 On the breakfast this morning, of course, we have a very, very interesting discussion as countries of the world affirm their commitment to a carbon and neutral climate by 2050 following the Paris Agreement of 2015. We look at Nigeria's readiness for energy transition by 2050. Also on the breakfast, we take a look at the 178,459 unaccounted fire arms by the Nigerian police force and 3.22 billion Naira paid to ghost contractors. It's implication for the fight against insurgents. And as always, we take a look at the papers this morning for a quick review of the biggest stories making headlines across Nigeria. I'm glad to have you on the breakfast here on PLOS TV Africa. It's back to work across the country. Everyone who had a public holiday yesterday that we didn't, welcome back to work. And we hope that you enjoy the next two hours and further with us. I am Musaugi Ogbama. And I am Messi Bokpo. It's good to have you join us as usual this morning on the show. Absolutely. And how are you? I'm very well. Thank you. Okay. I hope that at some point I can share my story of how I lost 23,000 Naira yesterday. I've been feeling sorry for you. On the third day of the new year. That's how I started my year. But aside that, let's talk about some of the trending stories this morning. We'll start in River State and where the governor of the state, Yasom Wike, has placed a semen ban on prostitution and nightclubs. But it's not necessarily because of COVID-19 and to curb the spread in River State because the last time I was there, it didn't seem like there was anything like a pandemic and nobody was wearing any face mask. But this time he's blaming these vices. He's saying that prostitutes and, of course, drug peddlers and drug users and people who also visit the nightclubs are constituting a nuisance in certain areas of Port Harkot. And because of that, he has placed a ban on some of all those things, which in my opinion is not going to work because he can't necessarily just place a ban on those things. Prostitution is not necessarily legalized in any part of the country, but it does exist. And also in River State, it still will take the State House of Assembly to effect such a ban because you can't necessarily criminalize a thing if it's not in the law. So I'm not sure how exactly he plans to do this. I also saw some people push some of those religious connotations to it like it will be in the north with his ban and the likes who simply wake up and want it until they don't like what this looks like and they place a ban. But we'll get you to watch Governor Wikey express himself with regard to this and then we'll get to share our thoughts right after. So listen and watch. Governor Wikey in his 2022 New Year message at the Government House Port Harkot said the directive stems from failure of the federal government and its security agencies to rein in those behind illegal oil bunkering and artisanal crude oil refiners in the state. The governor said the state government has equally appealed without success to persons engaging in this illegal business to consider its negative effects on the economy, environment, public safety and public health and disengage from it. He has also directed all council chairmen and community leaders to locate, identify and report to his office all those behind illegal bunkering and crude oil refining sites in their localities for prosecution. As a state government, we have drawn the attention of the federal government to this problem. I requested for its intervention to stop the activities of illegal bunkering and artisanal crude oil refiners which have been identified as the main sources of the suit pandemic. Unfortunately, the federal government had remained inexplicably silent over a request and even complicit to a large extent which called the agencies actively aiding, encouraging and protecting the artisanal refiners to continue with their harmful activities unabated. Concerned about the operations and social harmful activities of nightclubs within residential areas of the state, the governor has placed an immediate ban on all nightclub activities including nighttime trading and street prostitution along Abacha Road and surrounding streets in Port Harkot. The state government has placed an immediate ban on all nightclub activities including nighttime trading and street prostitution along Abacha Road and surrounding streets particularly in the Casablanca area to stop the harmful effects of these depraved activities on the moral development of our children and society at large. Governor Wiki stated that governments will take over most vacant plots or uncompleted buildings in the old and new government reservation areas, GRA. By taking over all sorts of abandoned plots and uncompleted buildings, we are reporting the case of a couple of several undeveloped plots of land-owned GRA, Port Harkot, for breaching the governance attached to that who were also allocated to interested members of the Republic for immediate development. He also announced the immediate ban on activities of cat pushers who have become notorious for indiscriminate scavenging of manhole covers and directed law enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute anyone who attempts to violate this ban. There you have it, he spoke on a couple of things, oil, bonkers. Our focus this morning is the ban on prostitution and nightclubs and the likes. It seems like he does have a point, trying to clean up the city and he also mentioned that it's affecting the young residents of Port Harkot and some of all of that morally would affect them and all that. But like I said earlier, I don't know if you can just