 I'm glad to have you back on a breakfast on PLOS TV Africa. Let's now take a look at the stories making the headlines on our newspapers and starting with the nation. The headline says Lagos Reavers Ask Court To Stop VAT Revenue Sharing. South Governor's Backcourt Action on Tax. FIRS says Don't Join Lagos. EBMI, or La Tungibela, is Lasso Vici. She's a second woman CEO and also resident doctor's shun government proposals who will wait for the court. Air Force probes accidental killing of nine in Yobes state. How we killed Senator Son sold his car for one million Naira. Soldiers recover 11 rocket launchers from terrorists. Gunmen kill lawyer. Lagos Shuns, or Kesson Wolus, actions on VAT open grazing. Courts cases threaten PDP convention outcome. Bandits deceive DOS, says Matawale, and Hanyoku, a six-end to sit-at-home order. All right, now let's look at stories from the punch news workers this morning. It says federal government to spend 4.9 billion dollars fresh loans on Kano, Niger, Niger Republic, rail line, and others. It says railway will improve trade among Nigeria, Niger, North Africa, says Buhari, and Ambrad Benwe, Ogun, Taraba Farmers, others to benefit from 50 million dollars loan. National Assembly speedy approval of Buhari's loan request worries and dooming. I felt dizzy in the villa, back to work, EFCC chairman says. And also, Oya Bauchi, Inuku Governor's defection on the way, says Fanikayo Dei, on joining the APC. Still in the news, Yoruba nation agitators, charlatans, like Storting People, says Bankoli. And a caller spreads to Abelkota, one dies, 17 hospitalized. We can also see in the punch this morning, 12 soldiers again killed, and three gun trucks seized in Barno-Terro ambush. Federal government rules, local investors opens $3 billion euro bond borrowing. And also firms, I think I'm going to skip that one, Southern Governor's back state collection of value-added tax, Lord anti-grazing law progress. 186,000 Nigerian refugees in Niger and Chad says UNHCR, and Massab attacks by Jabia Mila for calling secession agitators terrorists. On the leadership newspaper, Southern Governors moved to entrench fiscal federalism, to use state assemblies, national members to pursue constitutional amendment. Insist South must produce next president, support NGF's stance on PIA. State security outfits to collaborate for safety of region. Abelkota refuses to stop FIRS from collecting VAT. 2022 budgets wraps oppose NNPC, more removal of fuel subsidy. AFCC responds saying Bawa, hail and herty. Police snap killers of Nal-la-son Q-notorious bandits. Manufacturers under pressure as Naira falls to 570 Naira to a dollar. A source says the CBN has no control over the parallel market. Those are the stories on the leadership. The Daily Independent coming up next, it says Southern Governor's back state collection of value-added tax, urge full deployment of regional security outfits. Okay, which states enactment of anti-open grazing laws. Namdee Kandah drags Kenya to court over forced rendition. And why we backed out of dialogue with bandits says Zamfara Governor. Abelkota refuses to stop FIRS from VAT collection, rejects Rivers Lagos application to appoint a receiver. And also NIN registration hits 63 million. PDP wishes Fanikaya Day well as he defects to the APC. Senator Shea Husani defects to PDP, eyes Kaduna Government House. Also this morning on the Daily Independent, Euroban nation agitators urge UN to rescue region from genocide. Senator Andumat berates National Assembly's speedy approval of Buhari's loan request. Julie Johnson, good morning once again. Thanks for joining us. And good morning Saturday and good morning and a tight. Pleasure to be with you and good morning to all our viewers all over the world. I'm guessing you're going to kick off with the well most trending story in the country, Femi Fanikaya Day's defection to the APC. Quickly go ahead with that one. That's good riddance to Bad rubbish. I don't know why God carried the way with that as far as I'm concerned that she don't control anybody as a surprise as a new Femi Fanikaya Day has been having bromance with the governor of Amparas State is going to virtually all the states controlled by the APC and showing becoming the unofficial spokesperson for those governors and the rest of it. And he's going back to APC. She don't be surprised to anybody was in APC at the reception when the party was initially formed before crossing over to PDP. Now he's back to APC, but to become a politician they are coming in on their nature. They are just a jeep. They go any government in power. They have no character. They have no principle. They have no ideology. They are they have no sense of shame and no sense of identity. They are their card identity. Every one of them just look at them in terms of whether they have been in PDP before they have been in APC and the rest of it. So they've been they've been delidying jumping sheep from one party to the other. And we have not seen the end of this Chris crossing of party cross captain of party who was DC playing out as we approach 20 2023 elections. All what they care about is about how to butter their own bread. Don't care about Nigerians. It's it's about them. And so the kind of nonsense is generated. I didn't know what generated that kind of nonsense. Well, the fact that he's very active on social media platforms and is very active in terms of his involvement and engagement when it comes to political issue and considering what he has said in the past. I think he shouldn't even be given a better place like a dog going back to his vomit because if you go to the social media space or you go to the media space and you listen to what he has said concerning why would never go back to APC under his death and the rest of it. So what would you take? So tomorrow do not be surprised if this character leaves APC tomorrow and he comes to PDP again and it started to end. I traveled all the people that are in APC and then I did something which I posted on my on my on my own. Do Lanai anybody should just look at that image. The image in which he appeared at I'm sure the president must have been pressured