 Abercarie is going nowhere, that's the ruling of a federal high court in a suit seeking to extradite the former super cup to the United States of America. But the judge had more to say, we have analysis of this ahead on the breakfast. It seems oil is not well between the Nigerian graduates from Ukrainian universities and the Nigerian medical council. What exactly are the issues and what is the way forward? We also have in-depth analysis of some of today's newspaper headlines in the press. Very good morning to you, it's a beautiful Tuesday morning which you live from our studios at Victoria Island Ligas. Wet morning, but we're here and we're glad that you are joining us today. Well thank you for joining us as well, I am Messi Boko. And I'm Kofi Botex, welcome. Messi, we are waiting with a bitter breath for news. What are they going to take, is it going to call off the strike in looking at some of the news and the statements coming from both ASU and the federal government. And if you remember, ASU had, the president had mandated the Minister of Education to take over the negotiations from the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Dr Chris Ingege. The Minister of Education being Adamu, Adamu now. Some have said, well, from Ingege to Adamu has been from frying pan to fire, fire. Well, so the decision to extend or to declare total indefinite strike is blue to the students and parents who are hoping and even lecturers that this will be resolved. The strike is in protest against government's failure to release the revitalization funds for the university's failure to release the white paper of the visitation panel to the universities and the failure to deploy the university transparency accountability system, a UTA for the payment of salaries and allowances of lecturers. This is a whole topic that will take more than one hour to unpack. But what are your thoughts on this, Mercy? They have finally made a statement. We didn't have a statement where we heard something has been released. But what are your thoughts on this? Quite a sad one. Well, so there's also a hashtag on Twitter that says that ASU's strike must end. And that's the hashtag. I mean, it would be great to see that ASU strike and that's it in all of it, whatever it is. But one would think that if you look at the education sector, government should understand the dynamics of having an economy or a country that you have education as the bedrock, because I mean, that's what, you know, I grew up to hear that education is the bedrock of every nation, but it feels different and it feels like we're acting contrary to that. I'm wondering whether that particular phrase or statement originated from. Every afternoon, I probably have to find it out and why a lot of persons have not even, you know, leave up to the expectation. So if you look at it to the other, I mean, it's a two-way thing before me, I'm just wondering why an agreement would have been entered in 2009 and was not respected. And so the spokesperson after the meeting, of course, a representative of government had said that 80% of the agreement has been met and they have done X, Y, Z. But you see, it's a trust issue. So the thing like, well, there's no reason why the strike action should still linger. But it's a trust issue here. Would you blame them if ASU says, hey, we do not even believe, we can't even go ahead and say we're calling off the strike because 80% of it has been implemented or 80% issues have been considered. And so we have done X, Y, Z as a collaboration of a payment system. We're doing X, Y, Z and you should go ahead and call off the strike. And people are saying, hey, we're not calling off the strike because 80% is not what we're asking for. We're asking for 100. We've gotten to a point where there's an agreement that has been met. I don't even imagine. I mean, every other time I still, you know, ask myself, are we still talking about 2009? And if you look at the issues that are being raised by ASU, are they really valid? Are there issues that matter? Should it be considered? So in all of this, my take would be that the strike should end. I don't know who has the compromise, but the strike should end for the betterment of the students, because at the end of it, it would be it. And I really feel very sorry for those who are still in the process of trying to acquire a degree, you know, going through the universities and what a view. It becomes quite worrisome. I really feel very sad and very, very sad for them. But I know that some of them have moved on. They've actually decided to acquire a skill. I hear that some people are saying they will not return to school. But whatever the case is, we know that the masses are going through a lot. I mean, these students are suffering. It's time to get them back, you know, to the classrooms and let them go back, go back, you know, to the classroom. So whatever the case is, let the strike end. That's my case. Well, you're absolutely right that the Education Ministry spokesman Ben Gong had said that the federal government had implemented 80% of us whose demands. Now, the question is, is it true? Because, I mean, I spoke to some people out there, say, in the public, say, hey, what do you guys think about this? And people do not believe anything government says. Well, this is a trust issue, wasn't it? Yes, yes, a lot of people do not believe anything government says. But I mean, if it is true that the federal government of Nigeria has implemented about 80% of the demands of ASU, like Ben Gong is saying, then do Nigerians, will Nigerians think it right for ASU to still be on strike and now to even graduate, no pun intended, but