 On the breakfast, World Bank has lowered its economic growth forecast for Nigeria in 2023 to 32 to 3.2 percent from 3.3 percent, citing its lowdown in the global growth, the war in Ukraine, and the declining demand in from China for commodities produced on the African continent. Look at this, as it affects the Nigerian economy. Also on the breakfast, the organization of the petroleum exporting countries, OPEC, and its allies sector-caught output as oil prices increases. What is the implication for an oil-dependent economy? Of course, we also have a daily look at some of the headlines on the front pages of today's national dailies, recalling off the press on these and more head on the breakfast. Good morning to you, we're back with the Breakfast and Plus TV Africa, reaching you live from our studios on Victoria Island, Lagos. I am Kofi Bartels. My name is Messia Boko. It's good to have you join us this beautiful Thursday morning. Yes, indeed. Lots to talk about. A fantastic line of topics with a hint or slant towards the economy, a bias towards the economy. I'd say, what we're looking at that we have a crack panel of guests set to do justice with analysis on these topics. So please sit back, relax, and enjoy the program. Maybe have a cup of coffee or something as you're getting ready for your day. But before we go into the major conversations, as usual, let's start with a look at what has been trending in the social space, and of course, the conversations going on there. Nigerians like to air their views on a lot of things, and it's only Nigerians in Africa that are able to create global trends, and the entire world takes notice. One of the trends we were monitoring yesterday, we had a lot of conversations about that and Merci. Of course, you know, the wife of the president. Some prefer to call her the first lady, even though the president said she's not the first lady, she's his wife. But there's an office of the first lady, there's a budget for that office, so some people prefer to call her the first lady. She said that, this is kind of surprising, that her husband suffered from PTSD for many years. This is a post-traumatic stress disorder for many years. She narrated how she played a role of physiotherapist for him, and of course said a number of things and people have to react to this. Quite quite quite interesting for her to be this open about things. It's not something you always see. Post-traumatic stress disorder is quite quite quite a very serious issue for a lot of people, you know, whenever they go through things. But what is the reason behind his PTSD? Because there's always something that triggers PTSD, you know, as a human being. Maybe you went through an experience, a bad experience, and each time you're around something that reminds you of that, you begin to have some stress. Now, she said that he had this PTSD for many years, following his involvement in Nigeria's civil war, you know, without rehabilitation. After his overthrow as military head of state and subsequent detention for 40 months, people don't know. A lot of people don't know. I will say remember that. But a lot of people do not know that Buhari was detained for 40 months, you know, without being charged with any offence, you know. So what she said that is a lot of people do not know, not too many people, that he suffered this PTSD, you know, and she also said that his loss of three consecutive elections further complicated the situation. She was confronted with at 19, the age of 19, when she married him and therefore became the unintended physio, or psychotherapist, I think you should say that, psychotherapist for his recovery. This is quite remarkable, Merci. Now, she was a special guest of honor at the groundbreaking ceremony of the armed forces post-traumatic stress disorder center. So that's a good one there. And this was initiated by Mrs. Lucky Rabu, who is the wife of the chief of the defense staff, General Lucky Rabu. So they have what they call Defense and Police Wives Association, the poor. A lot of people know about poor. I'm sure you know the poor center in one city, you and I know. So this is the poor, Merci. She said that she suffered the consequences of that PTSD at a very young age, you know, and the early stages of her marriage to the president. So that's what she said. She also chided, had some words, some strong words, so politicians, you know, who, when they lost the primary election, they become almost inconsolable. Some of them, you know, become unreachable, switching off their phones and everything. But this is quite remarkable. Now, some people have taken to social media to talk about this. Not in a good way, you know, something. Maybe that's why the economy is the way it is and all that. But you know, this is a personal way. People become what they call. I think that the language that people, people use today is vulnerable. I don't like the use of that word vulnerable because it wasn't that before. We use it vulnerable. But that's what people say. If you become vulnerable, which is you, you open up, you know, you can just be human being for once and just tell people how you feel. You know, without shielding anything or covering anything or clouding anything up, just be yourself. You might even cry, you know, she's opened up to the people. It's remarkable. So yes, I mean, that's