 Okay, you're welcome back. It's still the run-up and we were talking about the fears of the Independent National Electoral Commission. They said that the current fuel scarcity in the country might affect logistic arrangements for the February 25 and March 11 General Elections. The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Nainek, Mohammed Yakubu, has said he will be meeting with the officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, to look into mitigating the effects of petrol scarcity for transportation of electoral materials and officials on election day. Nainek partners the NURTW and Marine Workers Union of Nigeria to ease movement of materials and officials on election day. But the Commission worries that the shortage of petroleum products being experienced across the country could affect logistical operations on election day. The plan, according to him, is for materials and officials to arrive at the venue of elections before voters and not the other way round. And he said that he believed that this is achievable. The Chairman also said the Commission has communicated the specifications of vehicles needed and the locations to the unions. How much can these affect Nigerians and, most importantly, the 2023 elections? We've now been joined by our guest that will be discussing this with us. And his name is Ikenna Abbaso, legal practitioner. Welcome to the program. Thank you very much, my brother. I appreciate it. Okay, you are in that demographic that they say is the most populous in Nigeria, the youths. That's great. And this is the time, the first time, okay, I don't know about if we compare it with 1993, because in 1993, a lot of youths, especially the students and universities, went into the political scene to make sure they voted for MK Wabiola because of the way he impacted on their lives. But this time, in the history of Nigeria, it's a momentous occasion for Nigeria to showcase what they are made of. Now, as a youth, let's start by your fate in the forthcoming election. How much faith do you have in the forthcoming election before we address the issues of INX fears? Well, I have almost as much faith as I have in God. Why so? Why so? Because measures like beavers have been put in place. This is the first time in Nigeria's history, I would imagine. Maybe I was not around 93, I was, but I was young. But this is the first time that is one man, one vote. This is the first time I'm aware of in my timeframe that it is one man, one vote. So it means that the people now have a say. The people have the choice of who their leader is. I have so much belief in it that that is why I'm here today. I'm not here today to be on TV. I'm here today because I have belief in the system that the system will actually deliver. And all of us need to go out irrespective of tribe, religion, and whatever other small groups that we've used to ignore the big group of humanity, or the big group of Nigeria or Africa, right? It's our time to pick leaders that will actually work for the people. This is the people's mandate, this election. I'm glad that you said in your timeframe because in 1993 that I mentioned, we had a natural technology, so to speak. Professor Humphrey was who came up with something that gave us that one man, one vote, by giving us option A4 of an open, closed ballot. You see there, people stand in the line, they vote. There's no way you can rig it, you know. So it gave us the three years and various election before now. And we're hoping that this one will even surpass that because there's technology and there's a lot of other things. But what are your general expectations? Because we've seen more than 20 years of the return to democracy and people seem to be angry. What are the people of your age bracket particularly angry about that you want to change? Let's start by talking about other than forced scarcity. Forced scarcity is a typical suffering of the Nigerian. I've been experiencing that one since I was a child and seeing it over the years. But what is unacceptable for me? What is pushing me beyond boundary? Why are my brothers and sisters queuing at 8am? Have you seen the queues? The queues have a minimum of 50, every 8am machine. And I heard yesterday, I don't know if it's accurate, but somebody said we have 450,000 8am's for 200 million plus people. In the whole of Nigeria? I don't know if they were referring to Lagos State or where they were referring to, but whatever that is referring to is clear. Even if it's Lagos Street, I hear my brother. So we are tired. I don't know, somebody also said to me last night, a friend said to me last night, whoever is our next leader, is our next leader for 8 years. I'm 32 years old. So this is going to be my leader, or put entry in my 40s. These are crucial years for me. Interesting. But even before we started queuing for fuel, for fuel, for money, and for PVCs. There are other issues that... You're right. As I said, I wanted us to... Yeah, this is the... We needed somebody needs to say that these queues, and who is talking on behalf of the people that make less than 1000 a day, who is talking on behalf of those people? What are they doing at the bank? Which money do they have to take to the bank? The hawkers on the road are making 300 naira. What business do they have at a bank? So what are those people supposed to do? Do you understand? So our system, basically, to answer your questions, the systems in place in Nigeria are not sustainable, and we need progress. Okay. Now, when you say the system in Nigeria, some people, you're a legal practitioner, so let me tap into that. Please. Some people have said that Nigeria has some of the best laws, but implementation is a problem. Is the issue, yes. So how can we make the laws that we already have implementable? Or how can... Very simple. Yeah, what do we need to do? Very simple. The issue is that we have bad leadership. If the head is all right, the rest of the body will start to behave. If we get a good president, a