is the one even putting out the information. It should be, you know, the security agency. It's not Sanitwale-Undume. But what I thought with regards to issues with security lately, ESWAP seems to have done a lot of damage over the weekend. We heard about the killing of a Brigadier General and four others. And, you know, it's just been messy. It's worse than messy. I would say that with every sense of responsibility. And I keep saying the same thing. I'm starting to sound like a broken gun. Some things just don't add up in the weekend that you have a general killed. And over a sustained period where you have killings on a daily basis. Is that really the best time for Mr. President to go out in search of investors? There's really something I don't understand because some things don't add up to the best of my knowledge. When you go to an investor, you tell the person something. The world has become a global village that whatever happens in my village, let's say a town in Nicaragua, a local government, is known in China. Because that boy is putting it on WhatsApp or is putting it on Facebook or on Twitter or something. And that is global news. And investors do their due diligence before they go anywhere. So I'm asking exactly what does my president tell the people that he goes to meet. That Nigeria has humongous opportunities with respect to the market. Correct. That's ticked. That Nigeria has just keep ticking ticking the boxes. But before he goes, he must have been told what is in the mind of the business person. The very first thing on the list is personal security. Personal security. Dead men tell no tales. When that is ticked, the next thing is business security. You've got to tick those two before you go into other aspects, whether there's markets and all that. Now, on personal security, I don't know what he's going to tell them. On business security, with all our policy somersaults, you really can't tell where the central bank is standing. Today they are saying this is a foreign exchange regime we are running. Tomorrow they are saying no, jettison this and go there. That level of insecurity, which we call instability or policy inconsistency, will never to the best of my knowledge encourage any investor. I think that, and thirdly, we know how transitions work in this country. I want to tell every governor, every president, once it's about two years to the end of your administration, cut yourself out. You are no longer in charge. You are no longer Mr. President. You are no longer the governor. We are waiting for the new man to come in. Because even the best of friends that are, even when a governor brings in a success or carries the person and literally sits the person on the chair, give them three months. And you start to hear a different story. So because of this, when you are going for a second term, there is that hope that you may get it. But when you are ending your second term, you are on your way out. So what do you do? You come back in and do what you call finishing strong. When Mr. President is going out at this point, he's like, oh, he has conquered everything. He's achieved everything he set out to do. There's nothing left for him to do again. He's looking for new things to do. Even if it was new things to do, he should be thinking of things that he can accomplish within the next six months before elections start. So going out now to look for investors, I honestly don't get it. Unless, like, you know, somebody said, jokingly, wasn't joking. A little child went and said, President has gone to South Africa. He said, oh, is it now going to borrow money from South Africa? In which case, as far as that little child is concerned, a secondary school student, President has gone to South Africa to borrow money. Maybe they don't finish the ones for China. And maybe that of South Africa is that of elections. So, guy, I don't get it. Okay. Binda, we're talking about borrowings already. Let's show your thoughts on the new borrowings of the federal government and also the plans on this new borrowings. According to the government, they are going to be, that's on the nation newspaper, by the way, the Lagos Ibadon Railway and also the Appapatenka Island Port. This is how government plans to utilize the new borrowings. What are your thoughts? Nigerians will not die in the next two years, even if the roads are not done. Okay. Now, I was somewhere and I wanted to go somewhere. I don't want to be location specific. And the cap that took me or the person that directed me to where I was going, there was an uncompleted bridge. And I asked, when will this bridge be completed so that the guy said to her, please, let it be there. We don't want when the bridge will be completed. I hope I'm heard. Yes. Why not? Okay. We don't want when the bridge will be completed. We want when the administration will be completed. Let them make, let the y'all leave the bridge where they did. Let them leave them. Let these things all finish. Let them come out. Let them come out. So please, if Mr. Senate President was to be patriotic, I would advise him. I would appeal to him not to borrow any more money. When the new administration comes in, they will reevaluate the project, reprioritize, and then see what needs to be done because the ones they have borrowed so far. We've not really seen the success story. We've not seen the prudence. There's a lot of questions coming in. There's a lot of issues of, you know, they didn't sign the agreement before they took the loan. They didn't read the agreement before they signed it. You know, all sorts of things are so unprofessional and unbecoming of a government of a country. So I think that they should just leave it, leave it. Two years, we will not die. Let you just leave this new project. Concentrate on the ones they have borrowed. Let them just start what they may call a completion agenda. Just go back in and complete what you have done already. Right now, go back and, you know, I've always advised every government that I've had privilege to have a relationship that at a time like this, you bring your project into ABC. Project A are those that are the absolutes. What you must do. You've committed yourself so far to 80% and you really want to get it finished. Project B should be what you may call legacy. One or two things that you can kill the bank. You just want to leave this behind as your legacy. And then project three is our category three is others. In the category A, which is the ones that you have committed yourself to a reasonable level