 Artico Bobacar has warned the People's Democratic Party presidential ticket will discuss what was the day of speeches, intrigues and horse trading. But also look at the chances of the PDP flag bearer against the top contenders from other political parties in the 2023 presidential election. And as usual, we have analysis of today's headlines for the pages of the National Daily's in off the press. Good morning to you. It's a beautiful Monday morning right here from plus TV Africa Studios on Victoria Island Lagos. You're welcome. My name is Kofi Brotels. It promises to be a very interesting conversation. We have a bumper package for you with interesting analysts lined up to give us their own expert opinion on the topics chosen. Let's start off with a look at what's been trending on social media and across the news spectrum with Nigerians talking about and sharing the views about these stories. Very interesting one. London to Lagos has been an interesting journey on Twitter and on YouTube. I've personally followed the journey of this Nigerian man, Kunlea Dayaju, stumbled upon his tweets and I got hooked on to, you know, everyone loves the story. Everyone loves the story. It's a good story that and this was a story. He set out as a member of the Rotary Club right here in Nigerian Lagos. He set out on a charity drive and if you have been following the Rotary Club and activities of this organization, they have a polio campaign and he set up to raise funds for this polio campaign and his way of raising funds was to impact on an adventurous journey from London to Lagos on a motorbike. From London to Lagos on a motorbike. He calls it the Eagle. You can see him when he's made his triumphant entry to Nigeria. He went through Europe, from London, took a ferry through the French Channel to France. From France he made his way to Spain. From Spain he made his way to Gibraltar where he was able to cross over to Africa through the Strait of Gibraltar and he landed in Morocco. From Morocco he's made his way all the way to Mauritania. From Mauritania he's made his way down to countries like Bokina Faso. He was supposed to go to Côte d'Ivoire, had issues in getting in to Côte d'Ivoire, had to go to Bokina Faso. From there he went to Côte d'Ivoire, from La Côte d'Ivoire he went into Ghana. From Ghana he went to Togo, Ben Republic and then to Niger. I'm not calling all the countries in the same cases, I guess I've left some out. But it was a journey, 39 whole days he spent on the road. I mean, went through the desert, the Sahara desert, but through the safe parts. He had issues that are well documented and he was lucky to have escaped and made it to Nigeria. He had issues and he had to pay his way out of certain situations and he arrived in Nigeria alive. In these times of terrorism and banditry, especially when you talk about banditry, we're just getting used to this in Nigeria. But in the Sahara desert, for those who've been travelling, trying to make it through the Sahara desert, to go to Europe, they will tell you that banditry has been a thing that's been there for decades, if not centuries, you know. So this was a danger that this man, Kunli Adeya and Jehu, is the president-elect of the Rotary Club, of any Rotary Club in the Kauilayas he faced. And he has raised a good amount of money in this end polio campaign. You can see him in different countries across Africa. In fact, most countries he got into when he reached there, someone from the Rotary Club was there to welcome him. And that's how he started one person. But the tweets, the journey on Twitter gained momentum to the point where not just the Rotarians were welcoming him in countries. Bikers, biker clubs were also welcoming him in countries. It was amazing to see that not just Nigerians, but Moroccans, Bokinabes, you have Ivorians, Ghanians, Togolese, and they were keen following this journey and they welcomed him. And you have donations coming in. One of the things that was a side attraction was Kunli's pensions for taking pictures with the women of Africa. In most countries he went into, he arrived, he drove through, he took pictures with the women there. And Nigerians had to look at a funny side to tell him not to do too much because he may not get home to Nigeria if he carries too many women. And some of the people in the countries, if you said, give them challenges, some said, eat their local food and I would donate some money to you. Some said, oh, carry me, I'll donate some money to you. I think it was in Côte d'Ivoire. A lady said he should allow her to sit on his lap and feed him and she'll donate some money to you, to him and to the end pollute campaign. Indeed, it was quite interesting. But there was one lady from La Côte d'Ivoire and we're still following the story because it seemed like there's something going on between Kunli and that lady. She is from La Côte d'Ivoire. She is, I think, now in Nigeria to see him. And there's a suspicion that there may be a love story there. I don't know if Kunli is married, but maybe not. Let's see how that plays out. So it's been a wonderful mind-blowing trip. Kunli had this 360 degree camera that he used to film himself while driving. He's a very good motorbiker and also very good on social media. He was able to keep people captivated with his journey and with his storytelling on social media. As a matter of fact, the CEO of Twitter had to commend Kunli for using the mobile, the micro-blogging sites of the social media app Twitter to tell his story. When he got to Ghana, where you have the Twitter offices of West Africa, he met with the Twitter team there. And so they brought this to his attention. He had a tweet to say, hey, great that you used Twitter to tell your story. Very, very interesting. And he arrived, of course, on the semi-border, which is the border between Nigeria and Benipublic, to a hero's