 Well, we're getting close to the weekend and we're right here with a breakfast and plus TV Africa Time for us to look at the pages. We call it off the press the punches here We have all the papers looking through it and we're being joined by I guess from a quorum state as a kanya I took a bong what what kong is good to have you join us. Good morning All right, so if you can hear me, you need to unmute your device and that's it Coffee has also joined us this morning. Fortunately, you know what it feels like to be in Liga's Auto a Kong is good to have you join us. Good morning Thank you. Good morning. Always a pleasure. God bless you. All right, then we'll start off the Papers this morning with the punch look at the punch recent crisis aimed at stopping me That's what to know who's saying Says Nair redesign fuels scarcity designed to squatter poor To noble trying to blackmail Buhari article campaign is quoted to say allegations unfair and fuel crisis It's a perennial issue says marketers. Okay federal government budgets 1.2 trillion era to service CBN loans banks Russian new notes M. F. Lee Sean's reps Voting article will be a mistake says whistleblower and Still looking at the punch now and he says duty hike use vehicles import fall by 40% Just before move away from the punch now Suspenses tribunal decides to delegate or your taller suit on Friday. It pairs or Hanei's a one Abia PDP governor candidate We asked that is so rest in peace Parties back you as visa ban on elections rigors. These are the headlines you find this morning on the punch news people Very interesting headlines indeed on the punch. The nation has the following headlines We go through them quickly the big one there tinnable fifth columnists behind Petro's Cursi T narrow redesign row The the plots to embarrass Buhari scuttle elections Look at it a little bit before we are done today How Africa can banish food insecurity by Buhari? bomb blast scales 51 in Nassau victims get mass burial. It is a heart breaking story More from the nation impeachment a kitty court orders parties to file processes There's an interesting one to keep an eye on US slams visa ban on enemies of democracy No cash supply at ATM points over scarcity of new notes If you've seen some cues in some states around the country anxious customers besieged banks cautious banks Hold on to old Naira notes some people are swearing that it merely will extend that deadline Tribute Sazabi a PDP governship candidate It can a dyes at 66 very sad one those plotting to deal with me want to win an election says we can his back On front pages those plotting to deal with me won't win election says we can up to Roscoe science 188.8 Naira budget, I think there should be billion Naira and Messi rejects new PSG Contract knows if he wants to go enjoy some Arab money with Christiana Ronaldo Those are the headlines on front page of the nation away from the nation newspaper We have the leadership the leadership says nine Naira redesign feels scarcity targeted at me I mean, that's what the presidential candidate of the All-progressive Congress has called her to say but some people say I mean, that's too much Nigeria It's bigger than an individual and that's usually what people will say. It's not all about you really, you know Says plans to squirtle 2023 elections will fail Blackmail won't save you the PDP saying tells us she was you PMB support for APC flag for unquestionable Presidents is quoted to say the writers you find there There's also another head that this morning you corners death Abia PDP heads for fresh primaries quite unfortunate one right there and NJC class 84 judges nine heads of court for appointment Aviation workers strike wouldn't happen again. The federal government is saying well How can we understand this because that's a private business government saying all of that? What can the government do that all of this doesn't happen? Questions that you are begging for answers Nigeria Egypt agree on joint electricity development God won't allow my enemies win presidency and the governor of River State Yes, I'm wiki is also of that one All right interesting headlines. Merci. I can't wait to get our guest thoughts on that Let's move over to the final paper on our table tonight or this morning rather a Daily trust 38 herders killed in Nassarua air raid 38 herders killed in Nassarua air raid It's a sad story really sad one another one to make us really sad the writers to that our innocent members were killed by Air Force Magban, okay. I've come to know what Magban Refers to a meaty a la cattle breeders association of Nigeria our innocent members were killed by Air Force drone used for shelling of Pastoralists governor sully. It's the worst of evil or it is worse evil of profiling Northern Elders Shows investigation military mom Here we go again tinnable fuel crisis narrow redesign ploy To sabotage elections. We won't accept postponement probe. I see what you pdp presidency CB APC CBN mom More from the daily trust bandits reject 5.3 million old Naira notes in Kaduna. That should be 5.3 million narrow in all narrow notes in Kaduna. Say deadline approaching Yeah, even the bandits want to comply with the Bf alias directive use vehicle Vehicles import crushes 40% with customs valuation scheme some of the headlines on front page will bring in Architect is the killing I took at this time and good morning to you is it going I took. Thank you very much And let's start with this this very sad one and it's not the first time we hear reports of collateral damage in the fight against terrorism and insurgency Up north by the Nigerian Air Force last time we had I think in December. We also had that some villagers Were killed Almost the entire village came under the firepower of the Air Force. What are your thoughts on this? Well, this New development of headers. They are known. Okay, and they'll belong to Macban will it lead to some sort of new insurgency or some sort of Conflict You know, I actually did take a very