 A court ruling in Rivers State courses on ease in Apuga. The court says states and not the federal government should collect value-added tax. Nigeria ranks low on youth development index 161 out of 181 countries surveyed. And images of the Nigerian Army distributing clothes, food and groceries to repentant Boko Haram members causes division on social media. Should the government accept their repentance or prosecute them? Good morning and thanks for joining us here on the breakfast on Plus TV Africa. Middle of the week we call it, or I call it, hump day. I am Osaugi Ogbama. And I am, and that's it for next good morning. Good morning to you Osaugi. Good morning to you. Wow. So the last story just shared about the terrorist receiving of food items. It was shared by Amni Spokesman Onim and Wachigou yesterday. And it really cost the stair online, an offline as well, because we know what the anti-terrorism situation has been in Nigeria for the past few years, for the past decade and more. And how it has seemed to, you know, victory has seemed to elude the Nigerian military with all that effort, you know, budgets for security and defence, you know, purchase of, you know, arms, ammunition, super lights, aircraft, and all of that training of staff, hopefully. And then we're seeing this picture of, you know, repentant Spoko Ramteris, people who have reportedly surrendered with placards with inscriptions written in English saying Nigerians, please forgive us. Bonustete remains the home of peace and so on and so forth. And we also see pictures of food items, toiletries, noodles, biscuits, clothes, all given or donated to these terrorists that have repented, so to speak. Lots of questions come to mind, really. Lots of questions, lots of questions. And people are really, really distraught because when you go to parts of the Northeast, parts of the northern part of Nigeria, and you take a look at Internet and Space persons camps, I have spoken to IDPs, people who have lost family, lost friends, have had to flee, walk lots and lots of miles to find shelter because Spoko Ramteris invaded their communities, attacked them, burnt down their houses, raped their women, killed their husbands, and they had to flee for safety, abducted their children. And then the government comes out to tell me, in Nigerian military whose duty is to protect lives, to defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria, the Nigerian military turns themselves from a defender to an NGO to begin to donate food items and palliatives to terrorists. Do you have any idea how much suffering Nigerians who have escaped, you know, the onslaught of terrorism into IDP camps are facing? What about justice for those who have died? There's just lots of questions to be asked and you wonder, what really is the role of the Nigerian military in that picture? Those palliatives should be donated to people who are suffering in IDP camps. Those items should be donated to people who need them and those terrorists should be getting the justice they deserve. But maybe I'm missing something Osirage, help me out. Well, I think you're missing the fact that you're in Nigeria and... I should expect this. So it's not, you should expect this. I think, you know, what I have been asking since yesterday when I saw these pictures was really, you know, how did we get here? How is this normal? Are we, am I insane? I think that's a question I should ask. Am I really insane? Is my brain functional at this point, you know, with these images that I'm seeing, even if it's not the first time that we're hearing about forgiving, repent and Boko Haram and the fact that they, you know, a terrorist who repents, you know, can make it to the higher seat of the country and some statements like that. So I got to a place where, you know, personally I was numb for a bit because I couldn't really believe, you know, that this is our reality for today. This is where we are as a country. This is what Nigeria is today. This is, you know, the true picture of what your country is. It's estimated about 350,000 lives have been, you know, affected, either lost or affected, you know, fully by the Boko Haram onslaught by terrorists or onslaughts in Nigeria since it started about a decade ago. 350,000 lives that may never be the same. So, I mean, if you notice, I'm short of words because I really don't even know how to express myself. There's a guy who tweeted yesterday, they asked us to forgive Boko Haram terrorists. So we want to forgive IPOB members who, in deadly detention, we also want to forgive them kind of on Sunday. We want to forgive all criminals in jail. We want to forgive everybody, everything and everything, basically, which you can't really argue with because if you would, if the government itself is giving groceries, giving palliatives to terrorists, then what moral and what justification does the government have for anybody in jail today? What justification do we have for anybody who is in prison today or who is in court today in any part of Nigeria? For any crime whatsoever? For stealing a goat? For slapping somebody? For murder? For anything whatsoever? What's the