 You're welcome back to the breakfast on Plus TV Africa. It's now time for Off the Press. That's our segment. I will take a look at the stories making headlines across our national dailies. Good morning to you, Mr. Adimullah Akinvola. Thanks for joining us. Thank you. Let's begin with a punch newspaper headlines. Bandits hold 348 students. UNESCO sounds warning as ACF Lampoon's federal government. Parents may no longer prioritize education of children. UNICEF warns federal government. We are the mercy of federal government says governors aid as 83 FCT students held. Kaduna Baptist School invaders confirm 121 victims demand rice, others to feed students. Inflation, devaluation eroding 30,000 Nira minimum wage. TUC others are meant. Reps debate state police bill wants guns for regional outfits. UK Parliament debates Kenya's role in Ndikano's repatriation today. And according to the federal government, wealthy Nigerians, not the poor, benefit from fuel subsidy. Also, Senate raises PIB harmonization panel with reps. Opposition continues. Northern coalition attacks southern governors says Lagos resolutions conspiracy. Leather can boost Nigeria's earnings by 70%, says Oshin Bajo. Bandits Kio 21 burn houses and fresh Katsuna communities invasion. Handle NNPC on bundling with utmost care, NLC tells National Assembly. Rescue a Kio that's police, hunters, OPC, free Oshin abducted travelers. Court remands eight suspected rapists, killers of unilori students. Gone men stop Iqiti farm settlement, abduct four workers, demand 50 million Nira. And lastly on the punch newspaper, Senate plans intervention in alleged encroachment by Ben Republic. All right, moving on to the Daily Sun newspapers. The big one you can see there says reps OK bill for state police. Autumn, southern reps, back regions, governors on power shift, PIB, electoral act. Senate constitutes seven man conference committee on PIB. On Namdi Kanu it says, protect your citizen now Igbo lawyers tell Britain. 2023 presidency, South Ulabi North says for House of Reps members dump PDP for APC. Still on the Daily Sun this morning, Buhari has lost grip on the nation. And also Buhari hails invasion of Igbo's house and arrest of Namdi Kanu. Lastly, Eastern Palm University, Uzadimma, Okorocha renew fight. And the last paper we're taking this morning is the Guardian. It reads, despite crash, cryptocurrency surge threatens financial system. Gone men kill 21% rustle animals, animals in Katsuna. Northern orders groups reject southern governors position on power shift. You've lost grip on leadership, seek foreign help, Kanu tells Buhari. Reps six recovery of 43 billion Naira invites EFCC over financial disparity with Amcon. Court's demand demands jam X registrar in prison over alleged 5.2 billion Naira fraud. Senate sets aside constitutional point of order for donkey business appeal. Mr Akimbala, and thanks again for being here. Taking a look, yes, at the Daily Sun, the punch newspaper and the Guardian. We're seeing stories about reactions from the North regarding the Southern Governors Forum. We'll also see stories about insecurity, especially on the punch newspaper, lots of stories about students being kidnapped, kidnappings in Ikiti, kidnappings in Katsuna here and there. UNESCO here warning that basically, parents might not longer prioritize education of their children. There's also issues of minimum wage, of the police bill, so many others. Where would you like us to begin? Obviously, let's start from the response that the North Korean elites have expectedly made in response to the meeting of Southern Governors. In summary, and I won't just say, things are falling apart in the career. Besides, I've always been there, that we don't have a nation, okay? Anybody referring to Nigeria as a nation is just deceiving him or herself, who always know that this is not a nation. And what the events of the past three days have just proved to us that even the politicians do not believe in the entity called Nigeria, okay? Those who have been elected to lead us to a progressive commission to not believe in Nigeria. And also, what we are seeing in the last 40 hours is also a reflection of how far this government has gone in our time at performing itself in divided countries. No other government has been this divisive, no other government has done so much to fragment the country more than people are in their position. So what the Southern Governors are saying, they are just responding to the President's utterances, his action, and his political opinion that we do not have one nature here, okay? And especially the response from the North at the swift, it's been quite acidic. But what I do not accept is anybody calling the Southern Governors conference, that's what the can go. The Southern Governors are just trying to be realistic, even trying to raise onto realities that face us in Nigeria today, okay? So the highlights of their meeting was asking for power shifts. There's nothing new in that. Various individuals