good look at that headline The pictures and everything and I really questioned myself The intention or the Intentment of that article I tried to look beyond the surface and You know, there was an air raid and Unfortunately, there was collateral damage but if you know how many people that have lost their lives on account of this insurgent and We realized that the time had come when something desperate had to be done under the Collateral damages and you know, the the army seemed to have gone after these people with all digger and You know in the process to have highlighted this level of Sorry the spelling of my Ezekiel to have highlighted this level of Collateral damage. I want to ask myself. What do we really want to achieve? Are we trying to say look you can't do this again? You should stop it Are we doing that on account of our concern with the the lives that have been lost that are very precious? I must admit or is it a way to dampen the psyche of the of the military and get them to stop doing what they are doing Is somebody getting uncomfortable that the military is starting to get results? You know the the pictorials the the way the the story is really blown You know really loud Uh, I'm concerned. I'm looking. I think that um We all know that there will be collateral damage. We all pray that these damages should be should be should be You know limited We all believe that every Nigerian should as much as possible Corporate with the the army if there are areas that you know that insurgents operate and that they are going to be likely attacked I think it behoves all women and men of goodwill in this country to isolate those areas find a way of cooperating with the military Let's isolate this would have been killing our people in numbers So, so it's a claim to are you saying that um, you know, this story is being blown out of proportion Um, maybe I tend to I tend to see something a little deeper. I may be wrong But I tend to think that the effort it might be a very tactical. Um, I may be wrong You know effort to kind of dampen the morale of the people But but but architects you have the last month. I believe um And almost an entire village, you know, a lot of villagers were wiped out In the bid to to kill these insurgents. Um, these are innocent people. These are people's mothers fathers brother sisters children And and they just get killed Okay, so but the background the background to this story story, sir Is that they they went to retrieve cattle about 1000 cattle that were seized from their members And this is a labor union if you want to call it that magban They went to retrieve over 1000 cattles or cattle or cows. Sorry seized from their members by by Benway state livestock guards And when they went to see the benway state lacks types of guns, please give us our cows will play or our cattle will pay The fine they were billed 29 million era 29 million era. They paid the 29 million era And and some of the livestock, you know, was released to the headers by the guards Now when they were off loading the cattle shortly after they reached their destination in nasa or estate Which happens to be doma rukubi community in doma local government area They were bombed They were bombed and and killed is what The the paper is saying So we're hearing that the killing of these headers has raised tension in benway state and nasa or state You know how it can be I mean you can see the picture of of the the Muslims, you know The islamic rites and their bodies are there. These people are martyrs now And maybe a cause for somebody to say hi to revenge against the nigerian state Yeah, you are not you're not you're not following my narrative I understand all that story and every life matters as far as i'm concerned And I feel bad that one nigerian not to talk of two three four and the numbers that i've seen I feel bad and my condolences to the family of these people But I want to tell you that we are in a worse situation. Look at what's going on in Places like uh, was a was this place I was getting ravaged right now, you know by by by russia, you know Ukraine but the issue is sorry Ukraine Ukraine, thank you, but the issue is this There will be collateral damage. We are in a city a war situation Such would come either by way of mistake and the military has made mistake before or a conscious deliberate intentional action Now when you look at the story behind, I don't think that they will attribute it to intentional Deliberate action because it is not the government of benouin state that undertook the operation With the army of the federal republic of nigeria So i'm trying to look at the nexus You know what you brought out is not how the government of benouin state did what is wrong What you brought out is how the army of the federal republic of nigeria has killed innocent souls And as a result you are doing a reprisal against who you know I think we really need to look beyond stories and look at intentions and look at possible consequences Of our actions I believe that the military need to be a lot more careful in the past that made mistakes of bombing, you know Non-military or non-war zones, you know, maybe they are Is it going to come in just before you know quickly I move on to another subject on this But I'd like to add it's unfortunate that we don't have this, you know Dominating all of the headlines. I mean one would think that you wake up this morning And that's what that's the story that's making it because if you look at it apart from the fact that You have this other paper saying 38 headers. We're talking about 100 civilians who've been killed That's the story 100 civilians have been bombed mistakenly by you know, the nigerian efforts and The the the next question would be this has become a pattern. So if you have a repeated pattern Do you now call that a mistake? Because I mean if you look at data up on from you know, 2014 to about this time There's been several mistaken. I mean, what was it called again? Bombing mistakes. That's