 On the breakfast, Nigerian electricity workers commenced an indefinite strike over pending labour issues with the transmission company of Nigeria. Talk about this on the breakfast this morning. Also on the breakfast, stakeholders say deliberate investment of youth will be necessary for economic growth and reduction in social crisis in Nigeria. Don't forget, we'll dive into the pages of the National Daily to have our headlines on the front page. I'll give you details of one or two of those stories with interesting analysis of a guest analyst in off the press. We're back with the Breakfast on Plus TV Africa. My name is Kofi Bartels. And I am Messi Popo. Beautiful morning to you and thanks for joining us. Fantastic, Messi. It's a brand new week. You're smiling. I don't know why you're smiling. It's an extra smile. Everybody, what's going on? I don't know. I have no idea, trust me. Messi shone at 32 this morning. Wow. Anyway, we didn't plan to wear the same colour. It just happened coincidentally. I think Messi has a crystal ball in the room where she has to see what I'm worried about. But Messi, we have interesting topics today on the programme, but we usually start off with our top training segment. And we're having a chit chat about some of the stories off the air before we came on. It seems that today's top training segment is going to be hot. So let's start with the first one. All right. So the first one talks about ASU and the federal government on U-Tas. So it was a development. Apparently ASU and the federal government have been in talks. Now I woke up to the reports that, you know, the meeting between the federal government and ASU, because it just felt like at some point, just maybe, maybe, there would be a compromise and the strike would be called off. And so that was actually the perception. But on the one hand, it felt like, you know, ASU and the federal government for once have agreed on something and it's, you know, the payment system. So the federal government, it was reported that had agreed with, to adopt the University Transparency Accountability Solution, which is a U-Tas, as a payment platform for lecturers, contrary to what the federal government was standing on for, which is the IPPIS, right? But we also need to understand that on February the 4th, which is a Valentine's Day. I mean, ASU and Bakhton's check on that particular day, really saddening. I mean, I can just imagine what... Valentine's Day. You know, we talk about 14 February and we don't even talk about the fact that it was Valentine's Day. ASU had the guts to go on strike. So it was the lecturers who had to go on their wives. Yeah, so ASU actually embarked on that strike. There were several reasons that ASU embarked on the strike and so one of it was the fact that, you know, ASU had demanded that salaries and allowances, there be implementation because, first of all, the government had failed to implement its amount of salary and allowances of lecturers. And so one of the reasons was that. And another would be improved funding for universities, adoption of U-Tas as a platform for payment contrary to the IPPIS, right? So it felt like as a yesterday or a day before yesterday, maybe one element out of so many reasons why ASU and Bakhton the strike had actually gotten some nod like a yes and a plus. But you also want to agree with me that if you're like amongst other issues, you know, it really didn't happen. So the meeting with the federal government and asked yesterday, we're hoping they'll wake up to the news that, hey, the strike has been called off and student can now return. I'm just wondering what it feels like, you know, to be a student and still be in the strike and even being or anticipating for the strike to be called off. Well, university students have been at home for six months or they're about prior to, I mean, we're looking at 183 days, 84, 85 due to ASU strike. Yes, for the avoidance of anything, students have spent that number of time. Now, what is the strike about? Why have that not been resolved? The disagreements terms from the 2009 agreement between the federal government and ASU over the implementation of the 2000 pact and memorandum of agreement on welfare, improving funding to universities and the proliferation of universities, continuation of controversial integrated. We mentioned all of that. Well, the federal government has not fulfilled its part of the agreement. It's very obvious. And that's why you have, you know, the strike has gone. But for one reason, because we seem not to talk about that reason, Kofi, the reason that the government has actually signed it is that the federal government does not have the resources. We're talking about funds now. So lack of funds or resources, it's the reason. And so going by that, it's also been stated that the government has been, or ASU has also been on the other hand, asking for some sort of increment and increase, you know, from 109% to about 180, if I'm not mistaken. I mean, just to put it at that, because lecturers within the continent are the poorest in Nigeria. I mean, they seem to be underpinned when you juxtapose them with all the contemporaries. But to be very honest, the reason that all of this has been