 Welcome back. It's time for off-the-press. Unfortunately, we couldn't connect with our analyst, Opunabon Okotaria, for some technical reasons. We tried really hard to connect with him, but we couldn't. So we just have to give it to you, you know, without our analysts. So we begin with the punch newspaper. Cameroon Dam opening. That's the leading headline. Evacuate to prevent deaths. FG states won flood prone communities. The writers there NIMA advices governors on evacuation. Nasarawa Taraba set up IDP camps. Others. Anambra orders evacuation in affected areas. Flood slips away. Two children. Oh my God. Do we have to go through this every year? That's the question. Do we have to go through this every year since 2012? We kept hearing that there was an agreement between these countries that have to open their dams. Cameroon specifically and Nigeria. Nigeria was supposed to do something. Build a dam, yes. Which we never did. And now, anytime they open the dam, we are at their mercy. Evacuate people from their villages to where? To where? Why are they taking them to? This is a season that most of these communities are agrarian and then they have food or things that they have crops that they have planted on their farms. So if you evacuate them, are you evacuating their crops as well? So you allow the crops to to just waste. Yes. And then annually, are you going to pay them? Are you going to give them the value of the food that they are not going to have any more money? Why did we fail to keep our own part of this deal? Who are those that failed? Why did we fail? These are some of the questions that should be asked. And then when are we going to do it? Are we just going to live it like that and just be at the mercy of Cameroon every year? And it's not as if they do it to spite us. It's something they have to do. But if there was something we could have done to make sure we prevent this every year happening, why are we not doing it? Yes. Are we supposed to dredge our rivers? Are we supposed to build our own dam? Are we supposed, whatever we're supposed to do, we should do because if you evacuate these people, like I said, there's food in the land that they have planted. That same food gives them money to train their children in school. Everything hangs around that. Two children have already been swept away. Yeah. And then how do you compensate parents for children? It's just not right. And then even if you evacuate them and they come back, some of their houses are swept away or something, and then you're giving them relief, you know, sometimes it takes like three to four years before they bring someone whose roof was no longer there. It was removed by storm or something. You come back three, four years later and give them like three sheets of roofing sheets, three roofing sheets. To roof a house that was, the roof had been damaged or something. You come give some people seed yams, maybe 10, for a farm of about 500 heaps that have been destroyed. I'm also wondering, can the states relocate, you know, move them from the parts where this flooding, the water passes through, let them move their location, you know, move them to another part of town where this flood does not pass through when the dam is open. That's in addition to the government, our government, Nigerian government, finally doing what they should do in building the dam that was, you know, they were supposed to build to mitigate this. The states themselves should just not wait every year to deal with this, but move these people from the way to maybe the higher lands or where... As a palliative. Not just a palliative, to mitigate this, to avoid a situation where on a yearly basis this can happen. It's, you know, moving someone from an ancestral land is really a difficult thing for a lot of people they would not want to move. And especially knowing that they have been here without experiencing this until the time that government failed to do what they were supposed to do. Because when Cameroon built their own dam, yes, they knew that things would change. And if Nigeria had done what they were supposed to do, these people wouldn't have been facing all this. So Nigeria has not done what Nigeria was supposed to do. And yearly, since 2012, they've been going through this. So what do we do is the question. Nigeria should do what they're supposed to do. And while Nigeria is doing that, the state government should move them. Move them because ancestral land or not. Because after they do the thing, they wouldn't need to move them. Exactly. They could return. Be safe first before you talk about ancestral land. So it's just, I don't know. We keep hoping upon hope, but there's only so much a man can hope. Every time things will happen that you are just, you just wonder why these things are happening. Hope deferred causes the heart to be sick. And many Nigerians, their hearts are really very weak right now in terms of hoping for a better tomorrow for the country. So governments should begin to be seen to be doing something. So moving forward from that story, you have the picture of the president there. And the caption there, the caption there is servicing debt with 90% revenue path to destruction. Tinibu tells NBA. He was at, you know, addressing the NBA and telling them that we cannot continue on the path where we use 90% of our revenue to, to service debt. So what are we using our revenues now to do palliatives? Because I haven't seen any concrete thing that will be giving us money enough to not need to borrow or that we will be servicing tomorrow. Because after four years, we'll find out that this same government will leave so much debt that the next government will start complaining from