Kogi State government vows to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators of killings in Dekinai local government area. And the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mohamed Usunas Sanusi II, has said Nigeria has never been more divided since the Civil War of 1967 to 1970. This is Plus Politics. My name is Nyam Ghul Aghaji. Governor Yahya Bello of Kogi has vowed to bring the perpetrators behind attacks on the communities in Dekinai local government area of the state to justice. The governor gave the assurance when he led heads of security agencies in the state for an underscored assessment of the communities. The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Edward Onoja, described the attacks as barbaric, though not very frequent in Kogi state. As he said that the invaders stomped the communities' shootings periodically and burning hundreds of houses in the early morning raid. A chieftain of the all-progressive Congress, A.P.C. Ambe, or Ganegu word chairman James Adda, was among those killed in the attack. Many residents said to have fled the communities in the wake of their assault, even as it remains unclear what the reason behind their invasion was. Well, that visit by the deputy governor, Edward Onoja, to the communities will bring you that report now before I introduce my guest. Stay with us. 2018, we only passed through this place to a boundary community in Basa local government. It wasn't as if something happened here in 2018. It happened in a boundary community, but you have to pass through here to get there. And his excellency came down here by himself. And for four years or five years, from 2018 to now, it's five years. There has not been any of such incidents. And this just happened. And as we speak, the military are fully on ground. From the very day that the incident happened, they even forestalled more casualty and more deaths. They've been on ground since then, and they remain on ground. And just like the Commissioner of Police confirmed to you, more deployments by the mobile police and the terrorist squad would also be on ground. That was Mr. Edward Onoja, the deputy governor of Kogi State, talking to us about the unfortunate incident and what has been done so far. We're joined right now by Kingsley Farnwell, the honorable commissioner for information in Kogi State. Thank you so much, sir, for joining us. Thank you very much, sir, for having me, and good evening to you as I'm on the walk. Okay. Well, there is that vow that perpetrators will be brought to book. We'd like to know the situation right now in Kogi State. How far so far? It's a very sad one. I was on the entourage of the deputy governor to Oganenugui in the Kina local government area of the state. And what we saw there was not a good one at all. But, you know, as the government, the primary responsibility of government, especially under the current administration in the state is to ensure security of lives and property. We've been there on the instruction of the governor led by the deputy governor of the state, the state security advisor, all the security chiefs, where all they are yesterday to see, to have a firsthand knowledge of what happened and also work in synergy to ensure that future occurrence is abated. We know that we would get the perpetrators. We are never in doubt about that.   We know that the security agencies in collaboration with the state government officials are gathering a lot of intelligence. And they are making progress. They will be apprehended according to what the governor said. He's not just saying those words in vain. He knows he understands his own security architecture that we will apprehend them and bring them to justice. Just really debilitating a full community or full communities, hundreds of houses as the report goes and people who have been killed and all that. And we are wondering what is the motive behind this? Has any wind been had regarding what the motive is and who the possible suspects could be? Thank you very much. You know, the community people felt some people, I will not mention them, some people orchestrated the violence and the may mean of their people. But, you know, we are going to follow the investigations very closely. We know that there are already clues, but we are leaving that to security operatives who are experts in dealing with those pieces of information and ensuring that they are processed into unraveling the mystery behind the Dastardly Act. So we will leave that to them. You know, the motive, we will also leave that to them. But I want to assure you that we already have clues. We already have clues. We already have information. And we are going to ensure that the security agencies process this information and the perpetrators are apprehended and brought to book. You know, what we saw there yesterday was mind blowing. Houses were bombed. Properties belong to the people of the communities, not just Organa Ilungwe Ilungwe and some other communities were also attacked. And their houses were bombed. Properties worth millions of Naira were also bombed. So it's something that we will not, we will not allow it to just slide like that. As a government, we will ensure that we deal with this holistically and ensure that anyone planning such in future, we know that they will go the way of others. Like the governor will say, if they come in their thousands, they will go back in their zeros. So we are ready on their trail and we are very sure that they will be apprehended. Apart from visit to the place, there was also a stakeholder meeting at the Palace of the Ataigala, who is also the president of the Kogisti Traditional Council. We are all the stakeholders. Mietiala leaders, community leaders, local government, Chiamen, officials of the state government have a very, very fruitful meeting that has also given us a lot of clues and the meeting was very helpful. And we know that apart from giving us the clues to be able to trail and apprehend the perpetrators of the act, it will also guide us in ensuring that we have that possible feature. Okay. We were all glad when we saw that Kogisti governor has been doing a lot of proactive, taking a lot of proactive measures to make sure that the security is intact in Kogisti. And like the deputy governor said, the last time government official passed there was five years ago when a community at the border was attacked. And right now this is happening. Just before the elections, we saw that even a road leading to a community was excavated to prevent these bandits from entering some communities to go and cause havoc and all that. And then we get worried that this thing is happening at the twilight of this administration, which has been so, so proactive when it comes to security matters. Does it mean there has been a shake in the security architecture? Does it mean there has been a problem that has given room for these people to come and operate in their numbers in a community within Kogi that prides itself of being very security conscious? Even in the best societies in the world, you have the breaches of security. As we already told you, something like that happened at a neighboring community five years ago. We are having a repeat now. And what we need to do is to recalibrate our security architecture as a state and make it more robust. Because even the criminals, they are also going into research on how they will beat the security architecture of how they will beat the trap and be able to foment their criminal minded plans. But that's not going to be tells from raising the bar. What we need to do as a government, which is also our responsibility and also why the Arisa government is to raise the bar and ensure that they cannot catch up. With our plans and our security architecture, we will continue to do this as you are aware Kogi remains one of the safest states in the country. It is not just about how we have that some of these things in many of our local government areas and many of our communities, but also how we respond to these issues. Immediately this happened a few days ago. The governor mobilized and rallied all the security agencies to be powerfully present in those communities. And immediately that was witnessed. Even the second wave of attack that was to be launched was aborted by the combined military and other non-military forces that are there. So it shows that we are able to avoid that and we are able to save many lives that would have been lost to the second wave of attack by the criminals. So as a government, we know our responsibility is to secure the people and the governor has never shied away from this. He has invested billions of naira to ensure that we have the best of technology and the best of weapons to be able to fight crime. And we will continue to do that. How would you assess the level of response from the security agencies? Because some people complain. For instance, if I take Elder Leke Begidi, a frontline governorship aspirant under African Democratic Congress, who said that the response of the security agencies was very slow. That a lot of things could have been averted if they had come earlier and all that. Is that really the picture that we see from what happened in Kogi State or was there a different thing that we need to hear about? He said the security agencies did not respond as quickly as they should have. Thank you very much. I'm very sure Elder Leke Begidi doesn't have more information about this than us. And what he has been able to do is to play politics with the blood of the people. I think a time like this requires all of us coming together, bonding together to fight the criminals. Whether you belong to APC, PDP or ADC does not matter. What matters is all of us as a people, all of us as Kogi people come together to fight this criminality. Know that we will be trying to score cheap political points when we have this kind of bloodshed and the whole state is mourning. I think our policy chance would be a bit circumspect and not throw everything into politics. I want to comment on behalf of the state government, the promptness of the security agencies. I just told you they were able to move in swiftly within hours and that's very organic with a very difficult terrain. So for the military and the police and the DSS to be able to access that place so easily and so fast shows the commitment of the