 Welcome back. Time to look at the front pages of the daily newspapers this morning and look at the headlines. Of course, with analysis, we have Chris Kenley Wando, a weekly commentator on the newspaper headlines. He's a chartered mediator and consulator. Chris Wando, good morning to you. Good morning. Thanks for having me this morning. Yes. I asked you if you were a prophet of doom, but you said you're a prophet of reality. Because I remember last week when you were here, you predicted that the cues that you were experiencing in Abuja will be popping up in Lagos in a moment from then and lead the cues all around Lagos state? Yes. I'm a prophet of doom and a prophet of reality. And I told you last week when I spoke out that definitely in the next few days, if not in the summer, that definitely Lagos is in place. The same reality that is happening now. And that seems to be true now. So here we are. Nobody seems to be listening. Nobody seems not to be doing anything about this. All right. We'll leave it at that because we have analysis and discussion on this later in the program. But on the front page of the nation newspaper, we have these headlines, a big one there. Petrol marketers increase, pump price amid scarcity. The rider to that, a motorist queue for product in Lagos, Abuja others. Federal government too. Liberalized diesel. Aviation fuel importation says silver. Government elect or government elect disputes, equity vote buying claim. Trend worrisome says UK envoy. Envoy rather. And excited to have received Oye Banji. Interesting. Abdul Salami stable in UK says presidency. That's the good news. 50 Kaduna train captive sick dying. Negotiator worried. 50 Kaduna train captive sick dying. Negotiator worried. Sleeves a churn in my tummy to read that headline. Headline rather. Attack on churches. Bandit seek 100 millionaire ransom. Law and contested scenario primary says APC chair inducement or yetola seeks probe of a delegate. So some of the stories on the front page of the nation newspaper voter registration court restrained Zainik and kidnapped suspect held in AKT. Trying times. Over to the leadership with these headlines. A big one there. The kicker says 85 days after Kaduna train attack. 50 remaining hostages threatened by snakes. Scorpions nine feared dead. Lord have mercy. And the riders to that headline. We're working on rescuing them FG. Victims families lament neglect. Worn against a train resumption. Attackers of Kaduna churches demand 100 millionaire ransom. Cut off male victims ear. District head kidnapped in plateau. Worse energy crisis looms over global supply shortfall. Cues return as Ipman shut stations. Abdu Salaam hospitalised in London discharged. Court stops Aenec from closing voter registration. The government elect denies involvement in vote buying. These are headlines on the front page of the leadership. The daily impendent has the following headlines. Private sector growth sluggish as energy cost impacts. Coys companies it says diesel price may hit 101,000 Naira per litre in days, manufacturers. Court restrained Zainik from ending voter registration in June 30, $13 billion transfer hour gas pipeline opportunity to tap into European markets. Minister. Fuel queues spread to Lagos. Aenec disagrees with the Kiti governor elect over vote buying. Privatisation of past sector a complete failure. NLC says Nigerians paying heavily for megawatts of darkness. Abdu Salaam me out of London hospital. That's good to hear. Revenue generation falters as debt service increases by 109% and 17,647 drug offender offenders 10 barons arrested 2,369 jailed in 7 months. And finally I'll be able to make you through the paper headlines without fainting. These are the ones on the front page of the punch. Presidential poll interim running mates Risky ex Aenec chief wants APCLP. Placeholder parties invention it has no place in the constitution says Sands and Aenec. Nobody gave me any condition but I'll step down for new running mate Masari. And it says presidential candidates may lose tickets over unqualified deputies state lawyers. Presidential poll interim running mates Risky ex Aenec chief wants APCLP. Placeholder parties invention it has no place in the constitution says Sands and Aenec. Nobody gave me any condition but I'll step down for new running mate Masari. And finally I'll be able to make you through the paper headlines without fainting. Presidential poll interim running mates Risky ex Aenec chief wants APCLP. Placeholder parties invention it has no place in the constitution says Sands and Aenec. Analysts call for state police job creation. Court stops Aenec from ending voter registration June 30. Nigerian Airlines others lose $700 million from 2022. Nigeria rally support for $13 billion Trans-Saharan gas pipeline. Scarcity hits Lagos Abuja fuel cells for 180 naira per liter as NNPC cuts supplies. Bus driver kills and dumps colleagues corpse at Lagos Park. Shooting police silent as traumatized woman slams burner boy club. Sexual misconduct OAU, Unia Abuja dismisses for profits is 14 others. Terrorist amount 100 million Naira ransom for abducted Kaduna worshippers. Osina chief's mother in court seeks justice