welcome. A hero's welcome. And he took the 30-minute drive from Badagri or the coastal road between Lagos and Kotonu. And he was treated to a warm reception by bikers and people for the journey. Everyone is struggling for Kunli's attention and time. And he's going to have so many interviews. We are also calling on Kunli to come for an interview here. He was captured by immigration officers on the Nigerian border. Quite interesting. He's given us a peek into countries around Africa. He's given us a peek into how people live in different parts of Africa. And it's quite, quite, quite, quite interesting to see. Zinab is the name of the pretty Ivorian lady who he met. And who donated, I think, was about $1,000, if I'm not sure. But quite a substantial amount of money to the campaign. Zinab flew to Nigeria to be part of the welcome party. And it's quite interesting what's going on between Zinab, the Ivorian, whom he met on this trip. And Kunli, it's quite interesting. She gave $1,000, which is about $415,000 Naira. She gave that money to the campaign. So who will be following this story? Is Kunli Zinab in love? We don't know. But anyway, let's continue to follow this story and to see how it unfolds. Very interesting developments right there in Lagos. Let's move on. The officials, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, we've seen the recently conducted People's Democratic Party presidential primaries. Initially, the pictures and videos popped up on social media, showing them trying to gain access to the venue with their red EFCC vests. And then we'll later saw videos of the EFCC operatives searching Ganamos Go Bags. This is what they were doing, searching Ganamos Go Bags like you can see in the video in front of you. And the situation or the suspicion of not a few people is that you're trying to check if there's a vote buying at that particular occasion or event. It was quite interesting to see. But some people said, hey, you know what? This is not where you should have checked. You know, you should have checked it before now. Some were saying, have you seen an FBI agent wearing the FBI jacket on an Adidas track pant, you know, criticizing the dressing of the official there? Some people said, oh, maybe this is a witch hunt by the federal government, which is led by the APC these days. And someone on Instagram quoted, was quoted saying, I hope they will go to the APC primaries as well. So people are taking this with mixed feelings, but quite a number of people are not impressed by the EFCC. Some are saying, you know what? Who are we deceiving? Who are we deceiving? So quite interesting to see. This is probably the first time that many people have seen the EFCC going to a party primary, checking Ganamos Go Bags. Quite interesting. One wonders what they were hoping to find at that event. All right, let's move on. And this is quite a very sad one. This is a very, very sad one. A church in Port Hackett, which is my city, River State, had an event on Saturday. And at least 31 people are confirmed to have died at that event. It was a charity event organized by the King's Assembly. And a stampede took place at that event. Let's play a track and when we come back, we'll talk some more about this. I'm looking for my daughter. All of the King's Assembly vets are still coming. Because last year we came. When they came, where were many here? So I thought I would be able to carry three of them. So I raised one up. Actually here. I raised one here. But this one, the plate is very tiny. And I lose this one. The other one there was pushing her because that one is 11 years old. There was pushing her. There was pushing her. So I don't know where she is. I mentioned her name. Divine, divine. So this is really sad, really unfortunate, that people who went out to a program like this organized by church simply meant to help the poor and needy in our society ended up losing their lives. And even one life lost is really sad, even if it's one person. But 31, it's unfortunate. It's unfortunate. The church is a King's Assembly. And yesterday the church released a statement which I'd like to read here. It says, the King's Assembly is deeply saddened by the Stampede incident that happened in the early hours before the commencement of our benevolence and outreach program called Shop for Free at Polo Club in Port Hackett this Saturday, May 28, 2022. The purpose of this non-denominational event is to share with less privilege the gifts provided by our members, friends, and partners. Unfortunately, lives were lost and several people sustained varying degrees of injuries. This statement put out on their Twitter handle and Facebook page as well went on to say, a medical team have been working with medical volunteers and the military hospital in Port Hackett to provide emergency medical services to those affected in this incident. While the incident has been reported to the Nigerian police force, the church has commissioned a team of safety specialists to establish the immediate causes of the Stampede to enable us to provide the authorities with all required information in compliance with public safety laws. It went on to say that the King's Assembly is a safety-focused or rather safety-conscious organization and will always take the safety of our congregation very seriously. Our Shop for Free program was started in 2014 as an annual benevolence outreach and a choice of a large venue the Port Hackett Polo Club was to accommodate the projected attendance. This year's turnout buildup and the attendant circumstances were absolutely unanticipated. It says the crowd converged overnight long before the security teams for the event took formation. We're reviewing a public safety protocol in advanced crowd management procedures to persistently ensure that our events are safe. Further details remain available to the public, it says, but in