 Thank you for staying with us. You're still watching the breakfast on plus TV Africa and right now It's time to take the global stories that are making headlines Well in our national dailies and joining me to review these papers is Professor Kamilu Sani Fagge. He's from the Department of Political Science and Bayero University Cano. Good morning, sir. Thank you for joining us Good morning and thank you very much. Thank you. Good to have you here. All right So we're going to start with the punch this morning But I mean there's one headline that is on almost all of the papers that we have so on the punch It says eagles clinch silver as coup d'et voire win afghan and The writer in this one says eagles saved was performance for the final match now on the Guardian It also says elephants shocked super eagles to win 2023 afghan and then on the daily trust We have coup d'et voire over power Nigeria to lift afghan 2023 trophy like I was saying just before We came on air. I was just saying I wish I wish our first conversation was Congratulations. We are the winners of the afghan. I mean that was what I was hoping for but sadly Our boys did not do just this to lead to bring the trophy home But I want to know what your thoughts are on this one Actually Everybody was very hopeful that The eagles will make it especially giving their performance in the match so far and Maybe what they did to coup d'et voire in the first Round so people are very hopeful but it again I you know, somebody has to win and somebody has to lose that is my own take and Secondly to me they put in their best look at Literally they are playing not only the team but also the spectators, you know, the huge crowd They are that was so intimidating even though they are professional, but I think given what they did Actually, we we shouldn't Just get them. Okay, they put in their best in defense of the national honors and Even though the base is not good enough to give us the goal, but we should be happy that Out of the many they are able to count the second Despite the intimidating crowd. Yeah, I mean I watched the game yesterday. I watched the whole 90 minutes and I saw how full the stadium was in fact I was telling my friend the stadium is orange because that was the color that was being Flown across like you could barely see Nigerians there. So I understand, you know, what the intimidating crowd can be like, however The second goal I just felt it was not necessary. Like I was I was stunned I was like what's going on why you guys are not doing anything and the game seemed they need to be feisty Which you would expect with every finals because you know, there's there's stuff on the line But I mean with with all of this what I'm just going to say is we're so proud of the Super Eagles We've come thus far and it's it's a privilege is an honor to actually get the silver So it wasn't a gold that we're expecting But you know how they say aim for the sky you might just fall on the stars I guess that's just what this is and we just hope that I mean come next Afghan or the World Cup or whatever tournament that we go for I think the the the back the women basketball They should be playing they should be playing really soon as well So we're just hoping that for every tournament. We just keep getting better and better on our team Keep making us proud But as of today we're so proud of the Super Eagles and what they've been able to achieve at the Afghan 2023 All right, let's move over to another Another story and this one is quite Devastating if I can use that word so over the weekend we were saddled with some You know very very sad news the fact that Herbert Weigwee passed away on a helicopter crash with his wife and his First son and so the punch here has it as had broken Nigerians Monwe's kid Weigwee The writers here are friends well wishes recall late CEO's life and times Nigeria may demand reports as US probes crash He was only like other Nigerian big men says mentee Weigwee exits of a banking Whiskeyed and tinnable a beard doing family friends Monstock exchange giant Ogumbang jaw So, what were you when you heard this news and how what was your initial reaction? I'm sure for most people. They probably thought please this should not be real This should not be true, but what are your thoughts and how how did you receive the news? Actually, it is a broken that He died You know the issue now is it is coming out that it is due to bad weather so maybe One if you know when when I had the news initially I thought maybe to us here in Nigeria You know in the social media then we seem to think of sabotage and other things about When we heard that this is why it happened and then later they said is whether we know that then there is nothing one can do but at least hope That the family will have the opportunity to be at the loss even the whole nation because Somebody is after his demise that his good aspect will be Maintain on to the people. So we hope these things as they say the government will look into it and also we get the reports Even though preliminary for sure it is whether then perhaps Something will be done in order to avoid similar incidences in that measure Well, this is just the colossal loss to To Nigeria. This is a colossal loss to the banking And finance industry and it's it's quite hard to wrench in to get such a news But yes, like like you said, we just pray that the families the people who are near and dear to the degree family Just have the fortitude to bear this loss Right now. It