of completion. Come and do your analysis and do financial engineering so that the money you have, you go into project A and see to what extent it can take. If there are some things that cannot be accommodated, remove them from project A. Sad as it is, come to project B. It must not be more than one or two. They are called legacy projects. Think you like, please just allow me to do this. For instance, our governor in a quiet state wants to build a church. So because he really wants to do that church, he really, really begs them. He goes out of his way to say, I'm ready to let go. If I need to sell my private jet, I'm ready to do it or the state private jet. Please just allow me to build this church and complete it. Time is short. Then C is others, let them go because you are doing financial re-engineering based on the funds you have and not the funds you hope to borrow. When you do that, you sit down and at the six months to the end of your tenure, you have been able to finish writing the exam paper. All you are doing is just reading through to dot all the I's and cross all the T's. That is what Mr. President should be doing now, convoking a very serious emergency finishing strong strategy and not going out of the country to look for loans and look for investors. It's a misplacement of priorities or a display of lack of... Let me not use that word. It's still my president. Sorry, you can only finish up what has been started. If nothing has been started, then there's nothing to finish up. And get to your point. Well, let's also talk about Agent Fash now. It's on the top right corner of the punch. It says, I don't know what happened to the camera. I found that the Lecky Toe Gate, and that is from... That's this popularly called Agent Fash. Of course, with regards to the conversation on what the Nigerian government or the Lagos State government has been able to find as to what happened on the 20th of October, 2020. Nothing really tangible has been revealed or exposed. But of course, the former governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashula says, he's not sure what happened to the camera that he found. What are your thoughts? No, no. It's Agent Fash, as you call him, happens to be one of my heroes. First, as a governor of Lagos State, I literally adored the man. And then maybe to reward me, then I made him the minister of housing, which is my area. And in all fairness to him, he's been extremely good to me as a friend and as a brother. In this matter, I wish I could tackle him real hard, but let me try to say he should not have made that statement that way. He shouldn't say, I don't know what happened to the camera. Rather, he should have said, I handed over the camera to Mr. B. Ask Mr. B. He couldn't have found himself in such a situation where he says, I found something so important. And then you now didn't know where it went after that. No, that doesn't sound like the fact that I know. I think that he must have been quoted out of context. What he should say is the camera was left in custody of XYZ. Please ask them what they did. And Nigerians will not hold him responsible because it was not his duty, responsibility or his office to custody any of such items. So he should say, ask ABZ, whom I had handed over to, and not to say I don't know what happened to it. It doesn't paint him well. Well, it really also is dependent on how relevant the camera is with regards to that investigation because there should have been... If it was not relevant, the media will not be on it. I'm sure you know that. If it was not relevant, they would have forgotten that long ago that they are bringing it up again means that they know that it was relevant. Well, hopefully, you know, the camera was able to capture some moments at the toll gate and we will also help with the investigation. Let's see how that goes on that one. Okay, let's quickly move our attention to the Daily Independent newspaper. And there are a lot of persons who are saying that, you know, the APC governor's might does prevail on the president, not to asset to the electoral bill. And you have Sarah Key a warning that, you know, we should not allow the direct primaries back and forth actually scuttle the electoral bill. Do you think that by any chance the president might not have sent to that bill? You see, I've been in politics for a very long time, very long time, and I've played at different levels. I always tell people for you to be the world and local government congress committee chairman to a state in a PDP. You must be very high up there and that's the position that I occupied. From there, I became the national, a pioneer national chairman of Young Democratic Party, which I co-founded. From there, I've contested the governorship of my state on two occasions and might yet do it again the third. So in being a friend of the party in going to party administration in being a candidate, I have gone through it and I can tell you that politicians are always miles ahead of us. When these direct primaries just came in very quickly and people started saying, oh, it's because the House of Rebs has scored a technical point. I stood back, go back to my report earlier, but I did the analysis on this thing. I smelled a rat. I did and I still think that there's a game that is being played because for you to insist that there must be direct primaries, very good. They did something that they seemingly give you what you want and you're not thinking well. You're not thinking through the process. Okay, if you're going to have direct primaries, does it conflict with anything? Direct primaries is good. I am for direct primaries any day, any time. But when you say it must be that and nothing else, for close any other alternative, I foresee a situation where it goes to Mr. President and Mr. President is advised that this will not stand in the way, we stand the way of the law, that there's going to be this and there's going to be that. And Mr. President is going to say on account of setting inconsistencies, on account of some things that I think are not in the larger national interest, I will have to withhold accent and send it back for them to look at it again. By the time it goes back, we are thinking in terms of all this passage of the budget and things it is kept and by the time they are through with it to revisit the electoral act, it is a little too late in the day for it to be done and they say, well, so as not to scuttle the election, let us just continue with that. What have we lost? Not primaries. We