IT is instructive, for instance, that even in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist tragedy at New York’s World Trade Centre towers in which almost 3,000 people were killed, the US government did not ask Americans to avoid high-rise buildings or stay indoors at night.

ANY mention of Nigeria’s capital Abuja in other parts of the world usually evokes an instant feeling of nostalgia to the Nigerian, especially once the foreigner asks you about the famous Ladi Kwali – a woman of talent who brought the world’s attention to pottery -making.

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.