very remarkable because, first of all, we're used to the phrase or the cliche that says experience is the best teacher. And, you know, evolving, I would say that leveraging on other experience or other people's experience will be the best teacher. And, for instance, the, you talked about the openness and at that point, especially you would say that she's a public figure, especially that she's married to, you know, the president, right? So the, the forum, if you look at the forum where she shared this, it's very apt because it was at the center where you have it's, it's a center for PTSD, right? So I think it was very necessary and it's very bold and courageous of her, you know, to put out that experience right there. Talking about being a wife, you know, to a military officer, you know, way back then at her young age, she said she was 19. And that's really very encouraging. So I think that a lot of people should actually, for those who were sharing, you know, that experience without the time we should learn from, you know, what she went through and how she was able to handle it. And she talked about handling someone who's actually been the head of state and being overthrown, getting involved in the military, you know, being detained and everything that happened, fighting civil war and what have you without any rehabilitation. It brings us back, you know, to the conversation of the military. I must say this is commendable of, you know, the wife of the defense minister, what has been done. Because if you look at it, the, this, this mental... Chief of defense staff. Chief of defense staff. If you, if you look at this, it's something that happens especially, I mean, this is different issues, but mostly you find the post-traumatic stress disorder with military officers. They go through all of that because of the, you know, their involvement in protecting the territorial integrity. And that's number one, very commendable. But on the other hand, I also think that, you know, where she actually spoke on politicians who are already feeling some type of way losing out for the primary elections when you compare that with her husband at the time who has lost several elections and all that he's gone through. Everyone does not have, you know, the same mental capacity. And usually in the mental, you know, health talk and encouragement or whatever it is, the session, you have people not saying there's no need to be a hash on the people. Because like I would say, your mental capacity and my mental capacity is not the same. And some people can go through some things and come out very tough, but others cannot, they will break down. So if you have some people who are losing, it is not easy to feel. Especially, but that's why over time I've talked about, have you also looked at it? If you look at it every other time, you see that people commit suicide. School students, they say, oh, they left the suicide notes because they were unable to, you know, meet up with their grades and performance in school. And that's because we've not been talked to understand that failure is part of the, part of life. We need to understand that we will fail at some point. And so that's it, basically. I think that it was good. But to say that, oh, you lost the primary you're already feeling very traumatized. Come on, you need to do better. You know, this is really deep. This is really deep. You know, the first lady has a way of being open, being honest, you know. And I hope that history will be kind to her. Aisha Buhari, I hope history will be kind to her. I mean, I know her husband's leadership of the country has not been exactly sterling. But she has a way of, once in a while, coming out of silence or breaking a silence to say things that hit home. I do remember when there was an issue with the Aso Rock Clinic. She came out to say that there was nothing there. I mean, she had everything to lose in saying there was nothing there. She's been, I'd log her heads with people in the presidency, we'll call it that, over whether, you know, things are being done right. She's come out to take stands that you wouldn't expect a president's wife to take. I'd log her heads even with the administration. Recently, when she was given an appointment, you know, to head the women's campaign of APC presidential campaign, we'll call it that. She apologized to Nigerians on behalf of her husband. You know, she apologized to Nigerians. So she's always taking, you know, sort of a ground of honesty, you know, from time to time. I mean, I know Nigerians were bashed her when she actually put, shared a picture of her daughter-in-law's graduation. But hey, she's a mother. Maybe these are things, and maybe she's also a social media savvy. She's not a professional politician. Maybe she doesn't even understand the implications. I had nothing against her. Because nobody would have to tell us to make them go straight. I like it when you try to, you know, they'll be difficult. Yeah, she has no hand in that, you know. But I think that for some of the things she's actually said, you know, you know it's very fascinating to be that open. Now, what she's putting out, and I imagine someone, Mercy, being getting married at the age of clocking 19, all right, in your husband's house. That's your first marriage. You clocked, now is your wedding day before you were 