prolonged, you're asking that from 2009, we're begging the federal government to implement an agreement. And so there's like a renegotiation for that particular agreement for 2009. Let's see how we can. I mean, we don't have all of the details in front of us. Very sketchy. But the crocs of the matter is that, you know, the federal government does not have resources. I mean, there are no funds to pay. So underneath it is the fact that lecturers are asking also for some sort of increment or improvements, you know, in salaries or whatever that will be paid to them. And government is saying that we don't have what it takes because it would mean that it would increase the spending of the government on the other hand. And so this is the back and forth. But the implication of the consequences you cannot, they're very, very glaring. They're in front of us. We can see all of that. It's quite saddening. And it doesn't even, you know, post a good picture or an image for us, especially outside of the country, for those who want to study outside of the country. It feels like, you know, people begin to cast doubt on the, you know, the certificate or degrees that you have, trying to apply for an education outside of the country, especially if you're going for your master's or your PhD, it becomes a problem. But these are some of the issues right here. And even if, you know, the strike would have been called off today, the big question would be, in 13 years, ASU has actually gone and strike nine times. And so the issue of the strike would always be a big issue. Would these have actually solved the problem of, you know, the continuous strike? Would this sort the problem entirely that you say we wake up and ASU would not go on strike? Because we're talking about some agreement or renegotiation for an agreement on 2009. An agreement that was entered in 2009 has not been implemented in 2022. I have to say that again. Like, I have to really say 2022. But that's it. But Kofi, what are your thoughts really? Yeah, I think basically you've said it all. And we have to keep watching the space to see, you know, what what transpires when that meeting finally holds all the results of the meeting come out or comes out rather. But let's watch the space and let's see what happens. We have a second trending story this time as to do with the CanElections. And of course, it's been a big, big subject on social media. I'm sure that you are listening, watching this morning have seen one or two things about the CanElections online. Mercy, I had a good laugh some days ago when some people on social media were likely in George Wajakoya, who came a distance to the PTOB phenomenon on social media and Nigeria and all that. But the latest is that having declared the deputy president of Kenya, William Ruto, as a winner of that Ken presidential election 2022, we have from three of the four candidates in that election who were the venue of the announcement and made one or two speeches, including William Ruto, you can see George Wajakoya and then the Reverend on the other one on the right. I saw them holding hands and but I didn't see Rilo Dinga in this setting. Well, the latest is that yesterday the opposition leader in Kenya, Rilo Dinga, officially rejected the results of that August 9 presidential election that conferred victory on his rival deputy president William Ruto. This is what he said, quote, what we saw yesterday Monday was a travesty and a blatant disregard of the constitution of Kenya is what he's saying when he addressed the press conference on Tuesday. However, on Monday, the head of Kenya's election body declared Ruto the winner. It was a close 40 election. And but another thing that we saw yesterday was the rejection of the results by not less than four commissioners of the Ken electoral body, the rejection of the results by not less than four commissioners of the Ken electoral body. They raised some concerns about the tally, the way the votes were tallyed. They also raised some concerns about abstentions or invalid votes rather. And these are issues that, you know, the independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman, that's the INEC of Kenya, we can call that Chairman Wafula Chebukati would have to address. And we look at the results, Ruto won with almost 7.18 million votes, or 15.49 percent, against 6.94 million votes that were allocated to to Railo Dinga. So this this is this is the crux of the matter. We had elections in Kenya have a political history, political crisis with opposition often challenging the results. So this is nothing new. But that is what we see that Railo Dinga has come up to say, I reject these results. And then his case is aided by at least four commissioners of the Kenyans independent electoral and boundaries commission also saying that, I mean, the issues with those those results in the ways the way they were tallyed. Well, you know, like that has also been said, you could also see that Kenyans, some Kenyans have reacted differently. And they have attributed, you know, his winning to some kind of alliance with the M7 saying that, hey, we know that the M7 has supported, he was part of the M7. And it's really disheartening. And some of the persons