Suddenly people needed security clearance to walk into the Yar’Adua centre just to meet other people, and to do their bit to make everyone’s lives a jot better. It is tragic equally that no one can complain. Terrorism is around, and these days too many in Abuja are targets who need to be protected.

But surely, if only as a symbolic gesture, the leaders could over four days have found 15 minutes to meet representatives from the people’s forum. Forget the people’s forum a moment, the leaders would have gained from it. Evidence that you can be successful and still not know what’s good for you.

. . .

ALL ARE agreed that Abuja is rather different from Lagos, but opinions are divided whether that is a good or a bad thing.

Many visitors who came into Abuja via Lagos have told tales of being ripped off there to varying degrees. The Abujians are nothing less than hugely warm and friendly. Lagosians are no less so, but that city does seem to have a larger slice of that ‘other’ population.

But Lagos, Abuja, wherever, many of us who came in from outside have found great warmth for Nigerians who have found so much warmth for us.

. . .

SOME DEROGATORY acronyms for NGOs:

Gongo, government-owned NGO; Bongo, business owned NGO; Dongo, donor owned NGO; Bringo, briefcase owned NGO; Mongo, my own NGO; Fingo, family owned NGO; Rongo, royally owned NGO.

. . .

ADIEU TO our readers. If our little four-page paper has been occasionally half-decent, it owes so much to your support these past few days.

And our apologies to all people whose activities we could not cover, or not cover as much or as well as they would have liked. It was not for lack of a desire to do so, or from lack of recognition of the importance of those activities. We were stuck with limitations of time, space and selves.

If you liked us, our apologies also that we could not all keep company over the last two days of the forum. We hope that at least some of us will find common ground to meet again.