 A very good morning to you. You're welcome to the breakfast on Floss TV Africa. My name is Roman Paulson. And my name is Nyam Gul Aghgagi. Today on the show we'll be looking at the headlines as usual, but we'll have a hot topic which is a team who touted to be the opposition alliance against Geneva ahead of the 27th election. That will be a hot topic this morning. We hope you will be a part of the program. So today I woke up really really sad because I saw a news item on some of these blogs where a second army officer or soldier was berating the governor of Lagos State for doing what he did. Now Lagos State governor or any other governor is the chief security officer of the state and he saw someone committing a crime. Yes, he may have used some words that we would say a governor should not use, but it doesn't give an army person, not even a high ranking one. A young guy, like a young man. The first one came out and condemned it and said that who born you well? You're telling a governor who born you well. And then this one again this morning that I woke up to see. And I'm just sad that our society has gotten so low, so lawless because no matter the uniform you're wearing, a governor of the state no now. Aside from the fact that it was even the governor that did that, there's a fact that you're promoting lawlessness. You are supposed to be in the army, you're supposed to uphold the law because you're supposed to lead by example. And then a governor says, okay this is a crime, we're going to arrest these people and you come and you speak. In fact the words that he used, I can't even use them. I was watching it and I'm like how did we get here? How did we get to the point? First this person is older than you, in age, in ranking, in everything. And then you come and you start to speak like this. And then he talked about civilians and the word. I'm sure people would know what word they usually use when they try to talk about civilians. You're arresting him and saying all of this in front of these civilians. And I'm like wow. It's really disheartening. I know he raised some points. Yes, we agree. In fact part of the NSAS protest was the security people pay them better. But they were the same ones that were used to stifle the NSAS. Sorry for another day anyway. But he said how much would they even pay them? These people sacrificed themselves. Like if they were in the North. He was even talking about if they were in the North. Yes, we know that the soldiers or security people in Nigeria they give their lives, they give everything to protect us. But you signed up for that before you became an army. You signed that you can give your life for your country. So it doesn't make you or give you the right to break the law as you want. And then you come and you speak. I think the excuses he was giving was very flimsy. And he's like what if I want to go down the road to buy something? If you want to go down the road to buy something you follow the right route. Or the road is bad and all that. So if it is bad, is it bad on one lane? Why not use the other? Or didn't even close the lane and say okay everybody. Because you know there are times that they have to fix some lanes. And they say okay they try to divert traffic. You know use this way instead. There are always signages. And the road that I saw. That road wasn't bad. It wasn't bad. There was no traffic, nothing. And then you're telling me that how can I go and turn. The turning is very very far. You're expecting me. Are you above the law? It's the pride for me. You feel like you're above, nobody can talk to you. But I just hope the mentality is the mentality for me. And it's ridiculous. The crime, I would call it the crime, is big enough for this person to be sanctioned. Yes I agree. Because if they begin to do that and others look at them and say okay they have gotten away with it. I can do it too. There are things that they will do that will go beyond just talking on social media. And they are wearing their uniform. So they are not scared. They are wearing their uniform and doing what they are doing. Saying the kind of things. People are not fished out and sanctioned or jailed or removed or something. Because when you begin to talk about the authority like that. Telling them, telling the authority, a governor that you are above him because you're wearing a uniform. Then there's a problem. Right. There's a problem. Anyways let's go to our top trending stories this morning. IP, MAN, NFP sale promise, no fuel price increase. One against panic buying. Yes the independent petroleum marketer's association of Nigeria. IP, MAN and the Nigerian national petroleum company limited. NFP sale have won Nigerians against panic buying and dismissing reports of a planned hike in the pump price of petrol. Also called premium motor spirit PMS. According to reports, fuel marketers clashed with the Nigerian national petroleum company limited. NFP sale over whether the government was still paying subsidy. The development triggered claims that the commodity will now cost 1,200 naira per litre due to the cessation of under recovery of fuel