security agencies in Kogi state. When we talk about the success story of security in Kogi state, we are simply telling you how we have been able to work closely together with the security agencies to ensure security of our people. So this is not about politics. Politicians should come together. We are talking of the blood of fellow human beings here. They should not play politics with it. Both the military, the police, the civil defense, the DSS, all of them reacted promptly to a vat for the bloodletting. So we want to commend them. Okay, that was going to be my second question, but I'll just go ahead and ask you still to expatiate on what you just said about collaborating with the security agencies. Because if Kogi is this proactive and things get to be done the way they are done, we're wondering what you do differently from other states, for instance, that gives you this opportunity to fight crime and to be so security conscious in your state. What do you do differently? Because security is exclusively for the federal government. So what is it that you do as a state that makes it seamless for you to fight crime in your state? Our security conscious governor recognized very early that you don't win the fight against criminality and violence just with a kinetic approach alone. So we have been able to deploy the non-kinetic approach, such as ensuring that youth in the state are well engaged. You know, many of the youth that are involved in crime are doing that because they don't have means of livelihood. So they are lured into crime, into killing other people to get some blood money. But in Kogi state, we have been able to engage our youths in very productive ventures, and that has taken a good number of them away from crime. Apart from that, we have been able to introduce technology into our crime war in the state. And that has helped us tremendously. And that's why even when you have flashes of kidnapping, it's always very easy to locate, to geolocate where they are, track them down and be able to rescue our people alive without paying ransom. So that's one of the approach that we have been able to use. So apart from that, there is this collaborative approach. You cannot always fight with force all of the time. You engage dialogue. You interrogate some of these issues. You come round the table to discuss with all the stakeholders. And when you are able to do that, it makes security a lot seamless. In our rural communities in Kogi state, Fulani Headsmen and their leaders are part of some of the things that we do in our rural communities. They are invited to be briefed about security approaches and there is collaboration. So it is very difficult to track criminals when criminals intrude their ranks. And that is helping us. A lot of sensitization too. If you enter any village in Kogi state within two minutes, it will be reported to the relevant authorities of government and security agencies. These are some of the things that we have done so we cannot harbor anywhere. Like this attack, as we are made to know, pending the final release of investigations, those people came from another state infiltrated the place in the alias of the day to be able to launch the attack. So we are going to put all of these into recalibrating our security architecture and making it a lot better. So Kogi is far ahead when it comes to security architecture among the states in Nigeria. Okay. Do we have some kind of time element? Do we have some kind of time frame? When matching orders were given that all the security agencies should make sure that these people are presented? What time frame are we looking at to get results? A lot of things is going to happen between now and the realization of that matching order. We are very confident that in a couple of days, weeks, many of them will be apprehended. They've done this before in the state. Even when there was jailbreak in Kogi, it was different. The way the government and the security agencies responded to that, we're able to bring a lot of them back, apprehend a lot of the perpetrators and they have been able to face justice. So I would like to show the people that they should become. The government is working with security agencies to guarantee their security. Apart from that, I saw hope on the faces of the people of Oganane and Lugu when we got there yesterday. I remember that as we entered the community, some people were already putting their mattresses at the back of their motorcycles. But as soon as they saw a government presence, they came back. That's what we do in Kogi State. We do not run away from the back to front. We have a governor who leads from the front and that gives a lot of confidence to the people. I want to assure you, I don't want to give out too much information about this, but I want to assure you that in a couple of days, weeks, they will be apprehended. Okay, in spite of your best efforts, let me comment to you that you have done well, the government of Kogi, and we are hoping that we are going to have these results. But some people are still saying that it might have some political undertone. And even though you say we may not have the motive now and you don't want to divulge that, people have also accused the APC in the state, the ruling party in the state, as being very insensitive because they are going about campaigning even when the state is literally bleeding. So what is your response to this? I know that the campaign or the primaries for the election which is coming up in November was slated for March and April to end in April 17 or there about. And so people are campaigning. But some other people said they expected that the ruling party will halt those campaigns for the state tomorrow, as it were. But you have continued in your campaigns even as the blood of the people flow. I'd like a response to that, please. I want to correct the impression very quickly that there is no campaign right now. We are preparing for primaries. You have candidates most imagine before you can now start campaigning. The candidates of the political parties have not imagined yet, except only parties where you have one man show that there is no competition, no democratic antecedents and all of that. But in the APC and many of the big political parties, apart from the mushroom parties, candidates have not imagined yet. So the question of campaign does not even arise at all. Nobody is campaigning. We are mourning as a state. For the governor to deploy the number two citizen of the state and all the state government apparatus, the local government apparatus, all the security agencies to those places, but this time yesterday, I was still with the deputy governor in Kogi East. So you understand what that means. So we are not campaigning. We cannot even campaign when we lose more than two or three of our citizens to circumstances that are very unfortunate. So that allegation is ludicrous, laughable and very insensitive. It's like a macabre dance on the grave of those who lost their lives and we should discourage that as much as possible. So for the purpose of enlightenment, let me say that there are no campaigns in Kogi State right now. Candidates will emerge. Then through INEC timetable, you can easily verify when campaigns will start. So this is not politics. It has to do with the security of the party. Okay. Thank you for clarifying that because whatever happens and we get the information from whatever quarters will give you the chance to respond to that. But a government is coming. May 29, we're hoping that a new government is coming, federal government now. And security is one of the very, very turning issues that everybody is hoping will be addressed by the next government. What are the key pointers knowing how successful Kogi has been in this security matter as you say? What are some of the pointers that you think the next government should be considering to bring about this much needed security in our country? Thank you very much. The good story here is that there's a very robust relationship between the president-elect, Ashwajibullah Mehti Nubu, and Arstit Gavno, Gavno Yahya Bello. Even the security hierarchy, they understand the place of Alhadi Yahya Bello in the security of Kogi State and they're not centra as a whole because of his commitment, because of his dynamism, because of his bloody-minded approach to ensuring that no chances are not taken in ensuring the security of the people. So I expect a lot of handshake, a lot of notes comparison between the president-elect and the governor to ensure that what has been achieved in Kogi State is replicated across the nation. It is one of the campaign points of the APC in the run-up to the 2023 presidential election. So it is expected that we are going to put that on the front boner and ensure that our people across the country are safe. It is the responsibility, it is going to be the responsibility of the president-elect from May 29 to ensure that the Nigerians are safe. When you look at Bola Mehti Nubu from his success story in Lagos, you would understand that he's one of the people who can identify competent people with capacity to deliver. He has done that in Lagos, he has produced some of the best leaders this nation has witnessed. So we expect that it's going to assemble a team, it's going to assemble a team, the security team of the nation will be proactive. That team will be able to put an end to insolvency and terrorism. And we are very confident that as far as we know, Bola Mehti Nubu will secure Nigeria. I can give that guarantee. Well, the same bet at hand is worth more than a million in the bush. We have seen Kogi and Kogi is succeeding as you are giving us the report now. We also heard those kind of things before 2019 and even 2015 about security and we didn't get to see much, even though it has been said that a lot has been done regarding security, even though we don't see it as much as that. But the ones we already know in Kogi's state, whether it is actually Bola Mehti Nubu that is coming or not, Nigerians should have these pointers at their fingertips. What are some of the strongest ones from the Kogi story, as it were, that you would put out there for whoever is going to come in, whether as a governor or as a president, to consider so that we will start seeing the security of our country from day to day. The positive is that there