19, yes. This person is a soldier, rose up to the rank of general, all right, fought the wars, not one war, at least two wars, joined the army at a very early age, became head of state at a young age, and was deposed in a coup. And then the person was imprisoned for 40 consecutive months. And when he came out, the first thing he did was, you know, the first person you met was him as a newly wedded wife of 18 going to 19. That's a tough one. Yeah, that's what I talked about. We need to move on. But that's what I talked about. Just before we do that. So what I'm saying is it's a deep one. It shows, I think we need to put or give more attention to the mental and emotional state of our soldiers. Very important. If you see the way the soldiers behave, so those were in the backs for a long time, they don't come out. You realize that there's a lot going on. So I think that you... Yeah, sorry, Miss. We don't have the mental, emotional state of our servicemen as well documented as we have that of, let's say, the Americans. We all know they have studies, they have congressional hearings. It's even made movies about it, about what they go through, when they go to wars. Veterans, when they come back, they have a lot of stress. Some of them are homeless. The United States today see them homeless. They can't reintegrate in society because of the trauma of some of the killings, the shootings and everything. So it's important. We don't have time, like you said. Yes, we don't have time, but I think we also have another conversation. Sorry, just to learn, it's important that what she has said, people need to now look at it better and we need to do more. And like you said, we commend the military or defense and prison, police officers, wives association for putting this together. It's very commendable. Very, very commendable. But we move away, and that's why we talked about leveraging the fora which she expressed her thoughts very apt. And I'm hoping that those who were around would actually leverage on the knowledge and the experiences she's put out there so you know how to handle. Paraventure, you're married to an officer or whatever it is. I'm sure that you would learn one or two from that. Even if you were not there, it's okay to read up and learn from my experience. That's one thing. We also have another on the top trending and that has gotten a lot of people talking. Now, endurance can be very sarcastic. You need to go on the social space, especially Twitter. That's where all of the thoughts are. Former acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu has been exonerated over the claims that he was involved in money laundering. At the end of the day, I mean we're talking about aiding and laundering 573 million nair. Now that has been clad according to a judgment that was put out. However, it was stated that there was an error long in short of the judgment is that it was banking error that happened. The bank has actually written to say, oh, this happened because we're having an upgrade. It wasn't that he transacted or he paid a certain amount into that account and that's been resolved. But as always, it would not really sit well with a lot of people and so thoughts are that, oh really, is this where we are? Some people feel that the judiciary has not been very honest with some issues. But there are other persons who also believe that. Ibrahim Magu has been clad of every allegation. I mean, every issues that he's been charged with or accusation, however you look at it. But some people are asking that, what is really wrong with the minister of justice? Maybe he should have some question to answer. It's possible. I mean, these are conspiracy theories that possibly that he was going after you know, heavyweights, political heavyweights and that wasn't sitting down with those persons and then he needed to be put out right there. But it's a good thing to say that he's been exonerated. I mean, if that's anything to go by. Let's say, you know, this is the one where people ask, you know, when they say, there's no smoke without fire. Oh, yeah, it's all the question. Well, it's not even fire that has the cause of smoke. That's sort of question to ask. Is this one of those fires that has a smoke or fire behind this smoke? That's what we don't know. So people ask, you know, but it's interesting to note that there's a preacher, a man of God somewhere in this story. And if you remember, there was some revelation, you know, even instead of a media trial, if you want to call it that, of a Brian Magu at the time when it was revealed that he had wired about 573 million naira into the account of this preacher, you can see him there. He is the general overseer of Divine Hand of God, prophetic ministry. So they're saying that then the allegation was that he wired 573 million naira to this man's account. You understand, to this man's account. And that this money was meant to be used or was used to buy property in the Arab Emirates, specifically Dubai, is what the allegation was at the time. So this is basically the court saying, because there was a panel led by Justice Milord Yama, Justice Isa Salami, settled by the presidency to investigate these allegations. Every other time the president was in and out of the country. So the vice president was acting in his capacity. And I remember there was a point where Magu had