to really see the world as he's never seen it before. the dr. know to dw the this week on the 77 percent street debate we had election couple of months ago, and the next 10 days did remove out of soaps, cd. everything is just just too expensive. i have to just pick up 3 jobs to be able to meet the. how are we sure that these people that made up the cobalt, not the same person, so we still handle the resources you need to ask yourself, do we want roads or do we want to be able to buy cheap freedom? sorry. what's wrong with having all of its the hello and welcome back to the 77 percent this week we are in nigeria,

and this country is president when he was elected the 29th may of 2023, and having to an economy in dire straits. in the months since he's been in power, well enough to know who has tried to take measures to uplift or re substitutes that economy. but the young people of this country a thing that their pockets are still not able to sustain what the country is demanding us. so today we are asking is a government able to come to that age when day and christ is? so let me start this conversation by introducing 20 unders, who is an economist. oh, can you just paint a picture of what the economy looks like right now? inflation is really high of a dollar to the now or is um, is now close to a 1000. are it used to be uh, 200 and uh, maybe another 6 years ago. so you can just imagine what it is, the effects on the average, everyday person's pocket. so it's, it's, it is a situation where a lot of people are really going through it and it doesn't look like there is any hope on the rise. and because of the government and trying to you, you know,

get the funds to be able to fix the issues are also removing things like subsidies on petrol subsidies on gas subsidies on their electricity. so it's making it more difficult for my dress actually exist. okay, so because we've introduced the question of subsidies, let's talk about it, right? so, so the government's recently in this country removed fuels subsidies which made the cost of fuel basically triple over night. so 1st of all, before we continued, tell me what the situation with the fuel was before the subsidy removal. i think it was a $197.00 our to the dollar. and now it's about it's close to $500.00 and are so loving about tripled. so that was control the seat around this subsidy, right? let me come to you much and um, the subsidy, remove all of these. that's actually a kind of policy that government has been given to everyone in the country in terms of um, to help reduce the cost of petroleum products. you know, um, however, the government decided to take it out. you know,

that's who have more money to be an excuse is to have more money, it's cairo to develop mental and capital projects. but the question to for ease i do really going to do that in terms of implement projects. it's whatever money comes in from subsidies removal. another question one person might have is why is nigeria a country which is one of the highest oil producing nations in africa needing an oil subsidies? oh, gotcha. cool. helped me understand. we have, well, i got the attribute on the address of the vin and pull that, and then the is too high. if we're going to like manage that, it's bless his soul, the numerous, i'm not drunk, there was more resources. so we've got many to come to the bucket for government to subsidize them, falls on the engines. what it puts on, hey, that's how simple is it going forward. okay, so because you spoke about people living in extreme poverty, one of the reports i read said the 12 percent of the population living in absolute poverty is you're in a julia and that really surprised me. you told me, are you seeing a difference since, you know, as life of getting tougher for people and your agenda listened, you'll covering is issues. what is changing in the, in the society?

no, that's for subsidy. as me remove these ethics and the cost of production. and then to pre know the needs that has need to copy so now can kind of money will come up to is mostly money not to do his business. so it gets worse. now people, the, the gap between the poor and the reach is why didn't people that used to be in the middle class. i've gone now to do know what class, because of this change. the soul could change something that was supposed to help us has made everything was let me hear from the people in the audience. how has your life changed in the last couple of years? are you feeling the economic burden? these are pretty tough to me. everything like when you go to the market to get any pay one, everything is just just too expensive. the house rate has increased. we as a, i used to pay a 1.5 on the islands, but now they've increased it to 2000000. look the jet because the don't kid the own