as governor place a ban on something. If you go on with it and you're arrested, what are you going to be charged with? If it's not an actual law criminalizing it's in the state, it seems a little dictatorial in my opinion. And these are things that have existed before WIKE. They are things that will continue to exist with regards to fight against drug peddling and drug use. That's the responsibility of the NDLEA, the state office of the NDLEA. They are the ones who should take up that responsibility to ensure that they clean up River State and clean up Port Harkot of those drugs that he's complaining about. Prostitution and the sale of sex has existed long before some WIKE and it will continue to exist even after him. You cannot just simply ban prostitution. You can close nightclubs and maybe, but once again, these persons, they got a license from the River State government to run those nightclubs. Maybe those licenses can be revoked maybe and they still will be able to approach the court for some clarity. No, so it's also to say that whether or not the governor has a right to ban nightclubs and prostitution, that's also one question on one hand. And on the other hand, you also need to begin to ask yourself, like you had mentioned, prostitution is actually an old ancient practice. It has existed way before, I mean, we have lived including the governor himself. And there's not country, there's not part of the world that you don't have street prostitute. Now, I know that those who, I mean, religion and those who actually believe in certain religion would come with strong argument, but this is actually the reality. But also look at it that a lot of peasants who you find on the street are not necessarily on the street because they want to be on the street, but it has become a means of economic necessity. And that's why they are there. It's a means of livelihood for a lot of peasants. And to put it very straight is because jobs are not available. I mean, the government has failed in providing jobs and basic amenities for peasants have taken to finding a way of survival and making a living. Now, so we also talk about the nightclubs. You want to categorize them. I mean, what would become of the people? Okay, so as much as you say you want to, you know, you want to clear the states and make sure that everywhere is very clean. I mean, I really like his zeal and his energy right there, but let's also find out what are you doing in place to cushion all of this. So when you now ask the people, get off the streets, no more prostitution, and then you shut down the nightclubs. The nightclubs have become, you know, a huge source of, you know, livelihood for a lot of peasants. It's business. So you're saying that, you know, you're shutting down people, you're shutting down businesses across. So what will happen? And this is a period where, you know, we're looking at crime and criminality that's actually on the high. And so you want to talk about pipeline vandalization and bunkery and what have you. So as much as it's like saying, you know, we want to stop the importation of rice, but we're not self-sufficient in rice production. We don't want the people to engage in. I'm thinking that this is actually as much as we say, whenever I get to a society where we're going to eradicate, you know, Nigeria and the world entirely of prostitution, there will always be those who will be on the streets. But let's look at it at the fact that it's an economic necessity for a lot of peasants. What are we doing to take these peasants off the street? Maybe we'll look for another, you know, approach, advocacy, and trying to reintegrate them and get them, you know, to engaging in all the sorts of livelihoods. That would rather be a better approach. What is an economic necessity? It's also a... I have no idea what you're about to say. You know what I mean. What you're about to say. Besides, you know, that part, you know, it's also... because I mean, you can't stop people from having those cravings and those urges, you know, and I think as, you know, as a country... It depends on which side it comes from. Both ways. I mean, who is patronizing? Both ways. Who's buying? Who's selling? Both ways. You can't necessarily stop those things, but at the same time, you know, I think that, at a point in Nigeria, you know, I understand the religious, you know, covering that we always have. Even if a lot of times, you know, it is very deceitful, but we're calling on to religion like no other country in the world, but it's still, you know, we should get to a place in our country where we get to discuss on legalizing some of all these things to make it a safer space and a safer workspace for these, you know, these persons, you know, and that includes abortion at some point. We're not there as a country yet, and I understand that a lot of people would argue and would say, you know, no. But, you know, at some point, you know, as the world continues to develop and, you know, we continue to have conversations about where we're moving as a country, we should get to having those conversations. But since we're not there, this is where we are. But once again, I still think it's the tutorial. Like you said, you cannot just simply close on people's businesses because you don't like the way, you know, it looks to you religiously and morally. That's not enough. You have to shut down a business. As long as they're not breaking any laws and you've not put any actual laws in place to criminalize some of these things, then you cannot simply just shut down their businesses. If you say, okay, you know, we're going to revoke licenses or we're going to try to