is an irreparable loss an irreparable loss But yes, we just we just pray that, you know, they find strength even in this time All right, we move over to another Headline here and this is coming from the IMF. It says Nigeria facing worsening economic crisis Please. I really want to know your take on this one I want to know whether the grass is greener on your side or maybe you're part of the Nigerians That might just be facing the worsening economic crisis really I In my side and like in any other Part of the country the grass is becoming drier and drier not And greener at all. Of course, you see The policies that we are taking on the issue seem to be like we are grappling We just tried this one and we tried the other one and it seems like Actually, there is no concrete plan to take us out of The system I mean out of the crisis that we are in and I think in previous shows We say it that we cannot be doing the same thing and expect a different result this issue, you know For over three decades now, I think since 85 when we tried at the sub and Today to having these Problems, so I think the government needs to look into it. There are especially now that Even IMF and World Bank are telling us that there is problem So we need to tighten our bill and face these issues Okay, so talking about that of Nigeria facing the worsening economic crisis There's a small headline at the bottom that says Nigeria to become food exporter through mechanized farming and that has been said by Tinnabu Do you believe this is possible? I know that we have agriculture, but you're you're you're seeing cases whereby There's insecurity Most people cannot even go to their farms to farm because bandits come in there Seize their lands kidnapped and even kill some of them So they're not able to farm the way they would want to Even having to move the produce so the little that they're able to farm having to move it to the big cities There's no proper road network and even when you're moving them. There's insecurity on the road as well, right? So then let's talk about the cost of Transportation as well because fuel is at a whole time high if I can if I can see that So when you have all of these things all of these different factors that keep on posing as challenges Do you think it's possible for us to become the food exporter through mechanized farming that Tinnabu says, you know That we could we could we could be Given the circumstances now, I think it is not possible Even though Gold has endowed as we say abundant natural resources and good weather You know that we can be able to do that, but at least for now Given the high level of insecurity in the country Which are you know prevent so many of the farmers to go to their farm and secondly good given the high expense of you know mechanize a you know Material fertilizer instrument and other things and sadly given the high cost of our transportation I think this is we are just banking on hope We hope it will work But unless we take concrete measures to address all these challenges, I think we will Not be able to meet that Target or being net exporter of Project impact I see in one of the papers today No, one of them said even the government Who is saying that they are going to be where they are hoping that would be net exporter is saying that they are going to import Food in order to supplement what you want to the problem we are having that they are going to open the Grand silos and if that one hasn't solved the problem in the next three months also We are going to import so I see there is contradiction here in one place We are saying we are going to import in another thing. We are making We are hoping that we are going to be next net exporters While we haven't taken any conquist state in terms of making that pop a reality And if you even look at it Businesses are not thriving so well at the moment. You're seeing businesses move away a lot of manufacturers actually moving out of Nigeria, so Is the environment even conducive enough for us to because farming is one thing But if you're going to be exporting you're doing business, so you're doing business with other countries Do we even have enough? Manpower enough human capital to be able to run a business that we can start to export to other people And my next question is so what are these challenges like how do you highlight these challenges and The solutions to them so the challenges that we've talked about that minds become a Big issue for us to be the exporter of food as we say because now we're saying we want to import on One hand and in another breath was saying or rather was saying we want to export want to become a food exporter on One hand and in another breath was saying we want to import as well So all of these challenges that we have how do we mitigate them and what are the solutions we can do to you know? Achieve that whole food exporter that we say we want to be You see the past major thing is to develop the political will to address them. Okay the wheel that These are challenges, but they are not unsurmountable For example the issue of insecurity if we have the wheel and we Committed to those things. I mean addressing it will be able to do something and secondly in terms of the expenses In terms of how do we now have a fertilizer and others in the course of transportation? Yeah to the government has to take the bull by the horn and face the challenge. We shouldn't Just sit down and back on bank on pop hoping is one thing But you have to take concrete