have said that we understand that, you know, this result has come. And it feels like it's a playbook of serial presidential contestant who enjoyed the support of former AK rival and current Kenyan president, Uru Kenyatta and the establishment element in his election. And so it feels like there's a lot that's going on. But some of the consents that Kenyans have raised or those who are in Kenya, have raised the fact that I talked about the law, if, you know, the process of the election was conducted in the likes of the law, I mean, if the law had its course. So we're talking about the process now. What's the law respected? Did they do what was supposed to be done? So you're talking about for commissioners, and you're also talking about, you know, chairman, how many of these commissioners observed all of that? It's quite, you know, serious. But the question would be, what can we Nigerians learn from all of this? Is there anything to learn from, you know, the Kenyan presidential elections of 2022, as we are ready for the elections for 2023? What he really, really feels like, I mean, from the voices that we hear, it feels like a lot of people are displeased, not satisfied with Ruto Williams emerging right there. But we'll cross our fingers and see how all of this pant out. Yes, indeed. I mean, you've said it all that you know, we'll have to look at how this pants out. But in the introduction background that I gave earlier, it was said that the rejection of resources is not new in Kenyan elections. I mean, I remember, you know, following the politics of southern and eastern Africa over the years. It's been quite interesting, interesting. These are countries that have had democracy for a long time, for some time, let's call it that. I think Ruto will be the fifth president in the history of Kenya. They had a dictatorship for some time in the person of Daniel Arapmoy. Daniel Arapmoy was there. It was hard for people to get him out. There were protests and protests and protests. People felt that elections in the time of Daniel Arapmoy were not free and fair. And that time, Moe Kibaki was the position leader in Kenya and people would go on the streets in the nineties and the military would release on them. They would be flogged and everything. Chase, tear gas, arrested and all that. So it was some sort of victory for seeing as a victory for democracy when Moe Kibaki was able to upstage Daniel Arapmoy to become the president. So over the years, you've had this rejection of results and protests and everything. It's normal in that part of the continent. I remember even when Robert Mugabe was president of Zimbabwe at the time, the opposition would routinely, it's almost like a given that they would reject the results. It was almost a given. You look at other countries in that part of the continent, the East and the Southern African bloc. But this time, Rael Odinga has something going for him, which is that he has, even the commissioners of the Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, have seen we have some issues with these results. So let's see how it plays out. I think at the end of the day, the course would be the route to go to. I don't know if Kenyans are going to come out and protest on the streets like they've done in the past. However, it can be seen that the results show that the men are neck and neck. You know, in the Ken elections, if you want to, you have to or you must be declared the winner. You have to have at least 50% plus one vote of the total votes cast. 50% plus one vote of the total votes cast. And you must have at least 25% of the votes in a certain number of the counties. I've forgotten what it is in Kenya. It's just like we have in Nigeria. So it's clear that it's a close contest. Now, did Ruto really get the votes he needed to have that 50% plus one percent? You know, these are the things that we need to look at. So hopefully, hopefully, this will go the full length of the legal process. You know, there might be a recount like we've seen in America before. I don't know what the law says in Kenya, but we'll see how this plays out. In Ghana and some other African countries, they've gone all the way to Supreme Court. And, you know, it's taking a long time. It's painstakingly going through the materials and taking, you know, submissions from the councils of the various political parties to come to a decision. And some of these things are publicized and televised on national TV and national radio. You know, so let's see how it plays out. And I asked the question to some persons yesterday, what will you do, how will you respond in the Nigerian elections in 2023 if your candidate does not win? You know, there's a possibility that we'll have a rather possibly have a different scenario in 2023. And people are boiling. So it's an interesting thing for Nigerians to see. And I think they electorate in this country with more relief from how the Kenyans react and how the Kenyans react. Well, ahead of 2023, we're talking about, or your state, gubernatorial elections or governorship elections. I mean, there's been a lot that's been said, you know, about, you know, that particular elections that will happen. And some people have talked about the