must be sincerity on the parts of the leadership of the nation or the state of the local government to ensure security. When the people see that sincerity of purpose, when they see commitment of the leader, what's working in Kogi is that you have a leader that is out there leading from the front, he's not hiding behind, he's leading. Five years ago, he went through rivers, he trekked many kilometers around that place that this attack just happened to be able to give confidence to the people, to be able to strongly deterring himself. That's what leaders should do. Before you can be a successful leader, you must circulate. According to the former American president, Abraham Lincoln, you need to circulate. You need to be able to see things yourself. You need to be able to monitor and supervise things yourself. You need to show commitment. You need to show sincerity. You need to show that you are not going to play ethnicity, religious cards when it comes to politics. You must attack it frontally. You must have the confidence that that's the success story in Kogi State. They see sincerity in their leader. He doesn't play politics with it. He doesn't play religious card with it. He doesn't play ethnicity with it. When the governor came in 2016, the most volatile part of the state was Kogi Central, where we have some cells of even international terrorist organizations. But he attacked it frontally. He didn't say, oh, I'm from Kogi Central, so I have to treat it with kid gloves. He talked about the militias that Nigeria needs. And that is the kind of leader that Ebola made to noble is. He's going to confront insecurity frontally. He's going to work with people who have made success stories in their states to be able to achieve that at a national level. So we have confidence from May 29 that a lot will be done to ensure security of life's and property in Nigeria. Yahya Bilu was very sincere in Kogi State. He was leading from the front. He was investing billions in it, in it, but not just putting the money and not supervising it. No, he ensured that you have patrol vans, you have gadgets that will help to track kidnappers and criminals and all that. So we have been able to achieve this. So if we can achieve this in Kogi State, in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious state like Kogi State, why has it been so difficult for you know the story to be replicated at the national level. So you need that kind of the spirit of Al-Haji Yahya Belu to be able to replicate that at the national level. And his political mentor is Bola Metinobu. I had him say many times that the governor of Kogi State, when he looks at the governor of Kogi State, remembers when he was younger that he has a lot of attributes that he loves, including courage, boldness and the readiness to take actions. You know, you need to take certain decisions whether they are palatable or not, whether they are comfortable for you or not. What is most important is to get result. And that is what our governor has been able to do in Kogi State. And that is what we believe that Bola Metinobu will replicate at the national stage, on the national stage from May 29. All of us hope so. This is our country and would like it to be very secure for all of us to be in it. And let's just digress in closing now as we wrap up with you. Though we may not just talk strictly about security, I'd like to know if Yahya Belu leaves now because there's going to be an election in November and he will leave a few weeks or a few months after that. So what will be, in your opinion, the greatest legacies that he's going to leave as a governor who came, who saw and possibly conquered Kogi? The one thing that Huber remembered for is security. He has been able to secure the state. He has been able to respond when there is a breach of peace. He has been able to respond promptly. He has been able to lead from the phone. And that's very important for the people of the state. Apart from that, you would want to remember that the person who addressed the health challenges of the state, when he came on board, even the specialist hospital, which was the biggest owned by the state governments, was in Shambu. And it was like a glorified village clinic. But today he has not only turned that to an international health institution. He has also built a brand new reference hospital in Okene, where you have some facilities that are debuting for the first time in Africa. From information reaching my office, they've started operations today, and it shows that people who need hyperbaric chamber, we have to come to Okene instead of going to Eastern Europe or Western Europe. They have to come to Kogi state. So we can redress that when we show sincerity. And we'll be remembered for that. That is not just in Okene. We have the specialist hospital in Lokoja has been completely turned to, you know, an international medical institution. And apart from the one he built in Okene, there is one in Isolu in the western sanitary district, another one at Gegu in the western sanitary district. We have others in the eastern sanitary district and also in the central sanitary district. So he has been able to show that when the leader is committed to his people, one of the things you need to do is to ensure well-being. When you seek care of the people, that is not enough. You must ensure that they have the best of healthcare facilities, and he has been able to provide that. He also remembered for his contribution to education. Apart from building world-class educational institutions and improving on the institutions that he made on ground, he has also ensured that we have a piece, academic piece in our high institutions. While others go on strike, our high institutions are always working. The issue of a strike does not happen in our institutions. So when you enter either the Kogi State University or the Confluence University of Science and Technology or the Kogi Polytechnic or our high institutions, you know that you are going to finish in record time. So these are some of the legacy that you've remembered for. And that is why already by far, in clear lead, there remains the best to a Fappon II Kogi State. Okay, thank you so much for that. We do hope that that energy will be sustained until these perpetrators of the Bastardly Act are caught, Dastardly Act, rather, are caught and prosecuted. We're waiting for that information. And we wish you well in all the things that you're doing in Kogi. Thank you so much, Honorable Kingsley Farnwell, for coming on the show. Thank you very much for having me. Okay, we've been talking with Honorable Kingsley Farnwell, Commissioner for Information, Kogi State. And we've been talking about the unfortunate event that happened in Kogi State. And right now, we're going to take a quick break when we return. We'll be discussing the statement of a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mohamadu Sanusi, the second on the state of the nation. Stay with us.


What's going on everyone? Sam here at Lay In Sports Garden. Trippin' 22, Pineda Toneris Optic Football Retail. Six box break, number 8, Random Team Style. There's a look again at your random results. As always, you can find those on the websites under the results tab, as well as the link in chat. What are you starting? You need to pause. You can say it.  Three and a half men's rising suns. Hello, Dalvin Cook and Traylon Burks. Yes, there's Jared Goff of Blue Star. He's talking in the last one, right Gary? There's two Gary H's. And one Gary M. Yeah, Gary H, you had the Eagles and Steelers in the last one. I don't remember what Gary M had. He had somebody else. But yeah, you are in twice after that in that. Lamar, holo. There's one more in between this, Andrew, before the H2 select. There's Jonathan Allen. Spencer always with the goffs. Blue Star, Kurt Warner, Cardinals. Mythical, Tyree Kill. Going to the Dolphins. Nice one there, Miami. Going to Ryan B. Congrats, Ryan. 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Cowboys, nice one there. That Blue Star is Kobe Bryant. My favorite card in my PC collection. I have a Ray Lewis. I just posted on Instagram actually yesterday. Josh Pascal. It's a Ray Lewis Pro Bowl used laundry tag. Number two of two from 2012 NT. That's probably my favorite. Plus my dad got me a Ray Lewis auto from 99 Upper Deck. Garrett Wilson, that. So probably those two. Those two are probably tied. Jay Herbo. That's my Herbert. Dominators. Danny Gray. And Nick Benito. Lamar Hollow. Trayvon Walker. Yeah, that's probably my favorite. I have a couple other just like weird ones too. Fran Tarkinsen. I like my weird like obscure game use stuff. Diamond Hands, Mike Evans. I have a Vonte Leech. Game use patch. Brian Robinson, from the same set as the Ray Lewis. I have a numbered one. It's a one of one. It's Ovi McGeley. Dude. Falcon Legend. Fullback. Ovi McGeley. Game use Pro Bowl. Captain's patch. So no, it's the NFC patch from the Pro Bowl. Dude, it's nuts. It's so sick. Wanna buy Ray Allen one of one? I do not. I appreciate it, James, but I will pass. Chris with a couple of personals. Thank you, Chris F. Yeah, what's your favorite card in your PC? Favorite card in my PC. That's Eddie Jacks and Bojack. Brandon Cooks. It is your Ray Allen one of one is pretty awesome though. I will say James. I think it's nasty. Wante Taylor. Oh, I'd say my Drew Brees. You don't have a ton, right? Yeah. Louis Seen. We're trying to change that. Yeah, we're trying. All the weird, I'll try to always keep my eye out and fire it like dollar sales for like weird, funny Ray stuff for you. I either say my McClanahan first film in auto. That's pretty sweet, yeah. Tomorrow, Dave's. Or the Jimmy Johnson auto that I have out of town. What's that from? Oh, the racer. That's Evan Neil, the NASCAR driver. I thought it was like this kind of random, the Cowboys coach. But yeah, that's pretty sweet. Kevon Sibia. The sticker auto is still really nice. You can make a case. 