 On Sunday morning, 1st October, the NLC and TUC were firm on their resolve to proceed with their mother-of-all strike, scheduled for 3rd of October, and raised very critical questions in their independence anniversary speech. But by evening of Sunday, they had a meeting with the federal government, where certain changes are being speculated to have taken place. What are those changes? Are NLC and TUC satisfied enough to call off the planned strike? We shall be discussing with the NLC this morning on the breakfast to get answers to these and other questions. Nigeria has clocked 63. We're going to be looking at the state of the nation 63 years after independence on the show this morning. We'll also be taking a look at the front pages of some national dailies, with our analysts joining us on Off the Press. Good morning and welcome to the breakfast on Plus TV Africa. I am Maureen Menomwizi. And I am Nyamgul Agadji. Good morning. And happy independence. It's just the 2nd of October, so it's 63 years. Is Nigeria a successful grandpa, or a grandpa that has wasted its life? Is Nigeria a failed state? Is Nigeria a failed state? Is there hope? Those are questions, some of the questions that have been raised as we celebrate our 63rd Independence Anniversary. How far has the journey been? What are your aspirations? Your Nigerian dream. I keep talking about the Nigerian dream. Do you have a Nigerian dream? Is it being fulfilled? Does Nigeria itself have a Nigerian dream? Every other country has their dream. Do we have a Nigerian dream? Are there specific things, are there roads we are taking or is there a particular road we are taking to achieve this Nigerian dream as a nation? Maybe we should start defining a lot of these things and see how we can work towards the things. Not just let's exist as life gives us, let's just be existing like that. We should have defined things that we want to achieve and timelines that we want to achieve these things. That's what is done everywhere else, even in families. That's what we do. Indeed, and lots of things have been unfolding. In fact, just yesterday alone so many things have happened and one of them is the fact that the FG and NLC and TUC met, they met and a press release was given to that effect. So we take that press release right now. The federal government on Sunday, October 1st, 2023 met with the leadership of the Nigeria Labor Congress and Trade Union Congress on measures to address the dispute arising from the removal of subsidy on premium motor spirits PMS. The parties noted the following. All right, so the federal government has announced 35,000 naira only as provisional wage award for all Treasury-paid federal government workers for six months following further consultation with President Bola Tinobu. The federal government is committed to fast-tracking the provision of compressed natural gas buses to ease public transportation difficulties associated with the removal of PMS subsidy. The federal government commits to the provision of funds for micro and small-scale enterprises. VAT on diesel will be waived for the next six months. The federal government will commence payment of 75,000 naira to 15 million households at 25,000 naira per month for a three-month period from October to December 2023. All right, so the highlights, in the highlights of the discussions held during the meeting the following were the major highlights and that's from the federal government, the Minister of Information and National Orientation. The federal government, I'm quoting them now, the federal government urged labor unions not to embark on strike action as the issues in dispute can only be resolved when workers are at work. One, and two, labor unions made case for higher wage award, a subcommittee to be constituted to work out the details of implementation of all items regarding government interventions to cushion the effect of field subsidy removal. The lingering matter of road transport employees association of Nigeria and national union of road transport workers in Lagos need to be addressed urgently. An NLC and TUC will consider the offers by the federal government with a view to suspending the planned strike to allow for further consultations on the implementation of the resolutions above. Governor Abdul-Rizak Abdulraman of Quora State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum and Governor Dakbabiado of Ogun State participated virtually in the meeting chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President Femi Majabiya Mila. Also in attendance were the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Waliadu, the Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Labor and Employment Simon Lalong, the Minister of State Labor Inki Ruka Onye Jiocha, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Abubakar Attiku Bagudu, the Minister of Feminitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Beta Edu, the Minister of Industry Trade and Investment Doris Uzoka Anite, the Head of Service of the Federation Dr. Follasha Daye Mieshan and the National Security Advisor Malam Nuhuru Badu. The Labor Delegation was led by NLC President Joe Agero, Dr. Tommy Aitim Ekon, Deputy President TUC NLC General Secretary Imah Ubaaja, TUC General Secretary Nuhutoro among others and Malam Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information Aniliz that came out of that meeting. So the question I had asked will NLC and TUC be satisfied with this meeting? Is it enough to call out the strike? I don't know if if they say they're calling of the strike. I