emergence of the Labour Party candidate for the elections. Some people have also talked about the assurance of the Accord Party. I mean, it's a lot. So you have the ZLP, the PRP, governorship candidate missing in INEX display. There are several concerns following the elections for 2023. It's interesting to see what's going on in your state. It's one of those elections that people are looking out for. Of course, INEX has the responsibility and the opportunity to focus its arsenal, like we call it, on the situation in our state. Sorry, INEX has the opportunity to focus its arsenal because, of course, it's one election and it's not a general election where the whole country will be taking up INEX attention. So it'll be interesting to see. People have raised their concern about the conduct of the elections there, the release of the political parties and all of that. We're also having some of the parties and groups there declaring support for politicians. For instance, the Allure North PDP has declared support for McIndy to set up a reconciliation committee to address lingering issues, so on and so forth. So this isn't the issues as far as your state governorship election is concerned. Let's see what happens. You know, these elections that are held in recent times, everybody wants to see how Labour Party will perform. I don't know, each of us mentioned Labour Party. You may see your face brightens up. I don't know what's going on here. Don't even put me in that space. To be very honest. Maybe I got it wrong. Yeah, you got it wrong. I think that you also. I could actually smell a different point. Everybody wants to see how the party will perform. No, so let's even talk about some of the concerns, because apart from Labour Party, I also mentioned the fact that there's a ZLP party. The Zenith Labour Party. Yes. Okay, Zenith Labour Party. No, I mean, I'm putting the abbreviation out there. And I hope the boot party has a candidate. The Accot Party also. The emergence of the presence of the Accot Party, ZLP and all of that. Now, but this is what I would always think. I mean, my thoughts are usually around the fact that we know that there's several arguments of having the thought, I mean, having political parties, certain political parties, dominate the space over time. And so we know the parties that have dominated the space. And usually people would say, oh, it's like choosing between, you know, the devil and the the blue sea, something like that. Right. So we remember that when we were in 2022 now, there's been a lot of strong conversation about the thought force. And, you know, the thought force, the thought force, just what happened in 2015 was what a lot of persons were anticipating, right? We anticipated that we'll just have, you know, a combination of forces that will come together. And I'll be like, you know, the thought force, right? But that hasn't really played out as a lot of persons expected because the thought force would be a combination of different forces who come together. But who says, you know, we can't have a thought force? But my concern is that it feels like, you know, the people, the people themselves are never serious about the thought force movement or, you know, the talk of the thought force because we always wait for two days before the elections. Before we come out. I'm talking about the electorates. I'm talking about the electorate plus, you know, those who are politicians, politicians themselves who are politicking. So it's a combination. I mean, because you have the electorate and then you have the politicians come together. The politicians will come together and then put out all of this stuff. And then everyone begins to say, hey, this is the thought force. My point is we know what it means to plan. So where's the planning? Where's the plan? I did not say. She doesn't want to use the word structure. I'm not even talking about that. She doesn't want to go there. This is structure. This is messy. I'm saying, where's the plan now? Right? OK. So it would be necessary. For instance, in Lagos state. For the state, for instance. No, for instance, in Lagos state. We know that the APC had been dominating, like almost from the inception. They have been in power for a very long time. As much as you want to say the word democracy. We're still referring to it. I'm talking about Lagos state now. OK, Lagos state. I'm talking about Lagos state now. I'm saying that for the world, for every time you say the word democracy, transition to democracy, you also want to say APC in Lagos state. But who says that that cannot change? My point is, if you have to confront all of these dominant forces or powers that be, don't you think that it would be necessary that even at 2019 would have started preparation? That those who are about to start preparation? Your problem is with the... I don't have a problem. Your issue, let me say the consensual... I don't have an issue. OK, your case is with the how do you call it again? Some call it motion parties. I don't call it motion parties. I don't, I didn't say that. But motion is not a bad word, you know. Some people are offended when they hear that APC, PDP and the other motion parties. They get offended. Motion means not a