costs. However, IP, MAN's public relations officer has dismissed any suggestion of a plan by fuel marketers to increase fuel price. According to him, there has been no signal from NNPC directing fuel price at the pump to be increased. He appealed to the public to stop panic buying and labeled reports of a planned fuel price hike as just a rumor. Earlier the NNPC all told Nigerians not to panic assuring of no imminent increment in the price of the fuel. The NNPC all also refuted claims of a clash with IP, MAN insisting that a subsidy has been entirely removed on petrol months after President Bollatini will pronounce the development. Tenable had in his May 29 inauguration said the 2023 budget made no provision for fuel subsidy and that it was no longer justifiable. The declaration now saw petrol per litre jumping from 184 to over 600 naira in several parts of the country. The removal of fuel subsidy also came with the attendant economic crisis with food inflation moving to an all time high. The implementation of subsidy removal has been a subject of controversy with the World Bank saying that the NNPC was not transparent about the financial gains from it. All marketers are also threatened to raise the price per litre of petrol over fluctuating and skirts of foreign exchange used to secure the essential commodity. When I saw this, I actually panicked as well. I did not panic buy, but I panicked and I'm like, are we going to 1,200? I mean I remember when I used to fill my car with about 10,000, 12,000 and it's full. Now I have to fill my tank with 45,000 naira and this is at the rate of 600, right? Like 6 something. So you're ready to be filling in for like 100,000? 100,000? How much am I making in a month? That's the question. And then I have to still pay salary to my domestic workers. I have to feed, I have to pay rent, I have to save. And we're talking about investments yesterday. So how do I even save a chunk of that money for investments and then still buy fuel for over 100,000? That's what I thought. I was scared. You'll buy a bicycle. I'll buy a bicycle. I just have to learn how to ride. What a wonderful time it would have been if we still had bikes in Lagos state because other people would have resorted to that and save fuel because there's always someone who can't put in a tank to get to your destination. Or at least we would have had these regulated okadas that we used to have that were banned also in Lagos. But you know, I do not understand what Ytman is saying. On the one hand they will be saying fuel subsidy has not been removed, landing subsidies and all that. And when it comes out to the point where they are saying the fuel might get to 1,200 Naira, they are saying it's a lie. NNPC has not directed. Who is NNPC? NNPC is supposed to be a private company sort of because that's the whole idea why the name change and everything, even though Kairi was still maintained as the managing director or something. I don't understand why NNPC still has to be like the regulatory body because there's a regulatory body for this oil, for petrol, for whatever you're talking about in the petroleum industry. It is not NNPC. So why is it that they will still say NNPC has not said and NNPC is the one that will be making pronouncements and telling us whether the price will go up or come down and all that. I do not understand what is going on in that sector. Whatever they are telling us, I know that they are not being transparent. Transparent? Just like what the World Bank has said, they are not even being transparent with what they get from it and the gains that they have. But please. If it does get to 1,200 Naira, I bet you there's going to be a lot of problems in Nigeria. I don't want to use the word world or revolution or anything but there is only so much people can take. Because there's no way you are, if you are working on the island for instance and you live on the mainland, there's a tendency that you might never be going home. Maybe you go home once in a month. So where do you stay? That's the question. And when you stay wherever you're going to stay to even work there, what would you eat? Because everything will go up. So you find out that if you're earning let's say 500,000 Naira, you're spending 450 Naira just eating and transportation alone. How do you even pay your rent? You have not paid your rent. You have not done. If you have kids. If you have kids and all that. You've not bought clothes for them. You've not bought clothes even for yourself. Take care of your family. There will be a problem because so many people will resort to other means of getting whatever they need to get. Because we have a problem already that there are people like when I was coming this morning or anytime I'm coming. I find a lot of young boys especially just sleeping by the roadside. These people do not have a farm that will go to. These people do not have anything that they're engaged in that will give them money and subsequently give them food. So most times they're even hustling. They're trying to park your cars. And then sometimes they steal. They steal your side mirrors. You blame them. How