don't know if their fight is really just for the workers and not for the Nigerian people and if their fight is just for their workers it means that Nigerian people will have to look elsewhere for help for a voice that they can talk to the government and hear these things done because the things that I have seen promised by the administration they don't seem to have any effect and I wonder what six months is for this government. Everything is six months. We're going to give palliatives six months. We're going to pay salaries, raise it by 25,000 naira for six months. We're going to everything is in six months. I don't know if the life of a Nigerian ends at six months. After the six months what happens? I was just looking at the dictionary and I was thinking whether definitions of palliatives have changed and I saw it and let me just read it directly. Of medicine or form of medical care relieving symptoms without dealing with the cause of the condition and as I know a medicine or form of medical care that relieves symptoms without dealing with the cause of the condition and that exactly is what is being done. What are the measures put in place to deal with whatever reason it is that is making Nigerians suffer? Nothing is being done. No roadmap is being shown and all that. So 35,000 naira to workers. What happens to the old woman back at home who doesn't earn a salary? What happens to the people that do not need to receive and by the way 25,000 naira? When the president gave you a speech it was 25,000. Now they're talking about 35,000. He moved up to 35,000. Well as I said we will be speaking with NLC this morning to find out what next, what next. This issue of back and forth between government and NLC we've seen it over time. We've seen it over time. I don't know whether it's a strategy that the government has mastered because before now the NLC has said that they are not satisfied with the way government is going about the negotiations. In fact they were convinced that government wasn't taking the negotiations seriously which led to them saying this time around there's no going back. TUC joined them and it seemed like there's going to be a real showdown but then you know how it always goes. A few hours to the showdown date the government calls them for a meeting and then gives them some carrots and then but then you see some Nigerians are also not in support of a strike because they believe that this will really crumble the economy. I understand that manufacturer association of Nigeria are totally against this strike. Whatever is left now because they believe it's the triple the economy and since you're asking what economy, yes whatever is left of the economy demand that's manufacturer association of Nigeria believe that this strike will cripple it and that nothing good is going to come out of it. Is that not the idea? Because if you're going to go and strike you know that there's going to be a lot that the federal government for instance will lose. Okay for instance when we were talking about the toll gate then when they close the toll gate that's when we knew how much billions the government makes from the toll gate which is not translating to anything that someone is seeing. When they are talking about the fuel that the thieves are getting daily that's when we know the amount that they're stealing but the one that they are getting nobody hears about it so if they're stealing 400 million barrels per day they will tell us the amount that that will cost the government but they're not telling us the ones that they are mining how much they are getting out of it. What is what is 35,000? I just did a calculation now 35,000 divided by 600 Naira which is like the average for a liter of fuel right now is 58.33 And that is not a full tank. I don't know if your full tank is for the something or something. No it doesn't. Full tank on the average is from 60 liters so which means your the government is paying you 35,000 to fill your tank once and they're talking about six months. I don't know whether that is subject to interpretation that they are going to pay for the next six months or after six months they are going to pay this money. The president also talked about the fact that transportation will be reduced so much will be one day one day. That's why they talk for Nigeria will be released reduced buses are coming that will be using gas a lot of these things are coming but they have not come so I don't know whether it is a joke I don't know if I should be on the side of NLC to go on this strike or to be on the side of government that is going to cripple the economy but as far as every so many Nigerians are concerned the economy is already crippled it's like a shoe that has no place for a bokeh to mend anymore. You know while you're talking I just had to dig out the speech the statement by NLC you know their independence anniversary statement their speech I loved reading it yesterday it kind of I just I was so excited when I read the speech because I read so many questions they they started by if I I love everything about this speech I I just take it from the top and read them much I can because it's pretty long all right it says our nation with all its flaws at conception possesses a great potential to be amongst the best economies of the world it had the promises of a nation destined to be prosperous and continually developing at independence it began to demonstrate the science that he was going to fulfill these expectations especially with all the giant strikes being recorded in all the regions