day one and all that, except they're taking over from themselves. But even this government took over from the same APC and they're saying that the economy was in shambles when they took over. Where were they when the economy was going to shambles? Where we use 90% of our revenue to service debts? Where did we collect the debts from? Even from our own central bank, we collected too much debt. And then we asked the central bank to print more money than we needed and all that. And it don't forget the JPMorgan revolution that our 37 billion dollars which we thought we had in our foreign reserve is no longer, I mean no longer be that, but 3.7 billion dollars in debt. Yeah. And right now they're saying external reserves have fallen by 915 million dollars after Naira float, which means just this year, that is what has, it has fallen, you know, how it has fallen, which means it is reducing, it's depleting and all that. Of course it has to deplete when, and that is why I like what's happening with the bricks. But before we go to that, part of the things that the president also said at that NBA meeting is electricity. That's unfortunate that, you know, we're having this electricity inability to power to give ourselves the adequate electricity that we require and you cannot, you cannot banish poverty without fixing the power sector. So his promise that his government is going to see to it. And he also talked about the salaries of the judges, you know, and Nigerians are picking holes in that and saying, what a time, what a time to make the judges happy. Nigerians are seeing what a time to make them happy. Yeah. Poor timing. Timing is everything for everything that we're doing. And if you have to increase that of judges, increase the, across board, so that we know that it's everybody, but you're selecting the judges. And in a particular time that the judges, your feet seems to be in the hands of judges and you're selecting, it's poor timing. He might have the good intention, but the timing is so, so poor. And when he's talking about power, what kind of power are we talking about? Are we talking about power that is generated from Kanji Dam? Or are we talking about power that does not even need water? You need light, which we have in abundance, which is sunlight, which we have in abundance. Power that can be generated by the winds and all that. Are we talking about that kind of clean power? Because that one definitely is cheaper. It's cheaper and cleaner. Yeah. So if you tell us that I will be having 24 hour power and then I can't pay the bills, then I still don't have power. I'll be lighting my candles and lighting my lanterns if I can still buy kerosene anyway. Or, you know, so if you talk about power, what kind of power are you giving us? And when you give us this power, can we afford to buy the power? That is the question that we'll have to ask. Okay. So let me just read out these other smaller headlines before we go to the next paper. On the master, you have Niger. Echoes demand shorter transition period from Junta. You have external reserves fall by $915 million after Naira float. Then you have cash shortage, bank borrowing from CBN heats, $12 trillion Naira. And under there you have banks, 18 others find $125 million Naira for late filings. And senators aid murder cases take time to resolve. Please reply family. And finally, you have I am loyal to Orbasiki. I still want to be governor. That's Shuaibu, the drummer playing out in Edo state. All right. So that's it for the punch newspaper. I don't know what is going on in Edo state. Shuaibu was loyal to Orbasiki even fought against his supposed godfather who is a Shimole to contest second term with Orbasiki. I don't know what is playing out now, whether he thinks that Orbasiki thinks that he would not be loyal because every politician wants to secure their place in the political space of whatever state they find themselves. I don't know whether it is a problem of loyalty or something. I even heard the other day there was headlines saying that someone was accusing this deputy governor of stealing his watch. I was just laughing. Where is this coming from? How would the deputy governor steal your watch? How costly can it be that you cannot resolve somebody? Is it kleptomaniac or something? Well, I can tell you that one thing that's playing out there in Edo state is politics. And in politics, there are no, yeah, there are globally, when you were politics and politics, there are no permanent enemies, just permanent interests. They're all protecting their interests. And so Shuaibu is looking for his iron, the number one state in the state. And so he's aligning and re-aligning himself. And that's what most politicians do. Well, normally the people who invented that phrase that is about permanent interests, I'm not sure that we're thinking about personal permanent interests. Because in some other countries, the way you want to pass to achieve a particular goal may not be the way I want to pass, but the interest of the country is constant. Everybody wants the country to grow. But here, everybody wants to just grow and give a little back to the country. That's all. They're just thinking about, you know, what can I get for myself? And that's what they're doing. So you're aligning, re-aligning. You know, ideology whatsoever. And you're just there. You're anywhere below face, as they say in Nigeria. That's what our politicians are doing. And we can see the result of that in the state of Nigeria's economy. It's terrible. At the state, at the local government, and at the federal. You just be hailing someone doing something really wrong, instead of you to say what you are supposed to say, because you think