man must work. Like they say you have to eat. So while you're calling them criminals on the one hand and while you're calling people who will resort to criminality to feed themselves. You force their hand. You're asking yourself why did they get into that. But we already know why before even they begin. So why are we not addressing it? Even 1000 Naira for fuel. I know they're selling it for 1000 Naira in so many places now. Yes. Yes. What? Yes. No please. Because it's not everybody that has their... So I know black market like if you're buying from yes. Yes that's what I'm saying. They have access to filling stations and all that. So you have to buy from black marketers and it is up to 1000 Naira and we know what that is. So if it officially becomes 1200 Naira or even 1000 Naira, you can imagine how these black marketers will be selling. And black marketers are usually in villages where there are no filling stations. Yes. Yes. Eventually these villages are the ones that produce the food that we eat. So in 2024, tighten your belt. Everybody you'll have to tighten your belt. Hmm. May the Lord help us. Amen. So the federal government extends free train rides till January 7th. So if you're still in the village, look for a train and take the train and go anywhere you're going. The federal government has extended the free rides for commuters on all train services to Sunday, January 7th, 2024. The Nigerian Railway Corporation disclosed days on its official website on Thursday. The pop-up message on the site read, Dear passengers, we are pleased to inform you that the train services will be free of charge from December 21, 2023 to January 7, 2024. As per the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinibu, the Niger Railway Corporation announced a commencement of free train ride on Thursday, December 21, 2023. For all its passenger services following the directive of President Tinibu, the announcement indicated that the free ride services would end on Thursday, January 4, 2024. This followed the announcement by the federal government of 50% waiver on interstate round transport and free train rides as part of moves to cushion the impact of the high cost of living in the country, especially during Yuletide. The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Delya Lake, made the development known to state house correspondents at the Asurrop Villa. So we still have two days, fifth? Yeah, I was going to talk about it yesterday that yesterday was the day that they said the free train ride is going to end as well as the 50% slashing twice for the buses. And I'm like, how many people? I think I said the last time we talked about 160-something thousand people that they said, allegedly, benefited from this move to cushion the effects for everyone. And then they were looking for it. They were looking at 5 million people. They have included buses, they said buses. Let me use your word, alleged buses. Allegedly. They were carrying people and then the trains and all that. I was also trying to make a calculation and see, okay, I was asking, I went to Google, I was asking, how do I get from Lagos to Aguja by train? I found out that you don't have a straight train to Aguja. You'll have to go to Ibadon. And there was a discussion I was having with someone who lives in Ibadon and I was asking him, you live in Ibadon, why don't you take advantage of the train because it goes from Lagos to Ibadon? And he told me, if I go from where I live to the train station in Lagos, it will cost me almost the same transport that I'm going to use to go to Ibadon from Lagos. And the same thing when I get to Ibadon, to get from the train station to where I stay in Ibadon, it will also cost me almost the same amount that it will take me from maybe to Ibadon. So things like that make people not to take the trains. So if I want to take a train to Ibadon, I'll have to go to Ibutemeta also. I don't know if they have a train station in Aguja but at least I know Ibutemeta. You go to Ibutemeta and take the train, then you go to Ibadon, stop somewhere in the bush or somewhere close, not close at all to the city center and then you have to take a ride from there or something that will cost you the same amount or just a little less than the amount that you're going to take in a time. So in your mind you're like, what am I even saving? So what's the point? So there will be no traffic going to train stations as much as they should have been if mobility from train station to off-road train station is the same way that it is right now. So if you are giving us trains, give us trains from destination one to two and let every state have some kind of... And then you have this stop and the next stop. I mean that's how it is in like rail... If I can take a train to Aguja. Rail networks, like rail networks abroad, that's how it is. You have this stop, you have Coventry, you have Birmingham, you have Wolverhampton, like you just keep going like that. And so that way it's easier for you. You just know, oh I'm going to alight here and then this is close to my destination. And then once you stop you know that there's