 Lecturers abandoning universities leave VCs lecturers others worried. Federal government unveils plans to unbundle TCN into two entities. They'll also be off the press where we'll be looking at headlines that made it to the front pages of some of our national dailies. A very good morning to you and thanks for joining us on the breakfast this morning. My name is Nyam Gul Agadji. Today is the 13th of December 2023. Yesterday was 12th-12th. Today is 13th-12th. We're hoping that it's going to be a wonderful day for you and all of us here on Plus TV Africa. It's a wonderful day. It's about 12 days to Christmas. If you've been singing a song on the 12th day of Christmas and all that, you start singing it today. Let's see what happens from now till then. We hope that this season brings you good luck. This season brings you fulfillment. This season brings you love especially because that's the reason for the season and we're wishing you all that and more. We're taking the top trending immediately. And the top trending are always issues that caught our attention in the course of the last 24 hours. So the first one here is Tinnable Rights Senate 6 confirmation of 19 NPC commissioners. The Senate on Tuesday announced President Bola Tinnable's request seeking the confirmation of the nomination of 19 commissioners of the National Population Commission NPC. Their appointees are Immanuel E. K. from Abia State, Clifford Zira, Adamawa, Chidi Ezo K. Anambra, Issa Buratai, Bornu, Alex O'Kam, Cross River State, Blessing Brumei Atta Guba, Delta. Jermaya Mwakegu Eboni, Tony Ayejeni Edo. Ejike Eze, Enugu, Abubaka Damburam Gombe, Uba Nabue Imu, Dogon Garba, Kaduna, Aminu, Sayawa, Kano, Yuri Afolabi, Kogi. Ola Kunle Zobokola Ogun, Temitayo Oluwatui Ondo, Mary Afan, Platu O'Giri Henry Rivers, and Sani Saleh Taraba. The president also asked the red chamber to confirm the nomination of Bashir Indabawa, Northwest, Enore Se, Amada Su, South-South, and Babaji De Fashino, Southwest as NPC commissioners. The Senate, led by Senator Gotswila Pabio, referred the nomination to the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, to report back in two weeks. Meanwhile, the Senate approved the nomination of Ambassador Desmond Akao, as commissioner representing River State in the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC. The appointment followed the recent passing of the immediate past RMAFC federal commissioner from River State, Asondu Temple. We wish them luck and we hope that the National Population Commission will leave up to its billing and ensure that we get a headcount at least every 10 years, as the case may be, so that we can have good data to plan with. Because we know that without good data, knowing the population of wherever in Nigeria, we may not be able to plan to meet the needs of these people. For instance, if Lagos has 25 million or 20 million, we know what should come to Lagos and what should go to another state that has less than that. So planning is important and data is critical. We wish them well and hope that they will bring the difference, the much needed difference in the NPC. Oshun government begins probe after 18 pupils hospitalized from eating free meal. The Oshun state government has begun an investigation into the reported case of about 18 pupils of James Primary School B. Oshobo, who reportedly landed in the hospital after eating a midday meal set to them under the free school feeding program of the state government. The government also directed the stoppage of further food cooking at the affected school pending the outcome of the investigation. A statement by the state commissioner for information and public enlightenment, obtained in Oshobo on Tuesday, said the governor had demolished a delicate, directed immediate action when the matter was reported to him. According to the statement, the victims have been treated and discharged from the hospital. The statement read, and I quote, Oshun state government has ordered full investigation into the reported cases of food poisoning at St. James Primary School B, a walkway Oshobo. The state governor, Senator Ademola Adelike, subsequent to being informed of the situation by the special advisor on O-Meal, Mrs. Grace Ayodeli, directed the stoppage of further food cooking at the affected school pending the outcome of the investigations. Meanwhile, the affected cooks in the said schools alongside the planning officer for the O-Meal program were summoned to a meeting on Tuesday morning. Additionally, the governor has directed enforcement of food standards and control as well as the auditing of the O-Meal structure to foster further or future occurrences. The government is also setting the medical bills, or settling rather, the medical bills of the affected students, according to the chairman of the local government education authority, Mr. Nathaniel Ojetola. The incident which happened on Monday caused panic, especially among parents of the affected pupils, who shared videos of them on hospital beds, on social media. Now narrating how they became ill, one of the victims said they were served rice with egg after which they started running stool. Also in the video, mothers of the victims said they observed foul smell of the egg their children were served when they returned home from school on Monday. We thank God that it didn't end in a very fatal way. Nothing, no death was recorded. We've