to please welcome him because you will see that the president has as a cloth face. That means he's not welcome. If you look at that then that particular that particular image, good for APC, but they've been manicured, they have crossed over to them. You will offer them news and value in trying to rubbish the opposition because he has been of users value to the APC on the on behalf of PDP now when he with him in a piece in a bill of news and value to the PDP so he will work out for him and his principal actor that actually gave him in a national recognition said something all you need to do is to give him food and he will start talking. So let's let's hope but what what is in there for Nigeria all I just is that they don't care about us. We just choose their character and their person. Okay. Across the papers this morning is still the issue of VAT. It's on the punch newspaper. It's on the leadership. The story is the headline on the nation newspaper as well as the Daily Independent. It says Lagos Rivers asked court to stop VAT revenue sharing formula. But but the big deal really is that the appeal courts has issued a judgment that seems to throw this matter you know just into almost confusion and we've seen people approach lawyers asking for more clarity as to what the court judgment means and it then means that the appeal court is saying that you know states should continue to remit VAT to the federal government you know as things were before they began to take this matter to court until the issue is decided. So where do you think this leaves states with their seeming victory you know regarding fiscal federalism and generating IGR for themselves using VAT? I think this will solve this problem will be a political solution at the end of the day. Sometimes that's what people have resolved to alternative discipline to a solution where I'm going to court because sometimes the court creates some bottleneck and they create more confusion in solving the problem. This thing is very straightforward. It's clear the consumer is right but we know what happens to the administration and dispensation of justice in Nigeria, the politicization of the process. The court will the issue we get to the Supreme Court hopefully and I hope the courts will be independent will be fair and will be just to address the number. However, I've said it over time people don't look at the composition of our judicial system. The federal government is made up of three organs. The three organs of government are the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The judiciary is a key component part of that organic structure in the sense that is the arbiter that tries to establish what should be the rules and responsibility of the component unit of the federation which is the local government, the state and the federation. Now the situation whereby the composition of that court puts to question the integrity and the fairness of the court that creates a problem. However, as from the look of it, I think courts don't usually resolve problem in most cases. I think the political solution will be what will come out of it and if we look at the issue, the issue have been very straight forward. We can't generate consumption tax in Lagos and take that consumption tax to Canada. It's unfair. It's against the principle of fairness and I hope the Supreme Court will be both will be fair so that we can have what is called a true federalism and not a unitary state. What we have in principle is the practice unitarism but we claim to have a federal system of government. There's no federal system of government that applies the kind of structure which we have and that structure needs to be reviewed and to be looked into. Let each state determine what they want. For instance, we say we don't allow state policing but you have Isba police in Nigeria. Isba, where is it written that there should be another police force in Nigeria? So you have Isba police that arrest goods and services that are produced in Nigeria. Nigeria is a secular state. Nigeria is not a religious state. So you have a contradiction and a contraption of principles and policies and that's what you get where there's no clear identity of what you want for a nation. So as far as I'm concerned, I shared the views of the state and you could see that there's a reason why we are on part of the southern state governor. I hope their legislature will not go wrong. The legislature they've sent from their various state constituencies and federal constituencies to go to Abuja will be bold enough and do the needful because once they get to Abuja, I've told people, if you have related to the political class, you know once they get to Abuja, there's no political party. There's no. The legislature, the house of rep members don't have political party. The senators don't have political party. Once they get to Abuja, they become one party and that party is our own interest and we can feather our nest and we can preserve our identity. Have you ever seen, and I'm saying it, you can ask the viewers, have you ever seen any house of rep members that went to Abuja, that return even after they lost the election? They don't return back. They stay in Abuja and they look for what that means. That is why they are comfortable with having their own political party in Abuja, representing their own interests different from the political party they have here. So political solution will be the solution to the problem because the way it's going to drag on and if care is not taken, the outcome of this might not be acceptable to the federal government or might not be acceptable to the state. I think what we should do is to find this political solution. I agree in totality with the state. However, what the state are even saying, which federal government should have done is that this general formula is unfair, is unfair. How can we generate 2.8 billion in June and give 2.8 billion to Kano? Yet legal state and river state that generates over 70 percent of this vat and even, yeah. Yeah, because of time, because we're going to be wrapping up in a bit. So let's quickly also get to get your thoughts on