 Thank you for staying with us. You're still watching the breakfast on plus TV Africa It's time to look at global stories making headlines in our national dailies and joining me to review the papers It's professor Camille Sanny-Fagge. It's from the Department of Political Science Bayero University Cano good morning sir always a pleasure having you Good morning, and thank you very much All right, thank you Okay, so we'll be starting this morning with the Guardian and the Guardian leads with leaving wage negotiations are harbored by debts Poor execution in states and there's a lot of analysis and you know numbers here But I want to get your thoughts. Do you think the leaving wage negotiations are being hobbled by debts? Maybe Nigeria were going too much and we probably don't have enough money To pay this amount that the NLC and TUC are demanding for And then there's also poor execution in states. What are your thoughts on this one? Really the issue of debt is a it's a major problem to Any policy that the government is going to embark on? But given the conditions that we are in now the issue of leaving wage is something that Will help us out of the problem because otherwise We are going to see Tracted labor crisis in Nigeria because of the deteriorating condition of living standard so I think in spite of The the debt burden the government ought to have taken Measures and the measures will be they cut the cost of the governance so that at least what we have We could be used to Address the issue of living wage. Otherwise, you see it is a very big problem where there is Wasteges and a lot of overspending in government by the leaders and now they now side the issue of Debt I think that will bring more chaos to Nigerian Political scene the resolving it. So yes, there is this issue of leaving a debt But I think the government is not leading by example by you know Having such outrageous Expenses and now you look at the minimum wage and say the issue of data will be a major Stumbling block to the issue Okay, so I mean I'm just going to write off what she said with the government's spending so much money however The president has said there's no foreign travels for the next three months And that is going to save us about a few billions of Naira and you wonder how come foreign travels cost us this much And why are we not doing anything to the cost of governance to ensure that I mean Nigerians are making sacrifices, right? Subsidy is gone. We had to make that sacrifice the cash crunch. We had to make such sacrifice Inflation right now is an all-time high. We have to make that sacrifice So you see Nigerians making this much sacrifices But then on the other hand maybe the government isn't doing so much in making sacrifices as well So when you think about foreign travels and you're like how come we spend this much on foreign travels And then for the next three months, we're not going to be having that Do you think that is going to also help or have an impact with our debt profile? You see a foreign travel Yes, it's I think it's a tip of the iceberg in terms of the web stages that we're talking about It's one element and it is going to help but it is likely going to be just a drop in the sea Because by the time you address only foreign travel that is Is what that is going to be a little bit too little and too late because after all the issue of foreign travel It's just for three months. That is what the president said. It was for three months Even if let's say we are going to take it for the whole year What we are going to say will not address because the issue of living wage It's not just for a month or a year. It's going to be a long time Usually when you sign such agreement it lasts at least four years or six years The lifespan of such an agreement before it is renewed So I think that is one thing what the government needs to do is the way they are now talking about foreign travel They should look at other Privileged expenses that we have already look at the controversies around the budget padding and necessary projects Put in the thing and you have, you know Overblotted the budget Which over to one point something trillion was added to what the executive You know proposed so these are areas where the government has to look into in order to Stabilize the system like I say this issue of living wage If it is not addressed properly if it is not handled properly It is going to be a very serious Problem we are going to see Protracted labor crisis in Nigeria and added to the issue of inflation insecurity, you know poverty and so many things by the time you add this Cocktail of I mean you add the issue of labor to the cocktail of crisis I think that is not going to over well for the system All right, let's move over to another headline. This one is talking about the crisis in Oklahoma in Delta state And it says residents battle hunger over Oklahoma military Crisis, what are your thoughts on this one now? The military has made this an operation of zone Although many question why they are there because you don't expect you to be Investigating something that you are actively a participant to and most times you you would always find where bias comes in because you're there you're part of You're part of the situation So right now residents are battling hunger. What do you think about this? Do you think the military is supposed to be here? Or maybe not the security agencies was be doing this investigation and making sure that you know this piece in the land You see in the past place the