 Okay, we want to right now revisit what we brought to you as one of the top trending, you know, whenever we talk about top trending, there are issues that caught our attention in the course of 24 hours. Now, this one was that the Lagos State Governor Babaji Desongolu has said no administration is immune to mistakes. The governor said this while reacting to the outrage from Nigerians after the procurement record, rather, released by the Lagos State Procurement Agency. It showed some outrageous amounts were allocated for some items in the state budget. The government's chief candidate of the Action Democratic Congress in Lagos for inshaudority had written an open letter to the state government asking why such amounts of money were allocated. The state procurement records showed the governor approved 7.5 million Naira to replace liquid fragrance perfume, as people would like to call it, in his office and 3 billion to purchase rechargeable fans for the office of his deputy, Obafemi Hamzad. Other contracts awarded by the state's public procurement agency, PPA, in the second and third quarters of 2023 had included approval of over 440 million Naira for the purchase of a new Lexus LX600 bulletproof spot utility vehicle for use in the pool of the office of the chief of staff. The office of the chief of staff also got 18.5 million Naira for the supply and distribution of 2,000 Naira chickens across the local government areas and wards in the state. The governor in a statement by his spokesman, Boyega Akkoshile, noted that the controversy was unnecessary, stressing that the state had nothing to hide in its public expenditure. Officers in Lagos state have come out to show that there could be mistakes on some lines of items. So Lu said Lagos had maintained open books for checks and balances, pointing out that the state had judiciously appropriated funds for projects and services that benefited the residents. He assured that his government will continue to publish its spending and keep it open for public scrutiny. We are being joined by Mr. Shagun Shokuton, a public affairs analyst, to help us make sense of all these problems or all these issues that we are talking about now. Good morning and welcome to the program, sir. Thanks for having me. Good morning. Yes, let's start with the statement of the governor. All these talks about the budget is unnecessary. How do you analyze that? Well, I think in the first instance we should actually just pass in in person on the Lagos state government or put in this information out on the public procurement website. And I say in person because this is what they should do anyway. It's a requirement of the law. It's something that they should do even if the law doesn't require it or a government that claims to be a leading government, the center of excellence, this is something they should do anyway. But they've done it and they should be told well done for doing the right thing. So I think that has to be said. The second thing is to then look at the issues that have arisen as a result of this and the responses that have come from the governor and his spokespeople to the public outcry and the outrage about these things. You find these responses very typical and symptomatic of the problems that we have as a society and as a country. The fact that our politicians truly, if we're being honest with ourselves, do not take us seriously as a people, they do not respect us, they do not care us, they act with impunity knowing fully well that nothing will happen. So in keeping with that expectation, you and I know that we're going to discuss this thing as we are now, a lot of other media houses have spoken about it, there's a lot of outrage and uproar on social media, people are saying all sorts of things. Tomorrow, Friday, November 24th, there's going to be something new and we're going to move on and nothing will happen and this has been our experience, it's our history, it's how we do things in this country. So the politicians know that nothing will come of this, it will make a lot of noise, it will blow that and if it refuses to blow that, they will blow it over by putting something else out there because they have a very strong, well-financed information management and propaganda machinery, every politician in this country has that. So when there are unfavorable, when there's unfavorable news or trending information out there about them, they find a way to reflect about the attention of a very fickle public who will not pay attention to things that matter the most to them. So no surprises in these responses, I'm afraid, it's just the way we do things. The government has said the opera isn't necessary, it's an insulting response, whether he said it directly by himself or his people said it, it's an insult to the sensibilities of the question that are being taxed through diagnosis, that are paying taxes for everything except the air that we breathe, sure if the government had a way to tax us for the air that we breathe, sure if the government had a way to tax us for the air that we breathe, another response has said that, oh no, some of these items were a mistake. The websites have been changed since Mr. Funchon, the party God bless his heart, brought these things to light, some of those items have been amended on the public procurement website and they've said no, it was a mistake, it was a clerical error, clerical error is beginning to become a citizen of this country now because we hear that name so often. Even in the judiciary we're hearing about clerical errors, right, so it's just unfortunate, the responses from the government is just sad and it shows it's symptomatic of a democracy that is not working, we do not have a democracy in Nigeria where Sibu wrote, in real democracies public officials and politicians are afraid, they're scared, they're literally scared of the public opinion and of the citizen but Nigerian politicians are not scared of them, Nigerians are scared of Nigerian politicians and it's symptomatic of a democracy that is simply not working, democracy is not working, I'm afraid. Okay so let's move to the crooks of the matter, we're talking about the 440 millionaire SUV and the commissioner for budget and planning has said that it is for the office of the chief of staff, not for the chief of staff himself, but do you even think that office requires an SUV of that amount and are there not better ways we can channel that fund into something else? Well I mean I'm confused by that response because I'm not sure I understand what the office of the chief of staff means as a distinction from the chief of staff, I mean is there a human being called the office of the chief of staff that is different from the chief of staff, so how does the office of the chief of staff get into a vehicle and drive it around, you know a human being is going to enter that vehicle, if it's not the chief of staff then to be somebody in his office, so if that's what they mean, please how does that make any difference, how does it make a difference that it is for the office of the chief of staff and not the chief of staff, you know this is what I'm talking about, you know it's this this types of very look I have to watch my language because I'm on air and you know one could say extremely