 On the breakfast, the Nigerian Governor's Forum pledged to increase funding for primary health care by ensuring efficient budgeting allocation that aligns with the annual operational plans. Also, on the breakfast, we'll be talking spots as we have a journalist join us this morning on the show. Don't forget, we'll also be looking through today's newspapers and analyzing the biggest story of the day. It's a beautiful Friday morning and thanks for joining us this the breakfast on Plus TV Africa. I am messy book with promises to be two hours of fantastic, great conversation with great insight and perspective right here. But as always, we set off with our top trending conversation. Now on the front bonnet this morning is the issue of the Emirates and the Nigerian government. Now the flat carrier of the United Arab Emirates disclosed in a statement on Thursday, citing that its inability to repatriate its earnings in foreign exchange from Nigeria as a last month was a big issue. Now, let's also not forget that some time ago, you also have the Emirate asking Hadi Sirika, a Minister of Aviation, to support the repatriation of his revenue amounting to $85 million. Now, Nigeria is also facing a foreign exchange crisis. And this has also affected the nation's national currency. We're talking about the Naira now that has depreciated against the dollar. Hence the decision to suspend all flights to and from Nigeria, effective from September the 1st, 2022. Now the suspicion is to limit further losses. This is what the Emirates is saying. The reason why they're backing on this particular action, the impact on its operational costs that continue to accumulate in the market. And the airline said that the suspension would limit further loss of the market. But it's also important to remember that the International Air Transport Association had said that Nigeria was withholding revenue worth $450 million earned by the foreign airlines operating in the country. And just between the month of June and July, also a report where you had the airline saying they were going to suspend flight operations to and from Nigeria. Originally per week you had 11 flights that were operational. They were going to reduce it from 7. They had also raised this as a major concern. But this is quite worrisome. The different reaction in different spaces, a lot's really going on and that has really, really not been fantastic. But also to mention is that, you know, the Emirates had also gone out of their way to put up plans. I mean, just put out ways, try to solve the problem. They had proposed that they will pay for the fuel, but it will be in Naira. But that wasn't really accepted, you know, by the supplier. It wasn't something that was accepted. With all of this, Nigerians yesterday have been talking. It has generated different reaction. You know what that means. I mean, it means that you won't have aircraft moving from Nigeria to Dubai and what have you. And you know that that's a destination for so, for a lot of persons. We look at the economic implication. But one tweet that also generated reaction or that got people talking was the tweet that was from Showsani. And he tweeted because he's very, I mean, swift with Twitter and the Internet. So he also put out his thoughts and said, yeah, it was okay. You know, the Emirates can actually go their way because they're way too expensive and what have you. And that was not a fantastic comment because I wear him. I'm sure it would have been sensitive. I came under a lot of knocks from Nigerians saying, what are you saying? Because all the airlines are going to follow this particular, you know, line. They're going to tow the line. It's more like, do unto me, what you do is what you get. So it's like, hey, what you give is what you actually get. So garbage in, garbage out situation. And the fearful most persons is that you're going to have a lot of airlines who would also follow this path. They would tow this path of the Emirates and it would become very difficult. But I mean, what does this really make? You know, because when people constantly coming and come out, moving from one space to another, you understand that that also helps in boosting the economy. It's really saddening, but we're hoping that the relevant authorities will swing into action. And as something would, you know, be done in terms of this particular regard. But that's a very, very sensitive issue. If you ask me right there, we have to move away from that one. Because we have another interesting conversation. It talks about ASU rejects federal government's new salary structure. And so just when everyone thought that ASU and the federal government will come to a point where there will be a compromise and they will be in bed, but that's not the situation. And the strike has been on since the 14th of February up until this moment. And there were certain issues that were big consent for us. I mean, several issues of consent for ASU. Mostly you talk about the renegotiation of the 2009 agreements that was, I mean, that was, that they had. ASU had with the government. So some sort of renegotiation. A lot of issues and concerns that were raised was, you know, the payment platform, IPPIS, the UTAZ. There are reports saying that, hey, the federal government is saying, OK, we have actually done the trial and we've confirmed we're going to adopt it. I feel like this was going to be a good news. But apart from that, there was also funding, you know, backlogs, sorry, that wasn't really paid. And the no work, no pay salary seem to be it. But in all of this, the bonnet contention is that, you know, it's the funding. The government is saying we don't have resources. That's the crux of the conversation. And on the other hand, you know, the union is also very bent on saying, hey, we're not going to take the back seat because we think that we'll have a lot of resources. We just think that one economy that's been very wasteful, corruption is on the other side. There are lots of leakages. And so if we're able to, you know, sort the economy, sort out the economy, then it won't be a problem. So let's see if we can just take a little bit of the background. The leadership of the academic staff union of universities rejected what it described as a word salary package presented to eat at the resume meeting of the federal government. And asked you over the link ring strike action by the union. Now I should point out that the major reason given by the federal government for the misery offer, because they describe this offer as misery, it's just nothing. Offer is the revenue issue, which is not tenable. That's what you're saying. So revenue is a major issue. According to the president of the union that has to Professor Emmanuel should okay in a statement. He said that at the implementation of a special salary scale for university staff known as university salary structure. The meeting that was resumed for the renegotiation of the agreement of 2009. That was August the 16th, 2022. The government presented an award recommended consolidated university academic salary structure prepared by the National Salary Incomes and Wages Commission to ASU and ASU family rejects and still rejects the award. He said, because according to them, it does not agree. It's not in tandem