for daughter and federal commission guards. Brutalized blind job seekers. Several hospitalized. Chris Keenewando I have never had a day like today on national international television where I'm panting to conclude or finish a look at the headlines. It's been stressful for me reading these headlines. I'll come back to you Chris. What are your thoughts on the nature of the stories we've seen today and what it says about the state of Nigeria? It's been really stressful, a grueling for me to go through all these. I'm really feeling my tummy turn. Over to you Chris Keenewando. Chris Keenewando Well, it may be traumatic for you, if it to me. For me it's not because this is where we find ourselves and this is our way. Since I've been prominent in this country and this getting worse and worse today, this we are predictable. It's not like something just fell on our lads. Since it's coming over the months, so many Nigerians, journalists, analysts, name them have predicted this and we've said that it can only get worse. The only people that seem to not understand what is going on is the government, especially the federal government. And the daily business they continue to tell us that things are better, things are getting better. We are far better now than we were in 2015. The securities, they are in control of security and at the point they even told us that this was just the last key of a dying horse or camel or whatever they call it. But they refused to face reality. Now they are already campaigning again for 2033 and asking us to command for them with all policies and whatever gesture they can put together to make us good for them. So someone like me have developed a kind of shock as well. Nothing surprises me as soon as Nigeria is concerned again. I say this most often and often I open that to me. Nigeria is just like that program, Charlie boy shoe that used to run on NTA and major stations in those cities on Charlie boy shoe, anything can happen. And Nigeria, don't be surprised that they say in my place that in Igbo land they say Igbo and all. Every other morning is a new story. This is what is up in Nigeria, in the state of Nigeria. And we don't seem to have a savior, we don't seem to have anybody that can be able to rescue us from the generation that will find themselves. When the Israelites find themselves in the streets of the crowd of God and God came to their rescue and let them out of Egypt until they go to Kerala. But it's not even listening to us. The Muslims are praying, the Muslims are praying, even the tribunals are praying, the Muslims are praying too. But personally it's just as if my own personal opinion is just like God seems to have done these years and asked us to be able to do that. People that get things done, don't just work on God. Japanese don't work on God. Chinese don't work on God. Americans they believe in God, but they do the right thing. The Europeans do the right thing. They don't just work. Even in Rome, Vatican, we have to say you simply say the Christians, they tend to get things right. In Saudi Arabia, one of the most developed countries in the world that is a quarter of Islam, you can see how things work and how accurate and how beautiful everything seems. I don't know what has been our problem. I've always asked Western, the problem of Nigeria, is it that of leadership or that of Kulawashi? And to be able to answer that question, both you will continue to find answers to where we are. It's rather unfortunate that that is the reality. I mean, it's the federal government and in this case the president on whose shoulder a lot of these things rest. Do you think he's aware of the situation? For instance, talk about Fios Kasti, he started on the streets of Abuja. He's his backyard. You know, having insecurity and the likes. It doesn't seem like there's anything wrong in the country. Look at the pictures coming out of Asorok, Vila with Oye Banji and the current Achilles State governor, based in the president, of course, they have photo ops. When they have photo ops and everybody's smiling, someone put up something on Twitter. You had the day saying, you know, sometimes even when, it doesn't know why, even when things are so bad in the country. At different times, or they are times of tragedy, when you see pictures coming from the presidential Vila, the politicians are together. They're always smiling and clasping hands. You know, is it a day on our way of the situation in the country, or there's something they know that we don't know? Do you think the federal government, the president in particular, Buhari is aware of what's happening or is even worried or interested in making things better? Because we're seeing smiles and laughs in the pictures coming from the presidential Vila. I would like it to be very, very funny to say that the president is not aware of what's happening. He is, let us not deceive ourselves, is the president of Republic of Nigeria, the federal republic of Nigeria. He has advisers, he has ministers, he has all sorts of aids, who feed him on the daily basis. I've seen several internet websites where they show the picture of the president and you see an unstable