A special megaphone of CyberschuulNews

presents

A FILE ON

THE OBASANJO LIBRARY

Materials used in this compilations are :

PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY LAUNCHED

 The Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library project was launched on 14 May in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State.

Part of the event involved a ground breaking ceremony that was performed by President Olusegun Obasanjo. 

Also present at the event were: 

� The Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
� The Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel
� The Governor of Delta State, Chief James Onanefe Ibori
� The Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha
� The Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Sani Ahmed Yerima
� The Commerce Minister, Ambassador Adamu
� Chief Ernest Shonekan, Chairman of Nigeria�s former Interim National Government (1993)
� Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Austin Opara.

The library complex, which will be located on the outskirts of Abeokuta, is founded on three philosophical cornerstones: leadership, transparency and agriculture.  

These are also the three main principles that inform the policies of Obasanjo and this Administration.  

The complex, which is patterned after the United States (US) Presidential Library concept pioneered by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is divided into three major sections:  

� The main museum/library
� Recreation and leisure services
� Housing/support facilities.

The museum/library will be located on a rocky elevated zone, and will provide the type of isolated tranquility necessary for scholarship and museum appreciation. Aside from the library, the museum and other archival amenities, this section will also comprise a centre for research, seminars and workshops. 

The museum will carry significant documents, photographs, films, video tapes, sound recordings and memorabilia that depict stages of the President’s public life, as well as important policies and decisions of this Administration.

The proposed Library’s auditorium is expected to accommodate up to 1500 people and will also retain 144 research fellow/guest chalets. 

In all, the Presidential Library will hold presidential files and papers that cover public policy issues, while the archives will act as a repository for Obasanjo’s presidential papers and historical materials.  

The project, according to its trustees, would fend for itself through the offer of services, including: 

� Guest houses
� Cyber cafe
� Publishing resources
� Souvenir/gift shops
� Auditorium for seminars/workshops, exhibitions, social events
� Museum
� Amphitheatre
� Restaurant
� Park/garden
� Artificial lake/stream/waterfall
� Zoo
� Gym/keep-fit centre for recreation. 

Members of the Board of Trustees are: 

� Ambassador Christopher Kolade, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK) (Chairman)
� Mr. Carl Masters (American), (Co-Chairman)
� Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel
� Honourable Vernon Jordan (American), former Adviser of President Bill Clinton
� Mr Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Atlantic Airline
� Dr Onaolapo Soleye, Minister of Finance under the Buhari Administration
� Mr Jim Ovia, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Zenith International Bank
� Dr Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, Ogun State Commissioner for Health
� Mr Nyaknno Osso, the President�s librarian (Secretary).

Taken from INFO ON OBASANJO LIBRARY
December 28, 2006, posted by Mobolaji Aluko (Archives)

OBASANJO'S LIBRARY NETS N4bn
Guardian, Sunday, May 15, 2005 

Adenuga, Dangote, Odogwu, Arisekola, Ibru, Governors Top Donor List
FROM CHARLES COFFIE GYAMFI (ABEOKUTA)

 DESPITE the reported controversy that trailed its announced launch, the novel idea of establishing Presidential Libraries started by President Roosevelt of United States 69 years ago was enacted in Nigeria yesterday in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

As at 3.15pm, the project, estimated to cost N7 billion, had realised about N4 billion, as eminent personalities, mostly friends and political associates of President Olusegun Obasanjo, who came from the political and business sectors, tried to outsmart each other by giving the highest donation

 The maximum individual donations came from captains of industry, Chief Mike Adenuga, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Chief Sunny Odogwu, who donated N250 million, N211.6 million and N200 million respectively.  

While the 36 State governors contributed N360 million, the private sector, N622 million and the Nigerian Ports Authority, $1 million; Chief Arisekola Alao and Olorogun Michael Ibru (chairman of Oceanic Bank Plc) donated N100 million and N50 million in that order  

The project, to be known as Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), is named after the President, who hails from the Owu Quarter of Abeokuta  

Those who spoke at the occasion extolled the exemplary leadership qualities of Obasanjo. Prof. O.O. Akinkugbe said the President's leadership forms the central plank of his exhortation both nationally and internationally.  

He said of Obasanjo: "He appears totally and irrevocably consumed by the credo, 'get leadership right and all else will be added unto it.'

 However, he canvassed a responsible followership that demands the regular audit of leaders' performances to ensure that they are deserving of their offices

 Akinkugbe noted that it was a paradox that many in elective offices have no respect for humanity, which they use sparingly and the constituents they so strenuously court while seeking office are abandoned once the object of their desires had been accomplished.

 To him, Obasanjo is a great African leader who everyone should be proud of

 Ogun State governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, who is a member of the steering committee of the project, explained that the library is a unique one, as it combines in one location, facilities for rigorous academic work, statesmanly reflection and wholesome recreation.

 Daniel said the President had always been at the vanguard and promotion of progressive initiatives around the world. "He has established credible benchmarks for good governance, promoted accountability and nurtured transparency in private and public life."

He described the President's knack for forthrightness and his uncompromising nationalism as "a sine qua non for the new Nigeria that we so much desire and deserve."

Daniel said the library project was a demonstration of the President's gift for unprecedented innovations in the Nigerian polity and in Africa

 An American, Mr. Carl Masters, who is part of the team handling two projects for the library complex, said if completed, it would be the first of its kind in Africa  

He explained that the project would not be financed by that Federal Government and asked African heads of governments to emulate Obasanjo's example  

Dr. Christopher Kolade, who is the chairman of the team handing the project said when completed, it would add to the nation's intellectual edifices

 Excited President Obasanjo, who was at the hightable with his Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, expressed deep appreciation to the donors and all those that made the occasion successful

 Describing the ceremony as epoch-making in the history of the country stressed that knowledge-building and preservation were necessary for the development of any nation  

"We need to keep institutional memories as well as the nation's memories," he said, adding that history and memories were better kept through collection of information and preservation  

Among the aims of the library, he disclosed, was to keep his life's history as well that of Nigeria as much as possible, assuring that the project would not disturbs his commitment and dedication to the service of Nigeria  

He also assured the donors that they had donated to a worthy cause, which they would never regret  

Some of other donors Chief Sam Nwake, N20 million, Dapo Abiodun (N10m), the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunde Sijuwade (N10 m), Dr Bayo Kuku (N5m), the PDP (N25m), Obasanjo Holdings (N100m), Chief Ernest Sonekan (N1m), Ogun State monarchs (N5m) and all political aides of the President (N2m)

OBASANJO LIBRARY FUND CLOCKS N6bn : OIL MAJORS DONATE $20M
by Yusuph Olaniyonu,  THIS DAY 05.16.2005

Donations into the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) project which was launched in Abeokuta at the weekend may have reached N6 billion. This leaves only a shortfall of about N1 billion to raise the N7 billion for the project. 

Sources close to the organisers of the launching indicated that though there were reports that about N4 billion were realised at the launching, the figure excluded the $20 million (about N2 billion) donated by oil firm majors operating in the country.

The donation by the oil companies became one of the largest to the project which was patterned after the Presidential Libraries concept in the United States, which was pioneered by President Franklin Delano Roosevett.  

Other big donors to the project were Dr. Mike Adenuga, chairman of Globacom Communications who donated N250 million, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, president Dangote Group, N211.6 million and Mr. Femi Otedola, chairman of Zenon Oil Limited. N200 million.

The major oil companies’ donation which is now the biggest to the project was however not made public. 

It is believed that the presidential library project may be the first significant step of President Obasanjo’s preparation for life after office in 2007.

 The library complex located on the outskirts of Abeokuta, the president’s town is founded on three philosophical cornerstones - leadership, transparency and agriculture. 

According to the board of trustees, ‘these three policy trusts guided President Obasanjo throughout his years of public life and allowed him to lead, achieve and create a vivid, lasting legacy that continues to shape and influence, form and guide the times in which we live right now.’ 

The site is divided into three major zones, the museum/library, recreation and leisure and housing/support services. 

By the desigh, the museum/library will be located on the high rocky zone with ‘a dignified, architectural statement from atop the high rock... and its elevated location (will) provide an isolated tranquility necessary for scholarship and museum appreciation.’ 

The structure shall consist of a library ‘an archive and museum including a policy centre (for research, seminars and workshops). While the presidential library will hold the presidential files and papers which covers all issues of public policy, the archive will act as a repository for the presidential papers and historical materials of President Obasanjo. The museum will however exhibit present significant documents, photographs, films, video tapes, sound recording and memorabilia that depict stages of the president’s life, the important policy trust and decisions of his administration. 

The auditorium of the proposed library is expected to take about 1,500 people. There will also be 144-research fellows/guest chalet.

 The project trustees hope to fend for it through offer of services like guest houses, cyber cafe, publishing souvenir/gift shops, auditorium (seminars/workshops, exhibitions, social events), museum, amphitheatre, restaurant, pack/garden, artificial lake/ stream/waterfall, zoo and gym for recreation/keep fit centre.

The trustees include Ambassador Christopher Kolade, Nigeria’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom, as chairman, Mr. Carl Masters, an American as co-chairman, Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel, Hon. Vernon Jordan, an American, Mr. Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Atlantic Airline, Dr. Onaolapo Soleye, Minister of Finance under the Buhari administration and Mr. Jim Ovia, MD/CEO Zenith International Bank.

 Others include Dr. Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, the president�s eldest daughter and Ogun State commissioner for health and Mr. Nyaknno Osso, the president�s librarian who serves as secretary. 

PRESIDENT OLUSEGUN OBASANJO AWARDED
THE GRAND PATRON OF THE NIGERIAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION (GPNLA)
by Nwabueze Nwoko, National Secretary NLA. May, 18 2005.

 The Nigerian Library Association (NLA) on Tuesday, 17th May 2005, took a giant stride when it conferred on His Excellency, President Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, the Grand Patron of the Nigerian Library Association (GPNLA). This award which was received on his behalf by the Hon. Minister of Education, Senator, Liyel Imoke at the Conference Room of the Federal Ministry of Education Abuja, is in honour of the enormous sacrifices and visionary policies of Mr. President, which have impacted on the Library and Information profession in Nigeria. 

In a citation read on his behalf, Ms. Victoria Okojie, the Vice President of the NLA, noted that before ascending the present seat as President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo had written several works and had endowed many educational projects including one on mathematics. As a true friend of the Library, the President is the first to appoint a Librarian as Special Adviser on Library Services and Documentation. The NLA is equally proud of Nigeria’s stand and participation in the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), which emphasizes that information, is the right of every one and that every one needs to have access to it. 

The citation also noted that one of the President’s first assignments on his assumption of office was the establishment of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) which has metamorphosed into a commission (UBEC). This outfit according to the citation has brought focus and the necessary attention to education at the lower level where the Library also plays a vital role. Again, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) which has taken a bold lead on information policy for Nigeria was created by the President. The Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN), which is very close to all Librarians’ heart, was inaugurated by the President, through the honourable Minister of Education in 2003. The establishment of the Education Tax Fund (ETF), which has resurrected stone dead libraries, is also the creation of the President.  

The launching of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) Complex, the first of its kind in Africa, is a demonstration of the President’s gift for unprecedented innovation in the Nigerian polity and in Africa. The Library is a unique one, as it combines in one location, facilities for rigorous academic work, states manly reflection and wholesome recreation. This shows the President’s love for Library development in Nigeria and in Africa. 

In his acceptance speech, the President thanked the NLA for finding him worthy for the prestigious award. He said that he has accorded education high priority in the two occasions he has headed governments in Nigeria. According to him, the Universal Primary Education scheme which he initiated between 1997-1979 and the current effort of the UBEC and the ETF were put in place to raise the needed standard in education. Many institutions run by state governments depend on ETF for their projects he said. He acknowledged the strategic position of Library Services in supporting both formal and non-formal education, stressing the need to build, maintain and fund libraries to support the citizenry in educational pursuits and informed decision making. 

He assured that the sum of N2.4b has been appropriated in the 2005 fiscal year out of total cost of N8.9b required for the Headquarter building of the National Library of Nigeria. When completed he said, it will not only add in beautifying the Abuja skyline, but will also serve to preserve the nations cultural and intellectual efforts. He commended the effort at regulating the practice of librarianship and called for the training of the practitioners in line with changes in technology. He charged LRCN to bring some sanity in the qualification and lay a code of conduct for all practitioners, especially as information is becoming increasingly, a marketable commodity. 