that made up the country there was a healthy competition among the diverse regions for progress with perciting and record-breaking achievement all around the nation all right so it just goes on and on and and then at some point they began to ask some very very strong questions regrettably the decades that followed were marked by a series of missteps mismanagement and missed opportunities the erosion of ethical governance rampant corruption and political instability became defining features of our nation instead of harnessing our potential for the collective good our leaders often pursued personal interests leaving the masses to grapple with the consequences all right it's so many so many so many things Nigerians must seek to find out why we have become a nation that must import a product which can easily be refined in our nation and why the conscious sabotage of economy by those who occupy the helm of affairs in our country we must make conscious effort at finding out what the phantom called fuel subsidy is how much was it worth who was receiving the money's claim to have been spent and why the obvious lies when the direct sales and direct purchase agreement was the framework for the import and distribution of products in Nigeria also of great importance is the willful bastardization of the Naira and the attendant dollarization of the economy by the nation's leaders we need to find out whether truly a genuine foreign exchange market exists in its true sense in Nigeria why will the value of the nation's currency continue a freefall when the value of accruals from crude is rising what magic has made it difficult for the value of the Naira to remain stable against the dollar especially when the dollar is being promulged all over the world so there are many questions raised in the statements by the NLC and then they had the meeting in the evening and here we are seeing that some things may have changed what are those things that have changed we need to be speaking with labor directly and hopefully we'll be having them this morning as we had teased earlier to find out what's changing yeah okay now this is a bullet in ricochet if that's what they call it it has hit the wall and is back to the NLC all the questions that were asked where they answered in this meeting that is if they are going to call off the strike because if they call off the strike we should assume that these questions have been answered who was responsible for gulping this kind of amount of money they were telling us about fuel subsidy and how much was it worth have they answered that question in the in the meeting all these questions that they were they were raising were for the people Nigerian people needed to know these things but if you zero down on to uh 35 000 that is talking to only labor they are not the only ones who go to the market definitely not the only one so let's see if these questions have been answered but if the questions have not been answered then labor right now Nigerians all eyes are on you because they were talking about all eyes being on the judiciary now all eyes are on labor if labor says they're not going on strike anymore is either these questions have been answered satisfactorily and Nigerians should know or as Nigerians always assume they may have allowed money to change hands and then they just call off the strike which makes it selfish okay so let's take a look at our top trending so many things to talk about this morning yeah some of which we have addressed anyway and so the top trending number one no fewer than 20 people were said to have lost their lives following a tanker explosion at Koko Junction along Waribeen in highway in Waring North local government area of Delta State the incident which occurred in the early hours of Sunday was a result of a spark from a faulty vehicle while the persons were busy scooping fuel that spilled from the tanker reportedly among the dead were a pregnant woman children and some elderly persons it is being reported that the tanker fell and spilled its content on the road and some persons rushed to scoop fuel despite being warned by drivers and security men who had stormed the scene after they learned the tanker had fallen I tell you the picture look at the video there very Tuesday I was talking about the bad state of our roads there we have it there we have it people never learn from what happens I don't know whether we forget history or something but it's so dangerous that if you compare the the danger and whatever kind of hardship you may be facing at this time it is not worth it what if this is parked in that place there was an explosion I know I'm not making excuses for them but if if tankers do not fall on the roads if the roads are not in the deplorable state that they are in tankers will not fall there people will not be stranded and traffic for hours leading to a spark that has led to all of these I agree but if there's a fire in that place we won't be talking poverty some of the people who are there are house owners some of them are car owners some of them are well to do but we like free things the people who go to scoop are poor they're not uneducated people in my experience in my experience I I saw a place where there was this explosion because a tanker fell people were scooping fuel and people that were going there some of them lost whole families and they were not poor they were just people who felt they were strong enough and brave enough so while the government has failed these people have failed us because of the state of roads that we are