newspaper lined up on the table, and that means he reads most of these papers. You see television popping up, that means it's time to watch TV and the rest of them. So president is very much aware what we are lacking is the capacity of leadership. What we are lacking is a man that has foresight. What we are lacking is somebody that has a complete vision of the situation on the ground. What we are lacking is the leader with vision. What we are lacking is the leader with the foresight with the tenacity to be able to handle and sit down and look at the problem as it were and be able to handle this situation squarely as it should. And this is somebody that Nigeria would believe that he would do far better than the person he was replacing. They voted for him as a former general that he would be able to tackle the issue of insecurity being a former general. But what is happening you can see the barrage of attacks kidnapping, killings, onslaughts of Nigerians and nobody is saying anything. Only thing we get to hear from me, once there is an attack and killing you should press release and ask security those in charge of security to do the writing and the dons. Just few days ago there was an attack in the Catholic Church in Kaduna where three people were killed and so many were taken away. Now a hundred million ransom is being asked. That was an attack in the Catholic Church in our world. Where several people were killed, they were just buried just this last weekend and there have been serious attacks all over. We were talking about the one that happened along on the train between Kaduna and Abuja. Now report coming in is that most of some of them have been beaten by addicts. We have about nine allegedly to have died and the rest are just to be rescued. We have so many children across the country, especially in the northern parts that we are kidnapped for years now and nothing seems to be heard about them. Nobody is even talking about rescuing them. You cannot lie to the Legos about the expressway, the Legos Shagamu or Binin expressway, the Abuja Kaduna expressway, the Madrugiri expressway all over the country without being abducted. The privilege of a Church, of Methodist Church, was kidnapped a few weeks ago and it paid a 100 million ransom. What is where I want to say, do we go to the energy sector which we have been talking about that is total collapse of power across the country. The last time we had, we have come down to just about nine megawatts from about 4,500 to use to have. It has been consistently consistently breaking down and in the last few months, I can't remember how many times that the national breeders broken down. The government promised giving us power. The government in 2015 promised injecting 10,000 megawatt into the national grid on a yearly basis by nine to 70,000, but nothing. Then you are talking of, let's talk about the petrol lines. Just as when we started, we talked about what happened in Abuja. Last week we predicted that it's going to get to Lagos and other parts of the country. It's already Lagos, it's in Ibadon, it's in Korea and so many parts of the country. And the tragedy of it all is that the President, President Muhammad Ibuari is the Minister of Petroleum. He is the Minister of Petroleum. Timi Priyaseba is just the Minister of State. We have an MD of NMPC. We have tried to embody the NMPC to make it more effective. The total is the same. We are not right there in the central area. Up to Metama, up to Asokoro, up to Asorok, where the President's office is. We've seen line-up of cars for days, for weeks now. The President drove from Asorok to where for the what do we call it? June 12th celebration. Don't tell me that is this the queue. I'm sure he must have seen the queue. But I ask you, what has it done about it? The promise to give us new refineries. That was what the promise they made. Not a single refinery has been built in the past several years. Even the ones we had are totally collapsed. The four most diverse of Naira, including the Naira maintenance, they are not that the refinery is pumping that one single liter of, that is the level of corruption within the system. But as we are moving to 2023, we are afraid that we are going to get a leader who can really remove his leaves and get things done. We cannot continue this way as a country. Alright, let's move over to the politics and let's give them some airtime. Even though I wouldn't love to give them because they don't deserve it. But this is where we find ourselves. The issue of place. They don't deserve it because you look at the stories that affect the ordinary people. We are going to sit down here and talk about placeholder and no placeholder which has to do with whether things are going to change tomorrow because it's just politics. It's sad to hear that you and Abuja are saying that the president will probably have passed those queues on his way to the ego square. All those Abuja, those politicians who stomped Abuja for the various presidential primaries would have seen the queues on their way to the various places where they had the primaries. But people are moving on as if there is no issue. You wonder when they finish