good president who forces every governor naturally, doesn't even have to impose, will naturally force everybody to want to do a decent job. Money is our God in Nigeria, unfortunately. So the courts, money is involved, still. So if we have good leadership to solve this problem, how we can solve this problem, how we can make this... How we can bring a solution to reality is by having systems in place that are headed by good people with good intentions so these systems work. Yes, it's true. Our laws are not the best, they're not the most updated, but they're good enough for a functioning society to work. Decently enough. But we're not following that. And to follow that, we need a proper system where there are checks and balances. Okay, well, the argument has always been that they permit me to use the word, the old cargo are the ones that are always at the helm of affairs and everybody wants a change. We want to use all that. Do you really think the problem is the age of the people who lead us or something else that needs to be changed? That is one of the best questions I've been asked as a human being. And yes, it's actually a human failure thing. It is not... I'm almost as equally worried if a youth person is given the helm of things. The Niger mentality has gone to the gutters. There is no morality. There is no sense of unity. There is no conscience. There is no consideration for anybody beyond themselves, their families, and their group. Everybody else should go to hell. The rest of us should go to hell. So that mentality is actually a Nigerian mentality that comes from a poverty mentality. We're all living on survival mode in Nigeria. The mentality is survival. Survival is feed here and tomorrow, if we see tomorrow. Do you understand? It's still working for structural rights. Yes, it's poverty mentality that is affecting us and we need to grow out of that. Nigeria is one of the richest countries in the world. Okay, I have my colleagues standing by. I've been talking almost alone all this while. Bio, I'd like to just leave him in your hands right now because I was so engrossed in it that I almost forgot that you were sitting there just watching us. So please talk to him. Let's try to hear from Eud what he feels. Yes, sir? No, I've been enjoying the interaction with you and I think he's been a very good representative of a demographic that I probably would like to be associated with. I don't know if they would accept me. But again, you raised a very interesting point when you mentioned the number of ATM machines. You are the first guest we are having on this program. Since we've been talking about scarcity of Naira, and then the dispensing of money through ATMs or POSs. I mean, Yambu has spoken about that this morning. We started again this program. There's only a day we don't talk about it. But you raised a very important point when you said one of your friends told you have 450,000 ATM machines in the country. And I did a quick research, so I'm not too sure. Because you raised the point and it's a very valid point because even that 450,000 units of ATM machines for a population of 206 million, it is grossly, grossly inadequate. So if that was the figure, that could actually explain why we are having the problems we are having. Why people are crowding the few machines and it's not always all the machines that work. But guess what I found? According to the International Monetary Fund, there were 18,810 ATM machines in Nigeria in 2020. And in 2021, there were 19,355 ATM units in Nigeria. This information was received by the IMF, retrieved by the IMF from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in the United States. I don't know how true. It's possible because 2021 was three years ago. So it's possible they beefed up the number to 450,000. But assuming it's not even 450,000, what do you really think we should be doing? Because the run-up is about what the next leadership, the incoming leadership should be doing to change the country for the better. What should we be doing to avoid the kind of problems we are having now when everybody is queuing up for money, queuing up for fuel. As a young person, what do you think we are not doing as a country that we now need to be doing and the next leaders especially? Okay. Well, sir, I would say thank you for having me. I would say first and foremostly, what we are lacking is leadership that care about the people. I mean, the same way we also don't have enough hospitals, the same way we don't have enough police stations, the same way we don't have enough fire service, the same way we don't have enough water, the same way we don't have enough electricity, the same way we don't have enough of anything for 200 plus million people is the same thing. And if the numbers you gave, if I heard you say 19,000, so... 19,355. So please, how many... So maybe that 450 is an over stretch because I doubt for over 400,000 more ATMs have been added since then. But no problem. As I say, the problem is that we don't have people at the helm of things that care about us to give us the basics. If we have leadership that works for the people, the people will be given the basics. These are the basics. Nigerians are not asking for too much. They're asking for very little actually. They're asking for too little. Maybe that might even be the problem. You understand? So we just need leadership that cares. And I think from the elections coming up, we can tell those who care about us as a people and those that do not. So that is my answer, sir. Okay. Thanks. And you also mentioned something, which I have. You were saying that people only care for themselves, their families, their group. They don't care if anyone shows up tomorrow as long as they are fine. And what I attribute that to, I just summarise it. And I am going to bear me out because we discussed this again and again. Values. Our values have come. You see the way we drive on the road. You see the way we don't tolerate other opinions. We don't