Earlier in an address, the President of NLA, Dr. J. O. Daniel saluted the President on his laudable policies on Library and Information services in the country, saying that President Olusegun Obasnjo is the first President to accord the Library profession its rightful place in the polity. He argued that if democracy is to thrive, it must be information based and information driven. If there are no libraries he said, it will be very difficult to achieve. He went further to say that information has become a liquid asset and whoever has it and uses it well will always have an edge over and above all others.

 Dr. Daniel in sum assured the President that he has the Associations best wishes for more policies that will make the Library available and accessible to all. 

CARLTON MASTERS: OBASANJO'S MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR LOBBYIST  
Written by Jonathan Elendu, Friday, 20 May 2005   

Until just a few days before the launching of Pres. Olusegun Obasanjo's Presidential Library, very few Nigerians had heard the name, Carlton Masters, let alone his company, Goodworks International, LLC. Goodworks is an Atlanta based lobbying firm founded by Obasanjo's long-time friend and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young, and Carlton Masters, a naturalized American. Masters served as a former Deputy Minister of Trade and Agent-General to the United States for Ontario, Canada. 

The firm, GWI, founded by Andrew Young and Carlton Masters in 1997, lobbies the United States government on behalf of Nigeria. The relationship between this company and Obasanjo's government has made some past and present top government functionaries uneasy. In recent years there have been growing concerns among Nigerians that the various governments from the Babangida era to date have used influential African Americans to sustain their power, to the ultimate detriment of Nigerian masses. A few prominent Nigerians privately express concern at the growing influence Andrew Young, Carlton Masters and their company, Goodworks International, LLC have on the Obasanjo Government. Goodworks International enjoys a multi-million dollar lobbying contract with the Federal Government of Nigeria. There are also rumours that Andrew Young, and his partner, Carlton Masters are secretly involved in other aspects of the economy, especially in the oil and telecommunications sectors. 

Disregarding national pride, propriety and common sense, the Obasanjo Presidential Library has engaged Carlton Masters, an American, as one its Co-Chairmen. The Obasanjo Presidential Library was launched on May 14th and was reported to have realized about six billion naira in one day. On the day of the launching of the Presidential Library, this writer had a brief conversation with Masters and requested an interview with him. Initially, Masters responded favourably to an interview, but after a few transatlantic calls with him, he changed his mind and suggested we talk to his lawyer instead. 

We since discovered that his interview with Sowore Omoyele, a columnist and special correspondent for ELENDUREPORTS.COM, upset him. His lawyer called Omoyele to threaten him. But harassing Nigerians is not new to Masters. In the past he had threatened Nigerian journalists including former NEWS magazine Abuja Bureau Chief, Alex Kabba. Kabba, who now publishes African Abroad USA, confirmed that Masters and his colleague, Amb. Howard Jeter, called to threaten him shortly after he published a story on Goodworks International, LLC. We called the Atlanta headquarters of Goodworks International. A lady directed us to Jeter's office in Washington. A call to the Washington office did not yield much as Amb. Jeter was said to be out of the office.  

So who is Carlton Masters? Masters, 55, is a naturalized American. Originally from Jamaica, Masters had a long career in banking. He was a Vice President of Bank of Montreal before being appointed in 1992 by then Premier of Ontario, Bob Rae to serve as Agent-General and Deputy Minister of Trade to the United States. Masters worked for the Ontario government for fifteen months. The last five months of the fifteen months was spent on leave of absence following allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against him by nine women.  

One of the women, Catharine Arnston, was a commercial officer at Boston office of the Ontario government. During a government sponsored dinner in Boston, Masters, according to a report by Christie Blatchford, then of the Toronto Sun, rejected a place at the high table, choosing instead to sit at Ms. Arnston's table. According to Toronto Sun, Masters repeatedly asked Ms. Arnston, "How they would be spending the night together." He was infuriated by Ms. Arnston's attempts to deflect his propositions. In frustration, he made an obscene hand gesture and said, "She's jerking me around."

 Masters reportedly told another Ontario government staffer, "I don't do threesomes," after she showed up with another friend with whom she already had plans, for a dinner Masters insisted that they have. She worked at the Los Angeles office of the Ontario government.

 The sexual misconduct allegations against Carlton Masters were investigated by a team of lawyers hired by the Ontario government. No charges were filed and Masters resigned after hinting that he was ready to fight the Ontario government if they tried to fire him.

 Reporter and columnist, Christie Blatchford, who now works for Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper wrote seven stories on the Masters sexual harassment saga. She interviewed Catharine Arnston. She also interviewed Carlton Masters on April 4, 1993. The tone of her stories changed as she wrote more about the issue. "I became more sympathetic to Masters as I learned more about the allegations," she told ELENDUREPORTS.COM during an interview.

 Although she believed Catharine Arnston to be credible and the investigators hired by the Ontario government found her allegations to be true, Blatchford says, "I just think the process was not fair to Masters. He was not given an opportunity to confront his accusers as the names of some of the women were not even revealed to him." Was Masters set up? "I don't think so…I believe he demanded a lot from the people he worked with…and some of the women may have been too sensitive," Blatchford said. 

Many Nigerians believe that Carlton Masters' involvement in the Obasanjo Presidential Library is offensive to propriety and suggests corruption at a time the President is supposedly engaged in an anti-corruption war. Some are more disturbed by the obvious conflict of interests in this matter. The Government's chief lobbyist is also asking companies and individuals, who do business with the government, to donate to the President's private library. Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, described the launching of the library as an "executive extortion."

 There are a few questions that need answers from Pres. Obasanjo and Carlton Masters: How many Nigerians serve on the boards of Presidential libraries in the United States? Is there a dearth of Nigerians qualified to be on Obasanjo's Presidential library? Other than being a lobbyist for the President, what other unique qualities does Masters bring to the table that Nigerians can not? 

There is one obvious similarity in the characters of Pres. Obasanjo and Carlton Masters: They like to bully journalists.

THE PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY LAUNCH
EDITORIAL OPINION, The Guardian, May 23, 2005

 The grand project launch of an unprecedented scale in the history of Nigeria that flagged off a prestigious and ambitious Obasanjo presidential library complex in Abeokuta, Ogun State, recently, brought together the cream of the major players in the country's political, industrial, financial and business empires. The US$50million (N7 billion) project raked in N4 billion at the launch excluding the unannounced US$20 million said to have been donated by the oil majors operating in Nigeria. 

The list of high profile donors among others is instructive: Consortium of banks - N622million; 36 State Governors (or Governments?) - N360million; Mike Adenuga - N250million; Aliko Dangote and friends - N200million; Femi Otedola - N200million; NPA community - US$1million; Ogun State Governor (or Government?) - N100million; Obasanjo Holdings - N100million; Sunny Odogwu - N100million; Arisekola Alao - N100million; etc. 

There was a handsome roll of donors offering sums below N100 million. Obviously the magnitude of donations calls to question the tax regime of some donors in an economy many experts believe is not doing well. It is clear that substantial donations have come from governors and government functionaries, as well as others who enjoy government patronage and related privileged opportunities. Without casting aspersions on President Obasanjo's profile in governance, or being overly critical of a project of such significance as a presidential library, the launch of the novel enterprise in the president's home state at this point in time does throw up a number of intriguing questions about the whys and wherefores behind the concept. 

It is not known whether President Obasanjo ever nursed the dream of owning a presidential library or raised the prospect of setting up one in his encounters with President Bush or with the other ex-presidents of the United States. Said to be an honourable and transparent man, his modus for sourcing funds for such a project, if it did occur to him, may not have been as ambitious as that engaged by the promoters of the project. 

What can be deduced however is that from all accounts the library project has been conceived as a parting presidential gift and birthday present from those who feel compelled to devise a means of acknowledging a gigantic presidential handshake for favours extended in diverse ways. But what a gift! In doing so, they have advanced reasons, some of them disingenuous and unconvincing, for rationalising the actualisation process for the project. But having sold the concept to President Obasanjo and from what he had to say at the launch, he has embraced the ego-boosting project with such characteristically stubborn passion that neither he nor his prime movers are likely to entertain any misgivings from any quarters. But misgivings indeed there are surrounding the project. 

First is the question of concept. In a country too used to corrupt ways, where leaders in and out of office are preoccupied with private accumulation and the obfuscation and sometimes outright destruction and obliteration of records to cover their tracks, the last thing they would want is a public repository of documents, records and information that could undress them. In a country where whole reports of properly constituted public commissions, panels and committees practically evaporate and never see the light of day, those who have mummified skeletons in their cupboards would hardly support an enterprise that would preserve information for posterity. A presidential library, on the surface, is a laudable and ambitious project. 

Those who have conceived Obasanjo's library think big. Since we are so enamoured of things American, warts and all, as illustrated by our poor attempt at copying their style of governance, Mr. Carl Masters, the Caribbean American and his collaborators will have had little difficulty peddling the idea borrowed from the American experience where the history of presidential libraries began with Franklin Roosevelt after World War II. In the US such libraries are set up by an Act of Congress and funded by the state after the president has left office, but Obasanjo's cannot be so organised. 

But in what way whatsoever is Nigeria the twin of the US? Do we have the same culture, discipline and orientation? Do we keep faith with the tenets of democracy that we claim to copy from the US? Is ours a nation governed by laws and not by men? In a nation where hardly anything works, are we by this project about to see an oasis of excellence in a sea of national morass? For a leader who on aggregate is setting a national record in leadership longevity, will the Obasanjo library be the yardstick for measuring his performance and legacy? 

Next is the question of our value orientation. As desirable as the project might be for Obasanjo and the initiators, would they prioritise it above the crying needs of this country's social institutions? Now and again tempers flare as administrators of our public institutions engage our leaders in a losing battle to upgrade facilities. Our numerous higher institutions can hardly boast of a handful of them with adequately stocked modern libraries. Most, and especially our so-called public libraries, have sparse shelves with antiquated textbooks. In terms of comparative commitment and matching resource, how many of the donors translate the motivation shown at the Obasanjo library launch in aiding our ailing institutions? 

The launch appears to have demonstrated the fixation of those behind it on the profiling and packaging of the man as a successful, consummate and larger than life leader. But the edifice does not make the man. And in spite of their own efforts at influencing events, history has its own way of situating those who shape it. In setting their priorities would the project promoters not have given a thought to immortalising President Obasanjo's sterling attributes through the enhancement of library facilities in selected universities countrywide, where much useful information, data and records can be sourced through networking? But no. Nigerians in and outside the ruling class know that there is no faith in public institutions. In this country public institutions are not meant to be viable or sustainable. Our national terrain is strewn with the debris of pet projects that have gulped public resources and ended up atrophied when the initiators have fallen out of favour, power and influence. 

The sheer scope of the project for a president seeking to preserve records for posterity is massive. This is not about a presidential library complex in the mould of the American model. A lot is to be sunk into providing hospitality facilities; communication, information and research centres; as well as other ancillary services, the commercial dimension of which is projected to sustain the complex. But are the promoters comfortable with the propriety of embarking on such a huge project at one go? Given our antecedents, are they confident that this will not turn out to be a white elephant project in the making and that it will give value for the investment? 

There is also the question of timing. Critical observers have faulted the motive for seeking to undertake and complete such a massive project (said to be 'an entirely private affair') for a sitting president in mid-term. People read some subtlety in the approach. By rushing the fund-raising through, the potential donor is persuaded to take a number of factors into perspective. Is he confronted with a bully who gives with one hand and extorts with the other? Is he faced with a catch-22 situation knowing that the power of incumbency casts a shadow over him? Although no one is said to be forced to donate, no one is fooled. 

If the event were thrown open countrywide how many unpaid workers or those at the lower rungs of society suffering the pangs of poverty would be part of it? That is why the event is an entirely private affair. Those invited to it were a select group targeted because they are capable or have been adequately empowered. Would ex-president Shehu Shagari or any other former leader command similar success today from the same retinue of invitees for a similar private project unless he were a godfather of some sort? 

Nigerians also have the question of the moral dimension to consider in assessing the place of this private project on the national scale. This is a country where there is often a thin line between the perception of the state and the leader, where personal foibles become state policy, where the security of the leader becomes state security, and where national interest is equated with the enlightened self interest of the leadership. The Obasanjo library project is said to be a private affair for which private funding has been sought. But from the array of donors, the average Nigerian thinks otherwise. The Nigeria Ports Authority(NPA) community put together $1million. And this is an ailing government agency that owes contractors billions of Naira. Knowing the Nigerian mindset you cannot involve functionaries of government and its agencies and tell the world that all their donations are coming from their salaries and private enterprise. 