that your money or your food on your table could be cut from you. You just be hailing badness. You just be hailing... By the way, Nyamgo, have you noticed how that these offices have so lost their glories that people no longer say that that thing that they used to say about children say, be careful. You don't know whether this would be the next governor or the next president. This day, nobody says that anymore because there's nothing about being a governor anymore. It's not a big deal. They haven't made an impact in our lives and in the society. So it's not a big deal. Let's move to the next, these people. I was just wondering, what will I advise my children to be like so that when they grow up, they will become important people, as important as governors. You know, I'll tell them, don't steal. Stay off drugs. Don't fight. Don't do this. All the don'ts are now the things that are almost like they do before you can become somebody in the political space especially. It's just a terrible thing. Well, in the Guardian newspaper, we have federal government estimates, federal government estimates reduces unemployment on paper, means almost 100 million job deficits. So on paper it has reduced, the unemployment has reduced when really it is. To four points something, we saw that last weekend, people were like, Habba, how is that even possible? But then they said there's a new matrix for calculating that. So now, if you work for just one hour a week, your term to be employed, unlike in the past, when I think it was supposed to be 40 hours a week before you can be described as someone or counted as someone who's gainfully employed, now the matrix has changed. And so it's four points, something percent, and Nigerians are saying, please. It's not even possible on any level. I saw another headline which says that they are going to create employment, so much employment. What business does government have with creating employment? Give the necessary environment for businesses to thrive. The employment will come to the people. Like I say, government has no business doing business. So I'm going to create employment, I'm going to do this, and then you're calling even recruiting people into the police force or the army, employment. Yes, it's employment per se, but this should be people who have the conviction that they want to stand for what is right. They want to serve their country. They go there with a patriotic heart, and they come. Not people who are hungry, first of all, before they go there. And then when they go there, a lot of these people, whether they like it or not, have to bribe, maybe 120, 150, 200,000 to become a policeman. And then you go into that police force. First six months, maybe you're not paid, which means whether you like it or not, born again or not born again, you're going to take bribe. And then you get used to it before they begin to pay you. So it's, I don't know how we define values in this place. It's just, so on paper, the unemployment has reduced, but really it has not. We've talked about the Nigerian losing 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily, according to Ribadu. We've also seen where Atiku has asked, this is a 30 issue though, but Atiku asked Tinobu to come clean on academic, I quote now, fit ingenuity. A situation where you have two certificates signed by two sets of people. And different dates. Yes, different dates. And then you're blaming it on the clerk or something and all that. But the fact that if this is true, the fact that he survived 1999, saved two terms, he was Senator and he has done, he walked in ExxonMobil and all that till now, whether we like it or not, he's something that should be studied. He's a person that should be studied. Indeed. But let's hope that the judiciary does the needful. Whoever should be there, should be there, whether it is the present president or someone else, let Nigeria work. Let Nigeria work. And work indeed. And move from the garden to nature news that leads with flooding looms in Nigeria. As Cameron opens, Lado Dam, the writers, Minister of the States, LGs to me to get disaster, FG to release white paper and flood control. So you have the picture of that dam there. And so other headlines, sub headlines, Abia State Government to collaborate with private sector on waste management. You have governor orders, relocation of Chinese firm, I meet environmental concerns. You have the impact of your big governor's fertilizer price subsidy to boost agriculture. And Ikeja Electric CEO urges Nigeria to adopt renewable energy. If you ask me, who are going to ask? Just take out your plug, put it in the sun. Ikeja CEO. Ikeja Electric CEO is urging, you know, he's talking about renewable energy. So that's not something good. That's something good. Are they doing something that we need to adopt? Because if you give me solar panels, for instance, I will take. If I can afford them, I will take. Because of a lot of things, the health issues, everything and all that. So I will take. But are the, or is the government taking deliberate steps to do this, to give us renewable energy, to give us cleaner energy, to give us whatever we need to do, to have, sorry. So you're urging us to adopt to a new situation that you have not pointed us at, you've not pointed us to. And it's worrisome. I do hope that they are going to involve themselves in alternative energy rather than the one they have now. And then we will embrace whatever comes. Ikeja Electric CEO. All right. Well, thank you so much, Nyam. Go for that. As we move forward to our next segment, which is the first hot topic, we'll take a break now and come back and give you the first hot topic. Stay with us. We'll be right back.