something that will take you from there. Yes, yes. Train stations don't have to be like airports where you go to the airport and it has to be designated cars that will carry you. A distance of two kilometres they are charging you five thousand or ten thousand to carry one drop at a time. So things should be done about this and we will take advantage. But if they had put train services in order or the railway system in order as they have been talking about and connected every state, we wouldn't have been talking about the kind of transport fare we're talking about right now. True, true because that would even be easier, that would be more affordable for people and then it's an easier route as well. And trains units even take more people than vehicles do because you know you have like different cabins of maybe about seven, eight. So you can carry as much people as possible in one train but then we're in Nigeria and we just hope that things get better. But circling back to the whole 50% slash in price, the free train rides, I'm curious to know what the numbers will be at the end of the day. I know they had said they were hoping to reach out to five million people. Is it not the same numbers we are talking about? We were talking about school feeding, empower and all that. Now we're finding out that those numbers do not even hold water. There are resting people who were in charge and all that. Meanwhile, at that time that they said they were doing the scheme, there were receipts for all of these people that paid. So how do people manufacture all of this? And then they still found out that that money that were receded for, the monies that were receded for were transferred into some other accounts and all that. So who did they give? Where did they get the receipts from? I just hope that's not the same thing that's happening with this because I've not found anyone who has benefited from a free train ride or the 50% slash in price. And I know that they stated about five transport companies that they were using, but I don't even know anyone. I know for the trains, they must have some people because people use the trains all the time. Even the people traveling into states, people who have probably used some of these transport companies, the bosses now, I don't know anyone that has been able to successfully go there, get 50% off, travel, come back, I don't. So first, where's the 165,000 coming from? Number two, let's see what the numbers are at the end of the day. And number three, I hope it is not a scam. I think it will be 3.5 million, you know. Wow, so under two days, two, three days there were more. Is that why they're extending it for a surge? Anyways, let's go to our final top trending story. This says, largest syringe manufacturer exists in Nigeria. Jubilee syringe manufacturing once regarded as the largest syringe manufacturing venture in Africa as officially seized operations in Awa in the Honor local government area of Aqaibom. The firm which opened an operation in Nigeria's south-south region of Awa in the Honor local government area of Aqaibom State was inaugurated in 2017 by former vice president Yemi Ushibando. Said the decision to leave Nigeria was made following unforeseen circumstances affecting business operations. Owned by Turkish National, Anu Kemal Jubilee syringe manufacturing limited was one of the several industries attracted to Aqaibom State by the governor Udom Emmanuel administration. A memo announcing the exit was addressed to workers of the company. The company had seized production some months ago but officially announced that its operation came to an end on December 31, 2022. Titled Temporary Redundancy, service not needed to further notice, the memo was signed by the company's managing director Akin Uyadiro. It said to it implement temporary measures to ensure the long-term sustainability of the company. The memo read in part, we trust this message finds you in good health. With heavy hats, we write to you today to communicate a challenging decision that Jubilee syringe manufacturing company limited has had to make due to the unforeseen circumstances affecting our business operations. The company's decision to close its factory comes after two years. After it announced plans were underway to export its products to Germany. It also comes less than a year after company's managing director Uyadiro said that the company had secured a credit facility of $1 million. Meanwhile, the manufacturer's association of Nigeria has blamed the current business environment for the continued exit of multinationals companies including the latest departure of Jubilee syringe manufacturing. The director general of the manufacturer's association of Nigeria, Shegun Ajayi Kajir said companies exiting Nigeria had been stretched to a breaking point. We saw GSK leaving. Now there's the Jubilee syringe manufacturing company. You can't even start listing. So what are we doing about our business environment if people are leaving? Within the country, even manufacturers that are Indians or indigenous are also folding up and all that. My people have a saying that when the fox