Whether transparency is served by the methods adopted by the project organisers is open to question. The battle against corruption is equally in jeopardy when donors are more or less intimidated by tactics that are suggestive and coercive. It is happening under the aura of an incumbent administration that ought to act as a check against reckless extra budgetary spending. The library launch has been described elsewhere as executive extortion. What has happened is perhaps more serious than that. It can be described as constructive corruption where the construction is subtle, disarming and palpably negative. And that is an extremely dangerous adversary for any anti-corruption crusader. 

Perhaps as Nigeria intensifies its war against corruption in its many dimensions, one viable way of dressing the recently launched Library project with a toga of integrity is for President Obasanjo to hand over the project on completion to the Federal government. Otherwise the project may continue to elicit controversy among the generality of Nigerians, and forever constitute a major moral burden on President Obasanjo and his immediate collaborators. 

MORE FALL-OUTS FROM OBASANJO'S LIBRARY     
Written by Jonathan Elendu, Thursday, 26 May 2005   

The launching of Obasanjo's Presidential library on the 14th of May is still receiving critical reactions from Nigerians. Also, the role of American lobbyist, Carlton Masters, continues to astound watchers of the Obasanjo Presidency. Only officials of the Presidency and Obasanjo's cronies have publicly supported what some have dubbed a charade designed to pull wool over the eyes of Nigerians.

The latest salvo fired at the Obasanjo Presidential library comes from activist lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Gani Fawehinmi. He has filed a law suit asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to declare that the President abused his office when as a serving President he allowed his friends and cronies to start the Presidential library project.  Gani's lawsuit also wants the High Court to compel the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to look into all contracts awarded by the Obasanjo Administration since 1999. The obvious idea behind this prayer to the Court is to determine if there was any kind of quid pro quo in the donations that were made to the President's library project. 

Isn't it curious that an Administration which constantly touts its anti-corruption crusade does not see anything wrong in a serving President gathering contractors and people, who have benefited from the government to donate money to the President's private library? Even worse, the President encouraged serving public officials to work on this project, including Christopher Kolade, Nigeria's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Obasanjo's daughter, Iyabo, who is a commissioner in Ogun State, and Governor Gbenga Daniels of Ogun State are on the board of the library. Gbenga Daniels donated the sum of one hundred million naira to the project, separate from the three hundred and sixty million naira donated by the thirty-six state governors. This is also part of Gani's suit. I am hard put to find any right thinking person who does not believe the President has over-reached this time. Obasanjo, I fear, is beginning to act like an emperor, who can do no wrong. 

More worrisome, however, is the role foreign business people play in the President's private library project. Vernon Jordan, lawyer and friend of former President Clinton, sits on the board of directors of the Obasanjo Presidential Library. Richard Branson of the Virgin Group, too, is a member of this board. And of course, Carlton Masters, Jamaican native and naturalized American, is co-chairman of the board. The whole library project stinks and the President should clean up. But don't hold your breath. 

I had a very brief chat with Carlton Masters. He tersely informed me that he is in Tel-Aviv and would no longer grant interviews. Femi Fani-Kayode, the President's Special Adviser on public communication, spoke with me for about ten minutes. Fani-Kayode said Carlton Masters is the initiator of the Obasanjo Presidential Library project. The Presidential Adviser sees nothing wrong with a foreigner spearheading the Presidential library of a Nigerian. He said, "You call them foreigners, we call them friends. We have no problems with Masters being involved with the project after all it was his idea. This is not a racist country."  

What is Fani-Kayode's reaction to the lawsuit filed by Gani Fawehinmi against the library project? "This is a democratic country and there is rule of law. Gani is exercising his right as a free Nigerian. But the question is what are you suing about…how can you win?" Fani-Kayode asks. Is the President worried about the issue of conflict of interest concerning the library project? "No," said Fani-Kayode. "There is no conflict of interest. The President has little to do with the library project and the government of Nigeria did not contribute anything to it. Nobody in the Presidency is soliciting funds from anybody," he argues. And is Fani-Kayode not disturbed that contractors to the government and people who have directly benefited from most of the President's economic policies were donating money to the President's library project while he is still in office? According to Fani-Kayode, "There is no law denying individuals the right to spend their money on whatever they want. We have not solicited money from anybody…bear in mind that Obasanjo has made this country conducive for foreigners to come and do business. Nobody can be more patriotic than Obasanjo, a man who spent most of life working for Nigeria all over the world." 

Fani-Kayode claims no government is involved in the Presidential library, yet the thirty-six state governors are reported to have donated ten million naira each. Is that not government money? "My understanding is that the thirty-six state governors got together and said they will donate ten million naira each from their personal funds," claims Fani-Kayode. How are the state governors able to donate ten million naira of their personal money? "I don't know. You should ask them," says the Presidential spokesman. Bola Tinubu, Lagos State Governor has disassociated himself from the thirty-six state purported donations. 

What does the President say to those who see the library project as another opportunity to fleece the Nigerian people? "Arrant nonsense! There is absolutely no truth to that. Obasanjo has worked for this country all his life. There is no government money in this project. People are donating to the library project out of love for the President," declared Fani-Kayode. 

Last week we wrote a story about Carlton Masters and his involvement with the Presidential library project. I did not know that Masters initiated the library project. I was shocked that Femi Fani-Kayode did not at the least consider the impropriety of a lobbyist for Nigeria initiating a Presidential library project. Yet, the Presidency has been very agitated by the onslaught of negative press that have followed the launching of the library project. Masters made the rounds of Nigerian media in the days leading up to the launching of the library project. With Nigerians expressing reservations about him and his involvement with Obasanjo, Masters is now running from the media which he perceives as hostile. He and his cronies are quietly pressuring Nigerian journalists to desist from doing more negative stories about him, his Atlanta based company, Goodworks International, LLC and the Obasanjo Presidential library project. Some journalists have also been threatened indirectly by the Presidency on behalf of Masters. There is a whispered campaign going on to stop further negative stories on the library project and some of the principal actors. 

Threats and intimidation are part of Masters modus operandi when he feels his interest or position may be compromised. A source whose allegations against Masters played a major role in his prompt departure from his job as Agent-general and Deputy Minister of Trade for Ontario government told Elendureports.com that for three years her life was made a "living hell." The source, who did not want her name mentioned in this article for fear of reprisals, was very upset that we were able to locate her. Sowore Omoyele had a call from Masters Chicago based lawyer less than two hours after interviewing Masters. Other methods of threat were employed against other journalists and media organizations. Masters who never ceases to remind people he is American has no qualms harassing Nigerians. So much for gratitude! 

GANI VERSUS THE NEWEST LIBRARIANS
by Eric Osagie [ericosagie@yahoo.com 08055001946], THE SUN, Saturday, June 18, 2005 

Chief Gani Fawehinmi is angry! You can see it in his eyes and feel it in his voice. You surely can hear it in the thunder of his tongue. And when the gadfly is in this ‘killer’ mood, those at the receiving end of his action, certainly can’t feel at ease. The heat of his fire power will be suffocating. Everywhere will quake. Gani, oh, this guy simply loves a good fight, like the kind he is presently squaring up to.  

So, who’s Gani crossed with this time and what’s his grouse? Gani is angry with the newest ‘librarians’ in town. The activist-lawyer believes that these guys suddenly fascinated with librarianship haven’t been as straight as librarians or anyone who desires a career or retirement in librarianship ought to be. Gani strongly suspects there are plenty mago mago and wuruwuru, in the establishment of the library of controversy named after the No. 1 citizen.  

Even as the wordsmith, our own W.S.[Wole Soyinka] has dismissed the fundraising where all kinds of government contractors and cronies, had ample space to display their loyalty, as “executive extortionism,” Gani says what happened during the launch was nothing short of ‘presidential rascality.’

And he’s gone to court to prove that corruption also includes the action of a president who establishes a library in his name while still in power and goes ahead to ‘cajole or intimidate’ friends and business partners of government to donate to the project.  

In dragging the president to court, Gani is no anti-intellectualism. He would rather those in government do the right thing: fund universities properly, fund public libraries adequately. And if the president desires to own a library, he should do so after leaving office. 

For those who haven’t been following the story, it will be appropriate to do a recap.

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the renowned chicken farmer who presides over the affairs of the nation, thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to retire into a library after serving out his term in Aso Rock in 2007.

So, an idea hit him or was sold to him, to set up a presidential library, to be named Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library. A fund raising was put together by a foreigner named Karl Masters, where some hefty billions was raised, and donations made by a motley crowd of agents and contractors, including state governments, many of whom haven’t much to show as democracy dividends for their people.

But the twist to the unfolding presidential library drama is the entry of Professor Onaolapo Soleye, a former minister of finance, into the fray. Soleye, a known OBJ ally, has suddenly come out to claim the ownership of the presidential library. There is also the case of the recently approved Bell University, another OBJ project Gani is questioning its morality and legality. The radical SAN says OBJ was wrong to have awarded himself the right of a university as a sitting president. 

Gani is smoking fire. And I reproduce below excerpts of his argument, first published in the current edition of THE NEWS magazine. I align myself hundred percent with Gani’s view, which you will find hot and steamy, delivered in the inimitable way unique only to the human rights dynamo… 

“ What do you call that man? Soleye. I knew Soleye very well. Soleye was a Professor in Ibadan before. By his own financial capability, this man cannot raise N5 million from a bank as a loan. He can’t. I don’t know when Soleye became Olusegun Obasanjo. We are not told of any change of name and Soleye is just disgracing his integrity by making that pronouncement… Where was Soleye since 2003, not making a statement that he was the owner of the Bell University? Where was he in 2004? Where was he until June 2005? Now he is claiming that he is the owner.

Well, let him come out with all the documents, let him call a press conference to show us how he established the Bell University. 

“If you look at the Board of Trustees of Obasanjo Library, the chairman is Christopher Kolade. You know Kolade is the UK High Commissioner. I don’t think that with all his track record, after serving the federal government, with his integrity, I don’t think he will be chairing a Janus-faced organization that has two heads-one head for Obasanjo and the other for Soleye. I don’t think it is in his character. And in any event, Obasanjo himself spoke on that day, clearly. Richard Branson came with his mother, father and wife. He would not have come with his family to one internationally inconsequential character and quantity called Soleye. Richard Branson can’t do that. So I think they should advise this man not to make a fool of himself or his life because he will collapse in the witness box when the time comes. 

“Why did he name it Obasanjo Presidential Library?

Why not Soleye Library? Has he even made any contribution to the University of Ibadan Library? Has he ever gone to his home town to establish a local library? Has he ever thought fit to give fund to the National Library that is bereft of funds? Has he ever in his life, made any donation to any library, anywhere in the world? If he was such a famous man regarding his interest in library, that he had to bring in the likes of Richard Branson, then he must have been so much involved in library set up internationally that he will be so recognized by the likes of Mr. Branson. 

“Do you know the Bell’s College? Who owns the College? Obasanjo is the owner. He granted an interview shortly before the launch that he didn’t want to start the university. That parents and academic community of the Bell advised him. We have the Bell primary and secondary school. Now there is the Bell University. He said it himself. And then he started and he used the opportunity to obtain a licence which is an abuse of power. 

“All over the world, you wait until you leave office.

In America, the system which we are practicing, that is the way it is done. Those in living memory, Nixon after he left office in 1975 as a result of Watergate, set up his library after he left office. You remember Clinton, he was even begging for funds here and there after leaving. It is because Obasanjo knows (and I am saying so most categorically) that if he has to launch that library fund after leaving, he will not see one tenth of those who gave him money. He knows and he has even said so to somebody that if I don’t do it now, once I leave office I won’t see them again...

Obasanjo has never said before, that the Bell was not his own. He never said so. He has never denied ownership of the Junior Bell Primary School.

 Everybody knows and all the parents who go there know that they belong to Olusegun Obasanjo. And what is more, there was one statement made on May 14 which I want you to note. And it was to the effect that the library will be affiliated to the Bell University.

Didn’t you hear about that? So if the Bell University does not belong to Obasanjo and the library does not belong to Obasanjo, why should he make that statement?

And in any event, look at the caliber of people who came. They are not the people who could come for any other person than Obasanjo, the man in power. And power attracts all sorts of big people, the so-called heavy weights. 

“I left out something which I want you to note. I am very cross about this matter. Six years ago, there was no Zenon Oil. Six years ago, there was no big man called Femi Otedola, that young chap. Somebody just started as Minister of Petroleum as well as President.

Zenon Oil came and this young boy was donating N200 million like a bolt from the blue. So there is no way by which that boy could be donating to Soleye. Who is Soleye to that boy? I am asking you? Who is Soleye to that boy that he will receive N200 million? I didn’t know that Soleye is so popular that Dangote would give him N250 million, that a consortium of banks will give him 622 million, that the oil companies will give him N2.3 billion. I think we need to know Soleye. I think he must be a junior Jesus! He must be either a new man who has just come or he is a whiz-kid!” 