to graduate the strike from being an indefinite, a warning strike or an extended strike, to being an indefinite strike? That is a question to be asked Nigerians who have to answer that. But this is what Ben Gong said. He says, quote, as regards the next steps, the government has already inaugurated a committee to harmonize the IPPIS, UTAS and UP3. This will ensure the government will pay with only one payment platform that will harmonize all the technical peculiarities. So he said, if you bring some demands and almost 80% having attended to, there is no need to drag the strike anymore. So this is it. But ASU could argue that you're now coming with another committee to implement what you should just go ahead and just implement. Also, they've, in recent times, said that when they had opportunity to meet with the federal government, they went only to see the Prof. Nimi Breaks Committee. Now, I think that, I think that for the negotiations to move from Crescent again to Adama Adamo, it's been from frying pan to fire. That's what I think. Adama Adamo is a tough nut. He's a tough cookie. At some instances, some will even describe him as a stubborn individual. I'm sorry to use the word snow, disrespect intended to him. But if you remember the last time Nats, the National Association of Nigerians, paid him a curtsy visit over some issues. In fact, this same issue, he was alleged to have worked them out. Do I never saw that as a workout? I just saw that it was a quick dismissal. I mean, he just said, okay, let's talk, okay, we're done, I'm out. But he was alleged to have worked out on them, only for him to call them back and take pictures with them and all that. So he's a hard nut. He's very close to the president, one of those few ministers who would always find, who could find a way to London when the president is on treatment. And of course, he takes no prisoners. So I haven't seen or heard that since the negotiations started, that Adamoa directly met with the Asu negotiating team. I know that he says he's been in talks with people on the phone, probably with Asu officials on the phone, but to meet with them one on one. And I think in a way, maybe the Asu officials, the negotiating team, they've been disappointed that each time they go for negotiations, they've met with the professor in the Mebrics committee. This committee is a committee that was initially set up to negotiate some aspects of what they demand with them. And according to us, they had concluded everything with the professor in the Mebrics committee. And they've also repeatedly said that the federal government is not serious about ending this strike. They've also said each time they've met with the professor in the Mebrics committee, since the education minister took over, what they say is that there's nothing new on the table. They're only coming to beggars to end the strike. That's what Asu keeps saying. They put nothing new on the table. They're only coming to beggars to end the strike. So for the union to call it an indefinite strike now, it means that things definitely got worse. We got some sense of things getting better in the press, in the papers when they were saying that, oh, everything has been sorted out. The minister said, so everything has been sorted out. All that's left is just whether we are to pay them for the months that they've been on strike. But this is probably not to be the case. And this is where we are at the moment. OK, we'll move away from that. We also have more interesting top trending. And another is that suspected quarters kill MCO Luomo's loyalist in Lagos. And that's been generating a lot of reaction. I mean, if you follow the story of you leaving Lagos or outside of Lagos, I'm probably sure you would have stumbled on the video that's made the rounds. It's been very, very, it's a scary video. I mean, you could actually see the action being taken place. It's a time where we have a lot of smartphones out there. And so at a slightest provocation or a slightest incident or event, you could actually see a recording of what's happening. But really, really sad. I mean, this conversation, I would say that is one that we can speak for over and over. There's been a lot of thoughts about this particular one. He's known as Suley, Alaji Suley. That's how he's been called. And you also have him popularly known as Ariko. There in my 12 mile 12 area in Lagos right there. And so tension has not seized from mile 12 as of yesterday. That's according to the report that we have. Well, if you'd like to please are on top of the situation, because you probably would have, please, Van been stationed and having all of that patrol. Now, the fact that it was been reported that there was a cult clash is what worries me. Because if you talk about a cult clash, you would have a group and another group confronting themselves. But this was from the video that made the rounds. You could see an attack on an individual. I mean, like how many peasants? One, two, three, four, five of them or they're about attacking an individual. And so a lot of peasants have said that that's a cult clash. How do you even define that as a cult clash? Because it was really an attack. And we saw that particular video, if I haven't seen it. Well, I mean, for the fact that we can't even put out that video for some reason, we would have actually put that up. But I'm saying that if you see what even transpired, it was beaten, stabbed, machete, what have you, all sort of things until he died. And the reaction on different social media spaces that, oh, those who were making recording of this incident, couldn't they have stopped him? And some people are like, are you