 A very good morning to you. You're welcome to the breakfast on PLOS TV Africa. Welcome. It's another Monday morning, the 18th, the day of December 2023. The year is winding down. By the way, my name is Nyam Ghul Aghaji. My name is Rinnith, all good. Today is going to be a very wonderful day. It's always a wonderful day when you wake up because you are waking up to a very, very brand new day and no day is ever the same as the one that has passed. Yesterday has passed, today is the present, so let us make the best use of this present that God has given to us. With every new day comes new opportunities. So make the best of what you have, the opportunities that come in today sees them. You know how they say, make a weather sunshine? Yeah, yeah. But it's a lot of sun. Woo, let's talk about the weather. When you call the sun and you remember the kind of sun we have, it shines differently. It's so hot. We need to take this seriously. Because if there's only layer is depleting faster than we can evolve, because scientists tell us that there's the evolution, so we can evolve and begin to adapt to the situation, hot sun, weather's changing and all that. But the evolution, the rate of evolution would be so slow and if the ozone layer is destroyed in a very fast way, that means we could just become extinct like the dinosaurs. Well, we pray that doesn't happen. But one thing I'm excited about today is the fact that it's seven days to Christmas officially. So you know how there's been 12 days of Christmas? Yeah. Like I've been counting down the days of like seven days this time next week. To some people it's yay, it's seven days to Christmas. But to some people it's, I don't know. Well, I hope that's not the case for you this morning. Yes. Anyways, let's go to our top trending stories. First, we have our teasers, which is Cerepsus Ainec over Failure to Prosecute Electoral Offenders. And also we'll be discussing difficulties in mental health associated with corporate begging. But then let's go to our top trending stories for today, the ones that caught our attention. And one of the top trending stories this morning is the fact that three people were found dead and seven others injured in Lagos Ibaran Expressway accident. Three people have died with seven other sustaining injuries in an accident involving two vehicles at a corn oil filling station access on the Lagos Ibaran Expressway on Saturday. This was disclosed yesterday in a statement by the Oregon Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC Florence Okwet in Abelkata, the state capital. According to Okwet, the incident occurred at 9.23 p.m. when a speeding Toyota Hayes bus with registration numbers, LG, anyways lost control and collided with another trailer. The FRSC spokesperson also explained that 18 people including 16 men and two women were involved in the accident, noting that the injured victims were taken to Idara Hospital Shagamon for medical attention. Okwet stated that the deceased were deposited at the mark of the same hospital. On his part, the Sector Commander Anthony Uga urged motorists to consider this period of high vehicular movement and poor visibility due to weather conditions. Yeah, I don't know. Our people are very impatient. Some of these accidents are avoidable. You know, everybody wants to overtake the other. I don't know whether that is how they judge themselves as being expat drivers or something. Someone will overtake you just to stop the next few yards. So why not just be patient for the person to pass and then you go and park? And at the end of the day, even though you're rushing so much, guess what? You're only going to save about two minutes. So why rush? Why rush to your deaths sometimes? Do you understand? Or even the deaths of others because this is a collision between two vehicles, right? Something similar happened to me, I think about two weeks ago. I was coming from the expressway from the mainland and the vehicle in front of me stopped abruptly. So obviously I'm trying to... Maybe to carry a passenger? No, no, no. It was an SUV. But then me, I'm trying to be a defensive driver so I tried to move the other way a little bit. And the person behind me just hit me right there. My bumper was... half of it was being dragged on the third mainland. But guess what? If I wasn't being defensive and I tried to move the other way, there would have been a double collision. So I would have hit the person head on. The person behind me would have hit me head on. And God forbid, I don't know if I'll be here today. But guess the reason why this happened? It was because a bus was trying to reverse on the expressway. Just like that. Why would you even do that? Inpatience is killing us. It's killing a lot of people, especially in these legos. Some people will run across the road when vehicles are coming just to wait on the other side to stop a bus. And I call legos a five-minute city. That being that, whatever you need, you'll find in the next five minutes. You need a pedestrian walkway. It's just five minutes away. You need even traffic to be so much so that you can walk leisurely across the road. There's five minutes away. Everything in legos is five minutes away. So why are you even rushing? I just don't understand. Some people feel to show that I'm in legos. I have arrived. I