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY (OOPL) FIRST AFRICA-WIDE ESSAY COMPETITION       

STUDENTS OF THIS UNIVERSITY ARE HEREBY INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE INAUGURAL AFRICA-WIDE ESSAY COMPETITION ORGANIZED BY OLUSEGUN OBASANJO PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY FOUNDATION.

 According to the Chairman, Programme Development Committee, Prof. Akin L. Mabogunje, the competition is part of the preparation towards the formal inauguration of the OOPL in March 2009. 

The theme of the inaugural competition is “Youth Perceptions of Human Security in Africa”.  It is aimed at drawing attention to the challenges of Human security facing Africa from an African youth perspective.  It is the desire of the OOPL to encourage African students and researchers, to take up interests in understanding Human security and mainstreaming the concept in their thinking, policy designs and advocacy efforts.  This is consistent with the library’s plans of harnessing its resources, derived from President Olusegun Obasanjo’s life, career and legacies.  To this end, a Centre for Human Security has already been established within the library complex.

The vision of the OOPL itself is to be an evergreen resource for stimulation of the ideas of democracy, good governance and leadership in Africa, with the mission to foster deeper understanding of the life, career and passion of President Olusegun Obasanjo.  The OOPL seeks to facilitate reflection on best practices in public service; provide a clearer comprehension of development in Africa, the Commonwealth and the rest of the world, and collaborate with similar institutions in attaining these objectives.

The objectives of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library are to: 

• acquire and preserve resources relating to the life, career and Presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo.
• make available for public study and research, such resources as documents, artifacts, personal items and memorabilia of President Olusegun Obasanjo through research, exhibitions, public programmes, ouline services, documentary media, publications and outreach;
• serve as a resource for inspiring national and African unity, democracy, good governance and leadership;
• advance the standing of the ;Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library as a centre of intellectual activity and community leadership designed to meet the challenges of a changing world;
• encourage and promote innovation in public administration;
• provide a base for theoretical, qualitative and quantitative analyses to unravel the causal relationships and inter-dependencies that activate human security threats in Africa, that can form the basis for policy recommendations and action;
• in partnership with UNESCO, the Institute for Black Culture and International Understanding, maintain replicas and miniatures of Ulli Beier collections in a multi-media, interactive system and make them accessible to scholars, historians, as enthusiasts and the general public;
• establish linkages with Presidential Libraries and similar institutions elsewhere in the world with a view to sharing resources and organizing events of common interest;

 Further information about the library and the essay competition can be found on www.ooplibrary.org.

Our students are hereby encouraged to participate in this essay competition as we wish them the very best of luck. 

Chris Adamaigbo, KSM
Deputy Registrar, Information/Public Relations Officer
 http://www.aauekpoma.edu.ng/content/view/244/44/

JUST HOW BLIND IS TRANSCORP'S BLIND TRUST?
THIS DAY, 08.15.2006 taken from http://www.dawodu.com/aluko142.htm 

Last week, THISDAY exclusively reported the President's ownership of 200,000,000 shares in Transcorp, the conglomerate which has of recent, been buying up national assets. A Blind Trust pertaining to those shares was said to have been put in place. HENDERSON JOHNSON-AGBA explains just what a blind trust is and raises legal and ethical issues about the presidential blind trust in Transcorp.............................  

I read with interest and concern Samuel Famakinwa's article in THISDAY of August 9 2005 titled, "Transcorp: Obasanjo's Shares in Blind Trust." The gist of it was that "The 200 million shares owned by President Olusegun Obasanjo in Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp) are being held in a blind trust on behalf of the President by Obasanjo Holdings, THISDAY authoritatively reports. According to information, the President's shares which are being held in a blind trust, in line with international best practice and it is being run by some prominent Nigerians and a foreign national. THISDAY also gathered that the President, through Obasanjo Holdings Blind Trust subscribed to 200 million shares in Transcorp when it was incorporated November 2004. The shares were fully paid."  

Any inquisitive mind (of which I am one) would like to know if the shares where actually purchased in the name of Obasanjo Holdings Blind Trust and so registered at the Corporate Affairs Commission. However beyond the inquisitiveness are several interesting legal issues that this concept throws up. Chief amongst them are: What exactly is a blind trust? Does Nigerian Law recognize the concept of a blind trust?  

The American Heritage Dictionary defines a blind trust as "A financial arrangement in which a person, such as a high-ranking elected official, avoids possible conflict of interest by relegating his or her financial affairs to a fiduciary who has sole discretion as to their management. The person choosing the trust also gives up the right to information regarding the status of the assets."  

Three major components of this definition are: (a) It is intended to avoid conflict of interest (b) The trustee assume full powers - 'sole discretion' - for managing the assets (c) the public officer loses the right to information on the assets during the tenure of the trust.  

Do we have any law that provides for a blind trust in Nigeria ? Who regulates it? We would come back to this later after we have seen how a blind trust actually operates in the United States . The story of U.S Senator Bill Frist is a good example. Senator Frist inherited a company HCA Inc from his late father and was a major shareholder before he became a Senator. In keeping with existing U.S regulations by virtue of the Ethics in Government Act 1978 (as amended) the Senator created a blind trust and duly informed the Senate Ethics Committee and filed all the necessary forms included a trust deed drafted in accordance with the laid down regulations. Under the statute Senator's Frists' trust agreement is not recognized as creating a blind trust for whatever purpose unless it has been approved by the Senate Committee on Ethics prior to execution. The standard Trust agreement contains clauses to the effect that the tenure of the trust shall be for the period that the Senator (or other public officer) continues in public office. It also lays down rules on interested parties which are defined as "the Grantor, spouses, any minor or dependent child, and their representatives". Additionally, the Senator had to furnish information to relevant agencies on the proposed Trustee and Investment Adviser for their consideration by the Senate Committee to ensure that these persons are truly independent. By the Statute the Trustee has a long list of obligations which include reporting to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Office of Public Records and the Secretary of the Senate whenever "a particular asset transferred to the trust by an interested party have been completely disposed of or when the value of the asset becomes less than $1000" and on and on goes the laid down procedures.  

The Senator supposedly complied with all these provisions as laid down by statute. So what do the accusers of the distinguished Senator have to say? Here is what happened. Senator Frist was asked during an interview whether he would not have a conflict of interest in voting for or against health care legislation despite his ownership of stock in HCA, a hospital chain which his family founded and asked whether he would sell his shares, to which he responded: "I really think viewers should know that I put this into a blind trust. So far as I know, I own no HCA stock. I have no control. It is illegal right now for me to know what the composition of those trusts assets. So I have no idea? It was later found out that Senator Frist actually received regular updates of transfer of assets to his blind trusts and sales of stocks. He also was able to initiate a stock sale of HCA with perfect timing because shortly after he sold the stock price dived.  

Apart from the issue of having knowledge of the affairs of the blind trust, the US Attorney-General's office and the Securities and Exchange Commission began to investigate whether the Senator sold his stock based on insider information about earnings report. The level of 'blindness' expected of a grantor of a blind trust in public office in the US is total impaired vision NOT partial impaired vision. He is expected to take his hands and eyes off the asset entirely, leaving it to the Trustee for the tenure of the Trust. Indeed an onerous task, I think so too! But that is the character of a blind trust.  

Now that we have a good idea of the essence and workings of a blind trust we can go back to the earlier question on whether any law or regulation exists on blind trusts in Nigeria. I would rephrase that question to read: Would any Nigerian Senator have run foul of any Nigerian Law pertaining to public office if he acted as Senator Frist did? NOT likely. Our situation and jurisprudence is totally different! The major portion of our laws that deal with conduct of public officers is as contained in Schedule 5 of the Nigerian Constitution. Permit me to quote some relevant sections which provides inter alia: Section 1 - "A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities? Section 6 (1) A public officer shall not ask for or accept property or benefits of any kind for himself or any other person on account of anything done or omitted to be done by him in the discharge of his duties. Section 7 (b) The President or Vice-President, Governor or Deputy Governor, Minister of the Government of the Federation or Commissioner of the Government of a State, or any other public officer who holds the office of a Permanent Secretary or head of any public corporation, university, or other parastatal organisation shall not accept any benefit of whatever nature from any company, contractor, or businessman, or the nominee or agent of such person. Section 8 - No persons shall offer a public officer any property, gift or benefit of any kind as an inducement or bribe for the granting of any favour or the discharge in his favour of the public officer's duties. Section 9 -   A public officer shall not do or direct to be done, in abuse of his office, any arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of any other person knowing that such act is unlawful or contrary to any government policy. Section 11 (1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, every public officer shall within three months after the coming into force of this Code of Conduct or immediately after taking office and thereafter (a) at the end of every four years; and (b) at the end of his term of office, submit to the Code of Conduct Bureau a written declaration of all his properties, assets, and liabilities and those of his unmarried children under the age of eighteen years. Section 11 (2)   Any statement in such declaration that is found to be false by any authority or person authorised in that behalf to verify it shall be deemed to be a breach of this Code. Section 11 (3) Any property or assets acquired by a public officer after any declaration required under this Constitution and which is not fairly attributable to income, gift, or loan approved by this Code shall be deemed to have been acquired in breach of this Code unless the contrary is proved. Section 13. A public officer who does any act prohibited by this Code through a nominee, trustee, or other agent shall be deemed ipso facto to have committed a breach of this Code.  

This is the gist of Nigeria's code of conduct for public officers. I have searched our statute books and regulations I fail to see any 'Blind Trusts Miscellaneous Regulations Law' or any piece of legislation that regulates the operation of blind trusts for public officers. Someone suggested a resort to Common law and the answer to that is what happens where Common Law conflicts with the clear prohibition on conflict of interest in Section 1 of Schedule 5 of the Nigerian Constitution?  

I submit that our jurisprudence is blind to the concept of a blind trust and where same exists the regulations governing its workings are not in place. One is not in a position to adjudge the truth in the reports of Mr. Famakinwa of THISDAY. However since it has become an issue then it is a worthwhile intellectual discourse to raise questions that may arise in judging the propriety or impropriety of blinds trusts in relation to this transaction and generally. The questions that agitate my mind in this regard are: ONE: Can a public officer create a blind trust for shares held in a company which was created and nurtured by him during his tenure in office?  

To put this in perspective Senator Frist had the controversial stock in HCA before he became a Senator. He did not acquire them in the course of his duty as a Senator. He did not set up the company during his tenure as a Senator or use his official powers and statutory powers as Senator to set up a company to which he became a shareholder. TWO: Can the act of a public officer become legal (or ethical) by importing the 'blind trust' concept which is alien (and therefore not subject to regulation) to Nigerian law?  

Would Senator Frist for example borrow our Code of Conduct in Schedule 5 of the Nigerian Constitution to defend himself of any impropriety in the United States? Mr. Famakinwa's article says that the blind trust is set up according to 'best International practice' to which I ask: Can we apply any 'best' international practice (no matter how well versed) to a transaction that is not in tune with domestic laws? THREE: Where the act in question clearly runs against the omnibus Conflict of Interest provisions in Section 1 of the Code of Conduct (above quoted) would the niceties of a blind trust erase or negate the duties of an elected officer as a public trustee?  

One major pillar of our inherited Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence is the underlining concept of 'equity and good conscience'. As we continue in this discourse we should ask ourselves whether in all good conscience a grantor of such a blind trust - a shareholder in a company - can remain a major player (or the major player) in determining the fortunes of the company and through the instrumentality of his public office.   Just how blind can this blind trust be?  

OBASANJO HOLDINGS AND TRANSCORP PLC: 
DAILY INDEPENDENT, 16th August 2006

 The tepid denial of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media Matters, Mrs Remi Oyo, notwithstanding, there is the need for a comprehensive statement directly from the President of the Federal Republic on the nature of his involvement or lack of it with the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp).   

In a recent newspaper report, it was alleged that Obasanjo Holdings, a firm purportedly managing many hitherto unknown companies owned by President Oluseggun Obasanjo, subscribed to 200 million shares when Transcorp was incorporated in November 2004. According to the report, full payment was duly made in respect of the said shares. If the allegation is true, then there is a clear conflict of interest.  

 A 'blind trust,' in its conventional application, is a special purpose vehicle, which is brought into play when an individual with private stock holdings goes into public office, elective or appointive. By as it were erecting a wall between the owner of the shares and its operations and immediate direct benefit, a 'blind trust' seeks to limit, if not entirely eliminate, potential conflict of interest.    

