 Great to have you back here on the breakfast on plus TV Africa now Let's go to off the press where we have a quick review of the major stories making headlines across Nigeria today I'm kicking off with the punch newspapers just before we introduce our guests should be a screen in a bit and The big one there is talking about the loan request once again. It says National Assembly Defends Buhari's four point nine billion dollars loan plan APC PDP clash over debt All countries engage in deficit financing. We're still within borrowing limits as the Senate Buhari's loans for budget financing not for looting as done by PDP says the ruling party And also says the APC borrowing to finance corrupt lifestyles of his leaders and their cronies alleged the PDP AGF writes 36 governors hints recovery of stamp duty areas and We can also see on the punch this morning bread cereals and others push Food inflation to twenty point three zero percent Nigeria powers up two point three six trillion Naira debt stock in three months also Southern secessionist not different from Boko Haram and I swap says but you'll be a miller I'll be on my eyes for the government's eighty three point five billion our loan for Ogun cargo airport and others Gone men invade Lagos farmhouse kidnapped businessman should pass a buy and the lecturer Sue's song will loop and CP over my COVID-19 test demands 65 million our damages other stories on the punch reps demand probe of customs killings in all your communities and Reconstruction of Otabel Kota road will cost 56 billion Naira says fascia la that's all we can take on the punch this morning Let's go to the daily independent newspaper Europe bad nation agitators bond with iPop worries presidency But Javier Mila said separation is leading nation to destruction says reps to prioritize effort at firming security architecture Above the headline on the daily independence Unibend students kidnapped VC kidnapped in quote Fast how to receive decision on school closure Strike federal government doctors negotiation ends in deadlock Passport seizure ex-rivers governor oddily on EFCC watch list immigration tells court inflation records fifth decline in 2021 drops to seventeen point zero one percent in August Ninja records hundred cholera cases cholera deaths in four months Minister says Nigeria would lift the ban on Twitter in a few days PPP national convention Southwest leaders make strong demand for chairman slot federal government okay, 38.4 billion Naira road projects in Anambra, Binri by Elsa others Southeast National Assembly caucus to interface with federal government others over Namdi Kano All right, so now moving on from the punch to or the daily independence to the leadership Newspapers it says here North Southeast eye presidential ticket Southwest six-party chairmanship Consultations on zoning intensify who going committee begins sitting today It says new chairman can't assume office until secondest leaves or resigns Also strike federal government and the resident doctors agreed to negotiate COVID-19 adobe as unvaccinated workers from offices Okon Joe Weller mixed times world's most 100 most influential people and Also, I quite bum in a blue ocean sign anti-open grazing laws federal government to states no stamp duty recoveries for five years and also Nigeria's that hits 35.5 trillion Naira as APC defends borrowing Let's not take a look at the daily Trust newspaper Naira's free fall continues as an endurance rush to hold dollars one dollar sales at five hundred and 65 Naira Citizens opts for foreign goods at all cost Government officials elites in rush for Forex coys spent 55 billion dollars on foreign consultant and workers 2023 North set to pick PDP ticket as Southwest leaders demand shaman ship Nigeria's debt profile hits 35.4 trillion Naira stamp duty Malami rights 36 governors says no recoveries How fighter jets killed locals in UB state? And those are the stories are looking at this morning. Good morning to our guests public affairs analysts. Mr. Ezekiel. Yeah, I talk Good morning always Pleasure to be on plus TV Africa I want us to begin with the top story on, you know, the punch in his paper And it's about the loan that President Muhammad Abu Hari has written the Senate for he wants to borrow 4.9 billion dollars and it says that's to fund our 2022 budget and that's also to fund infrastructure project across All local government areas of the state The National Assembly is defending the president saying that the Senate is saying that all countries engage in borrowing and debt Financing and they were still within our borrowing limits But the PDP is saying that, you know, this borrowing is just to fund the corrupt lifestyles of Nigeria's president and you know the leadership What do you think? I I'm actually extremely worried really really concerned as Well, those of us that are November 1 out of the 58 so those of us on the higher side We we think of what our children are going to see in future and it bothers me You know, and it also bothers me that a lot of the people in government are people that are far older than myself So my idea 70s and it's I see these guys just don't care about the younger generation It's like let's make our name. Let's do whatever we can do now so that we can make our name Not withstanding that the prognosis the higher implications of the actions when you borrow you borrow to repay and I want to see the end game plan of this administration on repayment of our debt and they keep talking about Infrastructure infrastructure infrastructure To a very great extent this makes sense if the infrastructure is put with first