 The cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nature has gone full throttle in recent times but is the country prepared for a full-fledged cashless regime. Nigeria's federal government has concluded plans to unveil a carbon tax policy and budgetary system for the country. We'll look at what this means for businesses in the country. And we have analysis of first-time airlines on the front pages of today's national dailies. Good morning and welcome. It's a breakfast and plus TV Africa. My name is Kofi Bartels. And I am Messi Ebupo. It's good to have you join us this morning. Very good. Thank you. How are you doing? I know you're fine. We've been talking before we came on. But let's get the ball rolling with a look at the trending stories today. We start with the first one, President Mahmoud Buhari unveiling new equipment for the Nigeria Police Force. I think we touched on it a little bit yesterday because the pictures on the front page of one was, or pictures rather were on the front page of one of the papers, the dailies. But what has happened is that the President, this was on Monday, it was on Monday, at the police headquarters. It's called Lewis Edit House. Yes, yes, yes. So familiar, right? We are very familiar. Merci. You have a big smile on your face. I don't know why. Well, I said Lewis Edit or Lewis Edit House. That's the fourth headquarters in Abuja. Well, Lewis Edit or Lewis Edit, whichever it is, was the first Inspector General of Nigeria Police Force. It happened to be from Cross River State where Messi and myself have an affinity. So I'm sure that's why Messi is so excited to hear that. But you can see the screen on your screen, the pictures of the President unveiling what looks like Amon Personnel Carriers, APCs. We hear that these equipment, you know, was aware, acquired to improve the operational capability of the Nigeria Police Force. A wide range of operational assets. So what I see doesn't look too wide to me. But they included 127 vehicles. Okay, talking about trucks, what we call pickup in this part of the world. 127 pickups, you have anti-riot water cannons, Amon Personnel Carriers like we just saw. SUVs, SUVs, buses. We have ambulances, trucks. I'm sure these ones will probably be to carry officers or even carry people they arrest during the protests. And crowd control barriers. These ones are the water cannon vehicles. These ones are the water cannon vehicles. These ones are used to pour hot water on people who are protesting. The crowd control barriers, if you look at the pictures, you see barbed wire coming out of those vehicles. Barbed wire. So that's what was acquired. But I looked at presidents at Twitter handle on Monday. They are meant to for crowd control. They are crowd control and anti-riot gear, basically. That's why I said I don't think they're wide range. Okay, merci. Well, so you probably want to ask yourself if we're going to have an election or we're headed for a war, like a conventional war. That's what it is. Now, and if you follow the Nigerian election over time, one of the concerns and one of the issues about the elections is that our elections have been militarized. So much presence of the Nigerian police, the military and all the security agencies around. And that's also a major signal. It's just scary that you have people with guns. And now you're talking about Ahmad vehicles. We probably also would understand the reason why that is because of the insecurity, especially in all the parts of the country. And over time, 2022 hasn't been fantastic for us as a country. But we are asking when and how will we get to a point where we have the elections as an election? It doesn't really have to be a war because it feels like we're preparing for a war. We're preparing for combat. And that's why the president, you know, would go to any length to approve these vehicles, Ahmad vehicles and what have you for the police. And that's not even something to write him about. But I think that if we have been very proactive prior to the election year, then I'm sure we probably would have gotten our act right. Now, over time, the government has indicted herself with her actions, with those who are involved in crime and criminality. Terrorists, what have you, bandits, various attacks. Rather had sent a signal that the government is weak and they have been overcome by this powerful external forces. And now we have to deploy that. Is that a plus for elections? When people have to go out and then the sea, you know, everywhere highly pleased in terms of, you know, the armory. It's very worrying. Well, I'll move away from that. Yeah, but before we move on, as is custom, let me just give a final my thoughts on this mercy. You mentioned the world war, you know, and I mean, if if they got equipment that was meant for war, I'll even be happier. You know, because those are just equipment will be used to fight crime. You know, if you have a machine gun, messy, you have an assault rifle, you have grenades, maybe you have bazooka. All right. And all those things that they take you see in the world movies, machine guns, you know, at least you'd see that those things will be used on citizens. They're used on on on on on on criminals. So I would have been happier if we had equipment that, you know, useful. But these are anti riot equipment. OK, medicine, these are crowd control equipment. The the IGP talked about 2023 elections and never saw that in President's trade handle. So my question is, are they expecting that there'll be protests? Are they expecting there'll be riots? OK, my my my my concern is is the the the fixation on quelling riots, the fixation on controlling riots. Most of the riots we find in the country, most of them, I'm talking about the not riots already, the protests that have been peaceful, have been violently ended by the police. In some cases, they do not even allow Nigerians engage in peaceful protests. And the chief accomplices or the leading corporates of this are the state governors. These people called state governors messy are amongst the biggest barrier to democracy in the country. People talk about Buhari days, Buhari that the state governors are worse. These guys, these guys, I'm just trying to look for the charitable words to use on, you know, the state governors are worse. These these guys these guys have have formed themselves into dictators or pseudo dictators. They won't call it that. OK, if if majority of the state governors in this country, if they were to be presidents, we would only be comparable to Idi Amin, the former dictator of Uganda or Mobutu Sese Seko of the Den Zaire. OK, if these state governors, most of them were in charge of countries, we can only compare them to Mobutu Sese Seko or Idi Amin, the worst of dictators, amongst the worst of dictators in the history of this world. And I think Nigerians need to look at these governors and