However, a grey area exists on the moral front about this particular transaction. Can a 'blind trust' be justified when a person has already assumed office? For the presumption in a democracy is that all personal additional business interaction ceases the moment the person assumes high office. Given the nomenclature as well as the raison d'etre for its foundation, a 'blind trust' involving Transcorp Plc is fraught with grave danger.   

The company was set up specifically as a "national champion" with the clearly stated intention of capturing the commanding heights of the economy. In this guise, there is clearly no way in which anyone in a position of authority will not be in an invidious position in his dealings with Transcorp, if he also has indirect holdings in the company. There have always been problems of conflict of interest in the promotion of "national champions" and this newspaper has consistently pointed out the landmines.    

This becomes even more poignant in a case where openness is not enshrined through a "Freedom of Information" process. In the case of Transcorp there have been grave allegations of favouritism, granting of special favours and privileges as well as rigging of privatisation deals. All these issues came to the fore during the recent sale of the country's first telecommunication national carrier – NITEL.  

The absence of anti-monopoly, pro-competition and fair trading frameworks within the country clearly breeds a situation of distrust. Such frameworks ought to have preceded the privatisation programme. In the absence of these, there will always be allegations of unfairness. The issue here brings up a wonderful opportunity to set the parameters in which a democratic structure and culture can evolve.  

Office, as Lord Acton has famously observed, "does not sanctify the man." In a democracy office-holders are in a position of trust and there must be clear rules and regulations to minimise conflicts of interest and distortions. These rules must apply across the board at every level of public office holding.  

We should initiate a Parliamentary Standards Commission headed preferably by a respected retired judicial officer to oversee the entire gamut of behaviour and decide on issues of propriety. There must be a register in which public office-holders have to declare direct and indirect interests in private and public companies including those of their immediate family members. The register must be made public, sworn to on oath and regularly updated. We must have a clear National Democratic Agreement on the issue of acceptable gifts and gratification for public office-holders.

Finally, since apart from NITEL, Transcorp Plc is known to have made bids for other public companies as well as oil blocks, it is absolutely vital, in the interest of fair play, open competition and probity, that the matter is speedily clarified and the shareholding structure of the company opened up for public scrutiny.    

OBASANJO, SPEAK ON TRANSCORP
DAILY TRUST EDITORIAL: August 18, 2006

 Recently, newspaper reports alleged that President Olusegun Obasanjo holds 200 million paid-up shares in Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp). Transcorp, a mega-company that President Olusegun Obasanjo has actively promoted as Nigeria's answer to South Korea 's Chaebols, has somehow emerged as the preferred bidders in the controversial sales of strategic national assets such as the Hilton Hotel, Abuja and the National Telecommunications Plc (NITEL).   

As we write this, the Presidency has not made a formal response to the allegation. Nor has it responded to another newspaper story alleging that the President's holding in Transcorp is 600 million shares, and not 200 million as earlier stated. The President's shares in Transcorp are said to be held in a blind trust "in line with international best practices," and are being run by some prominent Nigerians and a foreign national. The same story has it "that Obasanjo Holdings Blind Trust subscribed to 200 million shares in Transcorp when it was incorporated in November" and that the "shares were fully paid" for.  

The President ought to know that even before the newspaper publications made the issue of the ownership of Transcorp a matter for national discourse, most Nigerians, in the safety of their homes and places of work, have marveled at Transcorp's extra-ordinarily good fortune. Nigerians have asked whether it is proper that Dr. Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke, who is the Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, umpire and regulator of publicly quoted companies, should also be Transcorp chairman. Not a few eye-brows were raised at the absence of transparency in the sale of NICON-HILTON Hotel, a cultural heritage that sits on one of the world's choicest estate, to Transcorp, a company which, because it has zero experience in the hospitality industry, should not in the first place have bidded for it.  

And now NITEL, where the BPE, in a desperate bid to hand over the telecommunication giant to Transcorp, over-reached its own record of dubiety and disingeniousness. Initially, BPE said 51% of NITEL was for sale. After the investors' bids were rejected, BPE decided to have a negotiated sale, only to come out with an announcement that Transcorp has emerged winner of the 71% of NITEL, a substantial remove from the 51% that has been on offer.  

 The events of the past two weeks justifies the position that Nigerians deserve meaningful clarification on Transcorp and its ownership structure from relevant agencies and persons like the Corporate Affairs Commission, the BPE, the National Council on Privatisation, General Olusegun Obasanjo and the relevant committees of both Houses of the National Assembly. It is noteworthy and commendable that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Vice-President around whose neck the yet-to-be proved allegations of corruption were strung by this administration, had the presence of mind to reject the Transcorp shares when 100 million of them were offered to him. If Transcorp is really in the habit of offering shares to highly placed Nigerians in public service, notwithstanding the clear strictures of the fifth schedule of the 1999 Constitution, could it have made such offers to number two without doing same to number one" Was an offer made to the President, was it accepted or was it refused? In relation to Transcorp, was it the case that at a point, the President was a judge in his own case? If the President really owns shares in Transcorp, how much of a conflict of interest does that pose? And how does this untidy bit fit into the other stories concerning the donations for a Presidential Library?    

So the President needs to speak, directly to Nigerians, on the Transcorp matter. It is clear that the direct route of talking through a sympathetic newspaper publication that attempts to make the transactions look good has failed. For one, the laws of Nigeria and the 1999 Constitution do not know what a "blind trust" is. If blind trust is unknown to our laws, then there can't be "an applicable international best practice of a concept," Obasanjo Holdings Blind Trust "which is unknown to the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And if a TRUST was really created, for whose benefit was it created, and if a trust was registered, where was it registered?  

THE ETHICAL BURDEN OF OBASANJO'S "BLIND TRUST" AND TRANSCORP
-  "Please Speak to the Nation,  Ejoo Sir!" -
by
Mobolaji E. Aluko, PhD , alukome@gmail.com , Burtonsville, MD, USA, August 19, 2006

QUOTE from Wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Blind_trust    

A blind trust is a trust in which the executors or those who have been given power of attorney have full discretion over the assets, and the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust. Blind trusts are generally used when a trustor wishes to keep the beneficiary unaware of the specific assets in the trust, such as to avoid conflict of interest between the beneficiary and the investments. Politicians often place their assets in blind trusts so they cannot be accused of conflict of interest when they direct government funds to the private sector.  

UNQUOTE  

The ethical blindness - or sight-challengedness -  with which our Nigerian leadership often approaches various issues can be amazing.   One  reads of heads of regulating agencies accepting car gifts from those they regulate and harrumphing that such gestures will not affect their objectivity; ministries donating public money for birthdays and book launches of their ministers and other high officials; adult brothers and mothers' and concubines' health, hotel and/or other accommodation bills paid for from the public purse, etc.    More befuddling is that when confronted with the clear moral burden at hand, there is amazement exhibited by some protagonists that the issue is raised at all, and you find certain actors, both paid and unpaid, coming out of the woodworks asserting that nothing is wrong, and that the accusations are being made out of envy and/or political pettiness.  

With regard to the matter at hand, the president's personal involvement in the running of his Ota Farm [ http://www.obasanjofarms.com/ ], and in Obasanjo Holdings [ http://obasanjoholdings.com/ ] well into his presidency is a well-known fact. For example, back in December 2004, and again in September 2005,  Governor Orji Uzo Kalu of Abia State, in one of his many verbal and written combats with the president over his impounded Slok Airlines and other matters,   indicated that he once sat with the president while he (president Obasanjo) was signing Obasanjo Farm checks of First Bank, Plc, among several accusations. [See http://odili. net/news/ source/2004/ dec/2/303. html ; and http://www.nigerian muse.com/ nigeriawatch/ officialfraud/ Orji_Uzo_ Kalu_accuses_ Obasanjo_ before_EFCC. htm ] That statement has not been controverted.  More importantly, the nation was once told earlier in November 2004 by then presidential aide Remi Fani-Kayode (now Minister of   Culture and Tourism) that since Obasanjo's farm and other business concerns earn approximately N30 million per month, the president was not inclined to steal government money, meaning that the president was benefitting well, thank you, from such proceeds [ http://www.nigerian muse.com/ important_ documents/ Obasanjo_ farm_wealth. htm   ].  

And now August 2006, and disclosure of a Blind Trust investment in Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp http://www.transcorpnigeria.com/ ) , Nigeria 's answer to South Korean "Chaebols",  which was incorporated on November 17, 2004.  When did the Obasanjo Holdings become "blind", if that was the vehicle? Can a "blind trust" have a "sighted" name?    Who are its executors?  Was it registered with Corporate Affairs Commission so as to be able to trade?  And now that the blinded trust is with sight, has the basic legal requirement of its blindness not been violated, in which case it should disgorge itself immediately of the 1, 20, 100 or even 200-600 million share in Transcorp  (out of how many? A total of 1 billion as alleged?) , or more accurately (since no Initial Public Offering IPO has really been made yet) in any Private Placement offering taken up in Transcorp?  

These are germane questions which many Nigerians, including yours truly, are raising.   These are questions that demand answers - and quickly too. 

 The ethical dilemma which the President has entangled himself with - the multi-billion- naira donations by Corporate Nigeria both to his 2003 Campaign and to the Presidential Library Fund; the establishment of a private University at Bells Technological University in the midst of the declining fortunes of our public universities; and now the allegations of "blind trust" holdings in a highly-favored Transcorp - constitute a really troubling pattern.   One gets the feeling that he is not properly advised by lawyers around him, and/or by his public relations handlers that a person in such a high position can be easily accused - and rightly so - of unrighteous influence peddling.   There is a certain base level in which these activities can be described as strictly "legal", but at another level of public decency and perception, they leave a uncomfortable stink when every spirit of the law has been violated.  

The president can do better.  He should indeed speak to the nation on Transcorp and his involvement - and quickly too - and make amends if necessary.  

ANDREW YOUNG, CARL MASTERS AND OBASANJO'S CONNECTION IN FLORIDA EXPOSED.
Wed 18th April, 2007, Saharareporters 

For U.S.-Nigeria Go-Between, Ties Yield Profits  

Michael Temchine for The New York Times
Femi Falana, a prominent Nigerian lawyer, and other activists say they believe that Andrew Young decided simply to profit in Nigeria.
by BARRY MEIER

Published: April 18, 2007

LAGOS, Nigeria — For years, Andrew Young, the civil rights leader, has been deeply involved in this country through the lobbying and consulting firm he heads, GoodWorks International. Its motto is: “We do well by doing good.”  

But the question of what exactly GoodWorks is or is not doing here has turned Mr. Young and his firm into something of a lightning rod, as Nigerians prepare to elect a successor Saturday to this country’s president, Olusegun Obasanjo, whom Mr. Young has known for 30 years.  

“We believe that the relationship between GoodWorks International and Nigeria is foisted on juicy financial benefits to the former,” said an editorial earlier this year in a newspaper here, This Day. 

For his part, Mr. Young, the former congressman, United Nations ambassador and mayor of Atlanta, dismissed such comments as sniping by opponents of Mr. Obasanjo’s party, which is expected to win the weekend election. 

But there is also little question that Nigeria has been very good for GoodWorks; thanks in part to Mr. Young’s long ties to Mr. Obasanjo, his firm in Atlanta has earned millions of dollars here over the years through a network of business dealings that extend far beyond lobbying. 

As business has gone increasingly global, many consulting firms based in the United States, like GoodWorks, have increased their operations abroad, taking on assignments in developing nations like Nigeria where power and wealth are frequently concentrated in a few hands. And consulting experts say it is common for United States firms that lobby for foreign governments in Washington to also have business interests in those countries.  

A look at GoodWorks’ activities in Nigeria, based on interviews and documents, provides a window into how embedded such lobbyists can become in developing economies. 

Along with lobbying for Nigeria, for example, GoodWorks is paid to represent many major companies like Chevron, General Electric and Motorola that seek big contracts from the Nigerian government. 

In addition, executives of GoodWorks have stakes in Nigeria’s oil industry, the country’s main source of wealth. And several years ago, the firm’s chief executive, Carlton A. Masters, started an American company with close relatives of President Obasanjo that bought an expensive Miami property with Mr. Masters’s money, Florida records show. 

It is not illegal for lobbyists simultaneously to represent foreign countries and companies seeking business from them. And they are not barred from having business interests in countries they represent in Washington. 

Mr. Young and Mr. Masters also said in recent interviews that they had been scrupulous in avoiding conflicts between their governmental and corporate clients. They added that their clients who have won contracts in Nigeria have done so fairly, by outbidding competitors. 