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Yeah, kind of that same idea. Christian Watson, Rated Rookie. Where did you get the Jimmy Johnson from? I pulled it. Yeah, this is Cherokee Parks. Right here. This guy. He's a man, dude. He's good. He's good for a short stretch. Really? From here? Nice. What was it? Like Prism or? Prism, man. Prism, nice. What's the, so it's out of 25? Yeah. What's the pattern? Is it like that rainbow? Miles Garrett, like the red, blue, and yellow one or no? I can't remember off the top of my head. That's Kenneth Walker. It's like blue, nausea hairs. It's, it's a really... Son, Reddick. Cool pattern. I just don't remember like on my head what it is. Martin Emerson. Huh? What do you think it's starting? Rayhound? What? That's Sam Howell. I explained Jackson. There's A.J. Brown. DeMonte White. Uh-oh, Lancer, Purdy. Probably, I don't think Purdy's going to be ready yet. Boy, I'm off. I mean, there's talk set. Darnold might start, dude. Yeah, I might go Darnold. There's Hutch Blue Stars for the Lions. Or David Bell. Five cards from that. Alec Pierce. Yeah, dude, on Wednesday night we were ripping out a case, or like doing these six boxers and resold. There was eight cards in one pack and then there was a sealed pack with nothing in it. It was like, really? Lewis Seen. Jake Ferguson. Give Darnesty a start. Why not? God. Damian Pierce Elite Series. Darnesty, baby. Yes, man. Tony Dorsett Retro Series. That is Trent McDuffie. Duff, Duffie. Keirnan Duffie. Tony Pollard, Tyler Algier. Retro Series is Wes Welker. The Patriots. Romeo Dobbs. Apparently is one of Jordan Love's favorite target training camps. We'll see. Is Romeo Dobbs poised the breakout questionnaire? Romeo Dobbs' revenge story. Yeah, guys. We've got Kyle live on Channel 2 with Personals. If you'd like a personal, it will get ripped tonight. Yeah, no breaks tomorrow. No Personals. No breaks at all tomorrow. We're gearing up for Tuesday. It's the start of our national promo. That is sauce gardener. If you click the banner on the website, it'll give you plenty of information on the national promo. Justin Thule. Should be on the home page. Yes, on the home page. KP, can you pick it? I'll glance, start the season. Marcus Lawrence, Kianta, Ingram. That's probably true, Daria. Donald, yeah, that's true. Donald does work well with CMC. There's a picket rookie. Finally, dude. Put us 11 boxes to get a picket base rookie. Legendary logo is Austin Eckler. Rashad White. Is that a dragon? Is it? I think it's a horse. I think it's supposed to be a horse. Duh. Blue stars, Jalen Ramsey. Duh.  That's Davis Mills. Wake up. I'm going to get it together, bro. It's not, it's 10 o'clock. That is, the last time I looked at the clock, it was when I told you it was 7.30. Super soon? I mean, not really. That's not what I thought about it. Traylon Burks. Time flies here, dude. Really does. We're having fun. If it's for friends or friends. If it's for friends. If it's for friends. If it's for you and me. If it's for anyone. If it's for friends or friends. Down here in the deep blue sea. Down here in the deep blue sea. That's free song. If it's for fire. That burns down the whole town. U is for uranium. Bombs. Actions for no survivors. No, Plankton. That's Mike Gasicki. Yeah, the broken trier. I saw that, the broken trophy thing. That's my house, Jonathan Taylor. Apparently Max Verstappen won the F1 race. But why did the trophy break? It's Cam Taylor Britt. Like Lando Norris did something with like a champagne bottle and like broke the trophy. Devin Lloyd, I didn't really read much into it. I just saw like the, I saw the notification. Damian Pierce. I was like, what? Yeah, I don't know. Interesting to say the least. Robert with some PYR, some personals and John with a couple of national breaks. Blue Star is cool. Oh my god. By like Friday night, I'm going to be like Day 15. Yeah, give it up for, I was doing that when we were doing a full case of this because there's 24 boxes. When we got to the 23rd, I was like, box 23. Give it up for box 23. Of course, Sean was top playing. Get it. Tony Bisselli. He's an old head. Come on, Sean. He slams his champagne bottle on top of the podium to make it guys their Max Trophy was on the edge and it bounced off.  Oh, he must have been so pissed. That's Skyler Thompson. Oh my god. That's not how they work in this. Kyren Williams. Blue Star's DK. Metcalf, that is. Shrimp fried. There's Danny Gray. Preparing things with gold. There's Kyle Hamilton. Blue Star's. 20 safety. What's that? It's a top 20 safety. There's Bresa. Absolutely. All sports news on Instagram. I'm ready to do them at the top 20 safety. So I believe it. Oh, that's good. I didn't know that. There's Kway Walker, Khalil Shakir. That's good. All right, I'm glad that they're like friends and it's not gonna be like dramatic. Light it up, Purdy Rookie. So they say. White hot or red hot rookies, Chris Olave. There's Sam Darnold, Kway Walker. We do, Gooby. We don't have a ton to be honest because we can sign a lot of stuff, right? Diamond Hands, Devonta. I mean, we have a lot of cheaper stuff. Yeah. We have a few higher, like mid tier stuff. Charles Cross. But we don't have a ton right now. Yeah. We basically like revamped the whole front. We just took out like all the bigger stuff and like just shrunk it down to like more smaller. Smaller stuff. Uh, Tyree Kill. It's going to be the only card in the recap, the mythical, nice little short print there for the dolphins. Thank you guys again for the fill. Coming up next is Illusions. Let's go, dude.


Salamu alaikum dear graduating class of 2020. This is Dr. Fadi Aliould, head of the computer science and engineering department. On behalf of the CSE department we'd like to wish you a hearty congratulations on this tremendous accomplishment. We're really proud of what you have achieved and looking forward for what we'll be doing next. We are confident that with your skills, dedication, creativity and energy you'll be able to make this world a better place. We wish you the best in the years to come. Dear professional engineers, congratulations. You have made it. I am proud of you and very happy to be part of your education at the US. My last advice to you while you are waiting for the job market to recover, sharpen your professional skill by taking some certificate programs or join our master program where we have a full scholarship and a stagger. Your ex-professor and ex-classmate and a new colleague, Professor Alay. Dear students, class of 2020. This is Aasem Saghairoun, the associate dean for undergraduate affairs and a faculty member of the CSE department. I would like to congratulate you. It's a huge achievement and I wish you a very successful professional career and please do keep in touch. Congratulations class of spring 2020. It's been two years we've met in some courses in senior design and of course through advising. You've been a good batch. This closes a chapter for you of course but the journey never ends. All the best in all your future choices. Hi guys, this is Dr. Ranz O'Connan. For those of you guys who took my classes 312 or internet computing or deep learning, I want to thank you for all the work you put in and created really really good projects in those courses and hopefully you can learn the stuff you learn. You can apply in your jobs as you're looking for jobs as you go out. So it will a pleasure to have you in my classes. Thank you very much and good luck. Hello class 2020. This is Dr. Khalid. I wish you good luck. Hello everyone. I'm Dr. Usaam Al-Kofahi. As a visiting faculty I may have told you that the systems are communication networks. I want to extend my warmest congratulations to all of you on your graduation and I wish you all the best in your future careers. Graduate class 2020 from computer science and engineering at AUS. Congratulations and all the hard work and successes that you've had over the years. We are proud of you and you have a lot to be proud of as well. I can't wait to hear about all the successes that you will have in the upcoming years. Keep in touch and I wish you all the best. Think outside the box and make the world a better place. This is Dr. Salam Dal. I have taught many of you machine learning and data mining and design and analysis algorithms. I have really enjoyed teaching you.  This is Dr. Tahmish Nabil. I might have taught you programming one and programming two before and most likely I've taught you ethics for automation technology and mobile app development. It was a pleasure working with you as students at AUS. Congratulations for your graduations. Well done. And the award lies ahead as they say. Again it was a pleasure working with you as students and we look forward to continuing working with you as a professional alumni of AUS. I wish you all the best. Salam Aleykum everyone. This is Mr. Tahmish Nabilisi. I have most probably taught all of you one of the hardware labs whether it was the industrial systems lab, the embedded lab, the microcontroller lab, the digital lab or the introduction to computer systems lab. With your graduation I wish you all the best in your next chapter of life. Keep in touch. Congratulations and Hi everyone, I'm Hindul Azayli. I was your lab instructor in internet programming or software engineering and or deep learning courses. It's been an absolute pleasure having you in my labs and getting to know you. I wish you all the best in your upcoming journey and I look forward to hearing about all your successes in the new future inshallah. Please stay in touch and you will be truly missed. Hope I see you again. Hi, I'm Mohamed Newawi, class of spring 2020. I wish you all the best and success in your future. Hope to see you again. Keep in touch. Hi guys and guys, I'm Sameer Alawna. I taught you many courses but I'm pretty sure I taught you CMP220. I'm here to say congratulations for your graduation. May you fly high in your life and success be with you always. Bye. Salam Aleykum. My name is Bessam Abu Khraibi. I'm a senior lab instructor at the computer science and engineering department. Congrats on your graduation. Your graduation in itself during these difficult times only means that you have achieved and earned a well-deserved victory. Congrats on your graduation and I wish you the best of luck. Great class of 2020 on behalf of the CSE department. Mabruk. Congratulations. Mabruk. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations and thank you. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. All the best for later. Mabruk. Congratulations graduates. Mabruk. Congratulations and Mabruk. Mabruk. Congratulations you did it. Congratulations! Congratulations! Congrats to the class of 2020! I wish you the best of luck! Congratulations!