justification the government has for any of those people being in prison today? There's a wife of an Army soldier who lost his life who made a post and she said to the Nigerian Army, it will never be well with you all. I should forgive them for making me a young widow. I should forgive them for killing my husband, his brother and his mom. I should forgive them for making me sick, shelter in another country. I should forgive them for making women widows and kids fatherless. I should forgive them for not paying what my little husbands do use. I should forgive them for the atrocities done to my family. So, CM, and I've said it before, that the country in Nigeria, I don't think that we would ever move forward or grow if we do not become honest with ourselves and do the right things at the right time. It makes me sick in my belly and I really can't put my words together. It makes me sick to my stomach to see the Nigerian Army itself because those placards that they're carrying, they didn't write those things themselves. They didn't write those things themselves. So it is very likely someone from the Army that wrote those things on cardboard sheets and gave to them to hold. That is what Nigeria is today. Those people very likely have killed Nigerians. They have shot people in their sleep. They have burned houses. They have chased people away. They have slaughtered Nigerians in their thousands. The Nigerian Army is packing palliatives for them. One of them is a Boko Ram bomb expert, meaning that he's been one of the people who go ahead and help out with all the ammunition that they use, all the bombs that they use to basically, you know, ambush the military and destroy lives. It's sad. For me, the question I really want to ask is, long-term, what really will be the impact of this? Because if terrorists are seeing what's happening to their colleagues, that they're being pampered, you know, you say you surrender and you get food items, you know, they give you noodles, just in case you've forgotten the taste of it while you've been kidnapping people's children in the forest, they give you toiletries, they give you clothes, make you look good. When other terrorists see what's been done to their colleagues, how their colleagues have been treated, do you think they ever would want to lay down their arms? Because they will simply come back, just as it means to basically get back ammunition, get back arms, you know, get back toiletries, connect with the community, get local intelligence, go back into hiding and continue the activities. So, I really wonder what message this sends to people who have been victims, because you just read out something from someone whose husband passed, you know, on the wall front. What message this really sends out? Imagine if my family had been a victim of this and I see that this is what the Nigerian Army is doing, rather than met up justice, you are pampering them. How really will that make you feel? Like you mentioned, those people in IDP camps today who are fatherless and, you know, are orphans, who have lost siblings, lost relatives, lost neighbors are watching TV today or looking at social media today and seeing the Nigerian Army basically rewarding those people who committed those crimes, who killed those people. It's the same reason a lot of people say that, you know, there's a lot of unfairness and injustice in the country, because, you know, you might as well do the same thing to ESN. The same ESN that you hound and, you know, you storm in most states and Nanambranabia and, you know, you hound them and shoot and arrest and do whatever you can to these people. You might as well bring them out, you know, a week later and give them placards, cardboard sheets, you know, to write, please forgive us, Nigeria, we are sorry, and give them noodles also, give them, you know, whatever, other brand that you choose to give them with salt and, you know, bags of water so that they can make good noodles for themselves with extra pepper, you know, just to be... You're basically rewarding terrorism. That's what you are doing. And people have always said that Nigeria rewards bad behavior and that's why we're not moving anywhere because the people should be punished for committing heinous crimes against the country and it's not just terrorism now. In every single sector, including the Code of Congo Tribunal, chairman, who is still in jail today, including the allegations against Issa Pantami, including every single person who has the governor of Kano State, who has been caught committing crime, Nigeria basically rewards bad behavior. I like the point you mentioned earlier, you know, talking about why the government does this to repentant bookworm terrorists and then go ahead to hound, you know, members of the ESN, raid the house of Ibu, who are Namdi Kano. What really is good for the girls is that they should be good for the gender. If you are going ahead to say that these terrorists who have killed Nigerians in their number since year 2009 can be pampered, can receive, you know, benevolence of the Nigerian military. So how about people like Namdi Kano who you can't... I mean, when you look