“We don’t pay anyone under the table, and we don’t accept any kind of questionable payments or relationships,” Mr. Young said. “We don’t work with people where there are questions of integrity involved.” 

For Mr. Young, the involvement of GoodWorks in Nigeria is also one of the lesser-known chapters in a long, celebrated and at times controversial career.  

Last year, for example, Mr. Young, who first became known as a top aide to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., resigned as a consultant to Wal-Mart after he said that Jewish, Arab and Korean store owners had “ripped off” black communities by “selling us stale bread and bad meat.” He subsequently apologized for the remarks. 

GoodWorks has also generated controversy here. Two years ago, for instance, one local activist filed a complaint that, among other things, criticized Mr. Masters for his role in fund-raising for a $50 million, American-style presidential library named after Mr. Obasanjo that is being built in his hometown north of this chaotic and desperately poor city.  

Also in 2005, the Nigerian leader was the host for Mr. Masters’s wedding at the official presidential banquet hall, an event that drew outcries from Mr. Obasanjo’s critics. 

Several activists in Nigeria said in recent interviews that they believed that Mr. Young had decided simply to profit here from his legacy rather than use it to help a country that remains beset by problems of political corruption, crumbling infrastructure and failed school systems.

“Andrew Young has never been interested in these issues,” said Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer who is also president of the West African Bar Association. “He is just here making money.” 

Mr. Young said that while some people still viewed him as an “activist trapped in the ’60s,” he had decided long ago that he could effect more change by attracting private investment to places like Nigeria that needed it.  

He also said that the Obasanjo library, which is being underwritten by donations from local politicians and companies, would benefit all Nigerians by serving as a conference center. 

“For 40 years of my life, I was on the outside seeking change,” he said. “I realized that I could be more effective being on the inside implementing it.” 

GoodWorks, which Mr. Young and Mr. Masters helped found in 1996, has also lobbied in the United States for Rwanda and Turks and Caicos Islands. Mr. Young declined to disclose the firm’s revenue but said that the vast bulk of it came from its operations here.

 A spokesman for Mr. Obasanjo, Uba Sani, said that the Nigerian government was pleased with GoodWorks’ performance, describing the firm as “good friends of Nigeria.” And Mr. Masters said much of the recent criticism of GoodWorks was coming from those who did not want to see the firm’s lobbying contract, which expired in April, renewed by Nigeria’s next president. After eight consecutive years as president, Mr. Obasanjo is barred from running again. 

GoodWorks’ dealings in Nigeria reflect Mr. Young’s relationship over three decades with Mr. Obasanjo. And like much else in Mr. Young’s life, it is a relationship filled with a mix of drama, ideals and opportunism. 

The two men met in the late 1970s, when Mr. Obasanjo, then a general, first served as this country’s president, one in a long line of military figures who ruled Nigeria.  

“Obasanjo and I kind of hit it off immediately,” said Mr. Young, who was the United States ambassador to the United Nations at the time. “We were mainly concerned with democracy.” 

Two decades later, the names of Mr. Young and Mr. Obasanjo, who was no longer in public office, appeared together in a United States Senate report about the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, the rogue financial institution. 

The report criticized Mr. Young for, among other things, trying to obtain a bank loan to help Mr. Obasanjo start a farm equipment company for which he would have worked as a consultant. 

That deal never went forward. But in the mid-1990s, Mr. Young found himself urging Gen. Sani Abacha, then Nigeria’s president, to release a number of political opponents he had jailed, including Mr. Obasanjo. In 1999, the year after his release, Mr. Obasanjo was voted president in democratic elections. 

Mr. Young said he believed that his old ally had since reshaped the country for the better by eliminating entrenched corruption and raising the quality of life.  

“There isn’t anything that’s happened in Africa worthwhile, almost since 1960, that he hasn’t been involved in,” Mr. Young said. 

Some activists credit Mr. Obasanjo for certain improvements, like taking some steps to increase the transparency of how this country’s oil wealth is distributed. But they added that he has allowed Nigeria’s infrastructure to disintegrate further while a small group of insiders has grown richer; electrical blackouts are routine and highways are so bad that short journeys can take hours. 

Mr. Masters said that GoodWorks, which became Nigeria’s lobbyist in 2001, had worked with officials there to reduce the country’s international debts. But unlike some lobbyists for foreign governments, the firm appears to have done little to influence American policy toward its client. For instance, GoodWorks said that it had “no recollection” of a single instance in which it represented Nigeria in talks with any federal overseas development agencies. 

Instead, the firm, apparently in keeping with Mr. Young’s philosophy, has focused its energies on business development in Nigeria and representing companies before Mr. Obasanjo’s government. 

Mr. Masters said that GoodWorks typically received a “success fee” equal to 1 ½ percent of a contract’s value, a fee that can lead to big payouts. In 2005, for example, G.E. Energy, a GoodWorks client, won a $400 million contract to supply generating turbines in Nigeria. 

The company, a subsidiary of General Electric, said in a statement that it had a “standard sales representative agreement” with GoodWorks, but declined to elaborate.  

Mr. Young said that GoodWorks has started small companies here that employ Nigerians. But the company also has other local business interests. For example, the head of the company’s Nigerian office is the major shareholder in a local energy company, Suntrust Oil, which won a lease during a 2002 government auction of offshore fields that did not interest major energy companies. 

While Mr. Young, 75, still serves as the firm’s public face, it is Mr. Masters, in his late 50s, who spends much of his time traveling through Africa and the Caribbean. Along the way he has made his own connections. 

In 2001, for instance, Mr. Masters formed a Florida company, Sunscope Investments, with Mr. Obasanjo’s brother-in-law and his wife, that purchased a Miami condominium for about $750,000, Florida public records indicate. 

Asked about the issue, Mr. Masters said in a written statement that he had put up the money that Sunscope used to buy the property. He added, however, that Mr. Obasanjo’s relatives had quickly lost interest in the venture and had not profited from it in any way.  

Florida records indicate that Mr. Obasanjo’s sister-in-law, Yamisi Abebe, remained an officer of Sunscope until last year, when the company was dissolved and transferred its interest in the condominium to Mr. Masters for a nominal sum. 

One lobbying expert, Charles Lewis, the founder of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan group in Washington that monitors lobbying, said that given Mr. Masters’s multiple lobbying roles in Nigeria, his decision to involve President Obasanjo’s relatives in his business dealings was troubling.

 “It looks like hell,” Mr. Lewis said. 

Mr. Masters stated he had done nothing wrong. 

This weekend’s election will decide whether Umaru Yar’Adua, the candidate of Mr. Obasanjo’s party, will succeed him. If he does, it is far more likely that GoodWorks will remain Nigeria’s lobbyist than if one of the opposing parties is elected.  

“We’ve never gotten involved in politics,” Mr. Young said earlier this year. “We’ve tried to stay friendly with everyone.” 

LAUNDROMAT for FAILED RULERS -  A New Use for UNESCO?
February 25, 2008

By Wole Soyinka

This is taken from http://thenewsng.com/article/54

UNESCO – spelt United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation – is easily the most prominent of the prestigious organizations affiliated to the United Nations. Its achievements – from rescuing and protecting the world’s cultural sites and monuments, sometimes involving breathtaking feats of engineering – promoting environmental sanity throughout the world, giving pride of place to the ‘intangible heritage’ of indigenous peoples as valid contribution to world civilisation etc etc - these have made UNESCO a beacon of hope in humanity’s struggle to achieve itself. They remind societies of their capability to overcome and even anticipate natural disasters, the ravages of strictly profit motivated enterprises, not forgetting rulership contempt for the voiceless. Most important however, and basic to its very reason for existence, is UNESCO’s mission of fostering the consciousness of peace in the human mind, in spite of a historic propensity for war and destruction. As with all high-profile organisations, it has earned operational criticisms here and there, some deservedly. Nonetheless, most will agree that the world would be much culturally poorer, more philistinic in attitudes and national policies without the achievements that have made that organization a household word.

It is important therefore that the image of UNESCO be not diminished by a failure of vigilance, especially when it is recollected that its national collaborators, and even, sometimes, its own civil servants are creatures of political leaders to whom primary allegiance is thereby owed, even over and above the prospect of career preferments within a presumably independent organization. Some may genuinely identify with the lofty aims of UNESCO, but find that their very survival is best served by turning a blind eye on the manipulations, pressures and intrigues of their home governments. The larger and, ironically, the more mission-focused an organisation, the wider the mesh for the passage of infected loyalties. UNESCO cannot hope to escape that bind any more than other international bodies. The watchdog function then devolves on those for whom the integrity of the organ is crucial to their own functions as producers and partakers of that commodity called – Culture.

And now we come to the contributive role of such people, those whose very activities humanize the institutional face of UNESCO and render it palpable across national borders and social strata. Culture does not reside in what is written and debated about it, but in the very contributions of individuals, national institutions, societies and voluntary organisations. We need not go too far from our own terrain to identify such people, so let us point straightaway to a figure who must be counted as one of the most enduring expressions of cultural dialogue at its most disinterested and stimulating. I have in mind the legendary Suzanne Wenger, sculptor, animator and spiritual quester in a land that she embraced intuitively, and cherished. It was this woman, now in her eighties, who transformed one the most celebrated Nature reserves, Osun grove, into a space of creativity even while preserving its spiritual serenity. Even as this is being written, a two dozen strong delegation of her admirers, collaborators and culture lovers from Nigeria are converging on the Quai Branly museum in Paris, where a symposium – including a film - of her life and work in a transformed and – for her – transforming environment, will be held. It is certain that one or two among them will make a pitch for what, on many levels, can be rightly described as a ‘sister institution’ to Susan Wenger’s Osun, a site that has entered UNESCO’s directory as a World Heritage site.

And the ‘sister institution’? Together with her spouse at the time, Ulli Beier, Suzanne Wenger inspired the Oshogbo artistic movement whose members have earned recognition throughout the world. Ulli Beier, in his own right, was also an assiduous promoter of Yoruba culture, an archivist whose collection on many cultural facets both of the Yoruba, and of Papua New Guinea where he also sojourned and taught for a number of years, became a coveted acquisition for many institutions. Photographs, films, videos, lithographs, tapes, manuscripts, artifacts etc. etc - these testaments to a lifelong cultural passion run into tens of thousands. It is a collection that would enhance the work of UNESCO, both for periodic exhibitions and as base material for academic and cultural studies. It is right and proper that UNESCO should be associated with genuine efforts to retain, catalogue and preserve this material for posterity.

That a cultural centre, based in Osun state whose capital, Oshogbo, played host to Georgina and Ulli Beier, as well as Suzanne Wenger, for decades, should be created even for the sole purpose of the preservation of these archives is not in question. It is a good feeling to be able to salute a state government that takes the initiative in such matters, especially for those of us who were involved, at some stage or the other, in finding a home for the collection. Osun’s is an example that must be recommended to other states for emulation.

Thus it is with sadness and a sense of frustration that one must admit to a sour note, a fly in the ointment of such a worthy enterprise. This appears to be the unnatural condition of so many laudable Nigerian undertakings. Let me proceed by referring to the United States, which is perhaps the most prominent nation in the tradition of presidential libraries. It would be correct to claim that the US is thus also dedicated to a certain form of archival mission, but certainly not one that that nation, or any other with a similar agenda of record keeping for political leaders, has ever dared substitute for, or camouflage under the rubric of Culture, or Cultural heritage. Nigeria however, is nothing if not unique. Originality is not to be decried in the field of culture; it is however stretching the elasticity of the cultural field over and beyond its legitimate purlieu when an attempt is made to smuggle the private, fledgling Presidential Library of an ex-ruler into the cultural trove of UNESCO. that is, as an entity within the same cultural parameters and value as Susanne Wenger’s Osun Grove or Ulli Beier’s life collection.

Incredible as it may sound, this is precisely what is in the offing under the nation’s very nose, an elaborate deception that began in the dying days of the last presidency. A culturally empty husk, conceived in delusion, midwifed by extortion and weaned in a laundry basket is already halfway through the eye of UNESCO’s discriminating needle. For those who need to be reminded of the spectacle, the so-called Presidential Library, whose hoarding dominates the approach into the capital of Ogun state, was funded through an extortionist exercise that was brazenly contemptuous, even by Nigerian standards. That, however is another issue, and will undoubtedly be remedially addressed in good time. What concerns us immediately, that is, we labourers in the field of culture, is that this uncultured accretion on the national landscape is being sneaked into a pantheon of cultural acquisitions through secret machinations that began some eight months ago. The nation – and UNESCO – are close to being presented with a fait accompli.


