 Welcome back to the breakfast in Plus TV Africa. It's time for the paper review. As always we'll have Ezekiel and Yai Tok who joins the conversation. He's a public affairs analyst. Ezekiel and Yai Tok, it's good to have you join us this morning. It's a pleasure to be on Plus TV Africa. Thanks for having me. Alright, thank you for being available as well. We're set up with the nation newspaper. As always, our attention would be on the top stories of the papers this morning. The banner caption says, pressure on Buhari to reject reworked electrobial. That's boldly written on the nation newspaper. And eyebrow on provision that makes that minister should resign to contest for office. I need to get lists of candidates August the 18th. Okay, so I think there's a bit of a mix-up with the papers this morning. Let's quickly correct all of that. The nation says, silver government will unravel how toxic patrol was imported. And that's what you find. Minister accuses Asu of blackmail. 286 American Europeans, others acquire Nigerian citizenship. That's something to applaud. And still looking at the front page of the nation newspaper this morning. Operators grown over rise in aviation fuel by 110%. And you also have another head is saying, AFDB laments drop of Africans GDP by 165 billion in 2020. That's what you find here. Fear grips petroleum ministry departments. And as Cassidy spurts to or shouldn't state, this is some of the headlines this morning on the nation newspaper. Let's go straight to the daily independent with the following headlines. Let's have the lead story there. Airlines collapse, fair hike loom as jet A1 rises. 400 naira per liter. Airlines collapse, fair hike looms as jet A1 rises to 400 naira per liter. That's quite worrying there. Also from the daily independent federal government orders probe into importation of an adulterated fuel. Federal government orders probe into importation of adulterated fuel with the following writers. Consider this compensation for those affected by bad petrol. 286 Americans, Arabs, Asians become Nigerian citizens. Reps seek national emergency on ritual killings. And at the top of that front page of the daily independent newspaper to 2023 presidency, Attico's associates write PDP say only ex VP can win election for party. And he has a writer why Nigerians should prefer him as next president AASG. AFC or ACFTA that's the African free trade continent of free trade area. Bold reforms needed to unleash Nigeria's growth potential IMF. For killed as Fulani Malaysia burn houses in Kaduna bandits kill DPO in Katsina. Two soldiers for ESN gunmen die in attack. And that's a very worrying one there. We know what happens anytime soldiers die. NNPC records $224.29 million from export of crude oil and gas in August. NNPC records $224.29 million from export of crude oil and gas in August. Interesting timing of the release of that information you might say. Ex-JAMP Registrar Ogerinde plebagian fails. Trial resumes and business political society thought leaders meet to build consensus for national rebirth. These are some of the headlines on the pages of the independent daily independent newspaper. Alright let's move our attention from the daily independent newspaper this morning. As we pay attention to the leadership. The board caption on the leadership says adulterated fuel. Federal government launches probe as firm fingers. NNPC subsidiary this board caption this morning. And NNPC six to bridge petrol supply gap. IPMAN blames infractions on extension of PIA implementation. That's a right underneath the board caption. And away from the board caption you also have. We won't sign agreement with federal government again as is quoted. And NAF investigates mystery helicopter flying over Bouchie forest. Political parties raise concern of a fresh plot to scuttle electrobial. And just before we move away from the leadership. Dispensation of justice. I did not blame judiciary for delay. That's what Malami is quoted to say. And African needs $784 billion annually to defeat poverty. This is according to Akumia Deshina. That's what you find there. And national rebets. Elite group mates in Lagos and six consensus. These are some of the headlines on the leadership newspaper this morning. And finally headlines from the front page of the punch. Marketers court cases or fair court cases. FG hints at compensation for damaged vehicles. It's talking about adulterated fuel. The kicker of that headline. Marketers fair court cases. FG hints at compensation for damaged vehicles. And the following writers. Customers having problems with fuel. Fuel suing outlets. Arresting owners marketers. And it says 300 million liters arrive in Lagos as NNPC shares customers of 20 day supply. At the top of that front page of the punch this morning. The NNPC portal. Telcos bow to pressure. Begins server configuration to VNIN platform. Foreign treatment reps propose seven year imprisonment. 500 million narrow fine for officials. ACF tackles a Keredo Luon southern presidency. Says constitution must prevail. We assembled 100 presidential materials. 