what we've had You want to look at from 2017 you want to go on Several communities and keep saying oh this mistakes and over. So it's We're currently and I'm asking is this really a mistake and how come you know We've not had this as a major headlines on the paper this morning So I think the narrative now is that of the military not being precise in the operations That's the narrative and that narrative is not acceptable We have to tell the the military as much as we want to you know, encourage you We want to boost your morale want to appreciate what you are doing We want to know that it's a difficult thing But please you cannot continue making these mistakes And if that is something you have no control over then you probably have to change the strategy It has to be a national narrative and not brought down to a specific thing So I agree with you that the military needs to be a lot more precise If they cannot use maybe the to cannot jet or they need more trainings Then we may need to bring experts who will do the plotting and you know The execution while our people continue to do the learning until they are sure because You need to plot and get very decisive definite target And these are not the things that you rush It has to be the intel that you have followed over a long period of time And a stab look at what happened to Saddam Hussein It wasn't just the something random, you know They followed it until they got specific intel and then boom they zeroed it on it The military has to be that precise and it has to be intel based So to that extent I continue to you know say my heart reaches out to the families that have been lost Both in these last incidents and in the past incidents So I but let the narrative be that the military needs to be sharper and not that You know what what I'm saying today, which I hope I'm wrong. All right We look at the nation newspaper now the big one there, of course I'm low reaction on social media To this story and the presidential candidate of the apc opgess congress Shuwajibola Tinnabu A legend of fifth columnist Fifth columnists are behind the petrol scarcity and the narrow redesign row The paper says the nation newspaper that is says that the flag were of the apc yesterday reflected on the fuel scarcity and the narrow redesign Crisis which have attracted that the paper says a condemnation by many It says the the paper says he said the petroleum scarcity and complaints about currency Redesign were plots by unpatriotic elements and saboteurs to embarrass the buhari administration as cut off the proposed elections And he also said the apc the paper says the apc candidate who said the tricks will collapse Fired salvos at the opposition pdp Um, so he had Nigerians to anticipate the election electoral revolution of on february 25 I'm sure he's talking about when he he he will expect to win the elections. What are your thoughts on that? You know the very thing that just comes to my mind is that I honestly can't understand what is going on Between the so-called two big parties Now if you read between the lines The the the the the the apc candidate is directly castigating his party and as a matter of fact Is telling us that his party is either Incompetent to handle the affairs of state or that they are those directly behind because I don't want to see a situation where At a time like this when the party is going for election They will keep quiet and watch somebody sabotage them. And what are you talking about? We're not talking of maybe some terrorist or some militant striking here and there We are talking of major government policies How can you talk of fifth columnist on policies? The redesign of the naira note is not a coincidence. It's not an accident Is not people hoarding money that you cannot see it is a policy a deliberate intentional policy of the government of apc The first scarcity is not a group of people, you know trying to make life difficult It is something that the nnpc controlled by the government has controlled over the supply of Petrol to the country So you are telling me that your government is sabotaging you the question is to what end What do you really want to achieve should this actually be a public discourse? Or should it have been an internal affairs that the party will hold a very serious Meeting and you know table these things and say mr. President I really want to know where are we going? Do you support me? Do you not support me? Do I run lonely or do I Are we party where are we because you know election? I'm standing election and election is is is not just one leg There's a candidate. There's the party and in this case There's the system which is the government because in some places you may have the party You have the candidate and then they have no control over the government But where there's a party? There's a candidate. There is the government The issue is what is the tripartite relationship between the three of them? And something tells me that something is fundamentally wrong within the camp of the apc And um, I don't know where the problem came from. They are all manner of You know speculations and feed columnist and you know, you know there's many many many things that People bring up and we are asking ourselves Was he a preferred candidate in any way? Did he bulldoze his way as he stepped on toes? There is definitely something wrong internally Something really really wrong And um, I think they need to find a more creative way of bringing out that Because before conspiracy theories starts to nail what I tend to think is happening And again, I think it was very unfair for himself to bring up the issue of cash You know how they've called him mr. Bullion van So you wanted to if I were his strategic advisor I would have let him have the impression that oh no, no, this doesn't bother me All the things have been said so that bullion van thing you were talking about is absolute nonsense because we are executing this Policy this election with our strategy. We are