BUT again as I said, Malam El-Rufai knows this as well as the fact that when he says there is no ‘social justice’ in the large amounts spent on our legislators, he forgot to add that while there is little the President can do by law to curb this, seeing as there is separation of powers in our constitution, President Jonathan nevertheless used his influence to get the National Assembly to reduce its budget by 30 per cent this year before he agreed to append his signature to the budget.

NIGERIA has since Independence been subjected to various forms of Government. We have tinkered with parliamentary, presidential and even a bit of diarchy under military President Ibrahim Babangida.

My readers may ask what I mean. Well let me put it this way. Malam El-Rufai is an extremely intelligent and knowledgeable man who knows how the government works and when such a person who has worked within and knows how the system operates writes to the public and cites facts and figures that tend to show only one side of the story and suppresses other facts and figures that show the other side of which he is well aware, there can only be one conclusion.

I FIND it difficult coming to terms with the motive of those who delight in faulting the anti-corruption war initiated and vigorously prosecuted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo during his tenure which lasted between 1999 and 2007.

Scarcity of kerosene, cooking gas used mostly by the masses is currently biting harder, the poor groaning while the big businesses in the petroleum industry are making brisk business. Though, kerosene had hardly sold for the N50 the official price, it had skyrocketed in the past weeks. It currently sells for about N80 a liter depending on the state and area. At a period it had even sold for about N300 a litre. This has had a multiplier effect on other household products like food stuff and steadily increased the cost of living.

WHILE leafing through the Daily Independent newspaper of Tuesday, June 14, 2011, I stumbled on a piece entitled, “Between Peter Obi and Ihiala people” written by C. Don Adinuba, a public affairs consultant.

IN 2003, the political terrain in Nigeria marked the end of an era and the beginning of another. I recall the excitement when some “new hands” came on board as helmsmen in various states of the federation, including my dear state.

SCARELY a month after the deadly clash between soldiers and policemen which led to the death of some policemen at 242 Bereko, Badagry, Lagos, another bloody clash between them was recently avoided in Lagos.

THOSE who know former President Olusegun Obasanjo very well should not be surprised reading a recent statement credited to him to the effect that “the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and that of the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua have failed in their efforts to fight corruption.”

THAT President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan‘s dreams came to pass to continue from May 29, 2011, as president of Federal Republic of Nigeria raised the hope of Nigerians that change is inevitable considering the President’s zeal, commitment and readiness to effect a change in the Africa’s most populous country – a heady mix of about 150 million people, and 250 ethnic groups.