complimentary things about people that speak to Nigerians like this, it's insulting to our intelligence to make these types of very in main completely ridiculous distinctions for the office of the chief of staff versus the chief of staff himself, the point is not whether it was for the chief of staff or for the office of the chief of staff, it's that how does it make any sense to spend four hundred and fourteen million Nair, my goodness, on one single vehicle, are we joking, are we a serious country, four hundred and fourteen million Nair, in a country where subsidies have just been removed, in a country where exchange rates is flabby, left, right and centre, with a level of volatility that is killing businesses on a daily basis, where inflation is completely out of control of the central bank, you know we talked about four hundred and fourteen million Nair for one vehicle, in this same legal state, madam if you look to the hinterland of legal state and look at the condition of schools, primary schools and secondary schools, you will win for your country, you know when you see children, in legal state, this centre of excellence, this legal state where it is the model of beauty and it's utopian because of the work that the current president has done, just go to the, I'm not talking of very far away, come to Uqba, you know go to a legal shop, just go behind any major street, once you leave the third major road, just go behind and you see a new Lagos, you see a different Lagos and you see that Lagos is in trouble, the citizens of Lagos are living under conditions that are inhuman and yet the politicians have the confidence and the temerity to buy one vehicle with four hundred and fourteen million Nair and then say it is for the office and not for the Chippofa, you know it makes no sense and so I think that we need to continue to call these guys out and just let them know that people are listening and one day justice will be done, one day something will be, you know we may appear to be helpless today but I can tell you that citizens are unhappy, they are outraged and they are organizing, I am aware of this, citizens are organizing and it will only get to a point where you push so hard that you will not be able to push further again and people will push back, it's just a matter of time, the impunity that these guys speak with is extremely uncomplimentary and should be called out and spoken against in very strong terms. Okay well I was just doing a little calculation on my phone right now, four hundred and forty million divided by thirty thousand which is the minimum wage right now will give you fourteen thousand six hundred and sixty-six so which means they're going to pay for ten thousand six hundred and sixty-six people at the minimum wage for the price of one car and but you were talking and I was just asking myself like scripture says should we continue in seeing that grace may abound so do we always can we always just say that nothing will happen and then we let it go can't something be done to hold these people accountable even more than we are trying to do now because this money that we're talking about was for first and second quarter of 2023 which means someone has put pen to paper and approved that money with the mistake so did they discover that the mistake was there and they approved something less or that was what was approved for spending and all that which means you know we need to do some more money go to what can we do should we just let it go well sadly you know sadly nothing will happen this is just the truth nothing will happen and the reason for this is not perfect we discussed this all the time we all know it's the truth we are look countries that work democracies that work they work because citizens are active at the end citizens they deliberately take their governments to task they demand accountability of them and where their accountability is not performing they kick them out either via the instrument instrumentality of elections or all that means allowed under the law they kick them out right that will not happen here because the people that can make that happen are divided in Nigeria so it's the middle class the people that will hold you know the politicians accountable are the middle class the educated enlightened well-traveled middle class who are friends of the political elite because we do have a middle class you may you may argue about the number of them you may argue about how large that number of people are but they exist when I say middle class I'm simply let me define that I'm not speaking only about the economic demographic there are different elements that make a people qualified to become middle class one of them is education one of them is exposure one of them is access access to information and access to people right networks the average guy on the streets the organizer the mechanic welder we can't call them middle class they are the part of the pyramid they cannot quality and organize themselves they don't have the resources they are true about trying to live they live on the daily economy but there are people like you and I that are speaking now who either end salaries or make money from their businesses and can survive for maybe a week maybe two without going to work you are middle class and you're educated you have access to platforms now that group of people they need to develop a consensus to say this far and no more that is how other countries are developed you have that group of people who have access to resources pushing back on the on the political class and pushing back on public office orders in Nigeria that will not happen because that middle class itself is compromised and is deeply divided the politicians know that these people are potentially their worst enemies and they've divided us they've divided us shockingly around the issues the very mundane and basic issues of race and religion right so during this elections shockingly you found professors doctors people with two doctorate degrees people that have done desertations that have done very deep research on issues on sociology on technical issues on science new engineering they speak and you just hear very very crass basic ethnic rhetoric it was shocking it was an eye-opener for me right that we could not engage our intellectual capacity God-given and self-developed to look at issues dispassionately and pursue our self-interest as a people as a country that we would kill behind the person because he speaks our language or worships our God that is where we are today our middle class is divided we're fighting each other to a standstill defending the indefensible calling white black simply because somebody speaks our language and unfortunately when you have that situation we can't hold these guys accountable and these guys know it so they're going to play those issues up as much as they can so that we continue to fight amongst ourselves while they make a way with our money you know and that's why I say nothing will happen however the bad news for the politicians is that it is not going to continue like this you know it's an inevitability it's going to happen and I suspect based on what I'm seeing because I'm a civil society person I am a part of different movements unions you know label civil