 On the show this morning, federal government pegs FX rate at 700 Naira per dollar overhead costs spike, 26 trillion Naira, 20-24 budget. Making room for disability and disability issues in governance will be the second hot topic on the show this morning. And also we will be looking at the headlines that made it to the front pages of some of our national dailies on off the press. Very good morning to you and thanks for joining us on the breakfast. My name is Nyam Gul Agadje. It's another very, very interesting Wednesday morning, Wednesday frenzy as we call it. We do hope that today was brighter and better while you woke up and tried to get to your office. Yesterday was really, really terrible for a lot of people who could not get to their offices or their places of work because of the early morning rain. So many places were flooded on the island. It was really like a sea in so many places, some places you would go and you have the water knee deep and you just be moving as if you're moving through an ocean or a stream or something. But you needed to get to work and you'll have to remove your shoes if you don't have a car yet. And if your car is too low you'll be afraid that your engine might be affected. But we thank God for small messes we survived yesterday. Today's brighter and hopefully more beautiful than yesterday. Every day is always more beautiful. Some of the things that are trending on social media and elsewhere, first of all we'll begin with what the Labour Party is saying. The Labour Party is slamming the federal government on the promise of 57.6 billion Naira cars for lawmakers. The Labour Party has condemned the proposed procurement of cars which cost 160 million each for the members of the House of Representatives saying the government of the all-progressive Congress APC is not sensitive to the plight of Nigerians. The Labour Party said the administration of President Bola Timibu is displaying extravagance at a time when the Nigerian people are grappling with hardship resulting from its economic policies which have shot up food inflation. In a statement signed by its National Chairman Julio Sabure their opposition party criticized the government for struggling to increase the minimum wage of Nigerians what could fund opulent spending of its officials. It has been reported that 360 members of the House of Assembly are to be gifted with vehicles worth about 160 million each. The Labour Party expressed in a statement its shock, sadness and disappointment at what they call the level of insensitivity being displayed by the executive and the legislative arms of the President Bola Timibu led all-progressive Congress administration. Now let us put this into perspective. 57.6 billion Naira by 360 House of Representatives is 160 million Naira per member. Let us say civil servant earns 200,000 as minimum wage per month. Divide 160 million by 200,000 and you will get 800 months of earning 200,000 Naira. Further divide that by 12 months and you will get 66.66 years. That means what one reps member is using is almost 66 years of salary of a civil servant or 16 and a half years of salaries of eight people who earn 100K to buy one car. So the sweat of someone who is working for 66 years is going to be used to buy just one car for a House of Reps member. So whenever you're calculating and saying these people deserve as much as they get just know the corresponding effect of what they are doing. So times that by 360. So which means if one person's salary of 200,000 Naira will take him to over 66 years that means times 360. So it will take 360 people 66 years each to earn the salary that one person or to earn the money that one person is using to buy a car. Just think about that. Okay, the next thing we're going to look at is also a very, very interesting thing. Tinobu, that's the president, begins one trillion Naira conditional cash transfer program. The president on Tuesday comments the distribution of 25,000 Naira per month to 15 million households. The conditional cash transfer is one of 15 items in the memorandum of understanding between the federal government and the organized labor on October 2, 2023. The federal Congress had previously scheduled Tuesday, October 3 as the first day of its indefinite nationwide strike to protest what it called the government's refusal to meaningfully engage and reach agreements with it on the consequences of the hike in petrol pump price which it described as having unleashed massive suffering on Nigerian workers and masses. Now following the MOU signed on October 2, Labor suspended its plan for 30 days, promising to revisit that plan if the federal government fails to implement the immediate parts of the agreement within 30 days. Now speaking on Tuesday, which is also the international day for the eradication of poverty, Tinobu, who was represented by the Secretary to the government of the Federation, George Akume, said his administration is partnering with the World Bank Group and other development partners to implement conditional cash transfers, business grants and other forms of support for the most vulnerable households via the National Social Safety Net Expansion Program. He promised that his administration would lead from the front in seeking to ensure that all Nigerians have opportunities to send for dignified work and sustained social protection. However, he also said that administration was working to develop and deploy several more solutions and interventions to help Nigerians of all works of life. This includes an investment of 100 billion Naira to purchase 3,000 units of 20-sitter compressed natural gas powered buses for cheaper transportation and investment of 200 billion Naira to cultivate 500,000 hectares of farmland to improve food security. The release of 2,000 metric tons of grains from the strategic grain reserves to households across 36 states and the federal capital territory and a distribution of 225,000 metric tons of fertilizer and seedlings to farmers committed to the nation's food security. Others are the release of 75 billion to support 100,000 SMEs and start-ups, renewed hope shelter program for the poor, refugees and internally displaced persons in the country. They are being targeted at 1 million households and renewed hope business grants and loans for vulnerable market women, farmers and traders to expand their businesses targeted at 2 million beneficiaries, among others. The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betay, who