clean up these areas, we don't like the way it looks at night and some of all of that, then, you know, that's, you know, it's fine. Regulation would make more sense than, you know, simply, you know, waking up some morning and saying, you've placed me down on nine clubs. But I've got people drink a lot and party a lot. I'm sure everybody knows that. So what next are they going to be doing? So I'm looking forward to a time where we would say less banned activities of cults and, you know, less banned cultists than the activities, right? Maybe that would make a lot of sense, you know, because these persons are actually engaging, I mean, if you look at it to the most of it, you find that these persons are actually engaging, you know, some kind of crime and criminality. A lot of crime and criminality that's been happened have been attributed to some sect, you know, cults and gangs and what have you. So maybe we should be challenging, we should channel our energy in that direction, however. But, you know, it's just a statement. It's a policy statement, government across board, everywhere, especially in Nigeria. I mean, it's part of the practice to always make all of this statement and, you know, procure, I mean, make all of this statement and policies, which at the end of the day, you would say, if that's going to happen, we need a legislation, you know, to die for it and it can't just, just happen. Absolutely. Let's just take it as one of those, you know, very, very awesome policies. Yeah, I personally don't like the way that, you know, Nigerian political office holders and, you know, and the likes simply just take advantage of, you know, the fact that they have control or they have some power and want to bully everyone into what they desire. There should be a conversation about it. If you want to go that route, there'll be a conversation about it in the State House of Assembly. Letting people decide. It would be very catastrophic, even if, you know, the government would decide that they are going to exercise their might and power and then they ensure that, hey, you can't be there if you've found you're going to be arrested. That's what's going to happen. I don't know, but I'm just saying that, you know, the rate of crime would triple, you know, it would just triple and triple and triple in, you know, that particular state and it was, you know, there would be a spillover. It would trickle down to other parts. So for every time, because we always have governments saying, oh, we want to do this. And then you're not looking. It's like saying, you know, we're still having the argument of whether government should take away subsidy. We want to take away subsidy, but what provisions have we made? What have we put in place, right? Do we have functional refineries? So before you, I mean, you come out as a governor or you come out as a political office holder to say, oh, let's get all the street prostitutes out of the road. I mean, let's stop street prostitution and what have you nightclubs? What have you put in place? What are they going to fall back to? Because like I said, apart from the fact that, you know, it could be pleasure for some people, it's also a serious economic, you know, necessity. And that's because government has failed. I mean, society has failed to provide the basic. And that's why people have resorted to, you know, finding a way to survive. You know, in my opinion, I personally don't see that as a genuine enough reason to get into that space. You know, but I understand it. No, for a lot of people, that's the reason that you're on the street, trust me. Well, I wouldn't, I've never been there, but I'm saying my point is, you know, I personally wouldn't agree that, you know, it's a genuine enough reason, you know, that the economy is bad, there are no jobs, and so I will go stand on the street and, you know, sell sex. It's, you know, I think I believe it's illegal in Nigeria, but once again, if the governor is saying that I don't like the way that these areas in Potakot look at night, they look rowdy, they look, you know, dusty, and they don't look safe, you know, then they can have a conversation on how to clean up those areas. You can't shut down people's businesses, you know, just like that. You also cannot stop the sale of sex in Potakot. It will always exist. So what would rather happen is that people will find other ways around it, and that's really the thing with, you know, making laws and not considering, you know, these other aspects. People would always find the way around it. And, you know, if you've listened to the conversation on abortion, you know, and people talking about the legalizing of abortion, you know, they have continuously said that because it has been illegal, you know, in certain places across the world, people finding the way around it have made it more dangerous, and it pretty much will make the same or be the same thing with, you know, when you simply just ban something without considering these other aspects. But I'm sure that the people of River State will, you know, get into that conversation. Maybe the State House of Assembly will also be able to look into some of these things. And the governor of the state would also maybe reconsider, you know, the ban, mostly because of how it will affect businesses, you know, the nightclub business in Potakot, because that's not going anywhere. It's not going away at all. And the amount of businesses that will be affected would also be dangerous to the economy of Potakot somehow. So, you know, because of how much nightlife Potakot does enjoy. Last time I was there, it was, you know, a really fun place. Anyway, that's