some of the things that are trending. One of the stories I think is on the Daily Independent is Senator Lee Udindume. It berates the National Assembly's speedy approval of the President's loan request. We're at 35 trillion and counting and of course looking like it will continue climbing with regards to our debts as it stands. So quickly share your thoughts on the President with another 4.9 billion dollars loan request. Relate that to the free fall of Naira. Relate that to what has happened to the economy. When you have a borrowing economy and economy, you say the borrower is a servant to the lender and we have seen how it has affected the value of Naira. We have seen how it has led to slack friction and inflation in Nigeria, inflation plus stagnation. We have seen how then you relate that to what was said that the central bank does not have control over, because an economic story does not have control over the exchange rate. Which country do you see in the world, our price, parallel market, in foreign exchange trading? Which country in the world do you see that they engage in selling currencies? So Udindume captured it. One of the greatest services to this nation is the election of the present leadership of the National Assembly. People were celebrating and they were jubiliting. And some of us argue that for democracy to really be strengthened and be paid, you need the opposition to control the National Assembly. You need the political class to fight. When they fight, they reach a consensus in order to meet the needs of the citizenry. How would the president come with, okay, we want to borrow, we want to borrow. We keep borrowing. Part of the story is that we borrow money to build rail rail line from Kano to Niger. Yet all our routes are terrible. I came back from Bauchi two weeks ago. Our roads are terrible. I traveled from Bauchi to Bombay before taking a flight from Bombay to Lagos. The roads are terrible. I went to Elisha on three days ago. The roads are terrible. So go anywhere in Nigeria, the roads are terrible. But we can borrow money to do rail rail from Kano to Niger. We can borrow money to build the critical infrastructure that we have in Nigeria. Travel along Lagos, Ibadua Expressway. God will help you. God will help you that won't fall and then you spend four, five hours. Anybody that wished your time is wasting your life because our life is measured in time. Well, one thing that was mentioned is, you know, that the money would also be used to finance the Niger Republic rail line. It says it will spend the 4.9 billion dollars on Kano Niger Republic rail line. Is that one of the things that you might add to the infrastructure that we're benefiting from loans? Who is benefiting? Nigeria is benefiting from it. What benefit are we getting from that? If you want to do that, why don't they go to a coerce? They should go to a coerce. Let their coerce country borrow money to build a railway truck across their coerce region. That will be better. Not an isolationist policy from Niger. What's the economic value of Niger to Nigeria? What's the comparative advantage that we have in trading with Niger? Overall, why are we borrowing money? Borrowing money for what? And we can't see what the significance of this money is. So in doing that, coming out to say something about it is a clear indication that national assembly, the night assembly, is just a Robustam assembly. It's just a Robustam assembly. Okay. So two stories I want you to react to. First of all, we saw the news of an Air Force raid in your base stage on Wednesday when at least nine people were killed and so many others were injured. You know, they said that they were just getting ready to go to their farms and just ahead the Air Force fighter jets began to shoot at them and they saw their people die. So the Air Force spokesman said that they had not received reports of the incidents that was at yesterday. What we're seeing on the nation newspaper now that the Air Force is now beginning to probe into the killing of nine and also the story on the daily independence that Nnamdi Kano is dragging Kenya to court over forced rendition. Yeah, he has a right to do that and then I think that the thought of Nnamdi Kano, he has a real right to do it and then this what happens to Kano, what happens to anybody and then I think that that's the first abduction and what Kaia did. I think they will pay the consequences of it because he establishes fundamental human right because they have procedure and process to which you can go to extradition, not just picking somebody forcefully and then bringing the person and then over the person to his home country and for that. So I support this argument with respect to the Nigerian Air Force on friendly fire killing Nigerians and what's the value of another Nigerian life? That's the question you ask. And then you begin to wonder what are these Boko Haram terrorists at this spirit? Don't we have surveillance infrastructure or technology? Are these people living in the air that we can't locate them? I keep referring to 2013 letter written by President Kulushev Monabasuda and I ask anybody to go and read that letter. Just go over to the letter to be clear to you and I just say just pay attention to page 8 and the last paragraph in page 8 that dovetail into page 9. Then you see our passenger listed the implications of not dealing with the issue of Boko Haram and all other things that were tied to Boko Haram, gun trafficking, human trafficking, drug trafficking and the rest of it that Boko Haram is beyond religious warfare that there are a lot of things that are tied to it. And you begin to wonder that how can't we successfully and decisively curb this terrorist act that we are at cost? You know there was a case where the air first bombed an IDP camp in Bono. So but in Nigeria there are no consequences for action. We'll just hear the story on the pages of newspaper and then after a while the story will die and live will go back as normal and it becomes business as usual again and we'll turn to it because none of the military guys have been tried for genocide. The issue has not been taken to