with the structure with the entire process. It does not correlate with the process or the platform. I mean, you have all the proceedings that should be respected for all of this. And that's why it was rejected. And so the issues that ASU family rejects and still rejects the award. According to the president to reveal that the new draft agreement has all the major recommendation for funding of major component of the renegotiated 2009 federal government and ASU agreement. One of such recommendation is tax on cell phones and communication lines. It's very, it's very, very funny. So ASU had actually also recommended that, you know, as a way of generating revenue that the government, you know, should go ahead and tax the phone lines. And that's what we're experiencing now. Have you, have you witnessed that? It's so much, you know, to make calls these days and to even be on the internet because it was suggested as a means of generating revenue. But ASU on the one hand is really displeased. I think ASU is very, very displeased with a lot of things. One of them is the fact that this was implemented without giving credit to them, without acknowledging them, you know, as the proponents or as the sole provider of such solution. Very brilliant. But this is, these are the issues. At the end of the day, there's always, you know, local panellists say that when you have elephant fighting, two elephants, the grass suffers. And who is the grass in this scenario, the student? Because ASU on the one hand, are they really correct? What are they asking for? Are there consents on the issues they have raised? Are they very valid? It's a question that you need to answer. On the other hand, is it okay when the federal government says they don't have resources? Is it also a thing that we should consider? Who suffers at the end of the day? The students. Because, you know, they have lost their academic calendar and the international community. I mean, you also, they're beginning to put an eye on, you know, the Niger educational system, especially when you want to have an education outside of here. They begin to look at some of these issues, thinking that, you know, it's a case of half-baked graduates out there. Because the curriculum, the syllabus, they're really followed from the beginning, you know, to the end, some issues. But, however, we still hope and we're hoping that there will be some sort of compromise. So we're able to solve this problem once and for all. It's quite saddening that, you know, this strike might just continue for the remaining part of 2022. Because 2023 is almost here. And that's it. Another one on the top trending this morning talks about the Lagos state government that has extended, you know, the ban on Okada to more local government. Now, the Lagos state government has announced a ban on the operation of commercial motorcycles, better known as Okada. In addition to all four local government in the state, the affected local government are Koshofe, Osho di Solo, Shumolu, and Mushi. Now, I'm also interested in the government of Lagos state had announced a total ban on commercial motorcycles operation in six local governments, which includes Ikeja, Surulere, Itiosa, Lagos Mainland, Lagos Island, and Apapa. So you have an additional four now, so four to six, well, you can attend. And some persons are saying that this might just be a gradual process, you know, to face out Okada in the state, right? But the question, there's a lot of issues because this is really not the first time you have the Lagos state government saying, hey, we're banning activities of Okada. Now, yes, they're very interesting. It just popped out on the social media as a prominent, you know, figure, one of the reality TV stars who posted a video. She was quite excited to have actually boarded an Okada to make it to the airport because at some point you know how it can be with the traffic, man. If you don't even leave very early, then it's very definite that you're going to miss your flight. And so she took to social media, tango for social media, Twitter, Instagram, and whatever you. So she posted that, hey, I'm very excited that I have to board a bike, you know, from my destination because I don't have to miss my flight. And she had very, very, you know, exorbitant amount, but I'm sure that she's capable of paying and she paid. So the question here is how far is the implementation because it's one thing for government to say, hey, we're doing this. Well, what's the level of implementation to some extent in some regions? In some parts of, you know, Lagos, you find out that the enforcement is on the high. For instance, Lagos Island, in some places you find out that, hey, you don't really see the presence of the motorcyclists or motorcycle around. I really can't say for other parts. That's where that video emanates. And you could say that it was on the highway. It wasn't even really, you know, in the feeder roads or what have you. But the argument still continues. It hasn't really stopped because at the first instance of saying, hey, there's a restriction for six local government. The major conversation is about the loss of job. Some people say this is a means of livelihood for a lot of peasants. And how would you take that source of, you know, livelihood from them? So that conversation has not changed from what it is with the additional for local government restriction or ban, if you like to say. Nigerians are still talking, Legosians are still complaining about what becomes of this person when they are jobless because it's a source of their income. And what are we doing, you know, to cob the rate of crime and criminality? Because a lot of peasants are also of the view that crime and criminality would actually thrive at this point in time when people become jobless. I see an idle mind or man is a devil's workshop. And so a lot will happen. That conversation has not ended. But it doesn't feel like, you know, the government is actually going to, you know, take the back seat or, you know, shift grounds on this particular one. And another communication also is the issue of what's the plan? I mean, what provision has been made? Because if you see some of the areas and communities or local governments where you have this ban being put out, you also want to agree with me that you have feeder roads. These are feeder roads. And so some peasants will need to find a means of moving from a particular point to the other. It becomes, you know, quite worrisome. And all this have also raised concern about, you know, the road structure in terms of how motorable are these roads. I mean, you're saying, hey, we're banning Okada as popularly known from applying this particular road or route. But what's the provision? If you look at the roads there in a terrible state, they're not motorable. And so for those peasants who even own vehicles, how do they even navigate the highway? It's a lot of issue. I mean, it's a lot to even think about. But we can only be hopeful and think that things would definitely get better. That's the size of a conversation this morning on Top Trending. We'll take a break when we'll return and we'll be looking at the front pages of the National Dailies who have great analysis from GDA Johnson or things being equal. Please stay with us.