 As Nigeria inches closer to its general elections in 2023, how important are the telecommunications infrastructures to the successful conduct of the public? Also on the breakfast, Lagos State House of Assembly has passed a motion seeking better protection of female children. This is as the world marked the International Day of the Girl Child. We have a discussion on this ahead. And you know the press will have an in-depth analysis of today's major headlines for the national dailies. All right, it's great to have you back on the breakfast Friday on Plus TV Africa. My name is Kofi Bartels and I will pause for quite an interesting discussion on the programme this morning. And I am messy book what's a beautiful day and it's good to know that you're with us as always. All right, we'll start things off and look at the sorts of trending on the social space today. Of course a lot going on. We have to talk about messy. It's been quite interesting monitoring the discussions and we'll start things off with some, I don't know why we can call it good news, coming from the United States, Britain really, you know, and the United States of America. Something about Nigeria's artefacts. During the pre-colonial and colonial era some of the artefacts of Nigerian ethnicities. They're stolen, you know, and taken away to foreign lands. And these artefacts have been a subject of controversy with some people calling for them to be returned to the country. You know, especially, you know, most recently when Queen Elizabeth's death was being marked and the burial activities were on, it was an opportunity to talk about this. And so look at this some more in depth as we go. The Culture and Information Minister, Al-Hajjilay Mohamed, who hasn't been speaking too much, has urged the British museums to follow the example of the Smithsonian Institution, which on Tuesday returned about 29 Benin bronzes to the Nigerian government at a celebratory event in Washington, D.C. You know, the Smithsonian Institution is a very, very, very well-known institution as far as American culture is concerned, and it also curates, you know, the culture of other parts of the world. So it's quite interesting to see the Benin bronzes, mercy, are huge, you know. And there's an interview that was aired on the, what do you call it, the Internet. I think it was by the BBC, one of the British networks, television channels that interviewed the British Culture Minister was asked, will you return the Benin bronzes to Nigeria? I mean, these are really respected all over the world. And people go to the British museums, the American museums to look at them, you know. So what Al-Hajjilay Mohamed is saying is that now that the Smithsonian Institution has returned the ownership of the bronzes to Nigeria, the British Museum, which is one of the biggest in the world, should also do the same. In fact, Al-Hajjilay Mohamed had a lot to appraise for the United States National Museum on African Art, which follows a recent restitution agreement with Germany that included a hand over of two Benin bronzes. Of course, last year's Mohamed's ministry formally did a request, wrote to these people to return the Benin artefacts from the British Museum in London. So we have them scattered all over the world. You can see some of them on your screen right now, and it's good to see that the ownership is me return. The fact that the ownership is me return may mean that they will not be relocated back to the country, but Nigeria will be the one to officially own them, and probably there will be a share of the revenue that comes from these artefacts. So I think you should just go beyond having just a share. There should be some compensation. We're talking about an issue of theft. You stole and you should return it. I mean, what would be the compensation? How many years? How many years to go back? But it's so much for integrity and countries that would say, hey, we're very straight, no corruption and what have you. It's really saddening, and it's a good thing, very commendable that you have the United States returning the Lutah Nigerian artefacts, and we're hoping that everyone will take you, as you rightly mentioned, Kofi, who have these things scattered across. It's very saddening until Africa wakes up, until Nigeria wakes up to understand that it has always been what it has been, the fact that we have been exploited as a continent or exploited as a country. We need to sit back and look at it. I don't know what has happened or what is happening with these countries that they're coming back to understanding the need to return all of this, but I'm almost getting emotional. I put my emotions in check right here, so I don't begin to shed some tears, but it's sad. Wow. I mean, you know what they say, you know what they say, if you're feeling, don't hold back your emotions. No, Akai, I have to go. I have a teacher here. I don't want to tear, but, you know, thinking about it, it's a lot for the continent. Yes, yes. You know, it's a lot for us. Yeah, but I mean, if you want to... No, Kofi, don't do that. Don't do that with me. We need to move on. Yeah. We need to move away. Very, very quickly. All right, so let's move on. So quickly, this is actually not saddening, and I'm sure that I don't have any reason to begin to, you know, be emotional this morning. It's a good one. A lot of people think that it's commendable, but others actually think differently because of what has happened over time with our system, and President Mohammad Buhari swore in Justice Ari Wala, Lukai Ode, as a substantive chief justice of Nigeria. And it might just also be interesting to know that Ari Wala was appointed justice of the Supreme Court on November the 22nd in 2011 by the former president, Goodluck Jonathan. And so, yes, it was a great ceremony. It was something that a lot of people have, you know, talked about. But the controversies and the engagement and the thoughts of Nigerians are not different. And they're saying, for every other time we're close to the election year, we have, you know, different concerns, the issue of whether or not this is also another justice that will be used to truncate, you know, the electioneering process. And what have you, you remember what happened with Walter Noggin? I mean, prior to Walter Noggin and Walter Noggin and all of the system. So all of this for me, I think, is when you get to a point where deficits, there's no longer trust in the system. You begin to experience trust deficits. That's what's going on. I think that that's why Nigerians are reacting differently. It feels like every action that the government takes, everything that the government does. People take it with a pinch of salt. It's almost every move, whether or not is, I mean, you have the fact that a new chief justice of Niger has been sworn in. Who would you think that it would be good? It's another error. It would be a beginning of another dispensation for the judicial system. And some people are already thinking differently. And that's because of antecedent over time and what people have perceived of the judicial system, especially when you also have the executive being really involved with the activities