 Ehoneth Nest was stared when President Borla Tinnubu made his inaugural pronouncement about subsidy. The price of petrol immediately jumped from 185 Naira to 500 Naira and above. Minifilm stations have shut down, herding the product, including the NNPC stations. The NLC met with representatives of government and key stakeholders. This morning we'll be talking about this with the NLC, who will bring us up to speed on the developments of things. Of course we'll also be looking at the headlines from the national dailies. Let's see what people are seeing, what the headlines are and how they affect our country. We'll also be looking at that on the show this morning. Hello and good morning. Welcome to the breakfast. It is a Friday Friends edition and I am Maury. And I am Nyamgul. It's so good to have you join us this morning and we're hoping that you're really having a wonderful time. In everything like the say, give glory to God. So if you need to trek nowadays, maybe that's just what you need. The exercise that you have been running away from and you keep postponing and saying, I will hit the gym next Monday and next Monday never comes. Now next Monday has looked for you and it's upon you. So you have to take that next Monday now. So many interesting things are popping up on social media and bringing us to this problem that people are having with transportation. Very funny comedies too. There was one I saw that involved one hugging somebody and then transporting you. You disappeared to another place. A few things to make people laugh as they suffer in this season. It's just so unfortunate that things have happened the way they have happened because immediately that inaugural statement was made by the president. Some filling stations shut down immediately. Prizes went up and including the NNPC and they have brought out pricing a template which the NLC is saying no. Do you do that in an economy that is supposed to be a free market? You just bring out prices and that is what a lot of other filling stations are followed. If the government station as it is is bringing out these prices, how much more we, because people are blaming the marketers and saying you bought these products at a regulated, not a regulated, subsidized rate while you're selling it high. But the person who sold it to them is selling it for a higher price. So what do you expect them to do? That means when they go back to get this product it might so skyrocket that they will, a lot of them might be out of business or they will go borrowing which is not really very good these days knowing that the interest rate is getting higher and higher instead of coming down. So I really don't know how our country will work. The president should not have announced that, made a statement. The way he made it, yes. On that day. I think it was careless. Yes. So many Nigerians agree that subsidy should go but the process, the method, the methodology in which it should go is what is key in all of this. Nigerians are going through a needless pain at the moment. Transportation has increased to a level that you begin to wonder how the person who is earning 30,000, 60,000, 100,000, 150,000 because everything... 150,000 you have no job. You have no job. 450,000. How are you going to cope? Because everything has tripled and this is just the beginning. Yeah. We're beginning to feel it first with the transports. It's going to affect the food. It's going to affect virtually everything. So you begin to wonder and hope that people will not be pushed into depression. We understand that fuel subsidy needed to go. They've always been saying it, even though we don't understand it. They say there are people who enjoy the money. But I know that when these people were enjoying the money, we were buying fuel for 89 Naira. We were buying fuel for less than 100 Naira. Now people will not enjoy the money anymore, but we'll be paying 700 Naira for a liter of fuel and all that. So the bulk of us do not understand what is really going on. And we do hope that there won't be another subhead that will take this fuel subsidy money, because if there's a cabal that feeds fat on this fuel subsidy, that means they will have a plan B. So if it is removed, they will look for other ways. Like I said, and a lot of people agree with this, that the president was careless with his pronouncements. We know this thing is going. How bad, if he had told us that we know that in June, a fuel subsidy will be removed. But this and these XYZ are the measures we are putting in place so that when that time comes, Nigerians won't suffer. Now they're telling us that they're setting committees. They're doing one or two things to make sure they have a roadmap of how to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians. That's putting the cat before the horse. They never admit when the media announcement that fuel subsidy will elapse in June. They also said that preparatory work will continue with relevant stakeholders and representatives of the incoming administration. So you begin to ask yourself, if they had those preparatory works done, why are we here today? Why would the president even say that he was told he heard that there was no provision in the budget? He was supposed to be in the meeting deciding what to do because this is what is kick-starting his administration. So he should have known and said, okay, this and that. These are the things that I want this administration to do. I think he said nobody, okay, he's not going to give excuses. But I think that statement was an excuse already saying that the fuel subsidy was removed by the last administration. I have nothing to do with this. So if the last administration took a loan that he doesn't understand, will he just say, okay, after all they did it, let me just go and pay? If they brought policies that will not be