issue should have been handled by the police, but now that it has happened I think Leaders are opinion leaders in the area should also prevail on the use because What happened is once you disgrace the military By taking their arms by killing them by taking their new uniforms and other issues. You are inviting Trouble so there is no way you can now Pull the people okay to now tell the leader I mean the use to return the Weapons the military weapons because as far as military is concerned when you take the Weapon or uniform is a total disgrace and they will go to any length In order to cover that so I let that issue is addressed. We are going to see a prolonged Prior crisis in the area and the the unfortunate thing is that This is becoming a trend whenever there is any issue the military are involved Which is supposed to be a police walk and whenever there is any issue like that People tend to take loads in their hands, you know security agents no matter who they are They are sacrosan. They are not supposed to be attacked by the season. Okay by doing that It's so barbaric and we are seeing what happened. Look at what happened in Oji long ago Yeah, you are in this public then other things. So I think people should learn a lesson that Even if we have something we shouldn't take the load into our hands. Just I think was this yesterday also some police Officials were also kidnapped and killed in emo. So I think this trend is quite unfortunate. It is barbaric We have to handle things carefully and a more civilized way Yeah, so I know that the military is to repel external and internal attacks However, I'm not sure if they even have the jurisdiction to be able to come, you know conduct soft such Investigation and like you've said, it should be rightly for the police or even the DSS as well So but we'll just see what happens in this and obviously we do not want any fire brigade Approach like what has happened in OD in the past and we always need to look at it Antisidents and say, you know what this has happened in the past. How do we make it better? How do we ensure that we're not having the same results? Because if you want to protect the lives and properties of Nigerians, you can't go through the fire brigade routes But anyway, since we're still talking about, you know security and crisis I want to take this one on the Guardian as well and he talks about insecurity till it was government has failed enough is enough says Northern Elders, what do you think about this? Do you think that? Tiananbu's administration has failed. I mean, we're not a year in office yet We're about 10 months But if you were to you know, just look at this administration How much they've been able to accomplish in 10 months or what has happened or the effects, you know They've had in this 10 months. How would you grade the Tiananbu's administration? Would you say they failed or would you say it's something we should still look at and Just give them some form of grace. What do you think? Yeah, yeah, you see to me I think they are in the direction of Pellua Of course, of course, like you said is just 10 months but 10 10 months is long enough to assist the problem Because all the issues that the government promised deteriorating by the day Okay, so I think this is a recipe for Pellua And the unfortunate thing is that there is no concrete plan to address these issues Take for example issue of insecurity Of course, it is not the creation of the present administration They have inherited it, but at least one will want to see that even if They haven't dancing they will be at where we were before but things are becoming more and more Complicated, you know then before so I think to me We can see even if we don't judge and say finally they it has failed to me they are on course of Pellua unless they Take action to address this multidimensional security challenges in Nigeria All right, okay, so let's move over to the punch still on security matters The major headline on the punch talks about the Kaduna abductions and it says federal government plans school safety core as 137 pupils regain freedom and the writers on this one says to move out the end students abduction NSC DC to train school safety core personnel Kaduna government hails precedent military puts pupils abducted at 137 says teacher sick What do you think about all of this now? We're happy that you know some of the students have been able to regain and their freedom, but Do you think of this school safety core is the way to go? I mean it's a good way because you have some some of security architecture placed in these schools But how many can we even put in all of our schools in Nigeria? And what is what do you think is the best way to go for us to ensure that our students are safe because you're going there to learn You're going there to become better citizens, right? And how do you go there and you're being abducted? So how what is the way? How can we tackle this head-on this insecurity crisis that we're facing in Nigeria? How do we tackle it head-on? You see on one hand we everybody will be should be happy that innocence pupils are released but the problem is More than that we we Nigerians are not likely going to know what actually transferred in the past place You know initially they say it was 287 people secondary school students and primary school students now we are talking about Only one 37 which have been released. So, you know people will want to know what happened. It was it actually 287 or one 37 but whatever it is. It's a good thing