measures. You see as far as public policy is concerned Once you plan if you don't take concrete measures to implement the planning Then you are bound to to fail That is what we are having in Nigeria We we keep on saying that yes, we are going to do this We are going to do that and there is no concrete plan on the ground Even if we have it, we don't attempt to implement it Secondly, there is issue of corruption all things surrounding these challenges that The threat that runs through them all is corruption. So unless we also address the issue of corruption These things will also remain Mayor for for us. So I think this is where the government needs to come and Come in and need to listen to the people Now that for long, you know, the government seemed to Take less interest. I mean here in the people cry now that I am an other Foreigners, I mean a world bank. I can say in that there's problem. There's problem Perhaps I'm hopeful that this time around with such powerful Words from These powerful bodies, maybe the government will now need it needy pool and try to address the issues Okay, um, so I just want to take one more headline here on the punt And this says this goes overcharged 7.1 million customers In a nine a month and this has been said by the federal government. So our discurs are Overcharged in 7.1 million customers. What do you think about this one? I think this is a report you know, since For long we have been talking of you know, instead of our estimate We should have meters, uh, you know, but the corruption around Uh, the system is what is causing all this problem one the meters are not that available People are given estimate and the estimate is somebody who just sit down and you know Cutting and say this is what is What you should pay. So I think it is quite unfortunate that Over 7 million people are overcharged unnecessarily and uh, it's a double jeopardy There is Overcharging and there is no supply of light and this goes a long way towards the problem that we are talking No conducive environment for the business to operate no conducive environment For even the people to operate so I mean to survive So I think this is a double jeopardy Like I said where people are overcharged and the light is not available and you know, there is corruption around this So I think this is uh, quite unfortunate The fact that these people have been overcharged are they going to be refunded Um, they're going to be consequences for you know, whoever is at the top that made this happen Because Nigeria is already hard enough. The economy is Crazy and people cannot even afford a lot of things and then the little money that you have You have a charge a whole 7.1 a million people For electricity. So what happens now? Do they get a refund? Um, does anyone get sacked and is that even a compensation because I mean in other parts of the world You would see um cases like this even when you miss your flight Or rather maybe when the airline cancels a flight they compensate you with something else So are people going to be compensated? You know, like, oh, we're sorry that we overcharge you here is a refund and maybe here is some token again Just extra top up for your electricity. So what is going to be done with with this overcharging 7.1 Million Nigerians from their hard earned money Unfortunately nothing is going to be done. Even the the Nigerian situation You see since 19 29 I mean 78 79 when the the constitution was being primed one of the issues that I remember then That was quarterly debated was the issue of making Uh, then never justiciable that if they do anything then people can have the right to vote for and suit through them But you know somehow the premise of the constitution protected them and so now even if you go you cannot Uh, uh protection and secondly, you know, we we are used to impunity in Nigeria even if You know, people are found In this situation. I don't think anything will be done to punish them. So To me Rather pessimistic that Nigerians will get compensation From this what happened this overcharge because of what I've said earlier All right Let's move over to the guardian and the major headline here talks about Exiting oil firms pollutes Niger Delta with 36.1 million liters of crude oil in eight years So we're talking about pollution right now and the exiting oil firms, you know, polluted the Niger Delta with 36 point 1 million liters of crude oil in eight years Um So what do you think about this? And is there anything that is um any agency? Any Government yes agency that's trying to stop this pollution because we're talking about our waters right now. We're talking about um The ecosystem and pollution is not one thing that helps us instead It deteriorates the ecosystem So if we're seeing 36 because that's a quite that's quite a high number 36.1 million liters of crude oil being polluted in the Niger Delta area So what do you think about this and are they are doing or supposed to be doing something about this to Ensure that this is not happening and we're not polluting our waters You see in other clients. This is a very serious thing that You know, the affected people will go to court even the government will go will sue the companies and get compensation One there is no major effort to even clean the system Secondly, there are so many litigations around these issues and Nothing is being done at the end of it, you know The life of the people has been affected. The environment has been affected Impact their source of livelihood Most of