have to rush. Legos is on fast-forward and all that. Even running to get buses. I remember when I was little, you see people actually jumping on motorbuses and stuff. It's ridiculous. And I think at the end of the day, we really need to... Our lives matter. Your life matter. And others around you as well. You can't just be moving swiftly, rushing somewhere else. You're not even thinking of the safety of the other people, the other passengers on the road as well. You should save your lives and save your life and save the lives of others as well. What they say in traffic is that as you're driving your car, you're driving the cars of others as well. So you'll be thinking, what would that person do that I may or may not like? There's a saying that says, all the drivers in legos are mad. That's right. So think they are mad people and you're the same one. So you're trying to navigate for everyone. So another thing that makes people do what they're doing here in Nigeria is they... It's not my portion kind of thing. And then you're blaming the other person. Your uncle, your innocent uncle or auntie in the village is the one. Village people are coming after you. FRSC will always tell you that this period is very unsafe. Don't overload, don't overspeed. I'm not a scientist, all that. But I do know that now that the air is lighter, everything is lighter, even your car speeding will be more. So don't think the way your car used to save in the rainy season will still be the same way that it will do at this time. So just be careful with whatever you're doing. Don't overspeed because everywhere is dry, everywhere is moving. There's no obstructions on the road and all that. We put speed bumps on every corner of our roads before we can break you down. That's so sad. Anyways, a condolences to the families of the people who lost their lives and the rest in peace. Another story that caught our attention is Cambridge announces Nigerian professor as seventh president. The University of Cambridge has announced the professor of pharmaceutical nanoscience Ijoma Uchegu as a seventh president of Wolfson College, one of its 31 colleges to succeed the current president, Professor Jane Clack, on October 1, 2024. This was made known in a statement on the university's website. Uchegu is known for her groundbreaking work in nanopatical drug delivery. The Nigerian professor currently lectures at the University College London. Professor Uchegu is currently a professor of pharmaceutical nanoscience at the University College London. Her pioneering work on the mechanisms of drug transport has led to the development of new treatments which promise to transform pain relief including encephaline pain medicine candidates and Velta designed to address the opioid crisis. Her work has won her numerous awards fellowships and accolades as she holds positions on several academic boards and cancels including the Welcome Trust, the Academy of Medical Sciences and is an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. As Provost for Africa and the Middle East at UCL, she played a leading role in merging research partnerships in those regions as UCL's Provost and envoy for race equality. She also helped serve the institution's race equality agenda. In a reaction to the news, Uchegu said, I am so thrilled to be joining Wolfson College, an ambitious and forward-thinking college. Uchegu was raised in the South East, Nigeria and Hackney. She completed a pharmaceutical studies in the University of Benin in 1981 before attending the University of Lagos to obtain her master's degree. As her returning to the UK, she studied postgraduate work at the University of London earning a PhD in 1997 and worked as a lecturer at the University of Strachlight from 2002 to 2004. That's really commendable. I mean, I love it when Nigerians are winning and taking giant strides. This is an inspiration to other women and even men in general, everyone in general, that whatever you set your mind to, you can achieve it. And it doesn't matter whether you're in Nigeria or you're in Afghanistan. That she studied in Benin and then Lagos. Yes, and Lagos. Because that's the foundation. But at the time she studied in Benin and Lagos, the educational standard I'm sure wasn't a little bit better. So why can't we return to those days? And as we hurry in Nigeria, we like when people achieve, we applaud them and say they are Nigerians. And I ask myself, if she were in Nigeria, would she have the same opportunities? Because I saw a very disturbing and very, I don't know how, nation killing trend during the election where people were asked to go back to where they belong. Nigeria is our country and there are some people who were born and raised in Lagos and then you're telling them they're not Lagos enough. Even when their parents or some of their parents were from here and you're telling them that they're not Lagos enough. We used to say people can thrive here no matter where you come from and all that and everybody began to say it doesn't belong to you, it doesn't belong to you. So this is a Nigerian. Even if he has a green card or any other thing that makes her a citizen of that country, she still is a Nigerian. And I ask myself, if that college were in Lagos or in Abaddon or something, would she have become president? I saw also at a