You know emphases on the people In which case we're talking in terms of human capital development. I wish that my government Was borrowing this amount of money to ensure that every single primary school child Introduced to ICT Going into secondary school. They are well equipped for the future and that every Nigerian student in every Statuary institution has a laptop a personalized specialized laptop where programming is Made compulsory whether you read religion you read linguistics. You read history. You are an architect. You read medicine Doesn't matter. You must understand programming because the Nigerian system has been able to look into the next four years six years ten years 15 years and realize that I Ct is the way of the future and then the President is no longer Minister of Petroleum But Minister of ICT, you know, then we can see a thinking of the future of our children But all these though we are borrowed to be infrastructure real program whether it's going to matter about is going to wherever I'm not I'm not okay. I'm not satisfied. So the explanation of oh, we are still within the threshold is pedestrian It doesn't make sense and I think the time has come for us as Nigerians to wise up to take our future in our hands and to determine the leadership trajectory that we must take The time has come when we must start to settle for cerebral governance This political governance has given all that title of the poverty capital of the world The time has come for the youth to wake up and decide what they want their future to be like This is not about protests forget about protests. I'm not it. I'm not a fan of protest It's a time for strategic thinking to ask themselves who is the next leader that we must have let's start from now and change the conversation all right Still on the punch newspapers something pretty interesting on the top right corner. It says from whether be a Mila Southern secessionist not different from Boko Haram and I swap Do you agree? I find that insulting. I find that infuriating. I find that I would say intellectually lazy How can a man at that level make such a statement? It means they have no understanding what so ever of the problem He has no clue as to what is going on. Please. What is the Boko Haram statement? What are they looking for? my understanding is that The Southwest agitators the Southeast agitators are saying Nigeria is not accommodating us on equal partner basis If we cannot be equal partners, let us Have no basis to be a nation Let us go away. That is the bottom line and then a man at the level of the speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Says that that mentality is the same mentality as Boko Haram philosophy or ideology. I Need to be schooled. He needs to come back and let me understand what Boko Haram is because my layman's understanding of Boko Haram to start with is that Western education is seen is wrong is bad And then you equate that with a man who says guys if we are a country let us be equal And if we are can we cannot be equal then let us have our way My brother you guys are in the media. Maybe you know better, but please tell me that those two things are the same I don't think so How dangerous is the narrative like that, you know, and how does this maybe also Absolutely preposterous it infuriating it is disappointing It is difficult for me to not believe that he's been quoted out of context I believe that there must be a context that that has been taken up because I know by Jaby Elmila I know him one-on-one and I know he's cerebral. I know he thinks right. I don't know How that came about but please let him come to the public very early enough and put that record straight That did not come from him Okay, when we look through the papers, we see a story here and that's about a an alleged You know attack by the Nigerian army fighter jets on a community in Yobes state and You know on the daily trust it says how fighter jets killed locals in Yobes and the picture there is very graphic We can see people who have been injured You can see people in a makeshift hospital line on the floor with blood on their backs and you can see doctors They're carrying out, you know minor surgeries on those on those persons and when I took a closer look at the story we see that This actually happened in Yobes state. It's in unisari local government area of Yobes state Buhari community and Local say that they were getting ready to go to the market on Wednesday morning when they suddenly heard the sound of a jet ahead You know above and then it started to shell on the citizens, you know firing at them and nine people died and so many others Sustained injuries, you know in that community. They're sick in treatment now medical attention as a government health facility in gay dam And you know they reached out to the Nigerian army the acting spokesman of the Nigerian army Said that they were yet to receive any report about that incident And it's not the first time that we're hearing something like this that you know There's a alleged bombardment of a community by army forces What's your commentary on this? Mr. Yeah, I talk I don't know where to start with first my my my heart goes out to the civilians or the other people involved That's number one number two is that Sometimes they could be a malfunction on radar tracking device in the sense that maybe the coordinates were not put Right as a result. They went to a wrong target The third is that the conspiracy theory is right in the end, you know, that they are fourth column or fifth columnists You know within the army within the military generally in which case