20-22 committee. And we go to the bottom of the front page of that punch. We can lend support as EFCC rearrange Jiang for 6.3 billion dollar fraud. He stormed the court to be present as the proceedings were held. Police suspect robbery. Gunmen in military uniform kill Ogun Bisman. Flea with car money. And 552 billion dollar fraud. Jam X registrar operated 8 phony firms. Says 8. This is quite worrying if you ask me. National assembly PDP. National assembly PDP caucus meets IEM lawmakers back presidential bid. We're investigating video of lecturer shaving students hair in classroom. That's coming from the university in question. And ZAMFAR assembly begins process to impeach Matawali's deputy. Those are some of the headlines on the front page of the punch newspaper. Let's now bring in Ezekiel Inge. I took course of public affairs as we do justice to these headlines. Let's start with the issue of adulterated fuel. And the fact that most of the papers are using that as their lead story. For instance, the leadership saying that the federal government has launched the probe into this situation with a firm fingering an NNPC subsidiary. Yesterday, we were told that the president was angry and ordered a query of the chief executive of the newly formed Nigerian midstream and downstream petroleum regulatory agency. As far as you're concerned, who should take the fall for this? I think the answer is as clear as should be expected. The head of any section should take responsibility for any infractions or any crimes or any failures within EHA or his setup. And unfortunately or fortunately, the head of the petroleum industry happens with Mr. President. Before you take responsibility over an office, I mean, it is already tasking enough for you to be the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Secondly, petroleum is seen as the mainstay of our economy. And one would expect that you get somebody that is like a vice president of some sort. Somebody who is like so high up that you put him in that area whichever you call your priority areas. And in an economy where we are thinking in terms of diversification where the president decides to be the minister of petroleum ministry. He just gives conflicting signal and I really can't wrap my head around it. But let's say he has his reasons and he takes on the responsibility of being the minister of petroleum. I don't know. Let me, it's just like saying the minister is very, okay, as you mean that something happened in the education sector that was scandalous, you know, or injurious to the system. And the first statement you hear is that the minister is very unhappy about what does happen. No, what I want to hear is that the minister has resigned. The minister has standard public apology. You are the minister, Mr. President, unfortunately. I don't think you should resign. But I think the first thing you should do is to tender public apology. And because you are Mr. President as well will give you the liberty to take a decisive action. And one of such decisive actions would be to put aside whoever is at the head of that institution so that you launch a major, major, major inquiry into what happened and you don't want him to interfere with it. The nation will see the animation and see the anger and see the very intentional action. If President is angry, what does that got to do with it? There is a history from our checks of a web of corruption and crime regarding the importation or the trade of petrol, fuel from Europe, another part of the world to Africa, by some companies its own record that in 2008 the same thing happened with O'Wando. O'Wando had to put out a statement calling out and mentioning the name of the oil or petrol trading company that gave them the consignment, 33,000 metric tons. That company was barred by the Nigerian government after a probe involving giving the House of Representatives where the then DPR said they didn't have the laboratory facilities to test for what was in that fuel, ethanol at the time. Recently the federal government has moved on from the swap deals to what they call direct purchase, direct sale, to say okay, we're giving you crude oil, you're giving us petrol. They did a bidding process and 15 or 20 companies were awarded contracts. Some of those companies, about four, have been fingered by investigations in Switzerland as being dubious and having underhand tactics. And they were given these contracts. I'm talking about companies like Trifigura or Trafigura who was responsible for a dumping of toxic waste in Cote d'Ivoire in 2006 if I'm not mistaken. You have a company like Gunvo that brought in this dirty fuel into Nigeria in 2008 that spoiled people's cars in Lagos for which the federal government bought them is given a contract. And there are other ones I could mention like Vittor that has been fingered in a report I've read on the dirty fuel by Swiss trading companies. So there are four of them. So why do you think or how is it possible that companies that have a questionable history of dumping toxic waste and dirty fuel on African countries are still the same companies that are given these contracts? Is it that our government officials from the NNPC, GMD, which is the sole importer of petrol in this country, they don't know about the history of these companies? Is it that Tini Press, Silver for instance, Minnesota State for Petrol doesn't know about the history of these companies? Let me tell you, thank you for the very extensive work you've done which kind of clays me