good for his administration, will he not probe these policies and see whether something can be done about them? It further paints the APC in a very bad light. Very, very. It's giving us a very, very, very wrong impression, very, very bad first impression of this president and the party as a whole. Because that statement, that preparatory work will continue, all right, with people from this incoming government as of that time who are now the ones in government. And here we are starting the way we are starting. It doesn't say well about the direction that this government is going. You know, when we started this talk last week, I had said, was it last week or Monday? I said, well, let's give him time, that by Friday would have gotten some clarity. They would have made some pronouncement. They would have given some statements that would throw more light on how this is going to go. Today is Friday. And the most we've heard is the meeting they've had with NLC, key stakeholders in the oil industry and representatives of this government, led by Delay Allake. And we are beginning to wonder, because what we hear is there's a stalemate from that meeting and it's been postponed to a further date undisclosed. Well, that even throws up something else. NLC, TUC was talking with the federal government and that team was led by Delay Allake. As what? Because we've heard, we heard that he was appointed the spokesman of the government. And they're now saying, he is now saying, He debaunted. Yeah, that he's not the spokesman of the government. He has not been appointed and all that. So how was he representing the government? So everybody will just be talking for the government, even though you have no portfolio with this government. Okay, you're friends of the present government, so you can talk. So it really gives us the impression, like you said, that there's no direction. So what weight does anything he says? What pronouncement will he make? What will he say that will be representative of the government? I just wonder. This is really not a good way to start an administration. And I hope that, well, in fact, I'll stop hoping because I had hoped Monday that by Friday, the government would have thrown more light on how the process is going to go, especially with regards to the palliatives. How are they cushioning it? Because you can't just remove subsidy and throw Nigerians off guard just like that. It came, it took us off guard, even though we knew that eventually this administration was going to address it because it was suspended in May. But to now come and be taken off guard, as we have been taken off guard, is to put it mildly unfair on the citizens of this country. Yeah, when president, former president Goodluck Jonathan was thinking about this idea of removing fuel subsidy, he was really passionate about it. These are the people who occupied Nigeria for it not to be removed. But even then, when it was still being thought about, there was something called Shopee. Shopee was something that was supposed to cushion the effects of removal of subsidy and things were already in place by that time. I remember that at least in crossover, I don't know for other states, at least in crossover, there were buses that were written Shopee, which was subsidy removal fund and all that, that they were trying to make sure that this effect of removing it will be less. And I know that I used those buses from Kalaba to Ogoja. The price of transportation was next to almost half of what the normal people were charging. And there was comfort in the buses. So I could travel home any time I wanted to go home because I knew that I would pay less and I will have the comfort of that bus. But here, no preparation was made, no arrangements were made. And they're saying that, okay, they will take some money and they'll give to the poorest of the poor. How do you even define poor people nowadays? Thank you. When I read that, how do you tell the poorest of the poor? How many Nigerians are really rich today? What data base are they using? Exactly. The middle class is probably no longer existent in the economy. So how do you tell the poorest of the poor? And in any case, these $800 million that we understand were taken as, that would be used as palliative and then $5,000 given to 10,000 homes or thereabout. What is $5,000? How much fuel can you get? How many days I understand that from mainland to CMS today is $2,000. That's one truth. And that may not take the person to the office. I'm just asking, what is the worth of the $5,000 that will be given to the poorest of the poor in this case? 10 liters at best for people who own cars, 10 liters. How many days will you go to work with 10 liters? So even when you have a car, even when you have a car, you are still supposed to be part of the poorest of the poor because you can, like I said earlier, someone earning $150,000 doesn't have a job because first of all, let's say you have the job here on the island and you have to come from the mainland because you can't afford accommodation on the island. You come from the mainland. You were maybe paying $500,000 and now you have to pay $2,000 to come to work. For 10 days, that is already $20,000. So for 30 days, because some of the people who earn less are the ones that work the most because some of these people work from Monday to Saturday. Only maybe Sunday is left out. So you're paying for six days times four. How much will be left for you? You'll be borrowing to pay transport to come to work. The NLC, the TUC should stand their foot on this matter to see that Nigerians, especially the poor, are given some sort of sublanding. The palliative is put in place. It's coming late because this is something that should have been done pre removal of the subsidy. But whatever it is, we are here, we are here. The pronouncement has been