at all the charges against him, you would not be able to put murder there. He's not killed anyone. As far as we know, as far as the charges against him show. So why are we not getting the same treatment for Namdi Kano and Sun Di Buhu and every other person? How about the thousands of Nigerian youth who are in prison for doing absolutely nothing, just being at the wrong place at the wrong time? So we justice needs to be across board. We need to be able to see that the government is equal. The government... I mean, everyone should be equal in the eyes of the law. If the Boko Amterus who are killing people can be getting this kind of treatment, what then would you say for people like Namdi Kano? People like Sun Di Buhu and the thousands of Nigerian youth? How about the shares? That adds exactly. How about the IMN? So if you are going to enforce the law and enforce the law all around, if you're not going to enforce the law, do not do that all around, because it doesn't make sense that you pick and choose how you want to be fair. Look at the cardboard sheets. They are written in different colours. No terrorist in Nigeria. I would say loud and clear, no terrorist in Nigeria that has been carrying AK-47 for the last 10 years. You had the time to select three different colours to write surrender and leave. That's why people say this is propaganda, really. Whatever word you choose to use. There's no terrorist in the whole country that had the time to take three different colours of markers to write surrender in red, write and in green and live in blue. So this isn't them asking for mercy or forgiveness. The Nigerian military have disappointed a lot of Nigerians. From the response we've seen online, we can tell that the Nigerian military has disappointed a lot of people. We're not happy about what they've done. People would rather have justice. People would rather have these people being tried. People would rather have these people facing the punishment for their crimes, for terrorism. That's one of the highest offences you can ever commit, terrorism. Terrorism against the country. Free advance. Free every other person who... I really don't know where we're going from here. Let's quickly move on to our next top trending story. It's still about the North. This time around, it's an impromptu test. Petite teachers who didn't take a look at their lesson notes and textbooks that day, because what happened was that the Government of Buenos Aires, actually gave a surprise visit to teachers in some schools in the States. People have talked about all these camera crew and how he showed up with his reality camp and just sprung up on the teachers conducting an impromptu test for them. People have talked. First of all, they noticed that there were no female teachers. No surprise there. People have looked at the questions on the board and said there are things wrong with that. People have asked questions. Is it the job of the Governor to do that? We've seen former Governor Adam Sosho Melle do similar things like this in a dough state. People have said he just wants to be seen to be working. I really have no comment. I personally wouldn't join with those who say he's trying to be seen to be working. Yes, you could do all the things without a camera, but as a Governor, he's barely going to go anywhere without cameras. His media aides and all of that. Exactly, so those things will always show up. I don't agree that he's just doing it to be working but I feel like it's part of government. Once in a while, I want to see for yourself. Once in a while, I want to be sure that the people that you put in office as commissioners are doing the jobs that you ask them to do. I remember back a couple of years ago, between 2010 and 2012, Governor Sullivan, she made a new state. He used to drive around by himself and look at street lights, look at roads, check for portals, make sure that the traffic lights are working by himself. When there was a fault, he would call the commissioner for works and ask him why this particular street light has not been on for the last one day or the last two days. He did that, so these things happened. The only challenges that I have are with the state of the school that Oga is inspecting. Is that a blackboard or is the wardrobe painted black? What exactly is that? What is the state of infrastructure in the school that he is inspecting? Shouldn't that be some of the concerns that he has for the pupils who attend these schools? That's one thing that I mentioned, that I noticed. And also, like you mentioned, is there a commissioner for education? Should we have been there also with him? But just in case he was bought some afternoon and decided to take a drive around and do that. The questions on the board also, are those questions that teachers at their level should be answering? I really don't know how he came about that. And also, are the schools safe? In Burnu State today, while you're inspecting whether the teachers can teach, I wish you 100% that those schools are safe for pupils to even go to and learn, seeing the fate of kidnappings that have happened in the North in the last couple of