elections what are they coming to rule? And I would have asked you if you see us making it to 2022 without what I mean. But let's not go there for reasons best known to you and I. Let's look at the concept of placeholders. An ex-INEC chief is warning according to the punch newspaper that the interim running mates is a risky venture. We know that the all-progressive congress and the Labour Party have all gone down that route. I was arguing on my radio program last weekend, or last week rather when a caller was insisting that I was wrong. Because you look at section 33 or close to 33 of the electoral act, which is being cited by a lot of people commenting on this. It says nothing about running mates. It talks about those who are elected in primaries. And primaries can be rescheduled if the elected people write a letter saying they were drawn from the race. We rescheduled the primary. So what happened in the case of Umahi, he did it clean, came out unheard. I was his name. God said like, probably I tried to do it, but Maki said no. That could not work. So what are the thoughts on this? The lawyers were saying that the Labour Party and the APC may be treading on glasses here, making a mistake. Well, the commissioner for voters' education on INEC, first of all yesterday, was quoted as saying that there is nothing like what the quality was. Please hold. Within the electoral act as amended, and that the possibility of some of the two parties replacing the vice presidential candidate is a bit tight. But that is what it is. I know that within the electoral act there is a room for candidates. And as you said, you said that it is only for those who are included. But if those are later permitted to be substituted, definitely those that are also selected as vice presidential candidates or deputy governors, I believe, should forward in that category. That is my personal opinion. I have not taken time to go through that electoral act. I feel that. But the only thing I want to realise for me personally, even as I proceed on my social media handle is not being able to pick the vice presidential candidate at this time goes to show that the un-seriousness of the political parties and their presidential candidate. Because by now you respect that if you are running for the president as a presidential candidate of your party, you should have known by now who you want to pick as your vice presidential candidate. It is not something that is impossible. It is something that can be done. So you would have known since it is not today that they are just prepared to become presidential candidates of their parties. Probably say for someone like P2P, who is just known from PDP to Labour Party. But for the presidential candidate of APC and so many others, by now they would have known. Yes, you want to say that there is a lot of consultation that has to be done. Parties chiefs have to be consulted. Stakeholders have to be contacted and there has to be a much, much worse discussion on the threats. For me as far as I am concerned, if I think as in given that window of opportunity, and as talked to is gone that there is no substitution, once you submit to something, they would have come out with their vice presidential candidate as of today. So I think they are taking advantage of the electoral act and probably they still have some time. Somebody said yesterday that they have come to September or is it August to be able to do that. Let's see how it goes. But the chairing news for me is PDP. PDP seems to be on the ascendancy. Right from when they had their convention to elect their national officers to how they conducted their primaries. You see that PDP seems to be well prepared for 2023. APC as usual is thrown into stormy waters. Don't forget the problem they had having their convention whether to replace the interim national chairman and the executive. That took here almost months. The wrangles within the party and cumulative in the presidential primaries of the party. But good enough they came out of that and scattered. But it seems that there are so many students that have remained unturned with the APC and they are trying to do the rightful thing. But it is now left for us to come out to be specific and tell us whether they are categorically treated in Nigeria. Whether there is anything like place holding or no place holding within the electoral act that was passed. If that is not possible then what is the next option for the political parties? As you said discussing politics now doesn't make us happy because so much is going on. Nigerians are not happy if these things come like this you are going to see a lot of voters apart from 2023. If there is no voters apart then there may be a dramatic change from what we used to. A situation where people believe that it is just going to be a battle between APC and PDP. It may be wrong to have a third force. You can see people mobilizing and trying to get their PPC. And what I've already said is to get your PPC and make sure you vote in 2023. Alright let's go over to the daily independent because it has a very interesting headline. It pays attention to the ongoing revelations about the revenue generation in the country if we remember some time ago the World Bank I believe it is had said that if Kerry is not taking Nigeria's revenue, though this is a national monetary fund actually, had warned that the debt servicing might gulp 100% of the federal government's revenue by 2026. 