 We're glad to know that you're still there and this is Off the Press, a segment in the breakfast on Plus TV Africa. So we're hoping to look at the headlines and see what they are saying this morning. The National Dailys, we're going to be looking at our Punch newspaper, Daily Trust, or sorry, The Guardian, this day and the Daily Independent newspaper, if we have time we'll also look at other papers this morning. So we're glad to be joined this morning by Mr. Tunde Kola Wole, who is a legal professional as well, a legal practitioner here in Lagos State that will be talking with us. Good morning and welcome to the program Mr. Kola Wole. Good morning, Mr. Wole. Okay. Thanks for having me. It's always a pleasure to have you. Okay, let's begin with the biggest headline on Punch newspaper, Crisis Rocks Peace Meeting, NLC Strike Threatens Emo Polls. The writers are Traditional Rulers Flea as Partis Bica, Labor Plans Airport Power Shutdown. IG deploys new CPs, three killed in Kogi as INAG rejects call to remove Emo Wreck. Okay, would like your comment on that first headline. Well, Punch, I'm going to start with the number one. Yes. It's just a joint headline because the headline starts with off-season elections and then Crisis Rocks Peace Meeting, NLC Strike Threatens Emo Polls. So it's Labor and then the polls in Emo State and other states as well. Can you tell us a little bit about what is happening in the South Sea? Especially the Bica Assaults on the NLC President. If you're a dangerous president, I will only show one of the military rule. No one could have imagined that a kind of a thing would be happening under civilian legislation. We just tell you that the mindset for people we have run the country today is not too different from those of the new papers of the past. And as such, the labor movement, the freedom movement and all the inherent people should get ready to receive that kind of report in the nearest future. If I am shocked that the NLC didn't embark on strike right from the very minutes, the NLC President was assaulted. They're taking me under a blanket and then together injured. Not a vote or two at the same time. And now for the NLC and the other labor movement to cast in the effect in a fight. The deal can back on strike to protect the assault on them and their leadership. I don't see any way in which work Labor is planning going to affect the polls in those places. Why do I say that those who carry those brutal assaults have to have known that there's going to be consequences or that there is a reaction? If they were concerned about the poll that was coming up, they wouldn't have done what they did. But it is not impossible that they were not ready for the polls. That was why they did what they did. If it's not Labor that is taking the elections or the forthcomingly term elections all over the country, whether it is a political class that wants to abort that election because of their name, maybe they weren't going to abort the election because of their unconscionable action, their rootlet action, the win-win or win-win elections at all costs, even when they don't merit it. I have the opinion that the strike should go on as it is. Everyone is not going to fall. And the electorate has been conducted, but they need to have it. And then nothing on 12th will happen. What is the media election of any meaning? All we have is the situation where people pretend to have voted. And then the results, how will the election will later be becoming like a court? That's my take on that. The NLC at least have been gracious enough to say the strike will come up after the election because the election is on Saturday and the strike is supposed to come up on Tuesday, November 14th. The election is on November 11th, which is Saturday, so maybe it's not going to affect the election. But what worries something is a statement. I don't know if it is true, but it was credited to the governor of Imo State, saying that Joe Agairo, he comes from Imo State and that he's just fighting a cause that he does not know anything about. That the people who are being owed are not the workers of Imo State, but rather federal workers who reside in Imo State. I was just wondering why the federal government will single out only Imo State workers and not pay for that many months if that statement is true. But he said that the reason Joe was assaulted was because he came into the state with ignorance and was talking about things that he didn't know about. So that's why he was assaulted. I don't know how true that statement is, but what I know is that the claim has been from Imo State government that it is not the workers of Imo State that are being owed, but rather the federal workers. I don't know what you see in that statement, that the federal workers are owed but not Imo State workers. How could the federal government just owe only Imo State workers for that many months? Honestly, the actual quality of what you're asking is not too clear. I'm not getting your question. Can I rephrase? Can you hear me better now? Yes, maybe I should speak a little bit louder. That's what I'm saying. They say the Imo State government claims that the people who are being owed in Imo State are not necessarily Imo State workers, but the federal workers in Imo State. So my question is, is it possible for the federal government just to single out Imo State and owe their workers and not every other state because it's a state complaint, it's not coming from all other states. Do you believe that statement, if truly it's coming from the governor of Imo State? What I think is very strange is that workers are paid the same day, either at the local government level, at the state level, or at the federal level. Why the federal government will single out their workers and not pay them as they're going to do, and not fully work as the nations are coming in those places, and the consequences of such a result