several screening. So what do you call it again? Yeah, they had to screen him and question him and all that at the banquet hall of Asarok Villa. He went through a lot at the time. So this seems to be a vindication for him. It's taken some time. The question to ask is, justice that has taken this long, is it denied? I don't think so. They say justice delayed, is justice denied? But maybe this is not justice delayed. It's a case of the wheel of justice turned slowly. It's taking a while to vindicate him. And interestingly, they say in the bank has admitted that there was an error in its records. There was an error in its report to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, which revealed that the XEFC chairman paid that $573 million error into the amount of God's account. I mean, I'm sure the amount of God must have been like, what is the connection between Magu and that man of God? For me, I've always thought about this. Magu is the head of the FCC. As head of the FCC, you don't wake up one day with all the intelligence you have. You must be very stupid, sorry to use the word, but you must be one of the most stupid people to just carry $573 million error and wire it to someone's account. Because at the end of the day, if there's some sort of probe, it'll be seen. Okay, what happened? Now, so what he's saying is that the bank, names will help, have to admit that there was an error in its report to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit regarding that amount. The judge also held that the bank claimed that the purported $573 million error was wrongly reflected as credit in the account of the divine hand of the prophetic ministry by its reporting system, which it recently upgraded. I don't know if they, so I don't know if his account balance changed because that's the kind of miracle I'm praying for as well. That's the kind of miracle I'm praying for too. I'm praying for a better miracle, but hey, if you wake up one day and see $573 million error, credit. We need to move on. So, mercy, I mean, but this whole story, so it's strange, and it's really strange. I understand, but how do you explain it now? But it was the man of God who sued, and his wife, who sued the bank. And the judge had ordered, I think, they pay $540 million error in damages. That's actually $540 million, $500,000 error in damages to the preacher, which is remarkable. So, that was his lucky day. That mistake that happened, he's lucky, he's now $540 million, $500,000 error richer. Isn't that amazing? If we reach out, I don't know, but we need to move on to the next one. Yes, yes, yes. All right, this happens to be, very quickly, this happens to be a sort of an open letter, written regarding the situation in the armed forces. I've looked at it, it was written by Sahara reporters, and you know, we are quite careful when we refer to Sahara reporters, but it seems to be exclusive, and the, the- Yes, there's a letter that was typed in, so they just said, they have it. I'm sure the person sent it to them. This is said to be a personnel of the Nigerian Army, who penned an open letter to President Muhammad Buhari, and is demanding improved welfare, improved welfare for members of Nigeria's armed forces. He put his name there as Sergeant Ismaila Kuchodu, but I think that is maybe, he didn't put his real name there to hide his identity. I have been looking at that name since yesterday, whether it's Kuduchiku, I don't know, but it says the military analyst, Federal Republic of Nigeria. So this is what he says. It says, soldier's salary leaves much to be desired. He's addressed an open letter to the president. As a trustee of the armed forces of Nigeria, I humbly wish to address this letter to you, who called us to serve the nation in the Nigerian Army, is the land component of the armed forces, created to defend and maintain its territorial integrity and from external aggression, an act in aid of civil authorities. What's the thesis of what he's saying? He says, Nigeria refills in their responsibility in duty to meet the benefits and services of soldiers, not minding the consequences it will breed with time. And he puts out, it says, painfully we buy uniforms, boots, and other military kits from the same salary to serve Nigeria. He looses a salary breakdown for soldiers per day and per month, you know? And he puts it as, you know, it's, I don't know if we can put it on the screen, but it says warrant officer's salary, 95,000 a year for 31 days, that's a month. He break it down per day, it's 33,064 a year per day for people who have been in service for 28 years. You know, staff sergeant's salary, 84,000 a year per month. That's 2,709 a year per day. Sergeant's salary, 68,000 a year per month. Corporal's salary, 62,000 a year per month. Lance Corporal's salary, 57,000 a year per month. And private salary, 50,000 a year per month. Now he says, to meet financial needs, soldiers involved themselves in illegal duties, sabotage, arms and ammunition deals, armed robbery, and kidnapping. Says to meet the financial needs, the soldiers engaged in kidnapping. You know, this is quite, quite, quite a warring, mercy. It says the insensitive negligence to enhance salary and welfare of soldiers is the cause of mass resignation of trained troops. You know that some time ago there was some sort of mass resignation. So sir, the