have lost the real deal, which is the electronic transmission of results. I want Mr. President to do two things for me. Number one, sign that accent to that bill and immediately send in another bill that seeks to repeal the aspect of direct primaries. Don't throw away the two of them on the alternative, except it is too late, just like the PIA as it was because before it became a PIB, let electronic transmission of results go independently so that they can deal with that as a separate body and then the primaries can also be dealt with as a separate body. But better still, if it is too late in the day, let Mr. President, if he means well, because the target here is not the direct or indirect primaries, not the target here is to bring in a conversation that will make sure that Mr. President brings back they are afraid of the issue of electronic transmission of results. I dare say that APC is scared stiff of that because they've seen what is done in Anambra state. So manipulating things which is usually done in coalition is removed completely and they don't like it. I put APC to the task and say you are afraid of electronic transmission of results. As a result, you are bringing in a certain controversy that will ensure that Mr. President acting in all good conscience sends that bill back to you and by the time you now come to debates again, there's going to be agreement and disagreement and back and forth and it becomes too late and we would have lost that confidence of even when it's approved because the moment is returned, the confidence of the people that is sky high right now will start to drop and we don't want that. So we are saying Mr. President, accent to it and immediately send in something that says this direct primaries, we won't have any problems with you. All we want is that results are transmitted directly from the polling unit. That's what's giving me confidence to go into the field to contest for the governorship of a quiet bomb state because I know that once the results are from the polling unit, I'm as good as can be, I'm as happy as can be. But once it goes into all this collation, no collation and the abracadabra that nobody ever understood, I think that is something that people like me will be very discouraged and that's what you want to hear. But trust me, you're not going to have your way this time around. All right. As the president travels around the world to market Nigeria to France and to South Africa and, you know, whoever else, marketers or manufacturers, rather, here in the country are complaining and it's on the Guardian newspapers this morning. You can see there, manufacturers lose 50% half-year profits to operating and forex costs. Also goes on to say, epileptic power supply, exchange rates raise costs of production by 30%. Stakeholds urge federal government to reschedule existing loans and grant tax holidays and some other firms. But the main cat really is the struggle of manufacturers or manufacturers are dealing with here in the country and dealing with, you know, some of the things that make it even harder to excel in this space. So Mr. Ayatollah, can President Buhari in any way convince investors and manufacturers to invest in Nigeria seeing the climate that we currently have here? Two things. The very first thing is that I'm a private-sector person. I've never held or never accepted any appointment. I'm strictly a private-sector person, in which case I understand what it means for you to ask me to go and invest somewhere, look at the bottom line. I'm into housing and there are several states that have asked me, including the Northern states, have asked me to come and do housing projects with them. And I just sit there and I'm asking them one, two, three questions. What's your market like? What are you willing to guarantee? What are the sweeteners you are putting on the table? Okay, yes, you have those numbers I get, like are we targeting civil servants? Are we taking the organized private sector or the informal sector? We have to sit down and ask all these questions and more often than not, you ask a commissioner for housing these questions and he's just looking at you and he's like, bros, you're talking too much grammar. All they are saying is that we get money, come, make me put this thing on the table. This is your own, this is our own. That is over 90 percent. There was a time that my former governor, Atah, is still around. I was the first Nigerian that got the facility from Chelsea, I'm free for any state government. A particular governor told him that if Akiten Yaitouk does not come to me, I will take my siren and go to Uyo and that will be embarrassed. The government said, I went to the guy and sat down as a governor. All he was telling me was how much, how much, how much. I said, sir, this is a loan and I need to see the exit strategy. Whatever I was talking, I was irritating him because at this time I brought, was it 3.8 or 4.8 million dollars to acquire them to do the shares at Africa State? And all he was seeing was 4.8 million dollars. 4.8 million dollars. And I had such a hard time trying to tell him, sir, I'm a private sector person. If I'm going for this loan, I need to be able to convince them on the exit strategy. He said, hey, government will do it. He said, sir, it doesn't work that way. At the end of the day, I worked away. I could have made so much money, but I've worked away with my integrity with my head held high as a professional. That of Abong Victorata, the money was collected, the estate was built, the full money was repaid. And today, on my birthday on the 1st of November, the MD of Shelter Africa recorded a message that if you listen to your heart, no matter how hard you feel good, what am I trying to say? When these people go to negotiate loans, to start with, Mr. President goes there ceremonially. He's supposed to go there to sign off. I don't know who can convince me that Mr. President, I mean, what is he going to negotiate? What is he going to say? He's a technical people that do the groundwork, they do the analysis, they do the defense, they do everything. And when all is done, Mr. President goes there ceremonially to sign. So when Mr. President is going today to negotiate to seek for, to, is that his job? Can that be the job of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? Scouting? Where is the minister of investment, trade and investment? Where are all the different bureaus on investments that are supposed to be doing the work? Where is it the place of Mr. President? Mr. President