need to survive to understand the apart. but then we had to, we get those money from a have a son. i have to feed my son. i have to, i have to just pick up 3 jobs to be able to meet the right to be. so you wanted to say something to me. we just come months of could be nights in and we whole on this ton of what's happened during the, the se, sending the menu as the last job. you know, lots of, um, the nice ation in days to close down because the, the couldn't continue to operate but then all the sway notes can see that a tool. so um we just, we had the election couple of months ago and the next 10 days did remove out of soap cd. and of course you may want to have the clips on that. oh, okay. before this period, what the government's putting police, what that the system government puts in place to be able you know what? so how do must said do i do time like days but then that is not say nothing has been done. yeah. but the see, well, i agree with your points,

i wonder. i'd like you to answer this for me because you'll be politics. is it too soon to be judging the government? they've only been a follow for a couple of months. this thing give us time and you might be able to read the benefits. what do you think of that? i think the moment you said i was in politics. i have this heavy stare. um some you know, position politics um and a member of the with party. so i'm literally in a position. and the reality is that the government must 1st i'd meet that it's political parties. mismanagement of the economy has created a situation which has led to the for subsidy removal. the argument that they have made is that it is driven by sept. and the fact that they cannot fund projects. but unfortunately, you haven't pursued this criminals who have been stealing from a commonwealth, and it has hardly been any prosecution of the so called criminal. so you've passed the book on that responsibility of your, in the ability to deal with the 5th and the subsidy scheme to, you know, since citizens will not have to be 3 times more of every other thing that they have

been dealing with. so living expenses have skyrocketed because the biggest price shock that any economy contact it's, it's energy, right, it's, it's a top system to stop. so i'd be situation where we seem to be given the devil ship on one hand. i'm pretending, but we're trying to kill it. so it's a problem for us. okay, i want to hear from a label because you're working with communities at the grassroots right. how is that money festing on the ground is just going to have as the show and id, but i didn't know grace on the president announced it's that same. the price is of everything skyrocketed people that live in rural communities. i need for these right from the time they always, they've always been embedded bunch of the full social security jim because while the government plan to subsidize well on and then you put adults, they don't really enjoy because people in the garage was to buy for more expensive than people in m o button here. why is that?

so people in albany rose by the flow directly from petrol stations. the good you can easily accessible people. you're welcome to get it from. i told patsy by as that send it to them. and jerry con, guidelines and all of that. so eventually they've been buying for your welcoming diesel. 250 now 300 in there. while the whole rest of control is buying for less than $200.00. now people from your welcome, you have to kick off within sales people ex i work in, id becomes on real communities. the benefit largely from the grid of people. well, there's no good realtor give anymore. the people that were coming to just wiggle by say, well, let's go to these combine ship things for them. the comfortable afford to take you take care of themselves. so imagine what do you between these commons you have to do with is a very serious situation. and i think the problem does not come from remove all of subsidies every well, many names are on this done subsidy has to go well now, the mode of which it was removed, the renewal process structures puts in place is almost 2 months later, 3 months later we've not had

a conversation about national minimum wage. that's something that i'm able to touch everybody else. yeah. okay, let's talk about it's right. asian, like you're not doing the minimum wage in this country still remains at such a 1000 tonight ro, which for me was very shocking because that's literally $1.00 or at least just about to dollars every single day. you will not the why was the minimum, we just do to 2000 narrow what systems have you put in place to make sure that the people you are rolling over on the feeling, the brunt of all this on your strategies in court. uh. okay, few months back, they said, i'm going to make public transport illegals. i'm going to use it for people. so old people look, we don't see what's most in the action. we will have up to that bill even gets up to that $30000.00 era. how do you expect them to survive in an economy that's like this? so because we spoke about the minimum wage earlier today, i want to come back to you and ask, is it have been realistic,

even if the government was to say today, all right, we're increasing the minimum wage. people just can't afford it. i've heard a lot of the things that have been said from a lot of the people and so that needs to be an understanding of how economies work and for the to be expenditures that needs to be revenue and the main source of revenue for niger as crude oil at this particular point we have issues around production due to fast and all of many other things. but generally we have never met revenue expectations and maybe in the last 10 years i don't think we've met it. no, you haven't. you're still not meeting your daily obligation to opec of 2000000 barrels. absolutely. so that the challenge and the questions faster, come on, you need to ask yourself, what's the tradeoff? do we want subsidy? do we want to build the economy? do we want roads or do we want to be able to buy cheap? we'll do we want cheap electricity, or do we want to actually improve i economy. now the truth is, sorry,