made. Now that they are meeting, they've had the first meeting. We don't know when the next meeting is going to take place, but I urge the NLC and the TUC to stand their grounds for the people of the country to ensure that Nigerians are not taking advantage of, because I tell you, many companies are going to shut down. Many people are going to lose their jobs because how many companies, especially the SMEs, can afford to run their companies with the cost of fuel as it is? And you are supposed to buy fuel for your office or whatever shop you're running. You're supposed to buy fuel if you have a car for your car. And then you get back home. You still need fuel for your generator to power the house because there's no constant power. If you go to Ghana for instance and you're buying fuel for a thousand Naira per liter, you know that you only need that fuel for your car. You don't need it at home because there's steady power. You don't need it at the office because there's steady power as well. So here in Nigeria, you have to buy fuel for everything that you own. Automobile, your home, your office and everything. You need power and you don't have power. And then they're telling us that it is even the cheapest when you travel around. Ghana does not produce oil. We do. It's even wrong to say it's the cheapest because when you compare the basic income, the minimum wage in those countries where you're comparing the prices of their fuel, and then you tell yourself there's just no basis on comparison at all. No basis at all. So now this administration is beginning and already we hear that Maritime workers will begin nationwide strike on Monday. Monday. Monday is less than a week after the administration kicked off and already some people are going on strike. And if the federal government will keep invoking the no work, no pay policy and saying that I'm failing in their own duties, I don't know what the courts will say to that, how the response will be because if you're going into your employing someone, there's an agreement that you have to pay this person. And whatever is the entitlement of this person, you have to give. Now the complaints that the people have been complaining is maybe allowances that were supposed to be paid were not paid, XYZ that they agreed upon with the federal government has not been done. That was the case of ASU and so many other people who are going on strike. This XYZ has not been done. And then the government will just have the heart to tell you that in that agreement there was no work, no pay. So if you don't work, no pay. And for a people who were at the fore when it came to agitating for these things before they came into power, it just beats me hollow. Why this administration? I'm talking about everything APC now, why it's like this. And sometimes, like I was talking with another friend of mine and he said, he's just sick and tired of people complaining. It is because people hate APC so they can never get it right. And my question to him was, how many of these things that have been said are wrong? Bring the evidence. And he just said, I'm just tired, let's just keep, let's just forget about this thing. If this is happening and so what, if this person fails to do this and so what are the only ones who have done this? And I say, okay, with that mindset, we may not move because because of that, we may not interrogate the things that we should interrogate, ask the questions we should ask and keep the government and the people who are leading us on their toes. We can never give up. We can never give up. I'm trying to recall an article written by President Tinnable in 2012 when Jonathan removed subsidy. And in that article, he criticized the way, the removal of the subsidy and enumerated some things that should have been put in place first. And so when you read that article, you begin to wonder, why hasn't he done these things the way he had criticized, the way he had suggested it should have been done when he was criticizing Jonathan's administration back then. So those who are saying that you shouldn't, it's not about, it's not personal. It's not. It's about issues here, and Nigerians are suffering. And if you had campaigned to come on board to solve problems and you hit the ground causing more problems, one begins to wonder how prepared were you for this office. All right. So let's move to our top trending. First up trending is Delhi Alakadipant's reports of appointment as Tinnable Spokesperson. This week we had different reports of lists of people who have been appointed. People who have been appointed by the president. And he came out to debunk one of those reports that said he had been appointed as the president's spokesperson. However, in the meeting that took place between the NLC key stakeholders in the oil sector, he was the one that came to represent the president. And so we begin to wonder exactly what is going on. If you are not the president's spokesperson, why were you the one that represented the president? So who were you speaking for? Because the president should have an official spokesperson. Someone he delegates to do that. Someone who by law, because of appointment, has been given that mandate to talk for the president. But right now, if Alakadipant is not the spokesperson, that means he's a friend, he's a friend of this administration because nothing officially has been given to him. So if he's not the spokesperson, ask what was he addressing NLC and TUC and other stakeholders when they were talking about this fuel subsidy removal and what needs to be done if this thing has to succeed. We have also seen Melecari, who is the group manager, NNPC chief, saying that that is President Tinobu will build one refinery before the end of December and that the fuel prices will come down. Before now, NNPC never had a need to have a list of prices