time in Cross River State where an attorney general was supposed to be appointed. It was her time to become that. She rose through the hierarchy of the law professional anyhow. And it was her time. She's married to a Cross Riverian and she's from Akwaibom state and they said she's not an Indian. What? It took them like six months or more before they could confirm her to be what she was supposed to be. That's ridiculous. And it was really annoying, really depressing for anybody who knows that a nation cannot be built, any community in short cannot be built with only the citizens of that community. There is no community that is fast-moving, fast-growing, that is developed by only the people that are from there. I have not seen one. Because when you're getting other people to come in, they're coming with fresh ideas, they're coming with different cultures. You have a variety of things and that is the spice of life we like to say. So you can't just say it has to be one person or one indigent. You should have other people that would come and spice things up. Anyways, I'm really happy for her. I'm happy that she's making giant strides and it's an inspiration to me and many others. For everyone in Nigeria, just know that wherever you go, you can thrive, you can flourish, you can make what's proud. No matter how many years she has lived there, now we can still beat her chest and say she's Nigerian. So when you go out there, be an ambassador to Nigeria, no matter what you're doing. Yes. Okay, and the last top trending story this morning is someone, Mr. Olatobosun Oyutiloye, a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress APC in Ocean State, has appealed to President Bola Tenubu to urgently intervene in the hike on prizes of essential drugs in the country. Oyutiloye, who made the appeal while speaking with newsmen on Sunday in Ushubu, said that many Nigerians were currently unable to access most essential drugs due to the extreme high prices. He said the escalating prices of the drugs could be attributed to a combination of factors, which include the withdrawal of GSK, a major player in the pharmaceutical industry, and the high rates of inflation in devaluation of Naira. Oyutiloye said that the factors, among others, have made prices of drugs such as amlodupin, augmentin, paracetamol, exforge, quartem, and other essential drugs to become unaffordable for the common man. According to him, the National Bureau of Statistics, MBS, has revealed that the value of medicines in quarter to nine Nigeria rose by 68% to 81.8 billion between July and September. Oyutiloye, a former lawmaker, said that surge in the prices of the drugs had placed a significant financial strain on individuals and families already struggling with the harsh economy. When the local currency weakens against foreign currencies, the expenses incurred in procuring this essential medical supplies rise, consequently driving up the overall prices in medicines in the country. I'm just going to laugh. I don't know what the President will do. He can't do anything except he's going to give us palliatives in drugs or he's going to give subsidy in drugs, which I don't think is the way to go. The subsidy we know that cuts across all sectors have been removed. The dollar or the Naira against the dollar, which we know that that's what we do international trade with, is pasteurized. And we do a lot of importation. Yes. So these are the basic things. If these things cannot be corrected and then there's insecurity as well, if these things cannot be corrected, there's no way the President is going to intervene. Will he buy paracetamol for every household or get a central place where people can access paracetamol for free? Well, I think that's what healthcare comes in because I mean in other countries, I remember when I was in uni in the UK, I could go to the GP and it gives me like drugs for free, certain drugs. So things like paracetamol should be free. You will see that politicians will take cartons and cartons and keep and be giving us palliative. So it will not work because if all these things are put in place, the basic things that make life meaningful to Nigerians are put in place, nobody would need the government to do anything about drugs and all that. Companies will come because there is security, the dollar is stable or the Naira is stable. And then we have fuel that is running every business or at least power. Stable power. If you go to Ghana for instance and you're subscribing or you're recharging your phone, the amount of time you will use maybe a thousand Naira worth of airtime is like double or triple of what you will do in Nigeria because they have steady power. Now all the service providers in Nigeria are factoring in the diesel that they have to buy, everything that they need to do. That's why our tariffs are so, so high. So put those things in place. Companies will come. You don't need to globb through it before you can get investors to come into Nigeria. When they come to Nigeria, they don't even know whether they are going to make money tomorrow. The dollar is skyrocketing tomorrow. It's somewhere, it's not stable and all that. There's no security, there are companies that could be burnt anytime and then you're telling them to come to Nigeria. I mean you're asking foreign investors