to go to Part B. I want to say this and I want to say with every sense of responsibility that we need to be careful on our leadership recruitment criteria and what we citizens do. The people that get to office, they pay through their nose to get those things. They can't do that to go and serve you. They can't do that. You can't have your cake and eat it. People that get into offices like ministers or even president or even governors are people that we should beg them. We should identify them, beg them, cajole them to go in and serve us. But when we put all manner of obstacles, I'm running for the governorship of my state, and I'm thinking in terms of service, you meet a group of people and the first thing is you want to be governed or land. You've got to land, but I'll give them that honor. The youth in particular are awesome. They are starting to reject that concept. It's like, what are you bringing to the table? And that's awesome. But generally in Nigeria, elections, look at what the Senate has done. They've moved the cost of elections for presidency. We're going as much as 20 billion, which between you and I is chicken feed. That is less than what would be budgeted for the governorship of a Kwaibom state. I can tell you that with every sense of responsibility that 20 billion is like, is that for Senate or something. When these things are so expensive, what do you expect? The people that get into office, they're not thinking. The people to do deals with are not the clean guys who are going to say I'm going to do everything professionally. I'm going to provide the service. I'm going to make sure that we go through due diligence. No. They are going to look for the guys that are going to say, man, how are we going to do? We've got to get into the hotel room and say, so election.com or we need to raise funds, man. How are we going to do? And because of that, they must be compromised. So I think that before we start to put too much pressure on the politicians, we Nigerians need to look at our leadership recruitment criteria. And what we expect? Do we want people that we just take what we can while we can and leave them for years to run us dry? Or do we want people that we say, look, I don't want any money. I want good governance. I had this very elaborate four hours meeting and people say, look, you give me 20,000 today. Maybe the total money I make in elections. And I have four years to pay school fees that could have come to me free if I'd gotten proper election. And when you just oppose what you get with the respect to what you spend, you discover that you got 20,000, but you are going to spend additional 80,000 on your children's school fees, not a talk of your health care and other facilities. So at the end of the day, you make a terrible net loss. So we need to enlighten people. I think the only reason why these people that have been blacklisted, not should be, that have been proven and blacklisted, are still brought back. My personal opinion is that these are the deal makers. These are the people that are going to give you very, very unimaginable, juicy deals. And these guys are going to make tons and tons of money in dollars to come back and prepare for election. You'd be amazed that maybe the budget for the presidential election is something like 200 billion. And that money's going to come from somewhere. And these are the sort of deals. And I think Mr. President should leave up to what he told Nigerians that he's a man of reputation, a man of character, a man of principles. And the first thing he should do, which should have been done yesterday, but I think the next best time is this morning, is to move the leaderships out. And the inquiry doesn't need too much to go on and take decisive action. And he's on his way out. Let people start to fear him. There's too much of being perceived as a toothless bulldog. That's not okay. Oh, President is unhappy and like, excuse me, please, please, please. Let's also look at the leadership newspaper this morning. And now we're moving away from all of the conversation surrounding politics and what have you. Let's stay with Asu now. Asu is saying we won't sign agreements with federal government again. Do you believe Asu? I mean, they're known to be signing agreements and you have this agreement not being respected over time. What's he talking about 2009? Asu is the father of the enlightened children, not children, adults. Of course, university is not for children. I want to know what Asu has done to say we are always having people that have no respect for education. We are now trying to profile somebody who has good brain between his ears. We know that all these things, whether they honor or the dishonor agreement has to do with the emphasis that the leadership pays the premium and the lay on education. Asu knows this. These are professors. These are the leaders of the citadel of knowledge. So they should know better. Asu should, please, please, spare me all these diatribes that amount to nothing. They know what to do. If you have a problem, Asu should know better that you attack such problems or what they call first principles. You know that any man that has no value for education will always treat education as inconsequential. What I've just said is no rocket science. They know it. So what