in River State and, you know, we'll follow up on that and see where that goes. Moving away from River State, let's talk about Nigeria now. And this is with regard to security. If you've been following news updates in the last couple of days, you must have heard a lot from the Auditor General of the Federation, who has been revealing a lot of, you know, mismanagement of funds, you know, from the National Assembly and other aspects. Our next top trend in the story is going to the Nigerian Police Force, where the Auditor General's office has once again declared that there is some level of misuse of, you know, ammunition and the funds. The report from the Auditor General revealed that 178,459 rifles and ammunition have been declared missing and unaccounted for dating as far back as January 2020. It's, of course, contained in its latest query, which was released on the 15th of September 2021. It goes on to say that the Audit observed from the review of arms movement register, monthly return of arms and ammunition, and ammunition register at the armory section, that the total number of lost firearms is, as of December 2018, stood at 178,459 pieces. Out of this number, 88,078 were AK-47 rifles, 3,907 assorted rifles and pieces across different police formations, which could not be accounted for as of January 2020. It also reports that the failure of police to account for missing firearms violated paragraph 2603 of the Financial Regulations Act. This, you know, should be shocking for everyone, but I saw a couple of questions that were interesting. How many police officers do we have that, you know, 178,000 weapons are missing? And how do 178,000 weapons just go missing in a country? We've spoken numerous times about arms proliferation and the inflow of arms into Nigeria across the country, and how Nigeria has millions and millions of, you know, of arms that are really just unaccounted for. But now we're hearing that it is, you know, there's also a problem in the Nigerian police force where 178,000 weapons have been missing between 2018 and 2020. It is stunning to say the least. And, you know, it makes you also wonder where these weapons have gone, you know, and who's, you know, who's currently in possession of these weapons. So, you know, it's very scary. That's number one. The fact that you want to begin to look at the parts, I mean, the face that we're as a country, the rate of crime and criminality. And so just imagine, I mean, because right now we probably don't have the answers. So it would just be questioned. So imagine 178,459 firearms in the hands of unguarded, I mean, how do you, you can't control criminal elements across. So just imagine, you know, the rate of the fact that we're not safe, the own safety atmosphere that we have created out of carelessness. And if the system now, because I mean, I mean, you have the report saying that the system has, these persons have actually violated a particular paragraph. What has happened to these persons? How did this weapon get missing in the first place? Who's responsible for all of this? Right. So shouldn't we have people being punished? Because constantly you always ask yourself, every institution should have a mechanism of correcting itself. So does the Nigerian police force? I mean, we have the police service commission. We talked about all the time. All of this happening, what does the police, I mean, the Nigerian police service commission done. I mean, why haven't we heard that persons have been, because you can't be that careless. People need to be accountable. People need to be held responsible for this. But as usual, it's Niger. And that would always be the phrase, nothing will happen. Nothing has happened. And we're not worried that we have this number of fire, I mean, fire arms unaccounted for. We can't find, we don't know where they are. Is that what we're saying? Who took them? How did he get out? What's the problem? Are we selling them off? Are people coming to our offices in a space to take them? These are some of the questions that we're hoping that we'll get answers to. But it's really, really scary. I mean, the thing that this is out there, and we do not know where it is, and we cannot count for all of that. And nothing has been done. No, it's quite sad. And, you know, like you said, you know, the big question would be, what happens next? You know, is the Nigerian police force, you know, through all its hierarchy, not aware that 178,000 weapons were missing in the last couple of years? Did it take the... Did they have to take the auditor general of the federation to put this information out? Did the police not know that they had lost that many weapons? And if they did, then how did they stay silent about it, you know, so long? I understand that every now and then you hear of robbers attacking police officers and taking their weapons, but not 178,000, you know, and that's definitely... That's almost like 200,000. And then we're looking at the police force of about 400,000 or thereabouts. Can't imagine. But it also mentioned that 3.22 billion naira is also, you know, lost, you know, and unaccounted for, you know, and was given to contractors and there was no verification or no, you know, paperwork to show where these funds were paid to or who these funds were paid to or what contracts they were paid for, also from the Nigerian police force. Luckily, we have, you know, an extended conversation about this sometime around 8.30 this morning, so look out for it. We'll take a short break and when we come back, we're kicking off with... off the press, the major story is making headlines across Nigeria this morning. Stay with us.