will pay the workers. It will be very strange to me. But again, you want to ask, if the governor of Imo State is paid that, one would have expected the federal government to have treated it, to have come out with a statement to either confirm or affirm what the Imo State governor has said. But let us not totally say that what the governor is saying is true. Why do I say this? It's not impossible that maybe those who are representing the interests of the federal government, like the accountant for the federal government, the Imo State, like maybe the auditor, like maybe those who compile his names of people are to be paid another. If they didn't submit the voucher as it went to, it is not impossible for such a thing to happen. If the voucher for the paid people is not then compiled in a voucher, but in the respective case, it is not impossible. Again, maybe when these things are submitted to a voucher, certain people are supposed to vet it before the payments are made, and those who are supposed to vet it in a voucher didn't meet all the time. It is not impossible for that kind of event to happen. But the bottom line is whether the mistake is coming from Imo State or coming from Abidya is no longer the issue. These workers decided to withdraw their services because their servers have not been paid and now that if they have sought on the NSU president and the other leaders, they are proper steps to take. Among all those people, it is not. The governor could have invited the labor leaders and rank and fight for a meeting and clarify the situation with them, persuade them not to engage or embark on a strike. But without doing that, he decides to absorb the leadership. And then the governor will have the temerity to combat openly the NSU leaders and the NSU workers, the federal government workers in Imo State who are engaged in politics, totally outside the problem of what they are expected to do. And because of that, you have to take it to yourself. The power to ultimately beat, absorb, and then finally kill the NSU president and some of his other colleagues. For course, it's okay. That is not the adequate response, the expected response to the accusations that the Imo State government is making. So I don't think we should simplify its clarification. You tell me its permission. What is bad is bad. The governor of Imo State has done what is horrible, what is terrible, what is unconscionable, what should never be tolerated in a different society. But socially, from a leader who is supposed to be the governor of Imo State, he is expected to be the father figure to everybody in India. If any of these old children have misbehaved, when not expected to misbehave, will they have called the police, will they have called the police, will they have called the social, to come and brutalize, to come and absorb, blindfold and take these old children to the dungeon where they should be tortured? Of course, they will not do that. But honestly speaking, it is a permission, but it is a permission. And neither you know that. If you condemn what is bad, it's bad, it's a mistake. Okay. Well, let's move to another headline. Again, on the Point of Newspaper, just like you, as a few days ago, gave advisory to their citizens, Canada has also given a travel advisory to citizens of Canada that they only should come to Nigeria when it is absolutely necessary. Nigerians lament as Canada suspends Abuja Embassy operations. So apart from the fact that they are talking to their people to only come to Nigeria when it is absolutely necessary, they have stopped operations in Abuja. What is your take on the whole thing? Canada has told its citizens that unless it is absolutely necessary, they should not travel to Nigeria. And right now the headline on the Point of Newspaper says that Nigerians lament as Canada suspends Abuja Embassy operations, which means the Embassy in Abuja has suspended operations. So what's your take? Well, it's not just that Canada has done that. We reported on this last week or there about. The U.S. also issued an advisory, advising the citizens that if it is not too important, if it is not working, if it is not necessary, they should stay away from Nigeria for now. Of course, they also told their citizens to stay away from churches and mosques. And some of these were public places. Bicotels. It is not impossible that their intelligence services have gotten information. That certain things are going to happen in Nigeria. And some of these places are at ablation. That is why the U.S. is advising citizens to stay away from certain places. And why Canada is also suspending consular services in their Abuja office. And what are they doing? Rather than start lamenting what Canada and the U.S. have done, I would say what Nigeria's government should do is to meet with them to find out why they are issued such advice and leave their tools, then the government should go ahead and resolve the issues, resolve the security challenges so that these countries that are advising their citizens to stay away from Nigeria. If the government is in Nigeria, or at least in Abuja, security is not the thing that some of these countries so could. If the government is only here in Nigeria, then we see them not coming to sit in this with the other man on the street. And we pretend that we don't see it. We will not take action with regard to it. Because we think we might decide the panic into the ordinary citizens. Because we think we might be taking an open way from the ordinary citizens. Look at the killings that are taking place in some of the northern states. And the last one we call the Arab House. Certain people are set to be celebrating it in Manut, a Muslim festival in one of the northern states. And the bandits went in there. People fired on them. Killing as much as 20 people. According to the report, we read in some of the papers. So if those things are happening in broad daylight, and northern, I will say some of these countries who are in top of intelligence information, who are likely the responsibility to their citizens, not thinking to take the kind of stuff that they take. Because these advice are not going to be forever. It's going to be some inconvenience for some short period of time. In that respect, I will advise Nigeria's people to send in Nigeria's citizens who are open to travel to some of those places and go to Canada to schedule their appointment. Security is one of the things that we should compromise on so quickly. Okay. We'll move to another newspaper. If we have time, we can revisit a bunch of newspapers. But the Guardian newspaper has a headline here that is very interesting. 