them depend on fishing and also even drinking water go to drinking water has been affected in the area And the unfortunate thing is that it is now moving up even to upstream into the ocean This has gone there. So I think it is a very serious problem over the eight years, you know 36 or something million Letters is it's a huge thing over the years. So I think what we need to do Is actually to give teeth to the laws To ensure that people are adequately compensated The government should not just allow the affected people to be challenging the companies because they cannot Master the energy and the resources and the power to actually Challenge those companies given the huge companies that are involved multinational companies So I think here the government needs to come in Uh in order not only to clean the damage the pollution But I am not only to force them to clean it but to force them also to pay compensation to You know the government and to the people so that at least this thing will be Seriously taken into account. Otherwise if we allow it it will continue This is just sds, you know, it has been a lingering issue this pollution for long and Actually, the paper has done a good job by looking at it document it year by year The amount of our pollution that has taken place and it seems to be on it on the increase Since within these eight years Let's let's let's just look at this This other one. Um, we're looking at serapa and this is one of our top trending stories So we're looking at syrup suing acrabby a bass over 344.85 billion and naira national assembly budget now if you recall This is a jump in what the appropriation bill was initially and They came up with 344.85 billion naira and syrup is suing acrabby Obviously suing the the the national assembly over this budget. What do you think about this? Do you think this is a whole lot of money? Or do you think it's it's value for money? Like oh, yes They definitely need this to be able to go about their duties. Or do you think they're just, you know, being frivolous spenders? Yeah, I think they're being frivolous spenders and we need we need touch ngo Also, and even the public to be on their toes So that we can check These things otherwise if we just keep fighting We're challenging these such issues. I think we are going to see More and worse cases than what we are seeing now Even if it is a couple this is a public money It is not for the assembly. It is not for the government. It is not for anybody. I mean, uh, The judicial bandra is born Nigerian. So somebody that is what democracy is about Somebody has to be there in order to make sure that things are done Properly and the sins are done, you know in a transparent way. Otherwise when we say, okay these people keep on going, you know To the court to suing this and suing that and we don't encourage them and we don't support them So we are going to see the worst part. I mean worst part of it in the future. So to me, I think it is a good thing We have to Be doing that and the NGOs are doing it on our behalf. So we shall give them all the necessary support Then in part tonight should be should have their eyes on how public resources are spent utilized Otherwise The democratic system will have no meaning to Nigerians. It will have meaning only to very few people Who want other sources and use it for their own personal benefit? Yeah, I think the Nigerian people deserve some level of transparency um, if you're going to I don't have a problem with you um Coming out with a budget and saying this is how much you need as long as you can come and defend the budget and You know, we can see that you're using it for you're using it judicious judiciously You're not just spending frivolously and you know using it for your own personal purposes So we deserve some level of transparency if you come out and you say, okay This is what we're using this money for and everybody sees that it is fair and there's value in it Why not but you cannot be using taxpayers money For what we don't know. You're not coming out to report anything. We're not seeing We're not seeing anything. You're not telling us anything. You're not giving us any reports nothing whatsoever You just demand for this money and you expect it to be given to you But this is taxpayers money. These are people who have worked so hard And we have a lot of things that we need compared to your houses and your cars and you know what? Let me not just let me not just go into another sermon right now. Let's look at this other headline it says tinnable berets asu and others For criticizing student loan scheme says no going back. I'm sure you've seen the The student loan scheme that was brought out by the president. I think that was last year There were a lot of criterias, right and a lot of people have been saying People cannot even afford this this scheme The the the criteria is so rigid that you might not be able to get it. You cannot get the loan But anyways, tinnable has come out to berate asu because asu was one of those people who who said No, this doesn't work. And now he's saying, you know, there's not going back. He has berated them for criticizing The the the scheme. So what do you think about this one? You see actually I am a member of asu and I've been very critical of the scheme But I think Listen to what Nigerians said about it. I forget whether it is asu or labor or whatever Is this going to work? Are Nigerians happy with it? Is it accessible to By Nigerians? So I think these are the things