and the second thing that is worrisome Is the fact that now the government is saying they are planning this thing has become a you know a daily Routine many schools have been adopted many you know since you know from the time we had the the Chibok girls about 10 years ago to date a Countless number of students have been abducted and now still the government is talking of planning to do that Now that is a little bit reassuring But the fact is like you said we have 774 local governments in Nigeria and we have only good know how many schools that we have from primary Secondary schools and how many personnel are you going to treat in order to do that? Okay So I think it's just a way of reassuring people that the government wants to do something But I doubt it very much if that will solve the problem after all We have so many security Agents Agencies you know and yet these things happen. There was a time, you know something happened in Kasuna state, okay I don't want to mention the town, but we were there, you know on Accreditation and from the place that they seem to happen to a military checkpoint It is not up to have a mile and yet it up So by the time you have this saying you plan you plan people will get tired That is what I said earlier on that the government is on post or pillow unless it takes action We have been saying we are planning. We are planning and nobody sees anything on ground plans don't Actualize things unless you take step to You know actualize them to implement them So it is a good thing that the government says they are going to have that Structure, but I think in the usual thing You know, I will end up the up to the end of the tenure of the government The issue will remain planning planning and nobody will see any action on ground So I just have a little question on this topic You know a few weeks ago. We talked about state police Do you think having state police would actually even help with the security architecture of each of these states or even each of these schools? Because that way they know their terrain Instead of just saying we want to at the nscdc needs to train, you know some safety corps members Do you think having state police would actually facilitate the the security for the students in each local government area? Because they know the way that they know the place very well They know their terrain. They know the nook and crannies of you know, wherever they are Yeah, in a way, you know having state police will will help in that Problem, I mean the program earlier on that it is going to generate another set of problem Okay, to me. I think what the government should have done is now to decentralize recruitment of You know police, you know, we now recruit police in their own local government and assign them But we have the control at the center that way will minimize the use of police by The governance at the same times it will also ensure our own Area instead of posting if not somebody from down south to north Why he doesn't know the trend he doesn't have no the language the culture and these things and so on and the other thing is There we also look at how many of our police are assigned to big men. Okay, you got some local governments Majority of them except in the headquarter. That is why you can have about a division and Office maybe contain about 30 people also in a local government I you know, you have if you take the average now How many police do we have and look at the standard? How many police? What is the ratio of police to civilian in in any place? What we have is too small and they are not Profile equip they are not profiled paid and most of them are used to support Big shots and that too, you know will be concentrated in the capital and even in the capital They are concentrated in a certain business areas, you know, you keep them there So by the time you have all these things unless you take holistic look at the security architecture When you say you are planning, we are not going to get any result unless a holistic I mean, you know System approach has been taken to address all these multidimensional security challenges Okay So let's move over to some economic matters. There's a small headline at the top that says seven billion dollars FX Ops threatens to sue banks over rejected application applications. So on this one now, you know the well the Caruso had come out to say they've cleared out the backlog of about seven billion dollars But then the organized private sector of Nigeria is saying there's still some that are lingering and right now They are threatening to sue these banks for the FX backlog that has not been entirely cleared. What do you think about this one? You see that we are used to this issue of passing the buck. This will blame this and this will blame The other, you know, it was very popular when the government said they have cleared they come out and say they have cleared the backlog and now we are here in a different story that It has not been paid after all if had it been it has been paid The issue of going to the court or suing will not be there So I think this is a major problem that we have to look at and it is part of You know the self-denial that we have perhaps You know, but I'm not going. It's not perhaps really somebody is not telling the truth. It's stretching The parts a little bit other that the backlog has not been paid or It has been paid and some people have fun at the Backbar lot. So whatever it is blaming game will not take us out of the problem So I think what we need to do