crazy? Don't you understand what's going on? I said, yes, they were also reported that those who came out, traders who leave around this access, came out to display their goods, were told not to. They were confronted that they should stay away and all of that. So it feels like the area is tense. That was yesterday's report. But right now, reporters have said that the police present is very much available. And we're hoping that that would make a lot of sense and all of the fear that the people might probably would have disappeared with the presence of the police. That's what it is. But let's say it's a cult clash. People say it's cult and cult-related activities. And this is not just peculiar to legal states. It cuts across because cults and cult-related activities cross the entire state of the Federation. I know that you're itching to say something, so I understand. I'm just enjoying your analysis because you're saying it because where have you had a number of people being killed related to the transfer sector repeatedly like you've had in Lagos state? I always say this. And I'll say this without any reservations. There are 40 years of government in Lagos state, which is the biggest city in Africa and it's said to be the fifth largest economy in the world, in Africa, sorry. You have the federal government, state government, local government, and then the fourth year is the Agbeiro government. I let that sink in. There are 40 years of government in Lagos state. The first one is the federal government, mercy. Second is the state government, third is local government, fourth is Agbeiro government. And that says a lot about the state of things in Lagos state. And obviously we know chat about all people saying the presidential candidate because Tim was always trending yesterday, the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress being a former governor of Lagos state is the one who introduced Agbeiro to Lagos state. That is not true. Tim would not introduce Agbeiro to Lagos state. It's been in existence before time and was enabled by the drop in the Nigerian economic situation, especially when the structural adjustment program kicked in. Some of these boys had to go to the parks or the communities in the cities, the enclaves, had to go into the parks to see how they can make ends meet. But these politicians have seen them as a veritable tool to entrench themselves politically. And it's a cocktail, a very bitter cocktail, very sad, tasteless cocktail of gangsterism, mafia style operations and cultism, laced with politics and unionism. If you go back to the history when I say of the NURTW, you see that several unions around the country from north, south, east, and west decades ago were brought together. And then you ask yourself, how does a group or union move from being a union about the welfare of drivers to becoming a vehicle to tax the tomato cellar on the pavement, the sidewalk, or the wheelbarrow pusher, all right, to now start killing themselves? The history and the trajectory of such incidents has shown that it's usually a battle for supremacy. It's usually a battle for supremacy. Now there are rumors that this man, I recall, was also into cultism as well. What we call cultism, I call it gangsterism, because it's all gangsterism. It's all gangsterism, really, if you look at it in a real sense of the word. And I mean, the connections with government cannot be overlooked. We can't overlook it. If you look at the body language of the legal state government in recent, in the past, when these incidents have read the ugly heads around legal state, when do you expect the government to be working with the police to arrest the leaders of these unions and also the perpetrators of these killings in the violence in different parts of legal state? What do they do? Miss, what do they do? They call them in two hotels. The plushest hotels in legal state and sit them down to create peace amongst them. And then when they have their internal issues and some of the leaders of these unions are sacked, what do they do? They create new offices for them, all right? Create new offices for them. And they give them appointments, you know? So how would you blame, negotiate some of them for saying government is responsible for how bad things have gone? How can you blame them? I mean, so who are the persons that are giving them these appointments and creating jords? These so-called agberos are being given government appointments. So who is giving the appointment to these agberos? You cannot be a leader of a motor park in legal state without government official approval. Now, why would governments sit them down in the hotel as big as I don't mention in the hotel? It's a very expensive hotel. And so let's talk peace. When people have been killed, when the law has been broken, these guys use guns, use knives, use sticks, use cutleries, and all that thing, all those weapons against each other. And they stop public peace. And then you call them and sit them down and say, OK, let's talk here, are you? Stop shooting here, are you? Stop killing now, are you? OK, who is the union leader? I know that there's a place for dial-up. But when people break the law, you prosecute them. No, because I mean, to me- People are being imperfect for stealing chicken. For stealing chicken eggs. For stealing mobile phones. And there are people who go and start shooting in the marketplace. If you follow the syrupy market here and they sit them down. Kofi, if you follow the story of Iniebege, who's actually been out of the prison as he was held. Who is that? Iniebege, the lawyer, Inuyo, I mean, that particular lawyer, we talked about it right