in the South, they are clamoring for power rotation. And for the Governors to have come together, the United, it's saying farmers come to the South, it is, we are interested months ahead of us. So these are not what we should be having in this country at this point in time. Of course, the things that our leaders are pursuing, I guess it's time for us to do the controls, okay? The rank call, the division, the pack fighting, the autistic tendencies of this government, every negative that poses after doing it at the time, okay? And the question is, when you have a nation divided along this political line, how can the armed forces successfully fight in selection? How can they fight kidnapping? How can they fight by nature? It's not going to work, because the person in the armed forces, they are human beings, they are also listening to what is going on, they are watching the TV, and they know that look, there's a limit to which I can commit my life, there's a limit to which I can put my life on the line for the so-called country called Nigeria. So we are in a deep, deep, deep, deep mess as a nation. And unfortunately, the president has not shown a lot of seriousness in terms of being able to unite the country. It is just kind of fascinating. And when there's no unity, there can't be room. When there's no peace, there can't be development. When there's no unity, there can't be development. So I do not see how this will not knock off all the economy. Because all over the world respond to things like this. When there is so much anxiety, everybody is afraid, with just to be in Nigeria in two years' time, investors will not come to such a country. As all of us, we are fed inflation, we are fed exchange rate. So these are issues that have far-reaching implications beyond what we can see now. And that is just quite unfortunate. All right, let's also talk about one of the stories on the sun, and that is from Igbo Lawyers asking Britain to protect Namdi Kanu. We had earlier spoken a little bit about it. You know, what role do you think the UK can play with regards to this case? There's also gonna be, he is one of the things that we'll be spoken about in the UK Parliament today. But do they have good enough reasons for asking the UK to step in and protect their citizen? It's one more thing that the UK government can do with Kanu's case, but it has two requests for a fair trial. Okay? Kanu is a pretty citizen, so he's also a Niger citizen. And the Nigerian state has limited fees to get him arrested, allegedly, for committing some offense in the UK state. The UK government cannot ask the French government to release Kanu. The best they can do is to request for a speedy and equitable trial. They cannot do anything like that. The debate today definitely will be around political lines, okay? But I'm a Nigerian who, with sentiments, they want to look at circumstances of his arrest rather than what government has accused him of doing. So Kanu's trial is going to be a very long one. Tristan's able federal trials don't come to an end like that. I see the trial going as far as 2022, okay? Because it's more of a political trial, okay? And let's try to recall by the certain government. If a certain president imagines in 2023, the Kanu, if eventually he's jailed, may regain his freedom. So you look at the dynamics, okay? The worst thing the government has done in the past one week is to even send a ghost as the way they did recklessly and the situationally, and also to practically kidnap Kanu and bring them back to Nigeria. These are things that the political leaders of the South will not follow their hands and be watching, okay? So we need to know that you can go back as little as you can say is better, okay? Diplomatic reasons will prevail. Depends, they can do this for a period of look. Let this guy have open trial, let him have access to slayers, let him have access to fairness, let the rule of law prevail. They can't do more like that. So if you're not asking you can go back to protect Kanu, let us ask those slayers. Where were they when Kanu was busy running in the country? Where was the UK government and where were these slayers? When it was calling Nigeria a zoo and stuff like that, okay? So for every action that we have back upon as human beings, we must be great to face the consequences. All I say is that the rule of law must prevail, okay? In Kanu's case, yeah. All right, so Ms. Akinbola, the headline on the daily Sun newspaper says, reps okay bill for state police. Would you say this basically is long overdue? We've been talking about, you know, having state police localizing security and law enforcement in Nigeria. And now finally, it's past second reading, they said states would now be able to create state police and all, you know, regional security outfits would be legalized. So this basically would allow for an amendment of the 1999 constitution to allow for this. So would you say this is long overdue and how do you think it might