heard cases of this nature happening in other places and some people died more than the 19 that we even heard in Oshun state. We do hope that whatever was the problem will be arrested and further occurrences will not happen in that state or anywhere else. The problem may not really be the people who cooked. It may also be the people who cooked, who neglected the expiry dates on some things or some, you know, there could be a fault from somewhere and the sooner it is found out, the better for everybody. So if it is a fault of the cooks, well, let the needful be done. If it is a fault of the people who sold in the market or somewhere along the line, then we do hope that they will find out and it never happens again. The kids must be protected at all times. Now Edo state police has arrested 81 suspects for cultism and others. That was done on Tuesday. They arrested the 81 suspects allegedly involved in various crimes across the state. While parading the suspects, the State Commissioner of Police Mohammed Dankwara said the suspects were arrested in the ongoing clampdown on criminals which began on December 11. He said the suspects were arrested for cultism, car snatching on lawful possession of firearms and kidnapping among others. He said most of the suspects were arrested for cultism, adding that they had intelligence that highly placed individuals were behind the cult group. He wondered anyone either in government or outside supporting cult groups tactically or financially to desist from it because anybody, no matter how highly placed, would be prosecuted. He called on cult groups to desist from their criminal act as the clampdown would continue, noting that there is no benefit to being a cult member. He added that they have intelligence that highly placed people in the state were supporting and were behind these cult groups and once they verified this, they would go after them because they can't make the state ungovernable. He promised to arrest any known cult groups no matter where they may be. Well, for a lot of us this is not really news because for a very long time a lot of people who are in power have been fingered to be members of these cult groups. In fact, that is how some of them win elections. Well, that's conspiracy theory because we may not have names to name. We also know anyway that in some of the states, governors even who fly according to cult jargon, fly the colors of some cult members and openly declare that they belong. So, I don't know, what if in a case where you find culties and their financier is a governor or a commissioner or a minister somewhere or somebody in the presidency and all that, what would you do? People who are part of the people that nominated you for the position that you are having right now or who can at a snap of the finger in a Nigerian way just have you sucked. I do hope that people, officers and men of the Nigeria police and all other agencies will stand up for what is right in spite of anything that might be against them and do the needful. This verification they are talking about, we don't know what kind of verification they will need to get before the needful is done. If these people are arrested, I'm sure some of them will sing and when they sing we will know what the tune will be saying. We do hope that they will not sweep this under the carpet. If they have intelligence that a lot of people highly placed are also financing this, I'm sure there are a few names that have been dropped already. We also had a case where one of the people in the presidency is saying highly placed individuals are sponsoring so many things that are making Nigeria a very fearful place to live in and again I say it is not news to a lot of people. What we want now is if you have this intelligence go after these people let us see that even the highly placed are coming on the hand of the law and they are being prosecuted. If that is done, every other person will stay in line. We wish you luck, whoever is going to be in charge. Whatever cultism is doing to Nigeria, it is more negative than positive. I don't know which positive part it has. Right now I don't know because I'm not a beneficiary but I do know when cultism entered Nigeria it was to fight in discrimination, it was to fight colonial rule more or less. It was to fight against the oppression of the black students or the Nigerian, indigenous students. At least that was the excuse we were given by people of no less standing than Wule Shoyinka who is said to be the father of cultism in Nigeria. So it was like a pressure group, it was like a group that was fighting for the rights of the people who were downtrodden and oppressed. But is that the reason cultism thrives these days? I doubt that and a lot of people will doubt that. But again, if these people are known, let them be fished out and let them face the music and keep our country safe. Now that will be that. We'll just take a break now, possibly look at what the weather is. In so many other places the hamatan is very, very high. In Lagos we're just seeing the signs now. But even with the signs we're still finding it difficult to say for a fact that the rainy season has gone because every now and then there is rain. In fact, last night there was rain in some parts of Lagos and this morning is also threatening. But let's see generally what the weather is and see if we can plan our day around that.