seeing that like you were talking about on Tuesday and all that we also know that we should like we say in Nigeria advise ourselves whenever the fuel spills like that it is so dangerous that it's not worth it no matter what you should be poor and alive rather than rich and dead look at that look at that it's oh my word so many vehicles you have burnt I mean raised with people in them obviously because we have reports that about 20 of them died there may be more because some bodies who are already removed as at the times our report has got there and so there you have it it's a terrible thing that we still experience in this October first look at that first October 2023 it's it's it's terrible well may their souls rest in peace and may their families have the fortitude to bear the loss these are people who left their houses to go and like we say hustle and put food on the table of their families whatever it is they met their this unfortunate event underway because of the carelessness of some people I must say that I know that accidents happen even in the best of societies but if it is avoidable let us avoid these things there are some people who really do not care if you give somebody a hundred Naira to buy a drug that is good enough he will prefer to buy the one of 20 Naira that will not work so that he pockets 18 Naira and then tomorrow you say you're a patriotic Nigerian you and everything when you're caught you're you're blaming it on the devil right now we've just seen that this is fresh or we've heard because I don't know how that is we've heard that there's a fresh three trillion Naira COVID loans and mismanaged funds that have been unveiled yes so fresh three trillion Naira COVID loans and mismanaged funds by Mefele have been uncovered how that happened we do not know the revelation from the investigative committee set up by president Bola Tinubu has revealed that former central bank governor Godwin Mfele stole that's the word that was used three trillion Naira from two projects alone trillion not billion I have to emphasize that if it is true we don't know yet but if it is true that is three trillion and I wonder well let me just go on it has now been revealed that a whooping amount was made from COVID-19 COVID loans and the anchor boroughs program fund a loan just two projects and there have been many over the years in July Tinubu appointed a special investigator to probe the apex bank and in a letter dated 28 of July 2023 the president named chief executive officer of the financial reporting council of Nigeria Jim Obasi as the special investigator so that is what he has uncovered now three trillion Naira I don't know how many generations want to use that but if you begin to calculate that money you'll find out that most of this is just a waste how many houses can you build you are training your children don't forget if it is true how many if it is true in addition to all the other monies but don't forget that Godwin Mfele had wanted to contest the presidency and so he must have amassed some of these monies for that purpose to fund his presidential ambition until he was told he could not run for it if impunity had a word or a country it will be in Nigeria and he he he returned to being the central bank governor even when he had contested or tried to contest so he went back to being the central bank governor until now and there are so many people who have been doing this and nothing seems to happen in fact some of them are still in the Senate making laws for you and I I wonder how that is this country and and the EFCC guy is still somewhere yeah we don't know what all the people that he mentioned that should have been investigated by him or they're working free but he is in in jail right now where that's a very interesting angle Nigeria well they are obviously we're still waiting for more to come from him that special investigator was we're waiting to hear more from him because there are other ministries government or paracetals I would love to hear from NNPC and so many others who want to hear more about this last administration and all this happened of course many Nigerians not a few are still asking what about a Miefele's boss what about him if you know because he's being investigated even Biden who is sitting Joe Biden is still in fact he may face impeachment and so many other things so if the people that we see Sena clans are doing this why can't we be seen as well and do the right exactly so all the administrations that have come they had fuel subsidy in them and people were stealing this money some people were giving the go-ahead to do a lot of things and they're working free they especially the past administration that was giving the go-ahead to a Miefele to if it is to print money or if it is to take loans or if it's to do anything they were exceeding the limits and they kept going and nobody's saying anything Miefele is just the fall guy that is taking all the things and many are asking why what is it about a Miefele that he's the main person and the only person that appears to be going through the fire when there were many other colleagues of his during the administration who have done many things that have left a lot to be desired let's take a break all right let's take a break let's take a break we'll be back but I warn you that when we come back from this break Opunabom Kotara will be joining us and as I said last week sometimes I'm not listening to Opunabom you need to go for therapy because it has hot as it can get with Opunabom I'm not depressed in a moment stay with us