years. But once again, I don't say anything wrong with him doing what he's doing. I feel he should do the same thing with the roads in Burnu State. I have never been to Burnu. He should do the same thing with the roads. He should do the same thing with water. He should do the same thing with electricity. Whatever it is that he feels as necessary, he should go to a hospital and see how people are faring, see the level of the kind of service that people are receiving, pregnant women, see what they're receiving in every hospital in Burnu State every now and then. It makes commissioners to be on their feet because they know that they can never tell when the governor would decide to pay a surprise visit to these or any of these institutions. Okay, so two more things I want to add to this. First of all, some people say, when are they going to post this result? They would love to see how the teacher has paid in that impromptu test. Second of all, I'm... One of them there looked like it was fine. Oh, my God. If you look at the pictures clearly, one of them was looking like... Is it option A or B? All right, so the second thing I was going to say is it's great that governors can pay this impromptu visit to put people in the toast to make sure that they do the right thing. That's good. For long term, what would be the impact of this? Because this is just one school out of so many in the States. So the methodology really is my concern because I need to be sure, or Burnu Residency to be sure that if the governor has education as one of his priorities, it's something he's able to do statewide. You're able to maybe organize more teacher training, something like that, ensure that teachers are tested periodically, not just one day, and that's that. Only God knows if he will get the results. Only God knows. Okay, for people who don't get maybe... For people who get below 80%, what's going to happen? Will they be fired? Will the people who get above 80% the people who get below 80% will they be fired? Will they be sent for more training? The people who score very well, will they be promoted? So really, what's had the mechanism? That's why I'm saying that this is something that should be structured statewide to make sure that whatever you're doing has an impact. It's not just a camp thing that everybody talks about for a day and then it dies out. I agree with that. And I'm sure that he has a plan who has an idea of what he's trying to achieve with regard to education in Burnu state. Northern states have always, if you look at the education rankings in the country, have never really been on the forefront. They've never really been there. And so maybe he's trying to improve on the level of education, try to improve the quality of teaching that students receive. So maybe, you know, they can come out top of the class in WIEC examinations which are coming up next week. And some of all of that. So good luck to you. All right, finally in that top training, we're still talking education. So WIEC exams are shortly coming up soon. I saw a statement from WIEC and that's the head of the Nigerian office, Mr. Patrick, went on to announce on Tuesday that the exam to hold from the 16th of August to the 8th of October, 2021. He said that there are about 1.6 million candidates that are expected to participate in the WIEC exam for this year. He said also 25,000 senior teachers will be appointed as supervisors for the examination. We know that this was actually supposed to start around May, June, but they also expressed, you know, concerns that, you know, the COVID-19 pandemic made them to shift it upon to this time in August. So if you have registered for your WIEC exam, so you have family who have, it will be starting next week until Friday, the 8th of October, 2021. I'm best of luck to all the students. People who are writing WIEC exams, we hope that they all pass. Just simply to throw this in, we saw a statement from Neko Azul mentioning that they were not aware of any students at home ordering the Southeast. So my worry is for students who were not able to go out for their own personal safety, did they just miss a whole paper? So I'm sure, well, I really don't know. They are saying they're not aware. I haven't also heard any parents complaining that their students missed the mountain exam. So I think we should just wait and see if there is actual concerns in the Southeast for people who say, oh, we couldn't write exams because of the citadel mortar. If schools also had to be shut down because of the citadel mortar or not. So I think we'll probably just hold on and see how that plays out because they're saying they didn't hear. I also would like to hear from parents or from schools who say that they couldn't hold any exams until there is that. I don't think there's a cause for concern. Okay, those are our top trending stories today. Nigerian army donating food items to repentant Boko Haram terrorist also told you about that impromptu test that was conducted for teachers in the state and as well that the WIKE exam to begin August 16th to October 8th. I will take a break here to join our guest who's on standby for Off the Press.