The Supreme Court of Nigeria has restrained the federal government from implementing the February 10th deadline of the old 200, 501,000 Nara notes to stop being legal tender. Three northern states, including Kaduna, Kogi and Zampera, had an emotional ex-party filed on February 3rd, prior to April's courts to host the CBN Nara redesign policy. A seven-month panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice John Okoro, in a unanimous ruling, granted an interim injunction restraining the federal government, the central bank and commercial banks, and all this from implementing the February 10th deadline for the old 200, 500, and 1,000 Nara notes to stop being legal tender. Nara's Nara redesign policy vides harder the scarcity of the new notes continuous to disrupt business activities in markets, restaurants, banks and major sales outlets across Nigeria. But the state of the economy vis-à-vis the Nara crunch and its effect is our focus on the show. Welcome to Business Insights and Plus TV Africa. I am Justin at Kaduna. First off, the Lagos state government says 27.3% of its entire 2023 budget amounted to 482.6 billion Nara or bespent on modern infrastructure. Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget Samuel Igube announced this at a press conference in the Laosa Ikeja. Let's take that report. This briefing paves the way for further analysis of the Lagos state's 2023 budget by officials led by the Commission of Economic Planning and Budget Sam Igube. Christianed budget of continuity, Igube said it was prepared to continue the good works of the Babajidi Sawulu administration. The commissioner explained that 13% of the budget is allocated for provision of affordable and world-class education, healthcare and social services to make the system accessible and affordable for the teaming populace. The aspiration is that Lagos will have reliable and sufficient infrastructure that meets the needs of a 21th century city. The state is totally committed to ensuring that we grow our stock of infrastructure in transportation, in education, health, technology, food processing and sports, amongst others. Igube further gave a breakdown of the budget analysis. We have allocated a total of 552 billion in human capital development representing 31% of the total budget. Included in this is the budget for education of 157 billion, health 149 billion, our personnel costs 228 billion and various other social interventions of about 18 billion. The commissioners for health, education, finance, transportation, works and infrastructure spoke on areas that affect them. We intend to improve government services because government revenue is not just about taxes. When we improve government services, government can charge on its services to the people and people will be happy to pay because they are getting value for money. We are planning to continue to invest in technology in schools. We are planning to continue to build up our science labs, sports facilities and so on and continue training our teachers. Projects like regional road will still continue and we hope that by the grace of God, we should be able to finish that end of this year. Projects like my weekly shower will also try to round off that. The 1.76 trillion euro 2023 budget is made up of 1.020 trillion euro for capital expenditure and 748.097 billion euro for the current expenditure, including debt servicing. Our total revenue dependent budget is estimated at 1.418 trillion euro while the deficit funding requirement is 350.411 billion euro. So welcome back. In the midst of the operational challenges being faced by small businesses, especially in rural areas, a survey showed that point of sale transaction charges jumped 400% in most cities across the country last week. Now the impact of the civilian policy and its attendant cares have frustrated efforts by many Nigerians operating in the nation's cash dependent informal economy to do business, make payment and enjoy certain services. I shall now show you to our ease of business advisory, financial and customer experience consultant who are 25 years working experience in various sectors of the Nigerian economy including banking, ICT, manufacturing, oil and gas and hospitality. He joins us now on this discuss. Many thanks for joining us, Shegu, on Business Insight and Plus TV Africa. Good evening, viewers. Okay, let's start with you, Shegu. How have you been faring concerning cash transactions around your locality? Well, I mean, I think I would be the wrong demographic to explore in this regard because long ago, long before this policy, I had gone cashless personally and I know quite a number of people in my circles have also done the same. So I rarely pay for anything with cash. You would rarely find me with more than maybe 1000 to 2000 dollars of cash at any point in time.  So I'm not affected, you know, I've just been honest. But when looking around here, looking at, you know, the people around me and the experiences that we've seen, it's obviously been a harrowing experience for Nigeria. It's terrible, it's been terrible. People cannot have access to the money that they have in the bank and so what did Joakim say that for the first time, they now understand when accountants write cash in bank, cash at bank, and that's what's cash in hand, that they now know the clear stark difference because you can have money in your bank and start debt in Nigeria, you know. And that's where we are now. So we're in a crisis, really, and we hope that the government can solve this as quickly as possible. All right, Shagu, one question that is on the mind of most Nigerians is about, you know, making payment for the littlest of transaction. You said that over time, you have gone cashless, but in as much as you have, some people are saying that they go to the open markets to buy simple groceries and the market woman is saying that she does not have a bank account and she cannot really accept them transfers. And others who have bank accounts are actually asking you to pay for the POS fees, which have almost gone high as much as 400% in the past week. How do you explain all of this? I have to take an unpopular stance, Justin. I really have to because I think that much as this situation is creating a lot of heartache and pain for ordinary Nigerians. But I think it also has to be said that Nigerians can be very notorious with embracing change, with embracing regulation, even when the regulation is good, you know. This cashless thing that we're talking about started way back in 2014, if I'm not mistaken, was in 2012. When the CBSS started the pilot in the Lagos and Poja, you know. And so what have people been doing between that time? We're talking eight, ten years ago, right? And I tell you, you know what, no matter what you're trying to buy, just no matter what you're trying to buy, you can't pay with transfers and POS transactions in this country to pay regardless of what it is, including buying and purchasing things in the market. I think the only exception are low-value transactions like bus fares. So how can you transfer money to pay bus conductors, for example? And a couple of other things like that. But pretty much I think 90 to 95% of the transaction, the average transaction set of the average Nigerian can be conducted electronically, but Nigerians have refused to adopt. I think I would use the word refused because the process of opening accounts has been openly simplified by the banking industry.  So I think in as much as things are very, very tough for people, we also need to remind people, you know, let them go and open accounts. Let's do it and then let the system fail and then we say, go, we're trying to do transfers and it's not working. But are people even trying? We have to move our country away from this heavy dependence on cash. It's not good for us. All right, Shagou, I understand the position that you have taken. Even our Greek stakeholders are also lamenting about the impact of this cash crunch on this sector. Do we have elections in less than two weeks? And the dependent national electoral commission wasn't in use, you know, and that's Yakubu and he was saying that the cash crunch is also affecting, you know, their own processing of the election as it were. So if an organization that uses organizers and they can't complain, don't you think that the CBN should have given a bit of a buffer as it were? I mean, look, don't even get me going with the issue of the CBN and how this thing has turned out because I'm extremely upset. I think that the CBN and I've said this time and again in the public domain that the CBN has not covered themselves in glory at all with regards to the implementation of this good policy. Look, the policy is good, but the implementation has been shambolic. The implementation has been disastrous. You know, let's be honest, the timeframe that the central bank gave at the initial was they set themselves up to fail. You cannot do a currency redesign and swap the entirety of trillions of currency notes in circulation in a 90-day period. It's impossible. And that's what we're seeing now. You know, so I think that what has happened is that there's been an unfortunate mix of monetary policy and politics. And that's where we are, you know, because I don't understand why if they wanted to swap currency maybe to prevent both buying that they couldn't have started earlier than they did, you know. So it's all, the CBN hasn't really done well. I never say what they're saying, of course they have a point because there are certain parts of their processes that will have to be by necessity are transacted with cash. You know, so that obviously they would also be affected to a certain degree, but I think, you know, their problem is probably not at the top of the list of problems we have with regards to this cash policy. I think it's just that the average Nigerian is going through a terrible time, you know, just going about their normal day-to-day living. It's been terrible for Nigerians and the government, I keep saying the government really has to do something about this. All right, still talking about the impact of this and cash crunch on Nigerians. The Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents of Nigeria, that is Amban, is in the news and they are lamenting the Naira scarcity and they said specifically that 80% of POS operators are out of business as a result of all