 Two weeks after President Balatino will promise to unify the nation's multiple exchange rates, the CBN has reportedly directed deposit money banks to remove the rate cap on the Naira at the investor's and expert's window of the foreign exchange market, to allow for a free float of the Naira against the dollar and other global currencies. We'll be taking an in-depth look at this on the breakfast this morning. Nearly 3,800 people died on migration routes within and from the Middle East and North Africa region last year. The highest number since 2017, when 4,255 deaths were recorded, according to newly released data from the International Organization for Migration's Missing Migrants Project. This morning, we're going to be looking at how the International Organization for Migration is fighting issues and endangering migrants. And we'll be taking a look at the front pages of some national dailies and up the press where we have an analyst join us to look at them critically. You're welcome. To the breakfast, good morning to you. I am Maureen Menomezidi. And I am Yamgoul Aguay. So glad to have you join us this Thursday morning. We're hoping that you're going to have a wonderful day. On the island, there were showers of blessings. I don't know what happened where you are, but here it was rain. When I was living in the mainland, it hadn't started raining. But in the course of my journey, it started to drizzle and then it began to rain when I got to the island. And you know how it is on the island. Yeah, we started seeing the rain when we got to as far as the Third Mainland Bridge. And you know what it means when it rains in Lagos. The traffic situation is always something else. It's crazy. So wherever you are, you have to leave now. If you were hoping to leave at eight o'clock or nine o'clock, you have to leave now so that you get to where you are. You need to get to the island. Most places are usually flooded or at least the water level. When you're going into the island, it's always really high. So wherever you are, you have to start making that journey right now. Yeah, but of course, if you're new in Lagos, that's when this information may really be very important to you. But if you're not new in Lagos and you don't know what to do already, you're your own. You're on the very long thing. All right, our very first tap trending today. Former Speaker Bajabi Amila has resigned from House of Representatives. Nyambu, yesterday you were asking the question. Has he supposed to be able to combine the two? Yeah, yeah, no. And he has done the needful. He has resigned. I just don't know why he had to resign and become the chief of staff. Is it because of loyalty to the president, Tinobu? Because he has been a very loyal person to Tinobu since 1999. Is it because of that loyalty or is it because we have now rated the office of the chief of staff, which to me is not as great as being a lawmaker, to that status where you can resign a one-time speaker, the immediate past speaker, resigns as a lawmaker that has been elected into office to come and be a chief of staff? I mean, what really is the importance of that position that someone will leave lawmaking to come and occupy? Perhaps the question is why is it important to him that he should occupy that office? That is the question. So maybe Nigerians have made. Why is it important to him? This is a very urgent question you're asking. And you've already preferred some of the answer to it. Is it because of his closeness, loyalty to President Tinobu? Of course, he and Delia Lakke have been with Mr. Tinobu for a very long time. And so you would expect that him being the president now, they would really want to rally around him closely, closer than being in the legislature while he's an executive. I think that's what's playing out. He wants to be in the executive with him, close enough to be as helpful as he possibly can. You know, I thought if you're placing your people in various places, strategic positions, you should put those that you trust also in the legislature and then other people in the future. Why did you think he made sure that Fabio was there? Okay, that's another thing. Why did you think it was all that played out with regards to the leadership of the National Assembly? He had vested interest in it. By the way, Fabio said something that is very, in small words, that the same things that Lawan said before he came, or when he came into office, that whatever law needs to be passed, whatever, they are not going to oppose the president. They are going to make sure that they pass the laws, that they need to pass. And the way he said it was just like Lawan was saying that there will be no opposition in any form. It is only the House of Rep Speaker that said whenever it clashes with the interest of the people, they are going to go against the executive. That's what the Speaker of the House of Representatives said, but Fabio seemed to give an open check to the executive that whatever comes, they are going to do it. And another thing that I wanted to ask, if we had a lawyer in the House who would have been, he said that if the fuel subsidy removal needs legislation to back it, they are going to give it. So my question to myself was, so it didn't have legislative backing, and he just went ahead and removed it. Is that supposed to be done? Is that legal even? So if you are going to remove it before you look for legislative backing, that means it's legal. You didn't remove it the way you should remove it, because if it needs legislative backing, they shouldn't have removed it before it. But I don't know, maybe Fabio didn't know that it had legislative backing and all that. Let's see how it plays out. Well, the Independent National Electoral Commission, I think I'm moving from that to say that they will not have to conduct a fresh election to fill the seat of Femi Bajabiamila, who has just resigned from his own set. Okay. They need to do that. They will do that. Let's see how it goes. Will they use beaver? Beaver doesn't, it works for all the levels of offices. It's the presidency that people see. So it should work here. So Sir Larry Constancy 1 should be getting set for that election. So two seats were freed up because of the presidency of Asiwaju Bola Tinobu. One of them was where the wife, Remy Tinobu, used to be the senator. And now, Bajabiamila House of Rebs, that position has been freed up. So two Legos boys or two Legos girls. Oh, Legos boy and girl. I imagine that Mrs Tinobu would want a woman to fill in her space. Yeah, a woman filled in actually. One time deputy governor, what's the name again? But the one time deputy governor, I think under Amboudi was the one who took the position. So she's now the senator. Oh yes, I do remember. All right. So our second top trending, FG, to introduce tuition fees in universities. That federal government is set to introduce fees in federal universities, polytechnics and other tertiary