affect our fight against insecurity? Or rather we discussed in fact the long term viability of that bill, I don't see it by many cities. I don't see that because that's not what the government wants. That is not what the government wants. This government doesn't want state police. So that bill, I don't see it by many cities. As to why, I mean, so if it's not overdue, yes, it's salary, yes it's not overdue because the government has proved over and over again that it has lost control. Okay, and we have always said, the security sector of the country is to be reject. We need to go back to the basics. As you know, I understand why our technical and other regional security outfit would not be allowed to carry arms. So what would they be doing? They're going to be fighting bandits who are armed. So what, in what way are you going to measure their efficacy? So definitely that bill, as good as it is, as decided what it is for me, I don't see it, so I mean the city, somewhere it's just going to get thrown out. That's what I'm saying, yes. And still on security matters, I want you to comment on this story, the headline on the punch about bandits holding three, four, eight students and a warning by UNESCO that parents may no longer prioritize education of children. This is something I personally was pondering over today. Also I already mentioned the thoughts about it, you know that with the spate of kidnappings we're seeing, if parents pull out their children for their safety, how would it impact the people who we describe as Nigeria's future? Oh, well, we love the cloth. It's a long time ago, when it comes to youth development, okay. All that children in other parts of the country do that, not if we're affected by the people, but they are seeing everything. And what is happening, we are shaking the confidence in Nigeria. And that is why every job present today wants to leave Nigeria, because if it's happening in North, to Morica and to the South, so definitely it's going to affect one parent interest in sending their kids to school in Nigeria, for those who can afford it. And also secondly, it's also going to badly shake the confidence of youth in other parts of the country in the entity called Nigeria, all right. And for air loafing is busy fighting nit-let patches and disusing the main work, okay. I mean, under your watch, all of this stuff. And like I've already said, we are at the stake of non-immobilized and great that nationally security has broken down. What is this of the two? This is the two places in Kathmandu, okay. And we have, we have a contingent of Nigeria police in Kathmandu, we have security officials. So what exactly is going on? So it brings us back to the point I already, in couple weeks ago, that the security forces themselves, they are polarized, they are divided and they are not working together. They do not even believe in the fact that they are fighting. I mean, in the course that they are fighting, they do not. So yes, of course, they don't operate and are going to begin to rethink what is important to send your guests to school and you're not sure if you're just going to come and go my life. So what do you find that there will be a lot of migration? Okay, Ms. Akinvala. I think you will win. Yes, please. Yeah, just still on the same discussion. The Northern Governors meeting, don't you think that they should be the ones, more, they should be the ones louder with the call for state police? Because they are regions that are mostly affected. So how come it is Southern Governors who are pushing for state police? And the Northern Governors don't seem to be making a lot of these calls when they meet. Yes, you got to bring in to remember the facts that the Northern leaders are never really truly care about their people. That's the truth. That is why the poverty level is higher in the Northern part. That's why unemployment is higher and that's why security is higher. The leaders have never really cared. You know, the court over there, you make one man the chief, the all the other people have to cure, to collect money to eat for him. So they've not as never been educated and enlightened to the point of realizing the importance of state police. And the narrative that has been sold to them is that state police is enacted by the South to take over the country. So there's no way that they will never, and that they will never believe in that. You have a very good point. They are the ones that should be more concerned because they are the ones suffering the consequences of insecurity. But they have been sold in Tommy that everything that the South is asking for is a gang of encodes, the girls and girls. So they are not even seen beyond the present, okay? So you are right to say why are they not ones in the forefront of the court for state police? They won't because the leaders there, they are over the years politicizing everything. Every decision is filled with the prism of politics. At the end of the day, what is in it for