which the government has to take they shouldn't be so militaristic that Since they have I plan it. There is no going back. I think that is Government a democratic government should do they a democratic government should listen to stakeholders and if there is need To a day, you know, whatever it is you to adjust or even to abandon the program and Take a new one there is This is all about Because asu is the one who's talking about it. We are the major stakeholders. We know what is going to happen We have been in this system for many years and we have seen the transformation of the system So we are not just criticizing it goes for the sake of criticizing it But we are criticizing it for its feasibility Whether it will actually address what it set out to do So I think the government ought to listen to not only asu, but like I said to stakeholders We have parents. We have teachers. We have the student themselves. Let it be Known, you know, so that people will know what it entails and especially given the conditions that Set in there, I think many Nigerians will not be able to benefit from that system and even if Many some people are able to Assist it. I mean to assess it I think at the end of it the fear is there will be too much corruption around it which will set it like all other things and other policies that we have The tendency or corruption to make the system to fail so I think to me the government ought to listen I shouldn't be saying there's no going back. Yeah, it is a democratic system And we are the government is in the name of the people. So you should listen to the Right I don't know if the government is listening to the people on this one and this Small headline here says hardship and this is still on the Guardian and I'll take another one from From the business engine and this says hardship States in Nigeria risk total collapse and need rising hunger Unemployment Says reports and then on the business engine. It says economic hardships need for specific blueprints to address inflationary pressures. What do you think about this one? Do you think? Yeah, I want to believe is the hardship that is making people move away move abroad because they are all searching for greener pastures And right now the same states, you know in Nigeria risk collapse and meet the rising hunger. So what are some? What are some blueprints specific blueprints? Like they've said on the on the business engine to address this inflationary pressures that we have in Nigeria You see we have said Several times in this program and even In previous ones that the Unfortunately is there is no concrete plan to address these issues Since you know at may 29 is when the government roll out This subsidy removal The floating of that and other things, you know inflation has been, you know Rising as from an eucalyptus and but We keep on saying that is We this is not how public policies are public policies all over the world are planned As you must have a blueprint of what you you are here today. Why are you going in the next Two or three years or ten years? You must have a plan But if you look at what we are having now, there is no concrete plan on this issue We have just talked about uh, like the government trying to say we are going to be net importers of food But there is no plan how to Say make uh, you know Production of the food and we are talking of you know the corruption around the system. So I think uh This is what the government ought to come up with a concrete plan On what we are going to do both short-range and long-range plan on how to address it. Otherwise Actually, we We are just playing with fire. I I think it was it is the united nation or whatever which says that For every 10 person in who are Multidimensionally hungry in the world one is a Nigerian and they said about 70 percent of Nigeria are Dimensionally poor and so on. So these are Serious policy challenges, which are not only Economical they are social they are political they are is curate everything in one and this issue of our hunger inflation and so on. So I think we need a um I know the government keep on talking of renewed hope agenda renewed hope agenda But the renewal of agenda what are the increasing that are put in ground to renew the hope of Nigerians? That seems to work out Well, we can only hope that they have a plan They have those specific blueprints to renew the hope of Nigerians because I would say our hopes are quite dashed at the moment Poverty is rising. It's ridiculous, but it's rising and you know, a lot of people are sad people are not happy With the way the economy is so well We just hope that the the hopes of Nigerians will be renewed and we'll get to start to see a blossom in a flourishing Nation in the nearest future. I mean as soon as possible and there's nothing There's nothing that cannot happen as long as you set your mind to it So now we need our politicians to set their minds to making Nigeria a better nation But I think this is what we're going to drop it here on this segment. Thank you so much for coming in and reviewing the papers with us Thank you very much for how do you mean? Thank you. Have a good day All right, we've been speaking to Professor Kamelu Sani Fagge and he is from the Department of Political Science by Euro University canoe and we've just been reviewing the papers To see what the national dailies have been seeing this morning We'll go on a short break look at the weather and when we return we'll be looking out our first hot topic Please stay with us