31 Governors, Sean Amendment, Financial Autonomy for State Assemblies. 31 Governors, out of 36 Governors, 31 have Sean Amendment and Financial Autonomy to State Assemblies. What's your take? Well, I told you when the woman who are in, find an executive order to that effect. So if there's an executive order, I should think that is already law. Which the Governors have no business to think out. They just have to obey that law. And then with respect to Amendment's constitution to accommodate independence, financial autonomy, and what I view for the vegetable, I should think that the Governors also don't have the power to camp out with that. Let's be sincere with ourselves. At the state level, the legislators, the assembly are supposed to be the bosses of the first filaments of the governor. Outside maybe the voters who vote for this governor. At the federal level, the National Assembly are also the bosses of the president and the vice president. Whatever they say is law, any governor, any president of the vice president, who try with whatever institution, the National Assembly, whatever they try to do, are playing, but not even with fire. This is our constitution. We are being wrong the way through the law. But Nigeria is the next place. And we think don't work the way through the work. How does that come of coming? Not become bosses. So the National Assembly, people who have the power to remove them continue to beat my imagination. But this is happening simply because most of the people you find in those other assemblies are hand-picked by the governor. The speakers and the entire leadership of most other assemblies are hand-picked by the governor. And that is the reason the governors are able to do some of these things you have mentioned, some of these things we see them do in some of these places. What? It is left to the legislators, whether at the federal level or at the state level, to liberate themselves from the shackles of the governor. They have the power. They have the wherewithal. They are the supporters of the governor or the victim of government whether at the state level or at the federal level. So don't let us, we need to climb on the list. This is the assembly member at both the federal and the state level on to remain within the appropriate strength of the governor and not the president and vice president. Good luck to them. Okay. Another headline is that the federal government is to begin 40% reduction in federal universities, in universities generally. I'm sure it's federal universities. So I don't know what you feel about that. Federal government to begin or begins 40% revenue deduction rather, not reduction, deduction from Nigerian universities. Is this a deduction? Deduction removal from Nigerian universities. Federal government begins 40% revenue deductions from Nigerian universities. And it is shocking to me and the fact that the universities are already crying that they don't have enough money to run their respective institutions. And in fact, some of the salary that I've been with them have not been paid. So why the university, I mean why the federal government will not begin to detox money from the universities due to my machinations. But it's not impossible that the federal government are giving some loans or ways I mean to some of these universities in the past which they are not expecting them to pay for. Except we get the details of the revenue for these deductions. We might not be able to make a very informed commentaries with regard to some of these things. But I've said it has to be done as it may. Even if they have given loans to universities now that the universities are crying like you said couldn't they have just been a waiver even if that is the case. Couldn't they have just waived it and said okay, when there is more money you will have. But the waiver is difficult in the sense that and that is where we should be sorry for our test the government at both the treasure and state level and local government level have been borrowing money from international administration and then from the local banks in Nigeria to pay salaries and allowances. So if you are borrowing money to pay salaries and allowances but also to finance something in terms of development because sooner than later it should be realized that this money will have to be paid back to those people who lend you the money. So if it is paid back time the federal government will have no option for it to... You have one minute. Hello. Yes, please just wrap up. So the federal government will have no option for it to start detoxing some of the money they have at home to those institutions with the veto paying back the lender. Okay. Well, Tunde Kola Wole thank you so much for your time this morning. It's already almost 8 o'clock and this is how we wrap it up on this segment of the show. Thank you for your time. Thanks for everything. Okay. Tunde Kola Wole, a legal practitioner in Lagos state and then we were looking at some of the headlines but unfortunately those where the much we could take this morning we're going to just take a break now and when we return we'll be taking our first hot topic which will eventually be on security. Stay with us.