they could do one or two things to just make people to go Against the military those could do those are conspiracy theories But basically my most disappointment is with the spokesperson Who is telling me that something that genius happens and they are yet to get intelligence I Refuse that statement completely Within minutes of such a thing happening The military intelligence must have a red alert a flag Okay On if they don't then there's a major major major problem within ten minutes maximum Of so because there is a tracking, you know It's not about one one one soldier walking along the street and you know and firing sporadically Before any jet takes off. It's not something they do every day They must be a very detailed Operational dynamics that is set up. Are you telling me that one pilot just got into the aircraft and you like a fleet of cars Takes off, you don't know where it's going to and then you're wondering where is this guy? Where's not this guy? I expect that every every every a craft that takes off is Monitor and track at the highest level and any mishap get immediate intel and then the body that the System or the the organization gets what is going on and this is something that happened How long ago I think it's it doesn't doesn't make the the military look good. It doesn't at all. All right, let's also talk about The economy it's in the news at Nigeria's inflation records Fifth decline in 2021. It says it drops to 17.01% in August The reactions to the to this story have been you know, but pretty different Most people are saying that you know, you might you know put those figures out But if it doesn't reflect in the lives of the average Nigerian, then you know, it may not be true or factual You know, we live in a country where we really don't appreciate the place of statistics statistics is very important Absolutely important and it is within the context where you use statistics for planning But when you use statistics of politics It means that you are going to give me figures That are going to like em rattle my brain because I can't seem to by time the inflation is figures are declining First session the second one the third one. It will be obvious that certain things are being done, right? and those things reflect on the lives of the people The average person should feel that yeah, things are getting better But I don't go to the market. I will I will agree But I have constant discussion with my family with my wife with my children with the people I meet And none of them is telling me that the price of goods are coming down None of them is telling me that things are getting better. None of them is telling me that oh Yeah, I can feel some good here and there and yet the the figures are telling me something else I'm not a statistician But something tells me that if things are getting better It should reflect in the life of the average man and the average man that I relate to it on a daily basis They are not telling me that story. So I don't know how to just oppose those They are they are their figures. I think I think is because it's the annual inflation Comparing this yet last year, but the month-to-month inflation, you know has increased Oh Do you also think that your Nigerians are too anxious to see that difference because you know, we're still talking double-digit here Would you know the effects become more obvious when we maybe get a single digital inflation figures When a man is in the theater in ICU You don't talk about anxiety. He's constantly anxious So Nigerians are in the intensive intensive care unit. So we're constantly anxious We just want something that tells us that oh, we are improving. So we're asking the doctor, you know What's going on? And then you want the doctor to come in and you tell them, oh the numbness in my right hand has subsided Okay, that's what you want to tell it and the doctors say oh because of the medicine we gave you yesterday That's what you want. You want to feel something and then tell the doctor. Oh, I'm feeling better And the headache has gone down. We want something we want Nigerians to say Oh, we are feeling better. We are happier Let them get Nigerians. Let the government borrow money to invest on human capital development Let them go. Let them just play down on infrastructure. Don't play down small Let them just cool down. For instance, if the unreal line to maraba or whatever is not done Nobody will die But if there's something that you bring about, you know, to improve the the living standard of the Man on the street by way of health care by way of housing by way of education I think Nigerians will feel better and then successive governments can go more on the infrastructure All right. Thank you. I took um on on the papers this morning, especially on the daily independence There's a story here By line mohammed saying that Nigeria would lift the ban on twitter in a few days We've been talking about this for a while The minister has been making promises back and forth that the twitter ban will be lifted very soon He's been saying this, you know, he gave twitter a list of terms and conditions They have to register with the ncc have a local office in Nigeria But we keep seeing these promises. Well, but it seems that you know, it seems to elude us We've heard another one today. Nigeria to live twitter ban in a few days How soon should we be expecting this and do you see this as a possibility really? You know, my friend my friend told me that his father told him something and I find it very instructive He said may the man who is always trusted never lie against you May the man who is always