have they done as concerning 2020? Look at the businessmen. They've gotten themselves into a room. And when you look at, I happen to be very aware because of my relationship with virtually all of them, very aware of what's going on. But the question is, what is their interest? They're starting to come together and say, how can we protect our interests come 2023? What has Asu done? To what extent has Asu mobilized students to sensitize them? That look, we're going to keep having these problems unless we have people that have paid premium in education. Let's have a conference. How do we profile somebody? What sort of systems we put in place to ensure that if you are not education heavy, we're not going to even look your side at all. What have they done? They're sitting back. And then when a government comes that has no interest in education, they will start to have this body language that I really can't understand. Let Asu wake up. They know that making any noise now is just like pouring water on a foul's back. We'll just shake it off. In fact, at the stage, it may become an irritant to them. But when you start to go, think outside the box, go into plan B, 23 is around the corner. Now, who is that person that has proven over the years that education is something that is the A he breathes or she breathes? And that whoever that person is, we're going to mobilize our students and they have them in numbers. And the students go back and tell your parents that except this man comes in, you're going to pay more. The students will be the one that will market their parents home and market their brothers and sisters and even market those in secondary school that accept that this thing is changed. They are coming into a bad system. Those secondary school people will go back and market their parents and the parties, whether it is PDP or APC or ADC, they will now start to look for people that will fit the bill. Right now we are keeping quiet but then once they bring up anybody, you start to run, run, run, run commentaries. And you know that it's too late to cry when the head is off. This is the time I want to advise as soon. Look, just manage this remaining one or two years because you're not going to get anything better. Interesting. And then put your foot down on the fact that you're going to go on massive mobilization, sensitization of students to look for that person that has track record of being education friendly and passionate. Well, I mean, they have been accused in the past of being used by politicians in elections. Let me call it that. They always have a role to play during elections both on the campus when they serve as returning officers and all that. But we'll leave that for another day or like they say, we'll leave better for Matthias. The punch has an interesting headline on its front page. Foreign Treatment Reps Propose Seven-Year Imprisonment 500 Million Naira Fine for Officials. This is saying that a bill seeking to prescribe a jail term of seven years and or a fine of 500 million Naira for officials who spend public funds on foreign medical trips narrowly passed second reading at the House of Representatives on Wednesday. What are your thoughts on this? Are things getting better in Nigeria? Are we beginning to see the will of the people prevail, I mean? Guy, guy, guy, brother, brother. On whose desk is he going to land at the end of the day? Mr. President, we signed that bill that he, we don't go to the UK again until he leaves office. I beg, leave that story, let's say. So you feel this is dead on arrival? Dead on arrival, not just dead on arrival. It's like I don't even know the word to use. You want President, my President to sign that you shouldn't go abroad again for foreign help on healthcare. You want him to sign it? In six years or so, we're going to serve him. Please tell me one institution that he's put in place with respect to healthcare that will make sure that it's not Nigerians going out. Foreigners will be coming into Nigeria for healthcare, including Aso Rock Clinic. Then you now want to pass this bill. You know, these guys should look for something to do. Wake up. But what do you think of the fact that the National Assembly, the House of Representatives in this instance has come up with something like this all the way to passing second reading? Okay. I don't think I'm going to say it again. It's a removal. We move on. All right. Just as we co-sit down now, let's also look at the leadership newspaper at this point. That's been the back and forth. And you have saying, I don't blame judiciary for delay talking about the dispensation of justice. So the back and forth with the judiciary saying, you are responsible. The judiciary is saying, no, the executive, you have a role to play with all of that. What do you make of this dispensation of justice? You know, it's a question of two fighting with that and both guilty. That's just, you know, in Secondary School, you say they're two fighting. And in this case, both are guilty. Because if you look at it, the judiciary has its very, very serious problems. Absolutely. I don't know how God is going to help us. And then the executive, even when the judgments are passed and everything, do they obey the laws? They really don't. We are currently running a system that running