goes there to sign off and not to scout for. It's something I don't understand. It's something that is not adding up. It's not something that is not adding up. Even if Mr. President wants to take a vacation or something. But aside from the president, and the angles concerning the president, can we also share a little bit about how difficult it is for these manufacturers here in the country, those who have brought their businesses down here in Nigeria, having to deal with the epileptic power supply and some of all of that. You don't need to go far. I am one of them. I built an estate for two years with all the transformers installed. I have found it difficult to get my estate connected. Aesthet with all infrastructure in place, everything, fire hydrant, water treatment plant, I have built as founted, full landscaping, everything. I don't have power in my estate as we speak. This is national television, international television. Why is that so? Is there any payment that I have not made? Is there anything I have not done? Nothing. I don't have light. I run generator for two years after whatever the transformers have been installed. I hope the minister in charge of power and the rest can hear this and take me up on it. What is the problem? Now, this is what people face in this country in doing business. The bureaucracy is just awful. I can't even get money from the bank. Did you hear in one of the papers you saw that the banks are willing to pay the fines than to embark on new loans. Did you see that? And then what is government telling people that are investors? Are they telling them that investment comes in different ways? Some people have the technicalities, they have the know-how, they have the workmanship, they need the funding. Some people have the funding, they are looking for ways to invest. All these different dynamics are things that interplay and create an investment environment in a country. It is holistic. And when the banks say we cannot give new loans, we rather pay the bank-to-death ratio know that fine than to give new loans. These are the sort of policies that the central bank should say it is beyond fines because if you look at the fine, it's just a slap on the wrist. And you're asking them to lend because you want the economy to be buoyant and they have to do it. They must make their profit by listening to the two sides of the divide but make sure that the economy, the system is protected. Right now we that are in the private sector have no level of protection within the system and it is not okay, it's not enough. And as we are speaking today, your friend in China is watching this. Anybody that they talk about China, about investment in Nigeria, they are looking for some key stations in Nigeria. And as you are showing this paper, this paper I'm showing is shown by all the A-rated stations. Of course, we are close to TV, is one of them. And they are seeing it. And when Mr. President finishes addressing the people and works out, they are going to carry a copy of this letter, of this paper and show to the Nigerian team and say, bros, what do you say about this? And they are going to say, oh boy, leave that team. So it's either they are going to think of the country. Anyway, bottom line in Nigeria, the investors are having a hard time, the manufacturers. And let me tell you, they say something about reducing the fines. Government is looking for money from everywhere, including raising taxes. And yet the investors or the manufacturers are looking for how you can bring down these taxes so that they can survive. I'll end with this little thing. I went with my partner to Rwanda to register a company. When we got there, they just gave us a console, like a tablet. And within 30 minutes, we had finished the registration. Within 30 minutes. And they told us, give us 24 hours and you get your certificate. And we said payment. They said, no, you can't talk of payments now. We need to help you to grow so that when you make the business and you are successful, then you will be able to take the taxes from the successful business. I looked at my partner and we said, sounds good. Let's wait. About 15 minutes to the 24 hours they gave us. We got a mail, please in 15 minutes, login and your certificate registration would be ready. We logged in 15 minutes and there it was. You can either print and use or you come and get a hard copy. Any of the two. What am I saying? These are people who understand investment dynamics. We are not going to kill you. We are going to fatten you up like a lamb, like a pig, so that your sales value will be higher. But in our own, we are draining the milk from the pig from youth. And as a result, all these pigs that look like they are malnourished. That is antithetical to investment logic and ideology. Thank you very much for your time this Monday morning for kicking off the week for us. We wish you a beautiful week ahead. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Absolutely. And just before, of course, we move to our first major conversation for today. Let's take you back in history in 1923. We're speaking about a guy called James Montgomery when this day, of course, began his struggle for freedom after he was accused falsely of rape. And of course, he eventually was released in 1949. Her name was Mami Snow, who was a mentally disabled white woman from Illinois and claimed that James Montgomery, a black veteran and factory worker, raped her. He was promptly thrown in jail, spent more than 25 years in prison before his conviction was overturned and was released. From the start, his trial, of course, seemed ill-fated. The local Ku Klux Klan members threatened Montgomery's lawyer during the proceedings. He was eventually found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. But while serving time, Montgomery started law in an attempt to prove his innocence. His attorney, Kutner, discovered a medical report from Snow's Hospitals, revealing that not only was she never raped, she was also likely a virgin. Montgomery was eventually then once again released in 1949. Very interesting story. Quite interesting. Yes, it is. All right. And that's all we have for you today in history. We'll take a short break. When we come back, we're going into our first major conversation for today where the National Union of Railway Workers are threatening to go on a three-day one-in-strike from the 18th of November, complaining about their working conditions and remuneration. So we're talking about that after the short break.