walk out by the communities. Those communities don't have so express to take Nigerian government to cut and ask for compensation and the structure of their lives and property. Today Johnson are these really just you know slight evidence here and there of how you know we maybe don't even see that much value in the Nigerian life. One of the things that we will be talking about this morning in history on this day is death of more than a hundred people after flooding in Nigeria. We moved on from that like it never happened. The bombing that you spoke about was in 2017 and the reports about 150 people died in that run bombing. We moved on you know like it never happened. It's repeated itself again that we are speaking about this morning. Now we simply have moved on. One thing you know that I would also mention is the 12 soldiers that were reportedly killed in Zamfara. A few days ago by you know bandits. It's in the news this morning that in Burrano another 12 soldiers have been you know killed. Three I think kidnapped and gun trucks were also taken. And we seem to just be disconnected from these numbers and the death you know that is recorded every now and then. In three days, in three days time it will be one year of entrance protest in Lagos. We moved on. The question I ask people is just take a public bus in Lagos. Don't take Cuba. Take a public bus in any part of Nigeria. Just take a public bus and look at the type of vehicles we used to commute. Commuters. The state of those vehicles and you see via federal safety not arresting those ones and they were arrest five with cars and then you look at that. Can you use even those type of buses to carry animals in Republic of Benin? And government will go on with that as if nothing happened. And I have asked this question. What is the value of an avid Nigerian life? So that gives an indication of the government. If you look at the roads, they would drive their that's why they drive four wheel drives. They will go through the road bumps. They will go through the potholes and caterpillar holes. And you do continuous business as usual. I give a basic example. That's anybody living in Mui but for the rest of them. Some of them have lost 10 years of their life just staying in that traffic. There's no value. And that's why you see we have seen not only capital flight, we have seen human capital flight. Nigerians are living in this country in roads. I sign reference letter. I can count the number of reference letter that I've signed from my students, from my students. I knew the number of my students, family and friends that have been located to Canada, that have been located to United Kingdom, that have been located to other parts to Australia. I know lots of people because what's the value of it? And I said something to my friends and my colleague. This trend we witness now, I pulled under with administration. The trend we are witnessing in terms of human capital flight happened when Muali was the head of state in 1984, 1985, when we did the campaign and you please don't check out. We have seen the cycle again and the cycle is repeating itself and it's there. Everything we have seen, there was a free fall of Naira then. There's a free fall of Naira now. People when I tell my son and my student that in 1984 we used to queue to buy essential commodities. They didn't believe it. You queue to buy it, to buy essential, make and you queue ask anybody, national supply company or what is the name of the company. And the same cycle is repeating itself. But because you are short on human memory as a result of that, we think it's here. In the past, when people tends to put it on the government, when they will see your IPC member or your PDB, you've been paid, you've been do this, something have been done to you. And we are all facing the consequences of our inaction and our insensitivity to build the attention of both the legislature and the executive to the inadequacies and that we are failure to meet up with the needs of Nigeria. So that's what's the value. What's the value that will make a governor to use his siren to send you off the road? What's the value that will make even your legislator, he's going, he's late for his appointment and he will use his siren and his police to send you away from the road? Can you do that in civilized crime? The more we grow in democracy, the more we grow in Nigeria, it seems as if the more uncivilized we have become, the more uncivilized we have become in terms of relating with respect for human life, respect for the dignity of human life. So we will move on with this. That's the reality. All right. We will move on from this debt because when what's the name of this American guy that died? When things are pulled outside Nigeria, Nigerian federal government is quick to to to post a statement of condolence with other crime. But when it happens in Nigeria, you won't get any statement from the presidency. You won't get any statement from anybody. Although Nigerian died and nothing was said, and it took the Air Force almost 24 hours before the Kula Satin, but actually what's the level of intelligence? Jida Johnson, we can definitely continue this conversation because definitely talking about human lives, we need to continue to talk about this and let the government know that we do deserve, you know, more from them, being that we have elected them to represent us and of course, serve our best interests. And thank you very much, Chief Lecturer and Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Jida Johnson, for coming on this morning. It's a pleasure to be with you, Anita, and thoroughly make sure you enjoy yourself and the students. It's really stressful. We need to recalibrate. Having the vaccine reactions this morning, so I'm gonna have a restful weekend. Thank you very much anyway. We wish you a great weekend. Okay, so when we come back from this break, I'll be going back to the year 1983 to tell you about a story in history for the first black American winner of the Miss America pageant. And I've been talking about, you know, 100 lives that were lost in flooding here in Nigeria just in 2018. We'll be back.