is to actually address this issue So that we the people concern the agencies the government and whoever it is Let this backlog be settled and now we face the challenges ahead Otherwise now we are creating mountains of problem. There is a buck load and there is current crisis And there will be more corruption and things would be and become more and more complicated as we Wait and see what we address the issue So one thing is only talking about the FX backlog, right? In Nigeria, we import almost everything. So we really really need this foreign exchange One way or another So, I mean you've said we need to clear it, but how can we what are like some? Some key strategies because we're hearing all of these things is almost like every day you wake up in Nigeria Nigeria is in debt and that there's a backlog that's not being cleared or the The state governments are or in the CBN. There's just a lot when it comes to like our financial architecture How can we start to look at it and ensure that we're moving Nigeria like a business? I'd said this earlier when I was introduced in the show, you know, every business needs to be profitable You need to look at things to say, okay. This is how we're moving. This is our goal What is our vision statement? What is our mission statement? What are the action plans? If you were to talk about Nigeria and when it comes to our all economic Policies, how do you think, you know, we can start to have some key strategies to ensure that we're moving forward You see the thing is government is in denial they know by trying to Regulate our own economy an economy that is virtually dependent on Exportation we are not going to face the Problem so unless the government address that direction No matter what the policies they have taken it is just going to be a power forget approach Once you have it you now try to mend this and then another thing will come out You see where are you important and you now do value your money you will always be in debt site And the path is this reality is not only in Nigeria. There is no country that has Developing countries that has developed by taking the measures we are taking now So unless the government take the vote by the phone and decide to do away with this issue of deregulation I think we will remain we will be going deeper and deeper into the try a trap and By the time you do it already look at our own currency is the sad quality performing currency in the world and yet we are Denying the fact that we are going into a problem and we expect to get out of it to me I think the best way out of the government is for the government to look at what put us into that Where we are now and backtrack and take a you know Positive step to get us out of unless we do that. I don't think we are going to address the problem All right. Well moving over to the business ng Small headline that says Naira appreciates by three hundred and forty Naira against the US dollars in four weeks So I'm sure this is some this is some form of respite This is something that people are happy about because like I said, we we use FX for almost everything So this should be some great news But I want to take the major headline on the business ng before I let you go and this says labor party crisis Depends as party members demand for a brewery's at resignation So last week there was the NLC that had gone to shut down the headquarters of the labor party also demanding a brewery's Resignation but this week now we're even seeing more and more and even party members are also calling for this What do you think about the whole crisis in the labor party? You see this is a A common thing with our own political system. I mean with our own political parties. Once the parties are outside Power these issues will keep on cropping Okay, and the part is that yes the individual has some problem But to me as a removing him will just Not solve the internal Problems within the party Okay, but it will solve for quite a short time But it is going to be a major thing after all when you look at the politicians. They are all there to make Money out of the system not to serve in the system. So by the time you Personalize the issue around one person You may end up You know compounding the crisis in in the party temporarily Yes, that would be really but I think When you look at Other major parties from what happened when they are outside the power, you know, I look at what happened to other parties So a labor would not be any different from that I Unless unless, you know, I we take measures To address that internal crisis to me. I think personalizing is just Breeding around the bush is not actually going to address the problem Well, we hope that whatever the issues or whatever the crisis they are facing right now. It's being resolved So that's just what we would want and what would expect for even any political party instead of it to escalate We'll definitely want them to be able to just resolve it within themselves But anyways, this is where we have to wrap it up on the paper review this morning We want to say thank you for coming and sharing your valuable contributions. Thank you so much Thank you very much for having me. Thank you That was professor Kamilu Sani Fagi from the department of political science Bayero University Cano and we've just been reviewing the papers and taking stories making headlines in our national dailies We'll go on a short break and when we return we're looking at a hot topic Well, this talks about the Nigerian constitution. So please stay with us