How was this brought about? What precisely is the nature of this new organism into whose web UNESCO, as well as genuine cultural servitors such as Ulli Beier have been drawn? That body is known – to its select circle – as The CENTRE for BLACK CULTURE AND INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING. Now who could possibly fault such a lofty prospectus? Certainly not I. And certainly not when, along the way, the name of a new foundation, known as the Ulli and Georgina Beier Foundation becomes associated - indeed is being intertwined - with the original concept of the Centre.

The project, that began straightforwardly as The Centre for Black Cultural Heritage has been undergoing several convolutions, all designed to launder a dubious presidential library project into the prestigious authority of UNESCO. In the letter of appointment for members of its board, dated 30th July 2007 we encounter the following project description:

“The Centre which is been (sic) estavblished as a UNESCO Category II institute would have working and collaborative arrangements with the Olusegun Obasanjo Library, Abeokuta and the relevant institutes in Universities of Osogbo, Ibadan, and Ile-Ife”

This of course prompts the question: does the Olusegun Obasanjo Library enjoy the same intellectual and cultural status as the Universities of Oshogbo, Ibadan and Ile-Ife, or indeed any other university in the world? As a resource place for students of governance, political science, international affairs – eventually – maybe. However – Black Culture? Or indeed European, Asian, or Australasian culture? The yoking together of these two pursuits is not accidental – we shall see that in a moment. Of course a knowledge and/or pursuit of Culture can induce international understanding, but that such a well of wisdom will be found in a presidential library complex? If that miracle did come to pass, since when has its adoption formed part of the UNESCO tradition? If a precedent must be set, I believe we can all run off a dozen or so names, including from within our own African continent, whose claims would be far worthier.

We come now however to the critical document, a Memorandum of Understanding that provides us the full picture of a Cultural 419 on the international level. That MOU signed by Obasanjo’s last Minister of Culture, Professor Borisade is between the Federal government of Nigeria on the one hand, and the two cultural producers – Ulli and Georgina Beier, of Sydney Austrlia on the other. It may be worth noting that the letter of appointment to the Governing Board, dated 30th July, 2007, was signed by Prince Oyinlola, governor of Osun state, after Olusegun Obasanjo had left office. The Memorandum of Understanding states clearly that its subject was the transfer of the Beier archives to a “Newly to be Created Ulli an d Georgina Beier Centre as Part of an Institute for Black Culture and International Understanding”. In view of the nomenclatural acrobatics that dot the actual articles of the MOU, that last item of information is worth noting.

The composition of the Board for this new Institute is embedded in the MOU of 10th May 2007, as signed by Professor Borishade, Minister of Culture.

Article 16 (AGREEMENT):

The Centre shall have an independent Board of Governors, assuring the respectability of the Centre. It shall consist of Prince Oyinlola (in his personal capacity) – emphasis mine - Dr. Wole Ogundele (Obafemi Awolowo University in Ife) Dr. Sola Akinrinade (Vice-Chancellor, Osun State University), Prof. Michael Omolewa, and a non-government member to be nominated by H.E. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo….”


The Memorandum of Understanding, as already indicated, was signed by the Minister of Culture, thus making this acquisition project a national undertaking. To buttress the point, Article 11 (AGREEMENT) states that:

“Ulli and Georgina Beier agree to transfer the title and ownership of all items in their archive of Yoruba, other Nigerian and Papua New Guinea and other cultures and arts to the new Centre – as detailed in the new detailed listing attached to this Memorandum - against a payment BY THE GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA……” (emphasis mine)

And just to leave no doubt whatsoever as to who is the paying all bills, Article 22 (AGREEMENT) declares:

”The Government of Nigeria, with the eventual assistance of UNESCO, will arrange and pay for the transport of the Beier archives from Sydney to Nigeria…”


That is as it should be. Nigeria is lucky to have beaten all competitors for the Beier archives. It is money well spent. The situation however then proceeds through a few twists. At first, the swings and turns could be interpreted as being ploys in which it was the government of Osun State that was about to appropriate what was being charged to the National Treasury. The following paragraphs soon disabuse our minds, bringing us squarely against a familiar trademark of the past regime – privatization.

Article 5 (BACKGROUND):

“Subsequently, President Obasansjo requested Prof Borisade, Prof Omolewa, and Mr. d’Orville to explore and negotiate with Mr. and Mrs. Beier the terms and arrangements of a transfer of his archives from Sydney to a newly to be created centre in Oshogbo, Nigeria as an integral part of a new Institute for Black Culture and International Understanding being established under UNESCO’s auspices AS the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library!!! (exclamations mine).


Easily observed here is that The Ulli and Georgina Beier Cultural centre has metamorphosed into the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential library, under UNESCO’s auspices, and for the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, Article 8 (AGREEMENTS) further declares:

“The Centre shall become part of the Institute for Black Culture and International Understanding (hereafter, The Institute), which is being established as a UNESCO Category II institute the Olusegun Obasanjo Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State”

That section, a masterpiece of confusion, obviously suffers from some missing punctuations. It has been reproduced exactly as in the MOU, but the proposition is without the slightest ambiguity.

My sympathies, Prince Oyinlola, if you thought that you had made an acquisition for Osun State, albeit with Federal funds. Oshogbo has turned into Abeokuta, the Black Cultural Centre into the Obasanjo Presidential Library! Anyone reading this document from beginning to end cannot fail to be stuck by the confusions and contradictions in a number of paragraphs, but it is clear what the purpose is: to throw up smokescreens and thoroughly bemuse the casual reader. The Head of an outgoing government, less than three weeks to departure, personally initiates and authorizes an agreement that costs the nation an undisclosed amount for an acquisition. That acquisition then ends up as his private project, on his private estate. This is what the Memorandum of Understanding of 10 May 2007 is all about. Its very messiness, repetitiveness and name substitutions, its confusing syntax – all bearing the hallmarks of an unseemly rush, are a perfect giveaway.

What next? Since the Borisade/Beier MOU calls for the repatriation of Ulli Beier’s archives to Nigeria by October 2007, the first question has to be - where is that collection at this moment? If indeed in Nigeria, is it in Oshogbo? In Abeokuta? Or in that newly to be created centre in virtual space that changes location in nearly every paragraph?


The mind boggles at the thought of UNESCO finding itself in – shall we say? - a situation where, in the process of acquiring the papers and other archival material of the Romanian poet Mihail Eminescu, the organisation is manipulated, through a series of substitutions of names for the recipient institutions - all ‘newly to be created’ of course – and ends up saddled with the Presidential Library of Nicolae Caescescu as an addition to its catalogue of World Heritage.

Actually, that fantasy has a history. When I visited Romania many years ago, soon after the overthrow of Nicolae Caescescu, I was taken round on a tour of that dictator’s extravagant testament to the affliction of folie de grandeur, the Grand Palace that was built virtually on slave labour, the deluded ruler’s wish to replicate Versailles, only several times more opulent. The question was put before me – what do we do with this monstrosity? It bankrupted the nation, ate up lives and money, and simply trying to maintain it is eating up what’s left.

My response was – internationalize the White Elephant. Turn it into a tourist attraction. Since his would-be Nigerian counterpart is so anxious to turn ‘legacy’ into an international attraction, I suggest that the nation come to his aid – it was built, after all on the people’s money, extorted through parastatals, private business, corporations, and state governments. So, let us put an end to this agony and close all avenues to the laundry machine. We internationalize the establishment; turn it into a tourist attraction. Indeed, that visit to Romania having taken place towards the tail-end of Abacha’s regime, I promised our own fair share of contributions for the Display Gallery. Mind you, I did not fail to advise the Romanians also that, like a crowd-pulling theme park, Caescescu’s palace should have a theme, and suggested the obvious ‘Grand Palais of Dictatorship Horrors’. In our own case, to restore the title where it rightly belongs and take the pressure off UNESCO, concerned as one must be for accuracy in job description, history of origin, planned hotelier services and other ‘cultural’ functions - we could do worse than settle for – ‘The Presidential Laudromat’.

Soyinka is Goodwill Ambassador to UNESCO



 

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO RESEARCH LIBRARY  :ENRICHING THE MIND AND SPIRIT
by yaraduacentre.org

The Library provides information and reference services to members of the public in the areas of economic development, education, democracy, gender equality, democracy, governance, conflict resolution, human rights, Nigerian, African and world history as well as international and Nigerian law. A collection of novels by African writers and a children's section are also featured.  

The Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Collection consists of the personal papers of Shehu Yar'Adua. His notes, documents, speeches, journals and reports cover the period from the civil war through government, politics, business and his imprisonment.  

Materials are offered in various forms including, books, journals, magazines, reports, papers, CD ROMs, audio and video cassettes.  

We wish to thank the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for the generous grant awarded to the Yar’Adua Foundation. Their support afforded the Foundation the opportunity to expand its library collection to include books and journals on international affairs, human rights, and constitutional law. 

OBASANJO AND THE BLACK CULTURE INSTITUTE   
 by Rotimim Fasan, Vanguard, Monday, 31 March, 2008 

 Towards the end of last year, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) gave its support for the establishment of a body that could help harness and preserve important  aspects of  black culture, especially as it concerns Yoruba culture and civilisation.

 Named the Black Culture Institute, the organisation was to be located in Osogbo, certainly one of the great cultural centres of the Yoruba. Osogbo has played and continues to play a major role in showcasing Yoruba culture to the world.  

It is one of the few places where conscious attempts are still being made to ensure those vestiges of Yoruba culture that survived the ravages of western powers are not finally and irredeemable buried.  

Aside being the home of the yearly Osun Osogbo festival, Osogbo was a fertile ground for the pre-independence revival in literature and culture that would later spread to Ibadan, making it and the University the great cultural centre of post-independence Nigeria.

With the able support of the German couple Ulli Beier and his wife Georgina, not forgetting the grand old lady of Osogbo art, Susan Wenger (Aduni Olorisa), Osogbo took the lead as a modern repository of black culture.  

No wonder it draws, on a  yearly basis, a huge chunk of the Black Diaspora to many of its historical sites and events. Which is to say that the choice of Osogbo as venue for the Black Culture Institute was appropriate, if not inspired.  

It was therefore not strange to see  Olagunsoye Oyinlola, the governor of Osun State, take the lead in working for the establishment of the  Institute.

 The governor took the reassuring step of  visiting the UNESCO headquarters in Paris to pledge his government’s commitment to the Institute.

 While, under the terms establishing the Institute,  UNESCO was, among other things, to provide technical support in terms of documentation and preservation of the most fragile aspects of  the culture in question, the Osun State government, as host of the Institute, had responsibility to assure its guests it would, if nothing else, be a good host.  

Matters were left at that and everyone washed their hands and went to sleep, so to speak, feeling the right step had been taken. Ordinarily, the task of preserving a people’s culture should be the business of the owners of that culture. But, among a people led by cultural barbarians, that kind of support from UNESCO is welcome.  

Coming just two years after the same UN body declared the Ifa divinatory system a world heritage, the Yoruba could consider themselves fortunate indeed. But that sense of achievement is now being cut short with the revelation that both the Osun State government and UNESCO might have been taken for a ride by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.  

The point is that by the terms establishing it, the Black Culture Institute is another name, a most despicable one at that, for Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library!  

You guessed right: it’s the same library that was funded by money virtually forced out of private businesses, individuals and state governments. The same library for which Gani Fawehinmi had to institute a court action.  

Notice of this despicable trickery was first served by Professor Wole Soyinka in an article in ‘Thisday’ several weeks ago. It would be a real shame if nothing is done to shout this criminal appropriation on roof tops.  

To remain silent is to accept the criminal and arrogant code of one man to equate himself to an entire race.  

There is neither space to give the details of this deal nor would such details make meaning, even if they were given, considering the convoluted nature of the dirty trick played by Obasanjo in his capacity as president.  

Suffice to say that, by a tortuous process of language manipulation, President Obasanjo caused former Minister of Education and later Aviation, Babalola Borishade, to sign on behalf of Nigeria, a memorandum of understanding that would enable him, through his Presidential Library, become the owner of the Black Culture Institute in Osogbo.  

Which is to say that this appropriation might not have been perfected after all.The more reason to ensure it’s halted. In the relevant section of the memorandum as provided by Soyinka, the Institute, it is claimed, would collaborate with the universities in Osogbo, Ibadan, Ife and the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library based in Abeokuta.  

Further down (which is the herat of the matter), the MOU states that the body hitherto known as the Black Culture Institute would eventually be known as Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library. Save the need for mischief and self-aggrandisement there is nothing that connects the activities of this Institute to what the Olusegun Obasanjo Library, founded less than two years ago by tax payers money, does or is expected to do.  