society coalitions and I can tell you that there is a momentum that is building it may not develop into anything today it may not develop into anything next year but it will develop into something it's just a matter of time you know this impunity cannot continue Nigeria cannot keep running around in circles 63 years now and counting we don't have a steel industry our president keeps going you know every president one after the other starting from about 100 years ago today travels are brought to look for foreign investment and yet a jacuzzi steel company has not worked in the 40 years that it has been settled which investment are we looking for tell me which country helped china to become what they are today which country did india want to to get foreign investment for but they have not become the third largest economy in the world which country did the united states and get help from which country helped russia which country had the uk and you know the e you so our politicians need to understand that our solutions are in build and they must be homegrown all this junketting around spending taxpayers monies when the people in the country are suffering must stop and one day it will stop because we will say no more it's just a matter of time so so the answer to your question yandol is that it might continue for now nothing will happen but it's not going to continue forever we're going to do something about it eventually as a people you know it's inevitable it's just the way life works okay um so right you know what you just said about spending taxpayers money moving over to abuja the um federal capital territory the minister yansom wiki had said that he has saved about 110 um yeah 110 billion nara in three months now shouldn't that be what everyone in politics so if you're a governor a commissioner uh um local government chairman shouldn't that be what we're supposed to do because thinking of it as a business um the business of nigeria let's call it that shouldn't we say okay we're not making profits so therefore we need to start cutting down and looking for ways to save instead of spending this monies absolutely um so you know uh but the wiki sorry minister wiki um i said now he is um if he said a good thing he said a good thing um and and that should be the way to go i mean not like his style but you know the guy is practical um so the president of the country must lead by example my goodness everything in life whatever field of endeavor that you're talking about everything rises and falls on leadership everything the outcomes that you get in any situation in any society was it's more than one human being that is required to deliver that outcome leadership the time is what that outcome will be so you cannot have a situation where the president of the country is saying to the country the country is broke we're bankrupt and as a result of being broke we have a fiscal um a fiscal emergency um we have fiscal um obligations that are not sustainable therefore we must take subsidies away subsidies to petroleum and subsidies foreign exchange subsidies must be taken away because nigeria can't afford them okay granted now you have said that with imperious um um dispatched dispassionate with with dispassionate imperiousness you said it as a speech and you're even proud of it you are boasting about it on an international platform that you allow the policy reform on your first day in office you know the president was bossful about this i was shocked at the bossfulness because i thought as a president you would understand that even if that decision was required it had impoverished millions hundreds of millions of Nigerians and they were suffering and in pain it was not something to boast about it was something to be sober about now you have done that and in the same this same president has then gone ahead and traveled to under meeting in new york and spent over 500 million nair this same president right this same president has approved the purchase or the payment for a previously purchased yacht yacht for goodness sake a boat a luxury boat that's what a yacht is i don't care the explanations that they're giving about it being in the navy you know we're not children right um this same president has approved four billion naira for the renovation of one single building you know i mean these things are ridiculous so what uh minister wiki did is what we expect the president of the country to be doing to be leading by example and looking desperately for ways to save costs to cut costs to to reduce expenses the president is supposed to be saying to the people we're not traveling anywhere we're not going abroad we're not going anywhere it will cost too much money we're going to sit down at home and look for ways to save money to save the fiscal um fortunes of the country and we're going to look for ways to save money to expand desperately needed capital in investment in the country that is what we expect so if it's not coming from the leadership it's not a wonder that in labor's we're also spending 440 million on an SUV right because the president is leading by example everything rises and falls on leadership so what wiki did is fantastic is commendable we need the president to do the same and we need the 36 chief executives that we have in all the states to do the same and then it will trickle down across to the commissioners in the various ministries across to all the ministers and very importantly it would also move across to the other arms of government so that we will now see the senate and the and the house of reps and the judiciary feeling the pressure the moral pressure to follow suit otherwise Nigerians will speak but as it is now there is no example to follow the examples to follow are examples of financial profligacy and it's a tragedy given where we are as a country today well mr shokuton would like to urge you you not be the person but the civil society to lead this revolution there is going to be a revolution but it should be an alternative revolution because if we don't check it the revolution might be a very very terrible one that we may not be able to to stand we cannot survive another civil war we cannot even survive another ansa's but there should be a revolution admit whether it's intellectual or anything there should be that and that fight should be led by the CSO the civil society organizations and all that which you are a part of so we urge you we will be we'll queue behind you yeah but so we need to start thinking of alternatives to these revolution that is imminent like you said it is going to happen one day but it should not be the one that will be bloody and bad for us tomorrow but this is where we have to wrap it up on the show today we'd like to thank you for being a part of the show thank you so much thanks for having me and god bless Nigeria one day to that amen we've been talking to mr. chevrolet shokuton the public affairs analyst and we were looking at the spending of government you know when they're making budgets and all that and all the issues around that and we do hope that you had a wonderful time on the show this morning until we meet again tomorrow for the weekend edition so to speak my name is young girl thank you for being there my name is brome paul soon have a good day