what's wrong with having all of it? yeah, well you see the thing is when maybe 10 years ago we could afford to do both. when crudo was a $100.00 per barrel and over. and the den president was trying to remove a few a subsidy of a time. and a lot of the people possibly watching us, and maybe even in this panel, went all the way to a jump out to protest, not to have it removed 10 years after trillions of narrow waste that down the line . and now we've removed it and people are still saying, do not remove it. for me, it's something that is possibly a decade. i need to have 2 legs. okay. now the question of course is because people generally do not understand this things. i think the government could have done a better job in explaining it. but is it the right thing to do? absolutely, we were wasting money to let me explain it right. my petrol tank. i feel it

now about 28000 are. are used to fill it, then what about 8000 are right before subsidy was removed. a 1000 are is pretty much about an meal for me. right? pretty much about a meal. um 28000. now we're still not too excessive, but it's a, it's a huge jump, right? i have more than one car. i tend to fill the tax. hi, olga. my point is my point is if you are keeping subsidy for the people at the bottom of the pyramid who do not have one, i'm do not enjoy this accessories that i'm talking about. then what's the point my up because i'm buying fuel, i am filling my chunk of 8000 doesn't mean i'm going to now go and give access to somebody on the street. i'm still going to keep that money with myself. so if the government sees the right thing to do is to remove this so that they can create infrastructure. i think what we as citizens need to do is engage them of that conversation on where is the gap and what are you using the gap to do as against do

not remove substance. alright, so okay, let's come here this some branding. okay, so it comes in rich revenue from customs because enrich avenue from texas. they can generate revenue from marine or mary time such or, and lots of other things that you can actually do. i need one, if you block the loopholes, you'll set something about corruption, which is essentially all the precedents i've attempted to remove subsidy. imagine i would send you guys a couple of what the hell is a couple. is a couple of you got on the discussion. the president of the government of nigeria that you can bring to justice and then allowed to pull through, like the president said, okay, let me come back to the person who introduced this would couple of. so it's obviously a system that has plagued with very many problems. why should you then and trust the same system to resolve the issues as well? um, so to be told, right, i want us to think differently, you know, about subsidies. 0 is taking a more i,

so at least on these stands to what's driving factories into the when economies on decoupling from china. the americans, for instance, just pass the inflation acts where they wouldn't be spending $460000000000.00. an alternative benji and subsidizing electric vehicles. they want to attract factories back home, right? my argument is, how do you power productivity locally? it's in the popular tibbetts, you went yesterday, the price of diesel is a $1000.00, there are police were floating us else, right? so if the cost of energy continues to hit, the roof would continue to create poverty. your poverty, i mean, makes you to pose the possible now for the eyes to come in because nobody has the spending power to buy whatever they're going to be producing. and i agree that it has been wasted over time. i agree that'd be, has been tested over time. but i think again that we'd have to look critically at the because price shocks and how we can manage them. right. so uh,

but you've said something really interesting which is that the knock on effects of this, it's driving people into desperation into serious, serious poverty. anybody else? what? oh well, you would just holding waiting. okay. let's hear from you. yeah. so speaking, how about the issue of crying positive guys to fail subsidy? i think we need to put the spotlights also on large scale crimes. sometime in june 2022, the m d of and if you see a limited mid 9 drought and national petrow, you on commission of cooperation limits, which is my company now. the empty indicated that the daily consumption of 12 is not about 100 on 3000000 on the test id. now he also indicated that's about $53.00 medium of these. a wander on 3 medium by d is actually being stolen. so that's actually a large scale crime. these things are carried out. the additional us here and the above high rocking interview jobs,