bad word. Motion means you started but late, but you're growing quickly. That's what it means. But some have said, for instance, yesterday or day before yesterday, political activists. You know, and I'm happy to see that what I've been saying all along about some of these activists on Twitter, you know, all they need to do is just criticize the government all the day. And everybody is jumping on their backs and hearing them. And I'll be looking at them like, because I know now they're revealing their true colors. Which is? The likes of you know, Mokri. He showed where he stands. And now those who were alien because he all he needed was just criticize Buhari. And I'm saying, ah, you're a liar, you're a diss, you're that. Because he's taking his time. Another one, Deji Adeyaji has also shown his color, you know. And now everybody is ah, you. But anyway, Deji put out a challenge. It's a $10,000 challenge. And he said, oh, anyone who, because you're talking about the third force parties in there, how they can perform their elections. And we know your state as a case study, you know. And so there's anyone who feels that he feels that the party will come a distant fed. You know, Peter O'Bee will come a distant fed in the 20 and three generation elections. Like, like George Wadukoya, for instance, who came distant fed. Not even close third or second. In fact, Deji is never talking about first. He said, Labor Party will come a distant fed in the 20 and three generation elections. And he's wants to place a bet. Anyone who feels that that that will not happen wants to challenge and place a bet of $10,000. So he put out his, his, his, his, the information, his receipt. Deliver a modu. A gone Deliver a modu is a referee in this matter. I wish I could join them. At least I'll get some commission. So Deji now said he's, he's giving and then we'll do the $10,000. He actually spoke to one Labor Party supporter on social media. I think it's an obedient and said to him, less, less, less bet. I'm telling you that you can't do it. And I think last time I checked, nobody has, has, has taken over that bet. I don't know. I spoke to some people who are supporters of the Labor Party, basically. And some were saying that Deji should, should not waste that money. She went and donated to us. You know, and I said, is, is, now I said, okay, if, if you guys bring your, your $10,000, to Deji's 10, and you win, it's 20,000. You can now take 20,000 and donate to us. You know, 20,000 is more than 10. So why are you complaining? You know, but, but some people said, no, they, you're not being serious. We'll look at it. So, so, so the third first thing is, is really crucial. Some people feel they want to, no one will make a splash. They will just make a drop. No, no, no, but for me, the consensus. It'll be interesting to see how it plays up. But I, I don't think may see that them, the state elections can still be barometer. Honestly, this is me being honest now, and serious about it. No, no, no, no, but I don't think the state elections can be barometer for how the national elections will play up. Very correct. Dynamics are different. No, no, but however you want to see it, I mean, you can't, which is very true because I mean, different elections and you can actually tell even, even if you have, you know, like two states, what will happen in a certain state would might just be different, what will happen in another state. Right. So we saw a case of, of, you know, the Oshun state elections, the Iqiti state elections, we have actually seen the outcome of these elections. But the point here is, if there's going to be a thought force, if you're going to challenge the dominant force that has been in power for a long time. Last plan. Yes, yes, I think the planning is very... Are you saying, are you saying Labour Party doesn't have a structure? That's not what, I don't know. That's not what I'm saying. That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying that you can't just wake up. To be very honest, it doesn't even make any sense. Because I feel like every other time we wake up the eve of election, 2019 was an election that we had. We had from 2019. And those who were very serious of taking over powers, you know, or taking over power from the current structure. Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, from 2019. Merci, merci, merci, merci. No, no, no, but I'm not joking. I'm not saying anything. But I'm just saying that you are kind of working. You are something like those who say we don't have structure. No, I'm not talking about structure. I'm saying that if, if there was a plan, by any force. This thing you are saying any enemy zone is piped up right now. Well, that's the much we can take now. We need, we need to move away. I'm saying that you can't take a whip planning, you know, from the entire process. This is an individual whip plan. As I said in the video, we plan. You know, you can't just wake up and have two million people on the internet. You have to plan ahead. That's not what Erufi said. But that's the much we can take this morning. On the breakfast, we take a break when we're returning with time for us to go through the front pages. For National Daily, stay with us.