here. And he said that a lot of persons are in prison who are just damn prison. And if you look at it, justices have not been served. I mean, because they don't have what it takes. And so the judicial system have not, because some of them are very innocent, but because they've not had the opportunity to be here. But let's even come back to the conversation. In the course of it, you talked about a governor not being responsible what it is. Now it's not even that you would be the one laying the foundation. Because if we can establish, and some persons have established the fact that, yes, this is going on. There are settlements that call these persons to different spaces and say, let's talk about peace. Why are you talking about peace? Why would government be indulging? That's what we're saying. So it's a very compromising situation. That government is abating these persons, crime and criminality, or these gangs, like you want to call it, you know, courts and court-related activities. It's not just specular to Lagos State, but it cuts across different states. But maybe in Lagos States, it takes a different dimension. And because yesterday, a lot of persons said when they saw the video, people queried those who were recording. Why didn't you intervene? And we have that. Apart from those who were carrying out the havoc or carrying out this act, there were also other persons who were watching out for anyone who would intrude. So these persons have become even more powerful than the entire structure. And then governments. I have a question for you. Go ahead. With the last incident that happened here at the coal market, where it was at the Balogu market, demotor that exists, where there was a shooting, sporadic shooting, and people were running helter-skelter. It was, I think, on the weekend or so. And people had to run away. And the market, some parts were closed down because of the public outcry. Certain persons were arrested. Now I want to ask you, have you heard of any prosecution? We never hear of any prosecution. All right, I think I've done well. The truth is, it's not even that particular case. I've not heard. And we never hear of any prosecution. We never hear of bandits. We never hear of terrorists. We've never heard of these persons who commit crime. It feels like, and then that's why you will find a 16-year, 17-year-old getting involved in a kidnap situation. They are kidnapping because they feel like nothing happens. There's really nothing that's going to happen. We're just going to go on, carry out the act, and then move away because there's no body to question us. There's no system to question us. And is that really the case? So I would say that it's a combination of everything. Crime and criminality cannot thrive on its own. It's a system that encourages all of this to happen. I mean, unfortunately, we live in a society where even those who should be calling this short are also part of this gang. I mean, very top-level elites, politicians, and all of that. So what do you even expect? How can justice be meted? How come the security personnel are not effective? And is it that we don't know this person? Because in most cases, we know these persons, but we rather choose to sit down on the table and have conversations with them and negotiate whether law is very explicit about crime and the issue of mother. But we're hoping that this particular situation will be different because the world, I'm sure, is watching. Nigerians are watching in the entire states of the federation. And I know that these persons were captured in video because there was a recording of all of that, that the police would rise up and leave up to their expectation and leave up to the mandate and the reason that they were created. So if a mother was committed, we see those who were involved in mothering. So I don't know if this case gets to court now. We're going to look for, we don't want to, we're both guilty. I don't know, I'm just saying. Are you aware that some time ago, these have been donated a car, a very expensive vehicle to a police air commander in Lagos state? Who? So people are asking for a pay. No, I didn't get that. Are you aware that some time ago, these have been donated a very expensive vehicle to an air commander, police air commander? So what are you saying? So people were asking, have been asking, how will that, the union meant to look into the welfare of the welfare of those in the transportation sector? And some have been asking, how are we able to procure a vehicle for the police and why would the police accept it? So some of these things are, when money is involved, and this we know these things. Should it be when money is involved? We know these things. But what happens to the rule of law and the principle of the rule of law, that no one is a respecter, right? No one is above the law. You know, we have something called the Code of Conduct for Public Offices as well. And it also talks about receiving of gifts. And so let's even say that, how can you have to go arresting these guys when you're collecting gifts from them, like car? Personal car, they bought a personal car for the senior police officer. No, so. Take, not your own, take. No, but let's even say that the law, that particular aspect failed. But what also happens to the rule of law and the principle of it, that no one, no one, when he says that no one is above the law, including the president, no matter how powerful you are, no one is above the law. But you also have in the system where the systems are created to check the excesses, you know, and show that this rule of law is obeyed to the latter. It's just a systemic failure. But we need to