of this. How do you react to that, Shego? I mean, look, these are the things that, again, the CBN simply didn't take into consideration when they were rolling out their timelines. I keep saying that the policy itself is not a problem, it's the implementation. Yeah, they're absolutely correct and the evidence is out there. You can see it with your own eyes, you can touch it and feel it. You go to the average POS operator, it's either they do not have cash at all or that they don't have enough to service the demand that they're currently facing. You know, so clearly, you know, business is suffering, the economy is suffering, business activity has been stunted significantly in the last week and a half and I think that we're going to see maybe a slight impact of this, you know, on GDP numbers. I won't be surprised if this impacts the GDP numbers for this quarter, for example. You know, so really the CBN didn't think about this, they didn't think it through, they didn't look at the entire logistic chain right from their own vault to the last mile of ATM, either ATMs or US operators or over-the-counter cash withdrawals by customers. All hope is not lost. I think that the CBN can still ramp up their efforts to distribute the currency, assuming that the two have those nodes in their custody, assuming that the adequate number of nodes have been produced by Nigeria security pointing and meeting cooperation, you know. So if they have enough nodes, then, you know, I think within the next week or maybe two weeks, they should be able to ramp up their logistic operations, find creative ways of getting this cash into people's pockets, you know, through banks and POS operators and all of that. All right, Shagu, I want to believe that CBN is surrounded by economists and money market operators and all of that. They should understand how it actually works. I don't know, let me just put it in a lay term. Shouldn't they be aware of the exact amount of money on the average that Nigerians should spend or should or do spend? Because I don't understand how they have come out with a new policy. At the end of the day, even the banks themselves are claiming or are alleging not to really have this new nodes. How come? What exactly is wrong here? You know, we really don't know what to believe anymore. And we live in a society where impunity is in the major part of our culture as a society. It would appear from the evidence that is available to observers that the CBN has provided the volume of cash that they intended to provide originally. So their intention was to muck up about 2.5, there are about trillionaires that was out of circulation and bring it in. And then because they tried to use this policy to drive the cashless policy and encourage people to go electronic, their intention was to not release that same amount back into the system in new nodes. So for what appears to be happening is that the nodes that are being released by the CBN to the commercial banks are not getting into the ATMs and are not getting paid over the counter. They're ending up right back where the old nodes were in people's bedrooms, in people's toilets, in private vaults, in people's houses. And when I say people, I mean politicians. So it looks as if what we're having, what's playing out right now is an unfortunate mix of full planning, point of implementation of the part of the CBN and let me call it sabotage on the part of the political class because of the election that is coming up very soon. So it's a really, really unfortunate that at the end of the day, the people that are suffering and bearing the brunt of all of this, they have been Nigerian like you and I, sadly. So I think that's what's happening. I think that the politicians have played a major role in the crisis we have on our hands. And I want to say, like I said elsewhere this morning, I'm calling on the president to be firm and to be strong in calling out this people. This culture of impunity must stop. I think people that are connected and that understand what's going on, know it's this money that we can bring them out. But it will take some serious, strong will on the part of the president or maybe the better arguments to achieve that. All right, it's still business insights on plus TV Africa. We still have a Shagu Shukritan with us, an economist that will take a quick break and when we'll come back, we'll be looking at how prepared is Nigeria for this online transactions because over time, a lot of people are complaining about bank apps not working. In a moment, we'll be right back, don't go away. All right, welcome back. It's still business insights on plus TV Africa and we have a Shagu Shukritan with us, an economist and we are looking at the Naira cron scarcity of the new note that Nigerians are actually feeling the harsh impact. And Shagu, the issue right now is that most people are complaining about this making transfers successfully. Even the bank apps are seemingly having issues. Are we putting the cart before the horse as it is? No, I don't think we're putting the cart before the horse. I think that the horse has been sitting very well placed right in front of the cart for 80 years. And unfortunately, the horse is not dragging the cart along fast enough to use the analogy. So what's happening is, it might be, and I say this in many respects, an industry insider, is that the banking industry has a peculiar problem. The Nigeria society has a not so peculiar problem. The Nigerian society has infrastructure challenges. We've got challenges with power in particular and we've got challenges with data access, broadband penetration and all of that. Of course, these things would have some sort of a bearing on the capacity of the financial service providers to meet the demand that this policy would place on their networks, on their infrastructure. However, the banking industry, I must say, have had this, shall I say, tendency to seek to maximize profits and minimize cost centers, even if those two objectives would impact on either customer service or on operational efficiency. So what we have today is that banks and it's not limited to just the banking industry. I think that a lot of service providers in this country, including for example, the network operators, the telephone network operators, what they tend to do is they invest as little as they possibly can to maintain the minimal level of service quality that they can get away with, right? Such that as the pressure of usage of their networks increase, they increase investment marginally to cater for that increment in the pressure on their infrastructure. What that does is that your networks are constantly and consistently operating right at the edges of stability. So all it will take is just a little stress and a little push in terms of additional demand on those services for the services to collapse. So the banking industry has not done enough, in my opinion, in ensuring that the infrastructure that drives electronic banking is robust enough and has adequate redundancies built into them to ensure that they don't fail, that the number of failed transactions is limited, the banking industry needs to do better and they will not. So I have had course to say that the central bank is feeling woefully in its regulatory authority and responsibility in dealing with this specific problem. In the area of customer service and in the area of infrastructure capacity, the banks are not doing enough. So what we're now having is that the central bank of Nigeria is trying to drive people away from cash into electronic transactions, but the capacity of the infrastructure that the banks have invested in is inadequate to carry it. So now you are beginning to see a greater incidence of failed transactions. I have personally experienced it. I told you earlier, I've been doing transfers and electronic transactions and using my ATMs and all that paper for years. But in the last week and a half, I've experienced a significant increase in failed transfers and failed transactions. They still work, get me wrong. But the failure rate has increased because the demand of the services have increased. But the bank is doing better. All right, Shago, in person you talked about how the impact would be on the country's gross domestic and product GDP. Let's be specific and talk about the financial services sector because some banks are not really opening to customers to transact them over the counter. Some banks' machines or their terminals have been vandalized that. How do you see this whole transaction or this whole policy on the GDP of the financial sector this quarter? Yeah, I mean, it's not just the GDP of the financial sector. So certainly, like you said, I spoke with some of my banking service providers earlier last week. This was last week. This Wednesday morning, this was the third day of their last week. And they told me categorically that they couldn't open their bank, they couldn't open their banking up to customers just for fear of being assaulted. So that's one week ago. Now imagine the volume of transactions that have been lost as a result of their inability to open for services. Imagine the volume of transactions that have been lost as a result of the fact that they cannot meet the cash withdrawal requests or demand from their customers. Imagine the volume of transactions. Now, when you now look at the multiplier effect of that across other sectors of the economy, what you basically have is the economy has kind of ground to evolve as far as the informal economy is concerned. Of course, at the top of the ladder, large corporate organizations and high net worth individuals and maybe whatever we have left of the middle class, yeah, they're still transacting their merry way along. But when you factor in the fact that it's been said that 60% of our entire economy is probably run in the informal sector, then you will understand how impactful this would be on the quality of the economy. So, yeah, it remains to be seen. We'll see the GDP report and we'll know how this is done. All right, thank you so much, and Shed, we should return for your time. We do appreciate it. Thanks for having me. All right, the Supreme Court has actually given Nigerian some extra days. We'll see how that plays out and we'll give you more update as the days go. Well, that's the size of the show for this week. I am Justin Alcador, and I'll see you again next time.