said 15 million households would be receiving 75,000 Naira over three months, equating to 61 million Nigerians benefiting from the scheme in October, November and December. And they do further said that beyond the cash transfer, the federal government would provide low cost shelter for the poor and internally displaced persons as a form of providing that cover for them. All these because of the removal of fuel subsidy, which from July of January to June cost the federal government about 3.0 trillion Naira, or is it 8 billion Naira. Now the interventions are costing the government more than the fuel subsidy that they were paying for Nigerians and is it just a thing of pride or is it just something that is, that cannot be done to reverse something that maybe has been a very, very bad policy. I'm saying it's a very bad policy because we've seen, we're talking about conditional cash transfer. I have never seen, I know there are people who benefited, but I've never seen even from the previous government this conditional cash transfer, someone who actually got it. We've heard stories about the palliatives that are being shared because of these fuel subsidy removal to alleviate the sufferings of the people. We've had cases, I think a few days ago, where an entire community was given a 10 kilogram bag of rice, 10 kilograms, that is like two paint robbers, as we call it when you go into the market, to buy two paint robbers for an entire community to share. And you ask yourself, where is the rest of this rice that has been sent to the people who is actually benefiting? At the end of the day, the same politicians that are said to be taking money from fuel subsidy are the same ones that are going to share the rice, share the onions, share whatever it is just like they do in campaigns. They will bring those small items and then tell you that because of those items, you should vote for them and our people are still voting. They are being bought because of that. How can you give a community 10 kilograms of rice? It's not just an insult, it's not wickedness. It has witchcraft as far as I'm concerned. So people are worried that even if the government has good intentions, how much supervision will the people who are taking care of these be supervised in such a way that everything that the government wants will get to the people that really need it? Conditional cash transfer, we will not see it. The people who need it may not see it. The fertilizers, we know what happens to it. Fertilizers are being sold by these people who are supposed to distribute to the farmers. We know this for sure. We know pumping machines have been sent by governments at one point or the other. You will have to go and pay like 30,000 or 40,000 to buy a pumping machine that is like 50,000 in the market. So just a difference of 5,000 or 10,000 Naira and people are buying it because of that small difference. We see all these things. So what are the mechanisms put in place to make sure that these things reach the actual people that it should reach? We have seen that the palliatives is a monumental failure as far as a lot of people are concerned. But if you have seen someone who really is benefitting from these palliatives, who really is in need of these palliatives and benefiting, please let us know because a lot of us have not seen. So the government should have everything and if these things that they are talking must happen, then they should be concentrating on supervision more than even the dueling out of this money that may end up in pockets that do not need this money. Now a one-time presidential aspirant, or candidate for a party, Mogalu, has recommended 50% salary allowance cut for political office holders. I'm talking about Kingsley Mogalu. He recommended 50% cut in salaries and allowances of political office holders and members of the National Assembly owing to the economic hardship in the country. The Economist, who is a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said despite the hardship facing Nigeria in the wake of the petroleum subsidy removal, the country's governance culture encourages extravagance among political leaders and appointees. He spoke of the need to address the culture of governance adding that the tone has to be set from the presidency down. He also talked about the need to include National Assembly due to the amount of resources that goes there. While citing some Scandinavian countries where their leaders take mass transit and even ride bicycles to work, Mogalu argued that Nigeria's governance culture puts self-service above people's service. He also wondered why everybody in the country wants a siren and a long convoy berating the political leaders for not replicating what they see in developed countries in Nigeria. He faltered the country's quest for more loans, saying the monies are not used for the right things. According to him, while speaking on the issue of borrowing, he believes the political class in Nigeria has prevented the economic progress of the country because of their own self-seeking and rent-seeking behavior. The president has said that his administration is going to lead from the front, by example, and I doubt if the example is to dole out 57.6 billion Naira to the reps' members just to buy cars. What kind of cars? 160 million Naira per rep member. We're not even talking about what goes to the Senate. We're not talking about what goes for the AIDS to these people and all that. And maybe a lot of people would have forgiven the government and all the politicians if these cars that they are trying to buy or they are buying were bought from Nigeria. Imagine buying those cars from a Nigerian manufacturer. That means the entire 57.6 billion Naira will remain in this country, and that means more people will be employed. The production will be more in these companies that produce cars in the country, and then maybe the cars in a short while will be cheaper because that company has more money to produce more and meet the demands of the people. But no, it may not be done that way. In fact, we are almost sure it will not be done that way, so the money will be taken to a foreign country that will gain from us. When can we learn? Well, we will keep saying what we need to say until something happens, push. So we are praying until something will happen. Right now we will take a break, and when we return we will look at the papers and see what the headlines are for this morning and beyond. Stay with us.