according to states and all that. But now they brought a list and then he is talking about what this government is going to do. I don't know if he is another spokesman for the president because the president has not made that pronouncement to the people. So if he was sent, so who is talking to us? It's important that the president comes out. It's important that this administration brings out the list, the official list of those that will be working with them. We need to know the team of the government. It will give Nigerians a sense of understanding about which way the government is going. It will also either boost confidence or reduce confidence in this government. We need to know who is going to be in charge of education, who is going to be in charge of the economy, who is going to be in charge of agriculture. Will there be changes? Will there be improvement? Because when you look at the name, the pedigree of the person attached to these portfolios, then it begins to give you, maybe you're telling Nigerians to be calm, be patient. That list will go a long way in helping Nigerians to calm down and be patient. Because if they see people on that list that they think and believe can deliver, then they'll begin to say, okay, let's wait and see. Perhaps they know what they're doing. But as it is, Nigerians are in the dark and we had hoped that we wouldn't be here today, especially having experienced what we experienced with the last administration that took six months to show those who are going to be working with that administration. We were hoping that this present administration would have learned from the ugly scenario that played out in the course of that administration's delay in releasing the list of those that are working with the government and that this government wouldn't fall in the same trap. But here we are. It is the APC government, perhaps it's part of their manifesto, it's part of their constitution, part of how they play their things. But it is what it is. Before the inauguration, before the elections even, what we understood was that since he has prepared for this long, immediately after he's sworn in, there will be direction. We'll have a list. But immediately after the inauguration, what we started hearing was that, okay, he's going to bring the list of ministers within 60 days. That's two months already for a government or for a country that is struggling and at the brink of whatever disaster that, whether it's perceived or real, we needed action. But as it stands now, we don't even know anybody that we can go to because we can't go to the president. Somebody we can always call and say, okay, what is the president talking about this if the president himself is not going to address us? We were expressing some reservations. We were expressing hope that this president would not be the president that will be talking to us from foreign grounds. Because the last president, anything sensitive, anything important, he was talking to us from outside Nigeria. So is it because he has not traveled yet that we have not heard something really definite about what we are worried about in this country? We need that list. For someone who prepared, even before the 1993 that we had the MK or Biola, he was in the fray just preparing himself, positioning himself, and he's always been quote, unquote in the opposition. When everybody else was PDP, APC, not APC then and all that, but he was AD when everybody was mainstream PDP, he was AD. So he knew what he was doing from long ago, from more than 30 years. So I don't think it should take him more than two weeks even to present a list and leave it to the National Assembly to say, okay, we don't like this, replace him, we don't do this and all that. So what is what is taking so much time to even have a spokesman? All right, let's move to our second trend in civil servants and military to experience delay in May salaries. That's because they have glitches with the CBN portal, that's part of the reasons given for that. Glitches. I don't even know what to say about this. Army, military that are supposed to take care of the territorial integrity of Nigeria, people who have to go into the battlefield to fight for us, you're delaying their salary. Civil servants, the engine room of any government, you're delaying their salaries. Then who is going to end the salary? Will all the political appointees be owed? Will they have a delay? Will they experience a delay in May salaries? And if they're not going to- They will experience delay and anything good. So if they're not going to experience any delay in their salaries, why would the civil servants experience delay? Is it not the same CBN? So why was the glitch just directed at the civil servants and the military and all that? I'm just asking as a layperson, not that I'm beta, but I'm asking as a layperson because these are questions that people who do not understand will ask. You have been operating the same system. There was no change, nothing. And suddenly in May that we have a new administration. We have a glitch in CBN portal or whatever. And then the civil servant salaries will be delayed. People who are already suffering, the military, their salary will be delayed. And we don't know when it is going to be paid because they say it is going to be delayed. I don't know if they gave a specific date that it will be delayed to before it is being paid. Well, that is not clear. As we know it today, we only know about the glitches as a result of a CBN portal. So we'll just wait and see how long it takes. I'm sure it probably wouldn't take them long because this is a very, very sensitive issue. You don't know, of course, states all salaries of workers. So these are interesting times really. Let's move on. We'll be back, give you the weather report and then come back to take a look at the press.