going to win the inside house. You can be saying guys What's happening? But when you come outside and say ah Cash exchange is causing problems Is it that you still have a large stack of Notes old notes that you have not brought out if you have not brought it out Why where are you keeping it and why are you keeping it there? Are you a patriotic nigerian should that be the proper thing to do questions and questions? And they need to be careful the remarks they make because it's going to raise a lot more questions Is it coming? I talk less talk about, you know, the elections and the consents that you have the united states raising Anthony blinkin has said that Um, you know, there will be some restrictions on those who are trying to undermine our democracy and of course The punch says that parties back us Visa ban on election rigors Uh, specifically, uh, you have some parties saying hey, we support this as a welcome development But I like to ask you do you think that you know in its real sense that the united states is really, uh, you know In support of our democracy not undermining it that they are committed to this is not just on paper I'll tell you something I've I've traveled so almost uncountable number of times to the united states of america And I will tell you that at the highest level of the governmental operations Nigeria is a major You know focus on their policies Nigeria has the largest enlightened immigrant settlement in the united states in the whole world Nigerians Aside from that the population of Nigeria in africa which is the next frontier Is not so that you can dismiss with the wave of the hand If anything goes wrong in nigeria god forbid it will affect the economy of america Directly directly not indirectly The number of people that will be seeking asylum from nigeria the whole of the west african subregion is going to get Unsettled and is going to affect the rest of the world So whatever goes on the peace and stability of nigeria is important to the international community Now what I would tell you is that they may not want the sort of peace that leads to progress Because the progress of nigeria in my opinion is a threat to the international communities to a large extent That is why each time we are doing leadership recruitment You really don't see them lining behind look at all the young people that we are having look at all the you know if you listen to setting candidates whether it is that of A dc or that of sdp or other young they are young Vibrant people that if the american government wanted to give them strategic support for them to come up and give nigeria Focus leadership. They know what to do I tell you this with every sense of responsibility Even a state like acquai bomb state, which is extremely important You know to the economy of nigeria not to talk of the global they will do everything But Ezekiel, I mean, you said that, you know, if you look at the policy and that's what it says, Nigeria has a stake in whatever you bought, this is not the first time I'm hearing this statement from the United States and we're asking how many persons have been banned, how many visas have been restricted of these persons. I mean, public, especially where we're in an era where the social media is there. And of course, they also have the observance every other time monitoring the election. So you can't tell me. Is this not just another lip service, you know, trying to be the big brother of the world? You know, there's the way things work. I always say, say it. I always say it. Mine is, say it. Because there's something in the Bible that I believe. The Bible says that a man is ensnared by the words of his mouth. Say it first. You understand me? It's something that goes beyond the natural. Say it first, because it's easier to activate what has been instigated than for you to start from the beginning what has never been pronounced. So for me, say it and you know, times and seasons come. You know, it's like the politics in Nigeria, you know, it's not going to be, not going to be, and all of a sudden you discover that it happens. So just say it. For me, I'm happy that they're saying it because it will be easier to activate what they have said. So I really don't have any problem. There's a lot of, you know, we need leaders who understand world politics. When we have leaders that understand world politics, they will know what extent to go with what Americans say or the British say. They will know that our success is a threat of some sort to them. They will know that we cannot live our lives in their hands. They will know that they need us as much as we need them, but that they are not going to make us as good, not to talk about being better than they are. That's why when we go to China and try to see China helping out, boring out, we need to know that there are lines that the Chinese will not cross. They think of themselves first, just like we say Nigeria first, Americans America first. So there's an extent to which somebody is going to help you. You've got to know that as a leader and know how to play the game. We have people who are in positions of leadership who don't understand global politics, global leadership, you know, strategies and dynamics. You've got to know these things so that when you go to somebody, you know that that guy is not going to love you more than himself. So you've got to know where to draw lines and not to think that, oh, you can leave your hands in the hands of another person, lie. Alright, Ezekiel, thank you very much. Let's look at another story, a very interesting one on the front page of leadership. I mean, these days, it seems that Egypt has become a reference point in Nigerian political discussions. So in discussions surrounding electricity, power supply in Nigeria, we will always look at Egypt. I think it's became more popular or popularized by a particular presidential candidate, if I'm not mistaken. But the paper, the leadership is telling us on this front page, Nigeria, Egypt, Agriyan