comes to attack your farm first of all, drive away the fox before you come and think about the dead fowl as we killed by this fox. But most times we concentrate on the dead fowl and then forget about the fox that might come back again or might still be doing harm to other things. Why would you be going to every country on the globe looking for investors when the ones here are leaving? Who will come? Because that place is not profitable. If everyone is leaving, that says something. If you are at the bus stop and you find people running away from a particular place will you be running towards that place? Definitely not. Even before you ask questions. So people are leaving and this is strange. What it means is the health. Our doctors are going, our medicines or pharmacies and all that are leaving. So if you are sick now and you cannot go out for medical tourism like the people who have the means do, then you will not be able to recover. Is it medical tourism? Yes. Yes, it was suicide tourism. Now it's medical tourism. Yes it is. What else can I say? They go out and they get better. Some of them live there. They have houses there and they just come to Nigeria to work and go back to where they lived. Because that's what happens. Their families are there. So we now cannot access medical care because we cannot buy drugs. I hear asthma drugs that used to be like for inhaler. It used to be like 4000 is now like 40,000 I don't know. That's ridiculous. How do we survive in Nigeria? And the president is going all around looking for foreign investment. So do you know I was with a friend on Sunday. I think, no, New Year's Day. So we're together from the New Year's Eve to New Year's Day. And we're just having a conversation. And she told me about the Nigerian dream. Funny, I laughed so hard. But guess what? She's like the Nigerian dream is to live Nigeria. I'm like, how can that even be a Nigerian dream? Because I want to believe the American dream is to, you know, make American grades, make wealth. You know, that's the American dream. How can the Nigerian dream be to live Nigeria? And that's what is happening with all of our young ones. Everybody's leaving. The term jackpot is a thing. And everybody wants to move abroad searching for greener pastures. And I'm sure the government officials know this. They know that people are leaving. And that is now the new Nigerian dream. And you're doing nothing about it. You're looking for an investor to come in. Meanwhile, your business environment is not even thriving. Nobody wants to leave or do business in this type of economy. So what are you doing to ensure that people can come and stay and flourish and even, you know, spread the word to other people? Because at the end of the day, even thinking of expansion, right? I'm like, oh, let me see all the other companies that have expanded. Where have they expanded to? I'm going to go there. See, you know, these people investing in places like Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon. And then they use us as the market. Yes, and they use us. So they come here and they just, it's just like finding a base, you know, close to the country that's, you know, is for... Yeah, you can get the rest of the state and work here. Yes, so that's your target market. But you're like, let me find a base close to my target market because my target market won't let me do business there successfully. So I find a base here and then I get money from this other place. But guess what? They're flourishing the economy that they are currently situated in. And Nigeria is suffering. We're losing out. It's a really, really sad thing. For the longest time, we've been asking what really is a Nigerian dream on this program and, you know, everywhere. Well, I just gave you... I've been asking the question, what is a Nigerian dream? Because like you said, American dream, they start to sell the idea to the children even when they are young. You can live in America, you will have freedom in America, you can flourish in America. America is the greatest country in the world and all that. So it's already in your psyche. It develops patriotism, it develops confidence, self-confidence that so long as you're an American citizen, you're going to be somebody and you're proud to be that. What is the Nigerian dream that we need to be walking towards for the longest time? Not hard. So maybe it is just, but it's not just a new dream, it is the only dream. Because go to the schools, go to everywhere, we need to know what direction Nigeria is taking in the next 30, 40, 100 years. So you begin to sell the idea to the children of building anything. So your dream is either you leave or your children leave. Okay. I hope that the Nigerian dream is something that will be proud of real soon. Something that will say oh, Nigeria is flourishing and our kids can even stay here and not move abroad and we can grow our economy. I think that's the Nigeria that I would want. But let's go on a quick break. When we return, we'll be looking at what the national dailies are saying this morning. But first, let's take a look at the weather. See you soon.