perpetrating describes on me on the notes of the government, me or me know, know about the meal i'm, you know, your goals. so just to bring the conversation back to sense. so we've spoken about what is happening in the country and the set this as having a but 20, i'm coming back to you with the same question i started with. why is this happening in nigeria? you know, we, how is it possible that we're still talking again, subsidizing fuel in an oil rich country. those 2 things don't seem to belong to the same sentence. but general context is when an economy is in a bad state, like the one niger is in, uh, from years and decades of, you know, bad mismanagement, you know, policy mismatch, you know, raisins theft it's, we'll need to take some hard, hard decisions major as glossing here not by one decision, no by one bad president is guarding here by several bad actors. come bringing us here continuously while we are experiencing, in terms of high inflation. bob rhodes, by the infrastructure, it's something that has be paid over 2 decades or 3 decades to be to be real. so

it's not something that we can flip the switch and change around. so the question is, what do we do to fix it? if we're really as excited all really as passion is about making an idea about the i think the real job is in holding government accountable. let me actually ask the person who's in a position, how do you hold the government accountable? you're relaxing here with you. i mean, were joe, can you kind of hold these people to account? so what's the point? i give an example, there's a local government, jeff s and you know, good instinct was increasing today. he's been a risk detained by the dss. today was a ring, you know, he's being mishandled for the last 3 weeks because he's simply asked for the location that is due to his local government. right. and he's being exp, team is being locked up. so the people shouting does, will goodman a comfortable i to sing songs, you'll kind of hold them to account. that's to driving the s u v. 's with the

outcome for executive flying 1st class. definitely not pointing hundreds of aids. i'm flying them across the world for meetings, so we're choking. so if it's really a joke, why you in a position in politics, if you really think nothing can change us, my argument is we need to begin to think, you know, own self interest stuff citizens because the politicians pick you up themselves every time 7 days a week twice on sunday. we have to think selfishly for ourselves. i don't understand. we're our own self interest lives. that's why i'm excited about the young people who are fighting for low school fees. yeah. pursuing their own self interest because the politicians would always take care of themselves. let me hear from gimme a 2nd. let me just give me a 2nd to, to hear from martin because you mentioned self interest in marketing has actually been arrested for criticizing the government. correct? so correct, that's correct, but i, i wanted to really decide do it's iowa because um, when you talk about the accounts, i guess they've been removed. his glasses are serious, very talk about children,

governments like counseling. we've seen a lot of progress in terms of who the governments accountable. so for example, let's have those thoughts with the gen z analysis for their protests in terms of um, and size and size held down governments and put them on these funds to for them to at least get to the point where there was a need to be told before individual employees what we are doing here and expressing ourselves if governmentally since we also who think governments are comfortable saying listen, the subsidy, you removed the digits in the very spot on hogwash, we usually the fixed refineries festival. so that's, we've gone through just but i'm currently, i'm very sorry to interrupt you, but you brought up refineries of the working at the moment is literally fine. every day is working. imagine the same, the examples like what you find out what the look approximately, which is if you look at processing. now if you fix the st. mary's re time for just for a look at the and it will then help to bring the forces of the mind also fly into

play in such a river. that's the forces of the mind supply will then it takes the prices of food on products, which will not make it easily affordable for people. but you didn't do that, you remove subsidy. you spent a lot of money back with the refiners lives to us again, less to that there to find out it would work this year and we haven't seen that happen. your tons of deaf or c. that's account ability wish a full time. and then what's the government's continued to do what it's doing? because for example, including the flow subsidy in 2012, remove all of subsidy incentives. so my do not much done. districts and government was held accountable and people did a couple of things people gets i rested on days, a huge public outcry and government sees what do you agreed to reverse this decision? so us citizens of nigeria on this fund that's poa is still very, very useful. and if we continue to use our voices to tell the governments that this is what we want, and we disagree with your policy,