the meantime the church is rapidly tracing and engaging affected families while we encourage our members and friends to hold up the affected families in place to put out an emergency number for those who would like to make inquiries. Now, I must make a full disclosure that I am a member of this church. Also full disclosure that I have been a part of this event over the years. If I must be honest, the reason I worship in the King's Assembly is because they are thorough when it comes to safety and welfare of their members but it's unfortunate that this happened. Could the church have done better? Maybe. Could the church have planned better? Maybe. But it is quite also important to note that people arrived the venue of the church and you have seen the entrance of the Polo Club Potakat, which is one of the largest venues in Potakat that has been used for concerts involving the likes of Whiskey, David Oumale and so forth. So it's quite a large venue. And it seems from what we can gather that people arrived there the night before the event. So even before the organizers could even get themselves ready to allow people in, the stampede happened. Now, I spoke to a doctor who is a member of the church and who is also a member of the medical team. He was there overnight and he had to attend to some people, resuscitate some of those who died. And he told me Sikofi wasn't so, so, so pretty at all. But what he told me was a contrary to some of the insinuations on social media that the event occurred at about 4.30 a.m. So you look at 4.30 a.m., it's quite clear that that will be before the police who were invited, maybe the military who were also invited or any other organizations, security organizations who were invited could even set up formation. You know, how do we react to this? Lives are lost, they cannot be brought back, you know, and it's very painful. I personally followed the church service last yesterday morning. Now, as I said, full disclosure, I'm a member of this church. I serve in this church. I've been there since 2012. And the reason I went there was because I went to a church program and the crowd control was poor. And I walked out of that church. I never went and I walked down the road and I saw this church and I went in there. And that's how I became a member of this church. And I monitored the service yesterday and it was really low key. They usually have three services. But yesterday was only one service and there was no message. Pastor Dylan Pritch just gave a speech to the members and asked them to go home after that. It's unfortunate. And I've monitored also the reaction on social media. A lot of Nigerians are so gutted and people blaming the church and saying that the church should be held accountable. But interestingly, many more people are sympathetic. It seems that the church, from what I've read, people say, people believe that they are known for orderliness and they are known for being thorough. Lessons need to be learned. Lessons need to be learned. Churches need to take crowd control seriously. I'm in a very difficult position here because I know that the church spent months painstakingly planning for this. I'm in a difficult position here because I know that the church decided to move this activity from their premises to a polo club just so that they could accommodate the crowd and attend to them in a safe manner. You know, I'm in a difficult position here because I've seen the reports and posts online where people said there was no medical team, there was no security team. The church used only bounces, which is not true. So it's going to be difficult for me to talk about these things and also have people not suspect. Now, in the past, we've had churches be very careless when handling the crowds. We've had churches focus on just what they wanted, which is the worship or the service and not think about the crowd. So the church is saying that they have started an investigation. The police are also saying they've started an investigation to this. The governor of River State has also said that they will thoroughly investigate this. In fact, the police spokesperson in River State, Grace Iringe Coco, released a statement. She said that people gathered there and arrived there before the event was meant to start. The event was meant to start by 9 a.m. And it seems that it's done two places before the security operatives invited could even take formation and even before the volunteers from the church who didn't sleep there could arrive. 4 a.m. is pretty early. I mean, I saw pictures and videos of children, of mothers, of women. It's really sad or sad to see. The governor of River State is interested in this. The police are interested in this. The church is also investigating this as well. So let's see what comes out of it. Let's see what comes out of it. Ministers of those who have died rest in peace and hope that the investigation will tell what really happened. I heard from a source who was also at the venue that the crowd was quite large, that they had to form a straight line from the Polar Club gate in Port Hacott down to the Genesis Market Square Junction, which is quite a distance. It's if you're to walk that distance, you walk for maybe 15, 20 minutes to get to that point. That's how long it was. And I do not know what happened. That caused the straight line to Scatter. We also told that at the time, there were about a thousand people who had already made it inside, one by one. It's sad. And hopefully, the investigation would help us get to the bottom of this. Families are grieving. They've lost loved ones. They never expected to die on that day. But there's those resting in peace and a hard scar to the families who've lost loved ones. That's the much we can take on a trending segment. We'll return in a matter of seconds to look at the headlines from the national days. Stay with us.