100% already it is gulping what it is actually making from oil and gas or from Kudo sales projected in the budget. It says by 2026 if Kerry is not taking, it is going to gulp the entire of the nation's revenue. We are not talking about paying back the debt, we are simply talking about debt servicing. This headline from the Daily Independent it goes thus revenue generation falters as debt service increases by 109%. Earlier the debt management office, Chris Kane the one who had told us that debt servicing had doubled and hit 896 billion naira in three months. That's according to the debt management office. I mean this I'm sure must be another reason to feel asphyxiated if you want to use that word and suffocate it about a situation in the country. Yes it is. At the point it's not that we have we spent practically, at the point it was 90% about the 380 and 90% that we are using for debt servicing. And as you already mentioned, debt service is not that we are going to pay back the loans that we are going. This is just to say that it's just like you picking up a loan from a bank. The interest on that loan is what you are paying. You are not paying the sum, you are not paying the sum. So and profi, it's okay you some of us are practically gone dead when it comes to issues like this. There are so much legs on our neck that we are no longer breathing. At times they can put legs on your neck. This one we are not even breathing again. We are practically gone dead. Because if you look at the rates at which this federal government this current government had the burrowing, it was as if this burrowing is going out of existence. And most of all raise the eyebrow. And it doesn't go better telling us the finance minister and whatever, oh there is nothing around the burrowing. We can borrow as a country, it's not the minister of so many but the fact is that even those countries that you mentioned that are burrowing, you see that money to do. Because that is supposed to be invested in certain sectors that can yield back money for you to pay back. Kofi, before the upper central government left, he wiped out all the foreign debt of Nigeria. Company is zero. So between good law and between the term of good law that is when you have this file of debt and it seems unabated. That is one. Secondly, we are not exporting enough. Our only standard of exporting is the croat, which is close to about 80 to 90% of our foreign generation. But the lack on that also is that while we are exporting, we are also importing petroleum products. So whatever you think you are getting in selling crude oil, you are also spending on buying petroleum products. So that defeats your own foreign exchange. It also defeats your foreign reserve. If we have done the needs through, by now and we have enough capacity to refine our products, then there will be no need for us to spend so much money in importing petroleum products. We are even subsidizing those products. So it is a big, big problem. And I continue to ask, do you really have an economy team? In those days, we should have very strong economic team under the Basin region, where you have Okonjo-Iwala, you have OBS-Epocili, even Air Revive was also part of that. You have those at the DMO. It's a solid economic team, thick tank that takes out of the bus. And that was one we were going to do. So I tell you, the problem is that the crude oil was so-so amounted during that period, during the Jonathan period, during the Basin period, you cannot compare that with now. Hello, Ofi, since the commencement of the war in Ukraine, which has been going for months, the prices of crude have risen across the world, over skyrocketed. We are making so much in the world. Nobody is talking about that. Nobody is saying anything about that. It was also a month during the Good Lord Jonathan. You cannot compare to what was happening. It was also a month. Nobody is telling us how much we have been making in the past few months since the war in Ukraine. That is amazing. And you, who goes abroad, goes to Israel, Ofi, if you borrow from me and you cannot, let me just give you a classical example. You come and brood from me. You come and take from me. And now you take it to a party. And I meet you at the party. And you are dancing in our disco. I will want you to please, don't let this thing tear. Now, don't let this cloth tear. You will dance with caution. That is the problem because we are going so much. That is why IMF and the World Bank is detecting our economic policies. And we cannot go away from it. If we do, China will not give us money. U.S. will not give us money. World Bank will not give us money. IMF will not give up money. But this country is a country that is so rich and so blessed. We have so much mineral resources that we can explore properly. And we are going to come out with alternative to where and this country will go. What we lack is