this particular policy that you're implementing. now, john governments will have no, no other reason than to listen. i'm just, i'm stu okay. so i like that because it brings us really nicely into some solutions, right? we've talked about some of the problems and how they are affecting the society. but if you had the chance to be in those top offices today, what would you do to change things around? i want to hear from some of the young people, 1st the, it's givings and z. let's hear what you have to say. it says, i feel like encouragements, of public opinion, because i usually heard that he was arrested for criticizing the government. okay, so we are citizens, we are and we do not just have the intention to just sit back on for the arms whenever we see things disagree. but especially with the government's actions, we should also be allowed to speak out to so opinions, it should not be condemned because of we feel like we have that the opinions about that interest or just some solution. so whenever we, you know, there's something that's constructive criticism, i feel like we, a citizen should be allowed to constructively, cr decided to go from the government without being condemned to encouragement of

public opinion. cut, also be, you know, used to in has this problem because this is a democratic society and we practice democracy now knowing that dictatorship bundling done us. ok. so should all be allowed to lecture of views and opinions without being honest, there are contempt. yeah. also yeah, i also think that the government should look into a career to more a manufacturing industry, see it and they may be subsidized into i didn't open the board as for explanations . that's, we've got to you create a more job opportunity for the youths and make more money to exports in goods out. so yeah. drama. i wanted to add to what she said. yes. and manufacturing industry make most manufacturing industry so that we can now explore it, which is a beautiful idea. well before that, how about reducing the import due to think it makes sense to do that so that you can reduce the burden on people and also want to add, we have set of said

a lot about accountability. i don't want to, well, transparency to is very important. we need to know what's happening here. you've reviews that you've removed this pro subsidy, which is beautiful. and you said something about the cutoff. how we showed that these people that made up the cobalt, not the same presses that would still handle the resources. how should we so these are issues transfer. i'm going to run. and so talking about all the pros, i think is, is quite straightforward, simple. but no, just like make people feel like the month, uh, like, okay, like this thing is in your hon. protects its mickey will. so we're talking about for a subsidy where always am reactive know products. if you're trying you are planning to remove subsidy, okay. these are the steps of taking national minimum wage be increased and will creates. i've been useless. the energy bosses talk to people engaging people without human beings. eventually everybody wants manager of the work is the way they said we endow song way. says i don't know one engine as well. so we're trying

to remove subsidy. you have ministers, you have to call government you. i mean, you have coffee, look your house of redmond by send them back to the community to them and gives you the village chips that the people tell them when they explain to them. then they'll give you a brief window to perform. what was your engage to make a, what do you feel like they have a piece of cake to come down? okay. a, b, c. you know, there is a system that make it look like the lead us a whole day on the property. got down there was a body, i said you, that'd be space. we don't care about it so that the east looks like a kind of body. the building on what say about we are saying i spoke because citizen us years is look like good traits. notes. would you have bodies look like a traits with you all face it look like a trip to the see should. so we need to remove that. so we can say show, we need to stream the, i do a lot, they should be on the stand in between the, the, the lead us on the people, the meeting. so we need, so l mean maybe that's we need to remove that and they should be, you know,

more sure understanding of what's, what's the, the default blake is say you should because see that us need a notion which will be saying that's the truth. and finally, my issue with government continuously is a designated room parlance where we say we need to pick also this government comes in and decides what going to be 70 social if this government comes is. and that says we're going to be completely democratic. this come it's, it's always a mismatch that we are facing this way tomorrow are going this way. next, the more we turn on, do we go down the middle? it's a continued pick one decision. i'm stick with it, but the people, the people which, which is the most important factor in this entire conversation, need to realize that the people who i government are no gods they came out from us . they need to be held accountable. okay, i think that is a beautiful place to wind up. it was a very complex question that i asked, but i think 20 has tried to sum it up really nicely and i don't the at anything the

for you for watching. i thank you always. and so you next time the, [000:00:00;00]

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