day soldiers would demand their right will be a sad day for the nation. On that day, all moral sanctity would happen to us. This is a warning. And we don't want to see such a day. You know, I don't know what your interpretation of those weddings are. But just to add, that if you look at this in the context of how much has been spent, you know, in terms of money's budgeted for the Nigerian army in particular, since this administration came in and also before they came in, in addition to the loans that have been taken for the war against terrorism, it's quite sad to see. Yeah, really sad to see. And that's why first of all, I think that the president and everyone involved should actually, you know, pay attention to this concern that's been raised, probably an investigation because he's also requested that there be an investigation at all of this. Now, but I would say that this is not a justification. The statement that has been made quite an indictment, indictment, the military personally, I mean, that's a lot of it. And it's a good thing. However, we're trying to understand the combination of the names, a Smiler and the other name. It doesn't really sound... It's like telling me you want to understand the name of... What's this guy? This Namdee Kaunu's guy again. So let's move on, but I'm just saying if you look at it. All people just use aliases just so that they hide the identity. The identity, but we understand. But I'm thinking that this is a very strong indictment. And if you were that his identity can actually be revealed. I'm sure that he will be apprehended and he would have to answer for a lot because that's so much to actually spew. But if you look at it, is that a justification? I understand that, yes, the military, with the consent that they have put out and with the fact that you have people who are already in the system. And from every other testimony that you get to, with interaction with this personnel, it's nothing to write them about. We've also seen veterans who are also protesting for some payments. I mean, recently, last week, we talked about it. Some allowances that they are due for and what they are supposed to get, maybe even after they are no longer in the service and what have you. But I would say that it's not a justification for involving in sabotage, crime and all of that, especially when you swan out to protect the country. And that's what it is. No, people, let me land. Yesterday, we talked about the teachers. I also want to say one sentence. No, no, let me finish. So my point here is it's not a justification. If not, let's all of us going into sabotage. It's as good as saying you and I should go carry arms. Because I don't really see any, if there's any administration, I mean any profession where people are properly taken care of. Let the teachers get into the street, carry arms, sabotage, begin to steal and thief, or I mean steal, get into robbery, kidnapping and what have you. The teachers should go in. Now we already see they're complaining. They're not properly taken care of. I mean, everybody should go. You and I, the medical doctors, so you're saying it's not justification. No, there's no justification for committing a crime. So for someone to commit a crime. And because they end how much a day in. No, but Kofi, I'm saying that. He doesn't justification. So let's all get into the street and become arms and become kidnappers. Of course, I know that. That's one of the things I also see from time to time. So can I speak Pijit? Oh, that one, that grammar. Not grammar. No, Kofi. Because at the end of the day, it's a situation that has come about because the people who have these weapons and who are trained to kill are not being paid well. And they've decided to do the wrong thing. But when you want to look for a solution, you address the root. And this guy has given the president the opportunity to be aware of what has happened. Maybe he's not aware. And like I said, I don't want that grammar. Why are you talking about it? The things that happen. So what do we do? No, so that's what I'm saying. I'm also saying that. I understand that this situation is addressed. But it's like you can't take the loss into your hands. Yeah, but why are we saying it? What is the effect? Imagine that every other person is wrong. We can't take the law into your hands. Even with the police officers. Are they going to listen to you? And every other sectors are going through. Are they going to take your advice? But I'm saying that if that's the case, let you and I and medical doctors, the teachers and everybody gets to the streets, we pick arms, we become armed robbers, we kick them up and do stuff. You don't have arms to pick. They have the arms. Do you have arms? Do you have to shoot? If you go and shoot now, I'm sure you'll jump through his roof. What I'm saying is that it's really worrying. I know. Especially with the fact that we need to go for it at the time. Junior soldiers now are the ones conducting the coups around West Africa. We'll talk about that. Thank you so much for being with us. His last paragraph should be something to watch out for. So let's pray nothing happens. And that's it. On off the press, I beg your pardon. We will take a break now. When we return, we'll be looking at the front pages of a National Daily. So call it off the press. Stick with us.