And yes, I will be calling on people, mostly those of you standing in the back. I always know why people are standing in the back. OK, that's what teachers do. But thank you. And thank you for the introduction, Anne-Marie. Thank you to the New America Foundation for inviting me here today to talk about the gig economy. This is actually a speech I've wanted to give for a long time. So I'm glad I have the chance to do it. It's something we've been working on. Across the country, new companies are using the internet to transform the way that Americans work, shop, socialize, vacation, look for love, talk to the doctor, get around, and track down 10-foot feather boas, which is actually my latest search on Amazon. It's a long story. That's actually true. These innovations have helped improve our lives in countless ways, reducing inefficiencies and leveraging network effects to help grow our economy. And this is real growth. For example, increasing broadband penetration boosts GDP and increasing 3G connections increases mobile data use, which in turn increases GDP. The most famous example of this is probably the ride-sharing platforms in our cities. The taxi cab industry was riddled with monopolies, rents, inefficiencies, cities in the number of taxi, limited the number of taxi licenses. They charged drivers steep fees for taxi medallions. They required drivers to pay additional fees to pick up passengers at the airport. They micromanaged paint jobs for individual cars and even outlawed price competition. Uber and Lyft, two ride-sharing platforms, came onto the scene about five years ago, radically altered this model, enabling anyone with a smartphone and a car to deliver rides. They also enabled customers to find a ride any time of day with the touch of a button. The result was more rides, cheaper rides, and shorter wait times. The ride-sharing story illustrates the promise of these new businesses and the dangers. Uber and Lyft fought against local taxi cab rules that kept prices high and limited access to services. But as the dispute in Austin, Texas has demonstrated, the companies have fought just as vigorously against local rules designed to create a level playing field between themselves and their taxi competitors. And they have also resisted rules designed to promote rider safety and driver accountability. And while their businesses provide workers with greater flexibility, companies like Lyft and Uber have often resisted efforts of those very same workers to try to access a greater share of the wealth that is generated from the work that they do. Their business model is, in part, dependent on extremely low wages for their drivers. Now look, it is exciting and very hip to talk about Uber and Lyft and TaskRabbit and a whole bunch of other new platforms out there. But the promise and the risks of these companies isn't new. For centuries, technological advances have helped create new wealth and have increased GDP. But it is policy, rules and regulations that will determine whether workers have a meaningful opportunity to share in the wealth that is generated. A century ago, the Industrial Revolution radically altered the American economy. Millions moved from farms to factories. These sweeping changes in our economy generated enormous wealth. They also wrecked havoc on workers and their families. Workplaces were monstrously unsafe. Wages were paltry, hours were grueling. Now, America's response wasn't to abandon technological innovations and improvements from the Industrial Revolution. We didn't send everyone back to the farms, no. Instead, we came together and through our government, we changed public policies to adapt to a changing economy, to try to keep the good and get rid of the bad. The list of new laws and regulations was long. Think about it. Minimum wage, workplace safety, worker compensation, child labor laws, the 40 hour work week, social security, the right to unionize. But each of those changes made a profound difference. They put guardrails around the ability of giant corporations to exploit workers to generate additional profits at any cost. They helped make sure that part of the increased wealth that was generated by innovation would be used to build a strong middle class. The changes, by the way, were not all focused on workers antitrust laws and newly created public utilities addressed the new technological revolution's tendency toward concentration and monopoly and kept our markets competitive. Rules to prevent cheating and fraud were added to make sure that bad actors in the marketplace couldn't get a leg up over folks who played by the rules. Now those changes didn't happen overnight. There were big fights over decades to establish that balance. But once in place, these policies underwrote the widely shared growth and prosperity of the 20th century. I just want to put one number in front of you. From 1935 to 1980, the 90% of America, everybody not in the top 10% got 70% of all income growth generated in this economy. In other words, as the economy grew and became more productive, so did the average workers' wages. Instead of all the wealth going to a handful of giant companies, factory owners, and investors, the robber barons of the early 20th century, the growth created by our manufacturing economy supported the growth of a prosperous, secure middle class. And this distribution occurred because of a newly emerging basic bargain for workers. 100 years ago, nobody grappling with the rapid changes in technology and work seriously entertained the idea of banning manufacturing advances. And today, nobody seriously entertains the idea of pulling the plug on the internet. Massive technological change is a gift, a byproduct of human ingenuity, and it creates extraordinary opportunities to improve the lives of billions of people. But history shows that to harness those opportunities, to create and sustain a strong middle class, policy also matters. To fully realize the potential of this new economy, laws must be adapted to make sure that the basic bargain for workers remains intact and that workers have a chance to share in the growth that they help produce. Now the challenge today is doubly difficult. At the same time that we need to adapt to new work relationships in a gig economy, the basic bargain of the old work relationships has become badly frayed. Over the past three decades, workers have been under a merciless attack. For decades now, big business has tried to squeeze more profits out of workers by ducking and dodging regulations and by taking advantages of loopholes and employment policy by skirting enforcement efforts and even by flagrantly violating the law. Giant corporations have deployed armies of lobbyists and lawyers to freeze, to limit, to dismantle as many worker protections as they could. And the result is that for decades, the guardrails that once served to build a robust middle class no longer offer the same kind of protection. More and more of today's jobs have sharply limited protections and benefits. Look, long before anybody ever wrote an article about the gig economy, corporations had discovered the higher profits they could wring out of an on demand workforce made up of independent contractors. Labor law makes sharp distinctions between employees on the one hand and independent contractors on the other. And the consequence of this is that many employers figured out how to exploit that distinction between the two. They hired people who once were characterized as employees now to become independent contractors. And the result was that these workers lost their benefit, they lost the stability of guaranteed work, and they lost the ability to form a union and bargain collectively. But the employee 1099 divide is not the only way that the basic bargain is free. Employees, particularly low wage employees, face challenges that are not unlike the challenges facing gig workers and independent contractors. They too have lost both the benefits and the stability of a guaranteed work schedule and a steady income. As employers have moved to just-in-time staffing, more hourly workers are trapped in part-time jobs or stripped-down full-time jobs. An increasing number of workers are in subcontracting or franchise arrangements, where their employment conditions are controlled by firms they can't bargain with, they can't hold them accountable for even basic safety or wage protection. They may not even actually know the name of their employers. At the same time that the bargain with workers has become increasingly one-sided for millions of independent contractors and hourly employees, yet another part of the basic economic bargain has also begun to fray. The safety net, unemployment insurance, workers comp, social security hasn't been updated to fill in the holes that employers have created. Temporary workers, contract workers, seasonal workers, perma temps and part-time workers rarely have access to these benefits, which means that the workers who most need the safety net are the very ones who are least likely to have it. Let's be clear, the gig economy didn't invent any of these problems. In fact, the gig economy has become a stopgap for some workers who can't make ends meet in a weak labor market. The much touted virtues of flexibility, independence and creativity offered by gig work might be true for some workers in some conditions, but for many, the gig economy is simply the next step in a losing effort to build some economic security in a world where all of the benefits and wealth are floating to the top 10%. The problems facing gig workers are much like the problems facing millions of other workers. An outdated employee benefits model makes it all but impossible for temporary workers, contract workers, part-time workers and workers in industries like retail or construction who switch jobs frequently to build any economic security. So just as this country did 100 years ago, it's time to rethink the basic bargain between workers and companies. As greater wealth is generated by new technology, how can we ensure that the workers who support the economy can actually share in the wealth? Well, I believe we start with one simple principle. All workers, no matter where they work, no matter how they work, no matter when they work, no matter who they work for, whether they pick tomatoes or build rocket ships, all workers should have some basic protections and be able to build some economic security for themselves and their families. No worker should fall through the cracks. And here are some ideas about how to rethink and strengthen the workers' bargain. Well, we can start by strengthening our safety net so that it catches anyone who has fallen on hard times, whether they have a formal employer or not. And there are three much-needed changes right off the bat on this. First, make sure that every worker pays into social security as the law has always intended. Right now, it is a challenge for someone who doesn't have an employer that automatically deducts payroll taxes to pay into social security. This can affect both a worker's ability to qualify for disability insurance after a major industry, and it can result in much lower retirement benefits. If social security is to be fully funded for generations to come, and if all workers are to have adequate benefits, then electronic, automatic, mandatory withholding of payroll taxes must apply to everyone, gig workers, 1099 workers, and hourly employees. That's the starting place. Second, every worker should be covered by catastrophic insurance. Workers who have serious accidents or suffer from illnesses that knock them out of the labor market for an extended period need a backstop, and everyone means everyone. Even workers who haven't built up enough credits for disability insurance. Even workers who don't have traditional workers' compensation. This type of insurance should be relatively cheap if it is pooled across the entire workforce through small, regular, automatically deducted contributions. And third, all workers, no matter where they work or who they work for, should have some paid leave.  