tolerate other opinions. If you look at the newspaper, you go to the reader's comments online. Somebody makes a point. The other person doesn't agree. They abuse this person. They abuse his father. They abuse his village. You go on social media. You cannot hold a different opinion. They abuse everything about you. We've lost our values. But what can we do? Especially because it's young people who have mostly on social media. What can we do to change this kind of conduct? What can we do to make people tolerate even if I don't agree with you? Yet I should still be able to discuss between us civilised people. Because you know why I am asking you this. People say that our leaders don't tolerate opposing views. They forget that even we as a people, every single day, we don't tolerate opposing views. So what can be done to correct this? So it comes from a change of mental approach to life. And so let me be honest. First, to talk about a problem, you must talk about its root. Our generation has watched our parents' generations, the people 50 and above. These are all attributes that we have picked up from our parent figures in society. Where did I get the ideology? Where does one get the ideology that my brother from the nut is not my brother just because he's from the nut? Where did he get the opinion that my brother from the south is not his brother? Where did my brother from the west get the opinion that he is not the brother of the Northerner and the Easterner? Where did we arrive here? We arrived here because we were told to. That is what our society has been told. Our society is told to work on our differences. Our focus is our differences. That's why you say in comment sections every conversation is not a conversation. Nobody is having an inclusive conversation. Rather, it's a argumentative conversation. Me versus you is me against you. Why? There's zero unity. The values, the value of unity is gone. Well, I don't know if it existed before, but apparently I hope it did. But irrespective of whether it did or not, I mean, I experienced unity at the answers protest. At the answers protest, nobody was saying, oh, I'm from this tribe, I'm from this tribe, or you, you're of this religion, you're of that religion. We came together on a united front that we as the children of this society were not being taken care of properly. Some people were abusing their powers. That's all. So a change of mentality. A change of mentality is what Nigerians need to progress. And by God's grace, that mentality comes from having a good leader. Where do we start from to change that mentality? You have inducted us the oldies. No, sir. Yeah, but it's true. Because if the children misbehave, everybody points fingers at their parents. The origin. Because now the parents are the roots. The people who raise the generation that may be impatient, that may be misbehaving. So you are in line. But where do we start from to correct this? Because the parents who are already having their hands soiled in what the outcome has become may not be the real people to go back to and say, let's make a change. How do we start? Well, according to our society, the family heads are supposed to start any progressive change. You know, in Sudan, in their protests, their protests were led by the doctors, the engineers, the lawyers. The parents were in the front row of the matches. So it starts from there, but of course within ourselves, irrespective, I'm not here to point fingers. The finger I'm pointing at is at me, the individual. Okay, just say something to the youth. Let's wrap up. Just a final word to the youth who are watching you. People in your generation, how they can make a change? How we can make a change for now in this particular moment is to vote a good leader. Is to vote a leader that can actually have, that has these values, these values that we need. Somebody who is intelligent, who is good, who is fit enough, because it's a very difficult job. People need to understand that being the president is like being the CEO of over 500 companies. It's overwhelming. So anyway, we need to pick good leaders. One things are good from the leadership. It trickles down, but within ourselves, this is a step for within ourselves. Part of the reason why Nigerians are doing a lot of the things they do, negative things we do, is because the climate provides the oxygen for it. Kidnapping, terrorism, all these different factions, this one, this one, is because we're all suffering. So it's time that we make reasonable decisions in picking who is at the helm of things. Our votes count. Let's everybody go and get their PVC. I think I saw two more days to collection of PVC, and then everybody go and get your PVC and vote honestly on who will help us for the future. Okay, you've heard from someone that, you know, he's young and he's trying to talk to all of us, and it's a good way to end this segment of the show. Go get your PVCs, make the right choice. Some people, unfortunately, have been saying that they're going to vote for a candidate that no can win, not necessarily the candidate that we need. If you do that, then you are killing the very fabric of our nation. Vote for a candidate that your conscience will tell you tomorrow that you tried, even if he doesn't win or she doesn't win. Okay, there's no she in the contest. Even if the person doesn't win, vote your conscience. And tomorrow you can beat your chest and say, I tried my best. Let it not be that I did my best. My best was not good enough like James Ingram will sing it. But we've had a guest here who is young and who has been talking to us. It's to make the right decision for our Nigeria to go. We're very, very grateful that you came. Another time that we bring you will be talking to you only maybe on your legal angle to things. But now we're just flowing and we're very happy that you came. Thank you very much. We'll take a short break for the news. When we return, we'll just talk on some other issues with bio. Stay with us.