institutions following the signing of the student loan bill. Well, a lot of people applauded the federal government for this loan thing until I read what the Asu president or Sodeke was saying about this whole thing. That the universities, as we have them now, do not have tuition fees as it is. Yeah, they have other fees and all that, but they don't have tuition fees. So if you're introducing loans, student loans and then introducing tuition fees, it might come to the point where students may not even have that kind of opportunity with the loans is supposed to give them to go to school. And if they do go to school, how is the repayment going to be? Are they jobs ready jobs that they can leave school and come and work and have the jobs to pay back? Is their data enough to follow these people and find out that they are working whether in the private sector or they are self employed and all that and all that. So it's a problem, which means it's like they say about the devil. He gives you the right hand and he collects with the left, or gives you the left and collects with the right. I'm trying to bring out a list that I saw in the course of the week. You know, this is not the first time student loan has been brought to forward in our space. As far back as, all right, I want to bring out. There's this list of defaulters way back when they executed the same thing student loans. So this time around, they have to remember, I did say we need to see the modalities of how this is going to play out. And so once we are able to get a look at, we've seen a bit of clarity. And I did say also, they need to create jobs, just as you have rightly stated. There is a need to create jobs so that when the students take these loans, they can pay back the loans. So but it would have been very, very nice if the loans are given to pay for the things that are required in the university now without having to introduce tuition fee, which is not in the university system right now. Because if you're introducing tuition fees and then you're giving loans, it doesn't really make any difference. We're finding it difficult to send our children to school or for people to go to school right now. And then you're saying you're going to help us, but you're going to give us a bill which we did not incur before now. So I don't know. Okay, let me read this. The Nigerian Student Loan Board is regrettably publishing the list of the, particularly of the following Nigerians who gave false address and names of non-existing guarantors to the board when they were students in their respective institutions of higher learning in the country for the purpose of obtaining loans. All right. And so the board hereby appeals to members of the public in general in the appropriate cases where the Nigerians have already been employed, you know, particularly in the list which have been updated, consist of whatever, up to March 31st, 1980. And so they gave a list of students who defaulted in paying back the loans they collected around that time. And so you have names of students in different tertiary institutions. You have those as far back as 1973, 1972. Yeah. This is not the first time we're having Nigerians being given loans to go to school. But obviously we need to work out the modalities, beef it up, make it more reliable and efficient in order to be able to get this, recoup the loans. Yeah. But it starts with making sure that they get jobs afterwards. So I imagine that the president who has reignited this would have also put in plan put in place or be planning to put in place measures to make sure that they get jobs, create jobs. Although we know that it's not the primary responsibility of the government to create jobs, but to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive and create jobs. How are we going to get the data that it will, because loans in Nigeria have always suffered in terms of repayment. We've talked about the agricultural loans, the uncle borrower's program, how many billions were lost to that because people didn't return. We've talked about the trade and money that they were supposed to pay back and all that. Virtually nobody paid back and all that. So what's the reason? Have those things been addressed? I know that on the on democracy day, the president also signed another bill into law of data protection. All right. Excuse me. Data protection. And he said he hopes that that bill that has been signed into law will create up to 500,000 jobs. Within the course of whatever, I don't know, there was no time frame for creation of 500,000 jobs, whether they're going to be in eight years or they are going to be in four years or in two years. I don't know that. But at least he has done something that he hopes will create 500,000 jobs. Well, the fear is we just drop figures all the time. We don't even know how those figures came about. We just drop the figures. If our population, even in this country, they say it's not an accurate figure. It's an imagined figure or an estimated figure. Then what are we talking about? So if they can address all these things and the loans come fine, but let the loans not add the burden to the people. Some are being calling for outright free education. Never mind the loan, all right? Or strengthening of the scholarship. Yeah, some are saying calling for outright. Just as it was back then in the times of Chief Awolowo, that they should give free education instead of this loan. But of course, we know that these loans are not entirely bad. If they're well implemented, if they're well implemented and if students will be able to get jobs when they come up. But as I said, I imagine that the president who is reenacting this would have factored in the need for students to be able to get employed when they finish school so that they can pay. I just read out, albeit not very smoothly, that message from way back when loans were given to people back in the day 72, 1972, 1973. And they were defaulters. And so we don't want to see a situation where this would just be one of those things, like the uncoverer was money and school feeding scheme that didn't fly very well. By the way, did you hear that the central, the governor of the central, former governor of the central bank, or suspended governor of the central bank, said that he was giving out, is it 500 billion? Monthly. Monthly to the humanitarian ministry. We are for the feeding program and for life to be better for Nigerians. I'm sure the president may have done that thinking that he's doing well for Nigeria and trusting the person who is in charge to do the needful. Unfortunately, Nigerians didn't see that 500 billion monthly. The psyche of Nigerians really suffering so much. With all these being revealed all the time, Nigerians surely... And a lot will come. A lot more will come. Exactly. You're watching The Breakfast on Plus TV Africa. We'll give you the weather report and then come back without the press. Stay with us.