to come in, meanwhile the ones you have here are leaving. Are leaving. We're talking about GSK leaving, other companies are also leaving as well. So have you made your economy stable enough that these people can come and thrive? Doing business in Nigeria people say is quite tasking. You're not even sure of getting your money back, returns on investment. But then you still want to go out and ask people to come. So why would someone want to come to a harsh economy where they're not sure if they can make their money back? So I think what we need to do is make sure that we stabilize the economy one. Make sure that those double taxation, just make it more appealing for people to say, okay I want to come and invest in Nigeria. We're seeing other countries like even Ghana, people are investing there. You're seeing companies go there. I see very soon companies doing the Lagos Ogun thing. Let me explain what I mean by that. If you go to Ogun state, every corner of Ogun state, there are companies. When you think about companies in the southwest, you'll find them in Ogun state because there is market in Lagos, but Lagos, the taxation and everything is so much so that they would prefer to be in Ogun and then target the Lagos market. So I see a situation where all those companies knowing that there's the market in Nigeria will be situating themselves in countries close to Nigeria. They will go to Ghana, they will go to Ghana, they will go to Togo, they will go to all the places knowing that it's going to be easy to get to Nigeria and all that, and then we are losing it. We are losing everything. So if they don't put things in order, we will be more or less begging. We will be the part of the people that are calling corporate beggars. What we are talking about this morning. And then today, like every other day, a lot of people are trekking. Yeah, we're having a conversation. A lot of people are trekking. Before we came on how so many people were giving us testimonies of people trekking from the island, some of them are going as far as the Yaluk Baja. When will you get there? When will you come back? So at this point, we may not say raise the salaries of people because companies are also struggling. But at least you can make provisions for these people. Whoever cannot go home every day because of the transportation should at least have a place to sleep. Yeah, welfare should come in. Let them at least have a place to sleep. So if every company will have, maybe two companies come together to get an accommodation that is hostile-like, whatever you can do but let people who can stay, stay back and just keep some money. You're paying someone, even if it's 150,000, how much will you pay for transportation? Yes, before you come. And if you have a car, you will have to be a partial transporter so that in the morning you're coming to work, you're like, yeah, island, island, island. Yeah, that's the only way you can afford... Yes, and then even then, how much will you take? If you take from, I always use beggar because that's where I know if you go from beggar to the island, 1,000 Naira and you have a car that will take four people, that's 4,000 Naira. That's less than eight liters of fuel. So how long will that take you? It doesn't even do anything. So whatever it is, the people that can sleep, let there be accommodation for them or you get a company vehicle that will be dropping them wherever they are going to because people are suffering, they have to be at work and they also have to be at home and they have to feed and feed others. So it's really difficult. Someone was saying that how do you even save in an economy like this? I mean, our parents or my parents, their generation, you see that they have civil jobs, right? And then they're able to save and build houses and buy cars. Like, how do you even save for all of that in this economy? Piggy banks now have keys. You know, the local piggy banks we used to have in those days just had a small straight line and a padlock there. You don't even padlock it, you nail it and then you just put the money, whatever it is, maybe at the end of the year. Now it is padlocked. You need to open it. I need to save myself. I don't need to save money, I need to save myself. Yes, yes. Even though in those days you could still take broomstick and remove it when it's so difficult. But now it's easier. So you cannot save. It's not possible to save. How much will you earn? Even if you're earning 500,000 Naira and you have a car, you will end up maybe spending like 400,000 Naira on the car or it depends on where you're coming from. You've not talked about your utility bills, your rents, your school fees, if you have children. Feeding. Feeding and all that. You've not said it. We're talking about it on the newspaper reviews. Also last week, we're talking about how a basket of tomatoes is about 100,000, rice is about 60,000, something thousand. The prices are ridiculous and like we said, I'm not sure if the person can do anything like this food, drugs, and all of that. But any way you can cushion the effects on people, I think that would be great. Bring back subsidy. Bring back subsidy. Okay, we'll go on a quick break. I will just look at the weather and when we return, we'll be having conversations on the national days this morning. Stay with us.