We can debate where to draw the lines, but let's start with two ideas. First, each worker should be able to accrue proportional credits toward a certain number of days a year for any purpose. And second, workers should have some paid family and medical leave to ensure against longer absences such as more serious illnesses or to care for a newborn baby. These three, social security, catastrophic insurance, and earned leave create a safety net for income. Together, they give families some protection in an ever more volatile work environment. And they help ensure that after a lifetime of work, people will face their retirement years with some dignity. Now, the second area of change to make is on employee benefits, both for healthcare and retirement, to make them fully portable. They belong to the worker, no matter what company or platform generates the income, they should follow that worker wherever that worker goes. And the corollary to this is that workers without formal employers should have access to the same kinds of benefits that some employees already have. I wanna be clear here. The Affordable Care Act is a big step toward addressing this problem for healthcare, providing access for workers who don't have employer-sponsored coverage and providing a long-term structure for portability. We should improve on that structure, enhancing its portability, and reducing the managerial involvement of employers. There is no similarly portable structure for retirement benefits. One change that would make a really big difference here is a high-quality retirement plan for independent contractors, self-employed workers, and other workers who have no access to retirement benefits to supplement their social security. This plan should use best-in-class practices when it comes to asset allocation, governance structure, and fee transparency. It should be operated solely in the interest of workers and retirees, and those workers and retirees should have a voice in how the plan is run. Instead of an employer-sponsored 401k, this plan could be run by a union or other organization that could contract investment management to the private sector, just like companies like General Motors contract with providers like Fidelity to offer 401ks in the employment setting. And because of the amazing advances in online investment platforms and electronic payroll systems, individuals could set up automatic contributions. It's time for all workers to have access to the same low-cost, well-protected retirement products that right now only some employers and unions are able to provide. The benefits to workers from gaining access to health insurance and to retirement plans are pretty obvious, but I also want to note the benefits to employers are also substantial. Those employers can shed managerial responsibilities that are peripheral to their businesses, and small businesses and startups can compete for workers without needing to get into the health insurance and retirement business. That is how competitive markets should work. And the third big area, it's time to create some legal and regulatory certainty in the labor market. If it is done right, it will be possible to reduce the red tape for large employers, small business owners and entrepreneurs. We can cut their costs and make it easier for them to employ people. Less ambiguity will also help make sure that some employers don't exploit loopholes to gain competitive advantages.  Okay, you want it at all. We're gonna do it all at once. First, enforce the laws already on the books. Can I just have an amen around that? Employers should not be misclassifying workers to keep labor costs down because they shouldn't have the chance to hide behind complex arrangements like franchising and subcontracting to skirt their responsibilities to their workers. The many employers who treat their employees well shouldn't have to compete against the ones who don't. That's not a level playing field. That's a broken system. Second, streamline the labor laws. Currently there are endless legal definitions of an employee depending on the workers' industry and occupation. The boundaries between employees, contract workers and gig workers are complex. Providing a wider safety net and more consistent access to retirement and health benefits will reduce the huge impact of different classifications. But at the same time, harmonizing these definitions will mean less regulatory burden for businesses and fewer opportunities for misclassifying workers. And third, wherever possible, streamline laws at the federal level so that employers operating across state lines don't have to jump through a crazy number of hoops when they employ workers from more than one state. A small business owner with workers in several states shouldn't have to spend her valuable time struggling to master different state regulations. And fourth, every worker should have the right to organize, period. Full-time, part-time, temp workers, gig workers, contract workers. You bet. Those who provide the labor should have the right to bargain as a group with whoever controls the terms of their work, and they should be protected from retaliation or discrimination when they do so. Government is not the only advocate on behalf of workers. It was workers bargaining through their unions who helped introduce retirement benefits, sick pay, overtime, the weekend, and a long list of other benefits for their members and for all workers across this country. Unions helped build America's middle class, and unions will help rebuild America's middle class. And one more thing, a 21st century economy once again can grow a thriving middle class, but only if we make a few other changes. It will require making investments in education and training, in infrastructure and basic research and development. Today's high-tech jobs might be located on the factory floor or in a medical lab, but whatever the work sites look like, the workers increasingly need post-secondary education. So let's be clear. To build a well-educated, versatile workforce that this country will need in the 21st century, it is critical that we stop saddling tomorrow's workers with student debt. Student loan debt has now ballooned to $1.3 trillion. Today, 70% of college grads must borrow money to make it through school. That is not a leg up. That is an anvil dragging workers down. But I wanna make it clear. This is about more than traditional college. American workers will need access to affordable, lifelong working and retooling for their jobs. Jobs that emerge long after they've left school, but long before they retire. I know New America is making important contributions on this topic with both Opportunity at Work and its education program. You know, people who have worked 20 plus years in a changing field should have access to education and training opportunities that will offer new ways to use their talents, their creativity and their experience. America will need these workers and these workers will need training. Now for many of these proposals, government may set policies, but employers, educators, unions, non-profits, tech innovators, all have critical roles to play. This is, if we're going to rebuild America's economy by strengthening American workers, it's gonna take all hands on deck. But I wanna put one more thing on the table before I leave on this. Government investments are one of the most reliable sparks of technological innovation and growth around. Building basic infrastructure, roads and bridges, but also power grids, communication links, mass transit, make it possible for the economy to flourish. Investments in basic research provide a foundation for tomorrow's advances. A stronger economy will produce more demand for workers that will create opportunities for millions more Americans. We can't blame the parts of the gig economy that we don't like on technology companies, software or smartphones. There are plenty of outsourced janitors and warehouse workers, plenty of security guards and manufacturing workers who can explain that on-demand work is nothing new in America. In a healthy economy, disruption is inevitable, but disruption means it is time to adapt to changing circumstances, time for new businesses and old businesses to change, time to rethink the deal for employees, for contract workers and for gig workers. Disruption creates the push to rethink the basic bargain for the workers who produce much of the value in this economy. My message today is straightforward. Workers deserve a level playing field and some basic protections, no matter who they work for, where they work, or how the law classifies them. They deserve a strong safety net, dependable benefits and the chance to bargain over their working conditions. That is the basic deal, and that's the deal that is necessary to restore a strong and sustainable American middle class. Most workers aren't asking for the moon.  They want some security, and they wanna know their kids are gonna have a chance to do better than they did. That's the promise of America, but that promise won't come true unless we make some real changes. Workers have a right to expect our government to work for them, to set the basic rules of the game. If this country is to have a strong middle class, then we need the policies that will make that possible. That's how shared prosperity has been built in the past, and that is our way forward now. Change won't be easy, but we don't get what we don't fight for, and I believe that America's workers are worth fighting for. Thank you all. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.