of the judiciary. OK, in different interests, analysis of that messy. So let's move on to the third one. Singer Teni is common to attack Nigerian musician Teni. She calls herself Teni the entertainer. She's been under some sort of attack. She's been under some sort of attack or people have raised issues with with her conduct when she received her national award, her national award, the National Merit Award ceremony in Abuja at the conference centre. The Yerda, I think that should be the international conference centre rather than Abuja. You can see her there as a video showing her walk up to the president to the front. And then, of course, she received the award from the president and then walked back. And some people have said that she didn't, she disrespected the president. Let's call it that. And she should not have disrespected the president. So people have castigated her. Some have rushed to her defense to say that she did nothing wrong. She's been called out for allegedly disrespecting the president. I wish you could have a look at the video. OK, so let's roll the tape and then let's see if Teni actually did disrespect Mr. President. It's an idea of what transpired there. I'll just read a couple of the comments, maybe one. And then, of course, I'll give Ms. a chance to do some analysis on this. This is Abba Bichi. It's a verified account. Verified account. Abba Bichi says, horrible, with zero sense, zero sense. Even Her Excellency Akonjo Boud, down her head as a sign of respect to the president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, likewise other high-ranking government officials who are you not to respect the president, this is disgusting and disturbing. She now, he now goes on to talk about Yoruba people after read this so that people know exactly what is going on. Yoruba people are best known for their respect for elders, but it got to your turn and you decided to be arrogant. I think it's time to read more of the comments. Merci over to you. So, but the thing is, we leave in a climb, not necessarily a climb. I think that everyone is entitled to their thoughts and opinion. Everyone has a right to think whatever it is that they want to think and has a right to believe whatever it is that they want to believe. I really don't know what, at what points do you describe a disrespect to the president? What exactly? Looking at the video, she got the award, she got to the point and then she moved away. It wasn't like the president actually put out his hand for a handshake and then she ignored it. One would say that's a total disrespect. So I really don't understand where disrespect is. I can't really say what it is because we don't know if there's a yardstick that's been put out to describe disrespect. I mean, it depends on every other person. So you have different persons going there, having a handshake or there's a bowing and others are having conversation. Different strokes for different folks, that's what it is. It might just also be different for Teni. And it's quite interesting to note that in all of this Teni hasn't really said anything about what's been going on because the conversation has not ended even after the award, so that's still going on. But she hasn't really come out to say what really it is. So I don't know what we call disrespect. I don't know if there's a yardstick for that, if putting out a handshake would mean a respect. But for the fact that she showed up for that award, it's a lot to say. Showing up to collect or receive the award is a lot of respect. If not, one would say that it was disrespectful that she was awarded or she was nominated for an award and she didn't show up. So showing up already, her presence, there's a lot of respect. But I understand where people are coming from, different cultures, different folks and what a view we totally understand and respect all of that. But that would be my thoughts on this issue. Coffee? Yeah. I'll just, because I'm here, I'm supposed to talk about this. It's my job to talk about this. I'll talk about it with the story of the garbage truck. Have you had the story of the garbage truck? Okay, so this is the story of the garbage truck. Somebody was driving on the road in a car going somewhere, let's say to the airport. And then someone drove a truck, garbage truck and then poured the garbage. You know, garbage truck, how they can pour? They poured the garbage on the path of the car, right? And the driver stopped. Imagine you're going to the airport now. Stopped the vehicle and got out and started ranting. Why did you pour the garbage on my path, you know? And the person in the car said to the passenger, you can't stop this guy, you have to keep moving. All you should have done, say this is the garbage truck. All right, this is the car. I'm sorry, I have to do this. All you should have done was just bypass the garbage truck and continue on your journey. You know, bypass the garbage truck and continue on your journey to the airport. That's all you have to do. All right, sorry, I like to use illustrations. I'll carry this. So that's all you have to do. So the import of this story, as we say in this part of the world, the moral of the story is that when people, when people are moving around with all sorts of garbage in their lives, you know, all those garbage in their, not garbage, garbage, but they have issues. You know, there's a lot of, there are things that are sitting inside of them. They're looking for where to pour it, okay? They're looking for where to dump it and they could just bring it to your doorstep. They could bring on your path to a place, a successful place that all you have to do is just jump and pass. It's just jump and pass, as we say in Nigeria. Avoid them, just move on on your way. So I see all of this as some very unnecessary, very unnecessary, that's why I say the only reason I'll talk about it, because we have to talk about it today, it's important to talk about it. Yes, it is, because a lot of passes are making it. I'm saying that the reason I'm saying I would only dignify this with is because, you know, ordinarily for people in the media space for Teni, it's a non-issue for her. It's a non, why are people raising up issues where we have nothing? At all. So Teni, the entertainer, I hope this gets to you. Please do not dignify this whole unnecessary comment of view or attack with a response. Sometimes people have to do things to trend. If you don't have controversy, how do you trend? So Teni should just do this, seal her lips and continue. The girl did not disrespect the president. At all. She even looked very pleased to be there. Shuki's hand greeted him, said something, and he smiled back. 447 people were being awarded and they were moving them pretty fast, so why? Because the president was not gonna stand for the whole day. 447 people. So they wanted them to go for IMC events, mercy. You want them to go really fast. You want them to move really fast. You know what I'm saying? No, I understand that. So we have to go. Yes, definitely. We have to go. We've taken a break now when we return. We dive straight into the national deadies and look at what they have to say. Please stay with us.