give them a lot of pressure so that they can in states, when there's a protest, it's not the president who would call the police to say, no, people come from the state governors. OK, so I hope I hope that if people want to peacefully protest, you know, which is their right, it is your right. It's in the law and shining the law. But these equipment are not meant to to suppress that right of Nigerians to protest, to to to to prevent them from lovefully and peacefully exercising their right. People were on a peaceful protest at Lekit Togit or Lekit Togit Plaza when they were gunned down in a massacre as as as declared by the Judicial Palm of Inquiry, said by legal state government. OK, so so what I'm saying is we're not seeing equipment being bought, like I said, to fight crime. Crime is only increase in the southeast in other parts of the country, even in Lagos. People are being kidnapped. They're businessmen who can't go to their businesses. I know in other parts of legal state because of lack of safety. OK, where the equipment that they are buying to chase the criminals, bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers or no government, etc. Where the equipment? We're saying federal government using money for the police, you know, to buy equipment against the people. So this is an anti people approach. And I do hope and I suspect I do hope that this equipment they are not planning to suppress peaceful protests and to chase peaceful protesters. You see the water cannons. A water cannon touches you. Mercy. You that's one of the worst experience that you can ever have. OK, because it's not ordinary water. People, I mean, this really call it this for what it is. I mean, no, no, no. And the civil society is not even doing their job enough. OK, so the water cannon is hot water. I know. OK, we have to move on. But this is a piece of research should come down. This is life we're talking about. Coffee. It is hot water. No, imagine someone pouring your government pouring hot water. Mercy, if I took a kettle of hot water and I poured on you, what would you call me? I mean, you can't even do that. No, no, no. That's on the one side. Hypothetically speaking, let's just say I can do that. If I took it, what would you call me? Your mother, your any. Oh, sorry. I can't say your name. You can't see it on TV. You're a psychopath. You can't see it. No, imagine it on TV. Coffee. We need to go away. No, please. Imagine the federal government. When you say please, last sentence, last sentence. Now imagine that your government taking your money to buy equipment to pour hot water on you. When you say we don't agree peacefully. That's number one. They bought them. But that's not the one sentence. Coffee, you're not. More tear gas, tear gas. OK, stone guns, no stone guns. They wonder when they shoot at you. It will shock you. Electric shock. I'm not trying to stop you, but I wish we had more time. Peppers spray. So we're able to. Peppers spray to spray it into the eyes of peaceful protesters. So the thing is, you raise valid points. And I mean, I'm not saying Roba Bullets here. I really wanted to respond to that. But I can't respond or I can't, you know, put my thoughts out in some I mean, as regards to some of the issues that you have raised, but I would just have to move on right to the next one. It's well and we hope that we have some other time to, you know, talk about this. But I would say that it's disheartening. And that's why every time we talk about Nigeria, we make reference to the president. Don't forget that it's a federating unit. So you have a state government, you have federal government, you have local government, you have a House of Assembly members. You need to know these people. And even every other time, I know that protests is that tool that you used to demand, you know, change of policies or, you know, reject policies of government that are not favourable. But maybe we need to understand that there are other means. Something called the recall. You have to know those who are representing you in different constituency. They are there because they have to represent your interest. And so the recall method or tool is there also as a means of protest. You necessarily don't need to come out to protest in the streets. That's why I have to know your local government chairman. That's I have to know the governor in your state. And that's why you have the state assembly members with something called impeachment. But, you know, that can really work when, you know, have it seem like you have a position party in the House and then everyone is a one party system. So let's say, you know, the APC was ruling and almost everybody. There's no position. Then that's what happens. And that's why we're having all of this impunity. That's what we're having, what we're having. But I know that the Nigerians are very determined in 2023 to go out, despite all of the odds, you know, to express their concern and change the government. Fingers crossed and let's see how that pants out. We're really out of time. We take that coffee, let's move on. This is seven thirty. No, no, no, it's a disclaimer. We're not asking them to change the government. I know what you mean. No, I'm saying that, you know, Nigerians are willing to change the government. No, no, no, Nigerians should vote for who they want to vote for. So when I say change of government, I'm not saying that, you know, there's anything extra. This is going to be a process when we change government. And that's what elections are about. So I'm not, you know, speaking heresy. OK, it's an election period. Who cast the votes and government would change. OK. And that's what it will be. All things. I just think it's anybody. No, I totally understand. And I'm sure that I'm very precise about what I said this morning. But we will just delve quickly to this one. And then we move on. There's a video that made the round. We quickly just look at this one where a man confronts a police officer. You know, your state for harassing someone, I mean, or a stock in the bag, a bag rider. Let's quickly look at this video if you have it. And then we'll come back to discuss some more before we take a break. No, you don't have any authority to stand here. And the top of your head. I think. Yeah, authority would analyze my daughter. No, I don't know. Just because you are uniform. You are just a uniform to apply. No. No, no, no, no. So you know, you have a uniform level. Just tell me this is the authority I have. This is the law that gives me the authority to stop it. Stopping on kind of people and demanding money from them. You have a police officer, you know, of a Nigerian police officer that was confronted by a man who was extorting the back rider. Well, we take a break. That's the much we can take at this point in time. When we return, we'll have more conversations. Please stay with us. Good morning.