us? They are not looking at a bigger picture, okay? So I mean, that's down my response to your very valid observation. Yeah, we barely ever get to hear of strong resolutions from Northern Governors meetings, you know, anytime. There's meetings, I think there was one yesterday and there's never really any strong resolutions that point towards their call for a better nation all the time. But let's also, you know, talk about something. What's ACF, I work for, I don't know, that Northern Governors, but what they've already been more concerned with is power shift. If you check their previous communication, the only thing is power shift. And they have a way of saying, the South is going to see that the country, something that should be issued to them. But they have not really acted, and even for the Southern Governors, as good as that communication is, there are two issues that they omitted, whether deliberately or not. The issue of autonomy for local governments and the issue of autonomy for the state judiciaries, those are very important issues that they cleverly suspect. I'm sure, I mean, we will return to that some other time. Okay, so I want us to talk a bit about, you know, the direction that Nigeria's economy is, you know, going right now. On the punch newspaper, we see a story here that says inflation, devaluation. Eroding 30,000 Naira minimum wage. That's the trade union Congress lamenting this saying, you know, even though the president had in April 2019, signing some law, a bill that increased minimum wage from 18,000 Naira to 30,000 Naira, the economic realities of the country, you know, it just makes it difficult for people to survive this stress on economic hardship, the need for additional palliative measures. You know, basically quoting statistics from the MBS, talking about how Nigeria's inflation rate is standing at 17.9%, 3% in May. Just all the economic hardship that Nigeria is facing. We know the struggle to take minimum wage from 18,000 Naira to 30,000 Naira, and even the fact that not all states are implementing this. So do we need another debate about another round of increase of minimum wage or are there key things we need to fix in our economy that just makes things affordable for the common man? Yes, absolutely. Today in Nigeria, even if you fix minimum wage at 100,000 Naira, it must stop the problem. Okay, there's a law in the economy called the Parkinson's Law, which means expenses will always rise to meet income. Okay, so if you fix minimum wage at 100,000 Naira today, prices of goods and services will rise. Okay, to meet that increase. Why we are not addressing the issues as to why the cost of production in Nigeria is to be high. We are not really looking at the issues, okay? We are busy looking at the symptoms, we are not looking at the causes. So truly, money and economic problems has never worked. 100,000 minimum wage cannot survive in Nigeria. As long as there's inflation, okay, scarcity, demand continues to and should supply. Naturally, prices will continue to increase to the cost of producing goods and services. As long as electricity, in terms of the way it is, and people are spending so much money to provide electricity, at most, people are paying so much of their security, at most, as factories are turning their load themselves. These all fit into cost of production, which naturally will push prices up. So even if you make minimum wage at 100,000 Naira, and you do not address the rising costs of producing goods and services, it's not going to work. And that is the more you increase the minimum wage without addressing the issues, inflation will be constant or rising. So if it's like a vicious cycle, we just keep moving on the spot. We are really making progress because we are not addressing the issues. Nigeria, over the years, has believed it's a short-term approach to long-term problems. Okay, you adopt short-term solutions for this long-term problem. Short-term solutions, definitely we give temporary relief. Oh, they have increased salary, everybody's happy. The following month, you realize that everything has come up. So again, you start clamoring for salary increase. So let's go back to the basics. Let us address fundamental issues that to do staff, industrialists, entrepreneurs are grappling with. I cannot be the bureaucratic government of my company. I cannot be the one turning the road, providing electricity, providing water. Okay, and you do not expect me to start all of that into a final price. All right, Mr. Kimbola. So, yeah. All right, I think we can wrap up here this morning. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for the analysis. Have a great day. Have a great day. Have a good day. You too. Thank you. All right, stay with us. We're going to short break when we come back. We're going back in history. I'm going back to the year 1930 to tell you about one of the world's biggest dams. And I'm going back to the year 2005 to share a very sad story in the UK. Do stay with us.