trusted never lie against you Okay, very instructive the reverse is the case may the man who is never trusted Not be put in a position to speak for the government May the man who is never trusted Never be put in a position to speak for the government I I think that uh, my my my brother is a lie mohammed Needs to ask himself one question. Do Nigerians believe me when I talk the jury is out there Okay, all right um quickly also share your thoughts on the um Anti opum grazing bills that have been signed in certain parts of the country acquire bomb in Inugu and I think in Oshun states Governors seem to be going ahead with their agreements for the 1st of september and um, you know making whatever moves up necessary to protect their people Let me let me say this first. If you don't talk about conjure. Well, I mean, I'm not going to Yes, I want to salute the government of acquire bomb state Who have taken that bold step? I want to salute the government of other states that have also done that I believe that um, it's a right thing to do. I have said it before and I say it again I believe that senbisa forest should not be a threat to us anymore Let the government pull all the money they can from everywhere and invest in turning that That nightmare of Nigerians into the future hope of Nigeria by investing I'm moving every cattle rara and giving them space they put in state of the art infrastructure Because those who are Nigerians I'm always careful to draw that line the Nigerian headsmen They have a right to life and living and they're doing business And just as government supports some other businesses that are done There was a time they gave grants to transporters and things like that. These headsmen they are Nigerians take some bisa forest Pull down the whole system and structure and give them state of the art facilities for them to raid your cattle there Then let the states be able to manage their own resources and so that they're no longer all these clashes and Problems so I welcome what the states are doing and particularly my state They've moved swiftly and I I applaud them for that. All right. Go ahead and speak now in celebration of You know two things first is that There is this agitation Or this seeming Cooperation between the the southwest agitators and the southeast agitators and people are worried They should not be worried The reason is that what I talked about this is that I went with madame okonjo We're allowed to the wall bank to talk about them housing for Nigeria and one of the things that came up was the land use act When we got there world bank itself say Don't bother trying to change it. You will not And madame okonjo. Well, I was one that led that delegation Instead they said walk around it. Walk around it What's instructive is that if people will not allow restructuring to take place Officially and formally people are starting to walk around it. What you're starting to see is That comes out and you're talking in terms of fiscal federalism What you're looking at is that the southwest agitators are starting to come with the southeast agitators And they're starting to say how can we come together and create a platform where we are equal partners So instead of just allowing this fight to go on why don't we sit down as a nation and look at the fundamentals of nationhood Of one of the pillars being justice equity fairness Once we do that, then we would have No taking the wind off the sail of the agitators. This is just commonsensical and it is also right and constitutional Let it be fairness equity But on madame okonjo. We are like I've worked very closely with her and I continue to do that till today And I find out somebody that has made us proud in more ways than one She's a sickler for excellence. She sits on her job She gets the job done. She is target driven. She is fair minded And when she made me the chairman of the federal government 10 000 housing project She the minister was there. She said if I want this project to succeed I want to have the best there and as far as housing is concerned where is architect yaito That guy has made us proud. I want him to anchor this Unfortunately, it was at the tail end of their program and they had to leave But why did she look for architect yaito? She said she wants the best in whatever she does and that's where she is She doesn't care whether you're from the north south east or west She just wants round holes in round pegs in round holes square holes in square pegs And she has taken that to the world state and has told the world that a nigerian She typifies it average nigerian that nigerians Are the best and they know what to do go to any country of the world Look at the top management of any organization to find that the excellence factor there is a nigerian My prayer is that we will bring this excellence factor to be in our country and read all these politicians And bringing cerebral governance people that can turn nigeria around Nigeria can be a different story in less than four years And that is a fact on account of that I want to hail my boss And really really tell her that I'm so proud of her every nigerian every african every woman in the world is proud of her and God bless her Thank you very much. Mr. Ezekiel yaito appreciate your analysis anytime any day. Have a great one Thank you Okay, when I'm going back to history and I'm looking at the year 1932 today the september The 16th of september and it's when a prominent figure in india began a protest fast And of course i'm focusing here in nigeria on something called national identity day We're talking about that after this very short break