commentaries on them can be extremely tiresome for somebody like myself. Because it's like expecting a dog to meow or a cat to bark. This wouldn't get into office. I know of some people that are willing to do anything to be made judges. And, you know, sometimes they say ignorance is bliss. I happen to know too many of these people. I run one of the most influential set-ups, you know, in the social media, you know, talk of WhatsApp group. And virtually everybody that's somebody in this country is there. Governors, past, present, ministers, judges, MDs of banks, they are all there. And they are all people I put in there myself as my friends. So I know them, I interact with them. And each time I talk to them and they are like the level with me, I just feel, I feel pained. I feel, I say, God, how are you going to help us? Because people come on television and they say all the nice things, the right things. And they leave and they say, bro, if you don't talk like that, what will you say? Leave, you know. But let's ask you now, do you live in Nigeria and you see the way the things are? And in the course of saying led justice, because over time, every time you have a case, there's always a call for justice. And especially with politicians or political office holders who have been accused of high profile or, I mean, they have been accused of one or two crimes, which have not been proven, however, do you think that the judiciary has been responsible for the delay of justice or the executive in this context? The judiciary has been largely responsible. The reason is that when you pass a judgment and you are independent and the judiciary and the executive refuse to implement it, you know what to do. You know what to do. But you see, these people are compromised. How do you get to be a judge? How are the recruitment processes and how can you get promoted? There is too much power that has come to the executive and they use it against the judiciary and to that extent, the judiciary depends on the mercy of the executive. So they cannot really, really like bear their funds on the executive. So the executive takes advantage of the fact that they own the power. They can pull the strings. So before you start to get too ambitious, you better be careful there. The executive has the implementation arm, which is like the police. And even they have the investigation arm, which could be the police or the DSS or any of these people. And every Nigerian is a criminal. I can tell you that for a fact. But you have to prove it. I'll tell you, I said including myself. Because it's so easy. You cannot explain how you live. Ezeko, let me come in here now. Because of the want of time, Ezeko. I want us to also look at the fact that the judiciary is not solely responsible for investigating all of this crime and criminality and dictating all of that. And so it is not the responsibility of the judiciary. So it is actually what comes to the table of the judiciary that they actually... I just said that. I just said that the executives have the capacity to appoint and they have the capacity to investigate. So because of that, they have the capacity to threaten the judiciary. So they use that stick, you know, that threat, that hammer against the... So that the hammer of the judiciary is actually, you know, designed by the executive. If the executive gives you rubber, you cannot, you know, hit the gavel well. Because it won't make any sound. And the time they want you to really hit it, they give you metal instead. So because of the control that the executive have over the judiciary in appointment and investigation. And I try to make a statement which you may be very uncomfortable with. You see, because if you dig into any body's past, you can bring out a piece of paper, you can bring out a record that can implicate the person. So the executives have all they need to make even a nice person, a good person in the judiciary to be compromised. It's sad, but we really need to come as Nigerians and have a thorough interrogation of our processes, of our systems, of our structures to make sure that the rule of law will come to bear. And that comes when you elect executives that mean well and have respect for the rule of law. When we do that and the political class that believe in the greater good of the nation, then we'll be able to allow each person to do her work or his work independently. That's when we start to have a nation that believes in the rule of law. And today we have an enterprise where the end justifies the means and they don't care about Nigeria, all the care is about themselves. And it's sad. And we must look at this sad reality and change. Thank you so much, Ezekiel. Yeah, I took for being part of the conversation. It is always interesting to listen to you, share your thoughts on all of this national issues. We look forward to having more of your time on the show. Thanks. It's a pleasure. Merci, and my brother. Thanks so much. All right, interesting analysis and very, very engaging and really, really light-hearted at times. He's always delighted to have any day, any time. We have to take a break now. We'll check out what happened on this day in history. And of course, when we come back, we are diving to our major discussions right here on the breakfast. We'll be right back.