joined electricity development. It says that both countries signed an MOU to enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of electricity and renewable energy. The Egyptian Minutes of Electricity, you have a Minutes of Electricity. Muhammad Shakir and Nigerian counterpart, Abu Bakr, Liu signed the document according to a statement by the Egyptian ministry on the 24th of January. So he's a minister of state for works and housing. What are your thoughts on this? Yeah, two things. You know, we get people who get into power without really knowing the essence of seeking public office outside of state capture. One of the most basic, most fundamental, most problematic issues that we've had to deal with as a country is the issue of power. You come into government. The very first thing you do is do two strategic studies. First is your peculiar situation, and the second is best corporate practice or global practice. Those two things. When you've studied your peculiar situation, your needs, your limitations, and then you study the best global practice, you marry the two and see what you can take from it to be able to solve your problem. Now it takes you seven and a half years to know a country not far from you that is getting the power problem right. It now takes a presidential candidate to go and study that, to now bring up new ideas on what is possible, and now you are at the twilight of your exit trying to forge an agreement and understanding after seven and a half years, not even seven and a half, seven and a half plus nineteen because if you want to get into power, you don't wait till you get into power. Like now, I can tell you a lot of things about the quiet bomb state because before getting into power and doing a lot of strategic study from 1999 and beyond. So I have perspective knowledge, and then you now get into power where you can situate things so that the things you thought were not really seven and a half years after, some weeks so to speak, to your exiting power, you now realize, oh, there's Egypt that is doing right and we can copy from them. I think they should just quietly leave all these things and let us have good election, good transition, and let the people that come in start, all these new things that the new jet things that, oh, we were the one that started this before we left office, all those is a balderdash that doesn't get to me. I actually get very infuriated by some of these things. Please forget new projects, forget new anything. Do what they call finishing strong. That's what you should be doing now. Go and do a profiling of all your events, your activities, and then group them into ABC. A is the one you must complete, no matter what happens. B is the one that is necessary, you do everything. C is where you say you cut your losses, leave them out. You have just weeks to go. So don't be duking, thinking of new things. You don't have enough time for you to consolidate on your A's and then you are now going to B and then C, starting something new. In fact, D, because that's like a new engagement. I know government is a continuum, but I think that wisdom is profitable to direct, like the Bible says, go and how to finish strong. That should be the policy of this administration as of today. Just to make a correction, then, of course, Minister of State for Works and Housing, he actually was appointed in 2021, a broker at DLU, as a minister of power, September 2021, 2021 by President Mohamed Buhari. Well, just in a minute or less than a minute, let's share your thoughts on this one. It's on the punch as well. He talks about banks, ration, new notes. Amir Fili, Sean's reps, by the way, I mean, there's several quarters. A lot of persons anticipated that there will be an extension as to the swapping of the notes, the new Naira with the old Naira. But listening to the CBN governor, he said he had no good news for those persons who were anticipating and it is what it is. How do you react to this headline? The very first thing is that I go to banking hall and the note counting areas and they are empty. I don't understand what is going on. The only thing I can arrive at is that there are people that have these tons and tons of money they cannot afford to bring out. There's been enough time and let me tell Nigerians that there will be no extension. If any extension will be done with far after the election. But you see for this election, all the people that have put money to buy votes, they don't have a voicemail, it's not going to work. MFLA is not going to change. The best it can do is to say, okay, I extend by another one week. Quote me well. But to say that they will leave that indefinitely and you use old notes to go and do a election is not going to happen. I can tell you that without batting an eyelid. So for me, the banking halls are still empty. The note counting rooms are empty and you are complaining. I can understand that or PVC collection where you go. You can see long queues. Please tell me your reason for wanting an extension. Go to any bank, go to the bank counting rooms. Because you discover that I've done that myself. So the question, who has a problem? And why does the person have a problem? They go answer that question, they will answer. All those that have money in their way. That money is going to soak away. That's what's going to happen to that money. Thank you, Ezekiel, we have to go. Thank you so much for your time. It's been a thrill having you and hopefully hoping to have you again next time. Appreciate your time, sir. Thank you, thank you. God bless the two of you. You too, you too, you too. Well, that's the size of it. On off the press, we take a break when we return. We'll be looking at our first major conversation and the issue of local government autonomy. Again, it's back on our table for a conversation. At this point, it's not a positive because you have state houses of assembly rejecting that particular bill seeking autonomy for local government. Please stay with us.