leadership. We lack visionary leaders who are able to take out of the cost and get those out of their roots. All right. We have the AKC Governor-elect denying the allegation still staying with the daily independent. Denying the allegation of vote-buying. They actually disagree with INEC over this issue of vote-buying. We've had accusations coming from the PDP in the United States, coming from the STP in the United States. And also the who won the election also accusing as well and defending and denying. Let's look at the headline on the front page of the independent very quickly because we have just two minutes. INEC disagrees with the KT Governor-elect over vote-buying. It says the Independent National Electro-Commission on Monday disagreed with Beodor Yabanczy, Governor-elect in last Saturday's election that there was vote-buying during the polls. However, INEC said it will continue to work with relevant agencies in the country to ensure that vote-buying and inducement to voters during the elections are reduced to the various minimums. So they are disagreeing with the Governor-elect that there was a vote-buying as far as that election was concerned. I mean, I'm sure you saw a few clips or at least one of the videos on social media. Chris, what are your thoughts on this? Because this may be a precursor to what will happen in the General Elections next year. The Governor-elect has just been economically out of the troops. He knows the issue. He knows that it is that. Let me know using what is lying, so that not to single economic disrespect. But the facts is there. Just as you mentioned you saw on social media people showing how much they collected. But that is not from me. That is from the convention of the various political parties. So what's happening now? We are dollars, thousands of dollars, we are being exchanged for food. Those, the people now at the grassroots are also trying to say, oh, it is our thought. Give us our own share of the money too. Now the system, the electoral system in Nigeria have been so politicized that what we are just seeing is just a child's play of what is going to play out in 2023. It's only those that have the deep pocket that will decide to open the election. The most qualified set of people will not be put away. Because this is becoming a Naira-based and Tullah-based election for Nigeria. They are pushing it. We must know it's going to be an issue and the same thing will play out. Then before we go into the general election in 2023. But as you, because you asked yourself, is it a function of poverty or just that people don't know what they want to do? I will say it's a conditional, a combination of two. Poverty. People cannot even feed for themselves. Some people are going to bed without food. A hungry man is an angry man. A hungry man that doesn't seem to be able to feed his family. If he sees someone that will give him 5000 Naira just for him to just give him before, they will do it. That is the level of poverty in the country. Until we eradicate poverty. This is how we are going to be. We saw the movement of ESCC here and here trying to arrest people. They can, how many people there, arrest. The issue is that a lot of enlightenment has to be done. And people have been told that by selling your food for 5000 Naira you have sold your precious, you have sold your family, you have sold your future generation and you remain in this perpetual state where you are. Because you will not give room to and let those that can be able to improve your life. After 5000, how many people, how many days will it last? Probably 24 hours. At the end of it, what happens? But you have sold your future. So the governor and he knows the truth and saying that there was no food buying. Even a minister in this government was quoted as saying that it was not only the ruling party that voted or whatever at the election in equity. That he went across God. And I tend to believe him. But that is how we roll. Nigeria we held him. Interesting. At least we made it through this episode about the press. Chris came over. It has been a very hectic. One of the most hectic show I've had in months and it's just so sad that this is where it went. It's not a smiley matter. It's not a laughing matter. Nigerians we are suffering. We are in conflict. You need to go to the airport and see the number of Nigerians that are trapped and not on this continent. People are ready to move as far as Afghanistan as far as the situation is. So people are ready to go to Ukraine. Some Nigerians are ready to go and raise their lives there. And it doesn't concern our leaders. They don't care. Our life does not matter. QED. Chris came over to thank you very much for your time. Thank you very much for having me. And don't be despair. All will be well. If you don't worry. They cannot spend their own time. And spend hours to go to intervene on our behalf. You too. You too. It is world like we say in this part of the world. Even if the sky is falling on your head. It is well. We'll take a break now and look at what happened today, the 21st of June in history where we come back. We drive straight into our first major conversation. Please stay with us.