move on. Okay, we have some more, of course there was some news, sort of breaking news from the part of Lagos where they call Redemption Camp. And for those of you who are aware of things in the country, Redemption Camp is houses the, what I call the headquarters of the camp, the meeting grounds of one of the biggest churches in the world, the Redeem Christian Church of God. And people start saying, oh, you know, bad news flies fast. The Redemption Camp is on fire. There's an exclusion there. But as time went on, it was clear, the situation became clearer, that the fire got at a gas plant, a gas plant near the Redemption Camp. It's at the Moe bus stop. That's, you know, in your way, between Lagos State and Lagos State, that road has been really down with traffic in recent time. We covered it on the trending segment yesterday. So it was a gas plant, not the church itself or not any of its facilities. You can see the fire raging over there. This is in Lagos State. Moe bus stop is in the Obafemi or Wode, local government area of Lagos State. It was gathered the explosion, caused panic in the area of residents and workers at various institutions within the area had to run helter, skelter to get to safety. So that is that. It's not a Redemption Camp. Even if it's not a Redemption Camp, it's still a sad one. Yeah, someone's business and property. It'll lead us to the conversation about the location of these gas plants everywhere. And sometimes safety is thrown to the dogs. You know, the SWAL DPR, they were in charge of approving gas plants. They have their rules and they have the procedures to follow. I think now that has moved on to the NM DPR, which is a new agency that has succeeded the DPR. They have rules, they have what you should do, but most times it's flouted. I mean, in my work as a journalist in previous times, before I came on Plus TV, I remember there was a case where an estate committee, Residence Association, Merci, wrote to me to pursue and discuss on my program on radio back in the day, the location reciting of a particular gas plant in their vicinity. They didn't want it there, because they said the gas plant was being bothered by ours, but it's so close to it. And they felt that it was impossible for such a gas plant to pass any approval test, you know? So these are some of the issues surrounding this explosion. But apart from that, I mean, you know, apart from the fact that that's a gas plant and it's very close, you know, to the Redemption Camp and a lot of people would, as a yes, you had different reports saying that it was the camp, but of course there were going to be fact-checked and verification to ensure that that's the case. I always say that the incidents and occurrence that we experience in Nigeria is a man-made situation. Unfortunately, we're very, unfortunately, we experience what we experience, but really, we're very lucky, but it's just that we're not careful. It's not a volcanic eruption. It's something that happened due to negligence. I would rather say, apart from the gas plant, because for every time that you have an incident happening, especially a fire explosion, you would know that someone had failed at her responsibility. Someone had done something wrong and those who should check the excesses or check the activities of the other person had failed. So what would you have a gas plant in sensitive areas? It goes beyond the gas plant. I move around. I mean, some days back around the O'Neill axis, I was really bitter about seeing a filling station that's situated around residential area. Now this is not just, this is one out of so many in Lagos state and in different parts of the country. We have a lot of gas station, filling station in residential areas and it's a disaster that is waiting to happen. But before all of these structures are erected, they should follow a procedure. That's what we're saying. There should be some level of approval. Who approves all of the structures? Who approves a gas station to be erected? Where you have people leaving a commercial area or a residential area. It's very dangerous. I mean, that's why you say, oh, environment impact assessment should be carried out. But that's what it is. I mean, once upon a time, prior to now, I find in a certain city where you have a gas station in between a church and also a house, no, a school, imagine what happens when there's an explosion. And so we would say that the devil has come. We'll blame the witches in our villages and anywhere in the world, but fail to understand that we had failed ourselves. But this building, though, just wake up. This gas station doesn't wake up and happen in different spaces and different parts. It's really dangerous. How do you even have a gas station close to school to a residential area? We're supposed to have areas where you have all of the structures erected. But that doesn't happen. What happens to town planning? What happens to the government and other agencies that would have been created because they exist? But everyone seemed to be paying attention, not paying attention to it and looking away. And that's why the disasters have continued to happen. But we're hoping, like always, I'm very hopeful. And I think that we'll get to a point where we do the needful and we will save ourselves all of the debts that we get to experience and not call, you know, the village people and our old parents saying that they might be responsible for what's going on. That's the size of a conversation this morning on top trending. We take a break. When we return, it will be time for us to go through the front pages of the National Daily. We call it off the press. Please stay with us.