It should be noted that as part of the deal for setting up the Institute, Ulli Beier was to be paid for handing over his papers and other archival materials in his possession to the owners of the Institute.  

The Osun State government ought to pick the bill for this. But it was the Federal Government that paid for it. But no matter who paid ,  the ultimate beneficiary was Obasanjo.  

What, it may be asked, is Obasanjo’s business with an Institute dedicated to the preservation of black culture? Was this appropriation done with the knowledge of some people at the UNESCO headquarters? These are questions begging for an answer.  

There is absolutely no logical explanation for what is happening concerning the Osogbo Institute except that a man misused the authority of his position to appropriate what is not  and cannot be his.  

There is hardly anything to link the activities of the Institute, as projected, to what a presidential library does in the United States, from where Obasanjo obviously stole the idea.  

Could this be one evidence of what has been long suspected, that Obasanjo not only wants to be seen as the leader of the Yoruba or modern Nigeria but, indeed, as the very personification of anything Nigerian?  

Or why should he seek to own in his personal capacity what belongs to the majority? Whatever is the motive for it, this appropriation should not stay and Obasanjo’s manipulation of language and misuse of his position should be shown for what it is: a disgrace. 

SOYINKA ACCUSES OBASANJO OF ILLEGAL ACQUISITION OF ARCHIVES FOR LIBRARY 
by Kolade Larewaju, Vanguard (Lagos), 15 August 2008

 NOBEL Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka yesterday accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of fraudulently attempting to acquire Prof Ulli and Georgina Bier archives for his Presidential Library.

 Soyinka at a press conference in Abeokuta said that through some deceptions, the former President was trying to use the archives bought by the Osun State Government to get recognition for his library by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, which it was not qualified for. 

 The Nobel Laureate who said that he and some others would go to court to expose Obasanjo's deception and fraud if he refused to withdraw his presentation to UNESCO said that the former President's action was an abuse of office. 

He explained that Prof. Bier sold his archives to the Osun State Government on the condition that an Institute would be set up specifically in Osun State to manage it. 

He said "The main thing they are after is to get recognition of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library as UNESCO category 2 which would entitle it to receive funds from Nigerian Government, annual subsidy as well as soliciting funds for cultural affairs from private sector, international organisations and so on." 

Apparently peeved by the deceit, Prof Soyinka said that there was even no mention of OOPL in the memorandum of understanding initially, but that it was later smuggled into it saying that it was an indication that the deception was from the onset. 

He said "on the transfer of the archives of Ulli and Georgina Bier to a newly to be created Ulli and Georgina Bier Centre as part of an Institute for Black Culture and International Understanding under the auspices of UNESCO which was dated 10th of May 2007. You will notice that in the title of the paper, there was no mention whatsoever of OOPL. 

"This is the MOU signed between Dr. Babalola Borishade, the then Minister of Culture and Tourism representing the Federal Government of Nigeria and Ulli and Georgina Bier. In the process of that MOU, however one or two interesting paragraphs which are inserted showed that everything had been from the beginning programmed towards this end." 

"Subsequently, Gen. Obasanjo then President instructed Dr. Mike Omolewa our representative at UNESCO and one other person to negotiate wi9th Ulli Biers for the transfer of their archives and incorporate into OOPL. That to me is an abuse of office. It is a clear case of abuse of office. 

"To order the transfer of materials to be paid for from public funds to some one's personal library, I don't care whether it is called Presidential Library or not, is an abuse of office. 

"Until the eve of departure, he ordered public servants which Omolewa was one to start the process of transferring archives to be paid for from public funds to his personal library. Now everything else that you read, you have heard are all rigmarole. All manipulations, distortions to ensure that these archives bought with public funds end with OOPL 

"The understanding with Georgina and Ulli Bier was that their archives should be housed in Special Centre to be created in Oshogbo and called Ulli and Georgina Foundation for International Understanding. It is all in this document. They said one thing to Ulli Bier, then smuggled their case for recognition to UNESCO. 

"This I consider very dishonest and is an abuse of office". 

"I am speaking on behalf of some people who will appear later. I am going to resist this fraudulent and distorted activities all the way by challenging it in court within Nigeria because it has got to the stage that President Yar'Dua had got to be involved. 

A MISGOVERNED GOVERNOR -
by Wole Soyinka, Saturday, August 23, 2008

What a pity that some individuals, especially in leadership positions, have never learnt to leave well alone! Oyinlola, embattled governor of Osun State on multiple fronts, raced to Sydney, Australia, to seek audience with Ulli Beier, seeking a way out of the unsavory dilemma into which he had been thrust by his former military boss to whom his allegiance remains fixated over and above the claims of truth, culture, decency, and the people of Osun state over whom he was presumably ‘elected’; to preside. His mission: to seek a face-saving formula from the Beiers.

Ever his gracious, Yoruba acculturated self, Ulli Beier consented to receive him but – alone, without his entourage. There – and I do not speculate – he was duly scolded like the errant scion of a royal house he is, called to order, reminded by his elderly host of a long cultural collaboration with his late father. Oyinlola emerged duly chastened, knowing that he had no choice but to revert to the path of honour. However, does he leave well alone? No, he had to present the nation with his own version of that closed-door session, laying the seeds of further distractions and/or new ways to pursue a tenacious agenda. It is not by accident that the FESTAC collection has been mentioned in documents connected to this saga of acquisitive obsession. We had better start screaming right now, even before ‘facts’ become facts, and a national acquisition ends in the bowels of presidential Laundromats.

Now, what are these ‘facts’ that Oyinlola advises his betters to verify before exercising their ‘elder statesman’ interventionist compulsion? It is a demeaning exercise, but I must try public patience with a reiteration of some already stated facts – facts as in factual, without the inverted commas. The following are excerpts from a letter of 4 July 2007 to Mr. Koichiro Matsura, Director-General of UNESCO, by Ambassador Michael Omolewa, the Nigerian Permanent Delegate to UNESCO:

“Permit me to present to you formally my Government’s proposal: the Government of Nigeria has decided that the Institute shall be established on the premises of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State……”

Now, turn to page 3 of that letter, under “Explanatory Note” and see the guaranteed contents of this Institute. I quote:

“Ulli and Georgina Beier have signed an agreement with the Government in which they agreed to transfer their archive and collection of some 10,000 items of books, articles, photographs, negatives and albums, films, videos, audio cassettes, record CDs, ephemera about concerts and exhibitions and other cultural items and material pertaining to Nigerian and in particular Yoruba culture…..”

Will Prince Oyinlola kindly tell the nation to which Institute, according to Omolewa’s letter, this collection was to be transferred?

In the immediately preceding paragraph, Ambassador Omolewa actually assures the Director-General that sub-branches of the Obasanjo Library based Institute will be created, the first of which shall be the ‘ULLI AND GEORGINA BEIER CENTRE FOR BLACK CULTURE AND INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING” This was the picture presented to Ulli Beier, only for this laudable recognition to be appropriated by the Olusegun Obasanjo Library, on behalf of which the UNESCO Category II accreditation was to be sought.

It is a tedious, ignoble affair, and I have already laid out the heart of the matter in my earlier article that alerted UNESCO to the danger of it being turned into a Laundromat for Failed Rulers. So let me cut straight though the brambles of deceit, manipulation and confusionist tactics at ambassadorial level. Here is the title of the actual petition that went before the Executive Board - Document 177 Ex/69) of 17 September 2007- for presentation to the General Assembly:

“PROPOSAL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INSTITUTE FOR AFRICAN CULTURE AND INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING AT THE OLUSEGUN OBASANJO LIBRARY IN ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE NIGERIA, AS A CATEGORY 2 CENTRE UNDER THE AUSPICES OF UNESCO”

Lo and behold, the ULLI AND GEORGINA BEIER CENTRE FOR BLACK CULTURE AND INTERENATIONAL UNDERSTANDING, on the basis of which the archives were bought, presented to the Director-General for endorsement in July 2007 by the Nigerian Government through her Ambassador Omolewa, has become, by September of the same year, the OLUSEGUN OBASANJO INSTITUTE. Based on what credentials? The ability to swallow, intact, the Ulli and Georgina collection, salted and spiced by public funds. This was the Grand Larceny that would have become a fait accompli in April this year, but for the naturally resented intervention of those who are now advised to get their ‘facts’ straight. The shameless posturing of Oyinlola takes one’s breath away.

More facts? In the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Babaloola Borishade, Minister of Culture, on behalf of the Nigerian Government,and dated 10th May, 2007, the honourable Minister provides the genesis of the conspiracy to appropriate the Beier archives in paragraph 5 (Background). In the Minister’s words:

‘Subsequently President Olusegun Obasanjo requested Professor Borisade, Professor Omolewa, and Hans d’Orville to explore and negotiate with Mr. and Mrs. Beier the terms and arrangements of a transfer of the archive from Sydney in a newly to be created centre in Oshogbo, as part of a new Institute for Black Culture and International Understanding being established under UNESCO s auspices at the Olusegun Obasanjo Library”

Put all those ‘facts’ together, and all they form is a crooked line. As it happens however, a substantive issue has been raised that must be confronted by UNESCO. Now that Oyinlola’s authoritative voice has been raised to assure the nation, and the people of Osun state, that the archives will now go where they were originally designated, what does that make of the earlier aspirant, now thwarted custodian, the Obasanjo Library? In cultural terms, a koroo isana. An empty matchbox, and I consider it my duty to pass on this development, and its implications, formally to UNESCO in my capacity as Goodwill Ambassador, among other hats I occasionally put on my head.

My prolonged collaboration with that institution indicates quite plainly that it endorses actualities, be they of Nature or man’s intelligence – Angkor Wat, Osun Grove, Sintra, Abu Simbel, the Alhambra, active programmes with records to show for their existence, specialised institutions etc. etc. I have yet to learn that ‘yet-to-be-created’ notions, expectations and intentions, even when backed by five-star hotels and promissory notes and government subsidies qualify for UNESCO designations. Functioning is the ultimate criteria, not simply a building, or complex. Those who want to pursue illusions are free to do so. It is when attempts are made to stuff such illusions with the palpable life labour of others as credentials that we are forced to bring the House of Cards crashing down on their heads.

Facts, Prince Oyinlola? There are plenty more, but we’ll reserve them for the effective time and place. My advice to you is that you stick to the guardianship and preservation of those archives when they arrive in Oshogbo – at least, while you’re still governor. For the unfinished part of this tawdry business, the dateline is October/November, UNESCO, Paris. We’ll see you there, with your entourage – or whoever is governor. In the meantime, let the appropriate Ministry – and public - take stock of all the bits and pieces the nation has managed to salvage from FESTAC.

A Press conference, foreign architects in attendance, has already bragged of building a museum in the Library complex. New functions for a Presidential Library are being touted that were not canvassed during the extortionist exercise that launched the five-star hotel and yet-to-be-created Institutes. Experts, scholars and diplomats are already under recruitment. Tracks are being laid to ease the passage of FESTAC archives into the baskets of the Presidential Laundromat, upon whose porous containers the UNESCO recognition as a cultural estate will now be based. Mischief is yet afoot, let no one be deceived.

There are some guests , when they leave the house, you have to count the forks and knives.

Wole SOYINKA



 

OBASANJO LIBRARY IS THE MOST NAUSEATING EXHIBITION OF EXECUTIVE EXTORTIONISM -
Wole Soyinka, September 25, 2008

Professor Wole Soyinka said that President Obasanjo's library project is the “Most nauseating exhibition of executive extortionism” and should not be allowed to stand in Nigeria.  

At the opening ceremony of the Garden City Literary Festival in Port Harcourt, Rivers State organised by the Association of Nigerian Authors, Soyinka said “I want to make it clear, because there are so many distortions by sycophants of the owner of the private property. Nobody in his right mind in this continent would object to the siting of the International Institute for Black Culture and Understanding in Nigeria. 

“I see nothing cultural at all in that project called Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library. So, this attempt to launder that presidential library which is the shame of our nation, through the UNESCO, on the back of a genuine cultural project and genuine exercise in international understanding is to me an insult to the nation that should be fought to the last stage”, 

It is a lie to say that UNESCO has taken a decision on it. The first step will be taken on Tuesday in Paris and it ís only after that the Executive Council will send the project to the General Assembly.” 

In his speech‘A Transformation In Letter And Spirit? Laundromat Latest’, Soyinka said, “The question that sticks to the throat is why site such a project, given its raison d’etre, in the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library? Why? Why? Why?  

And why does UNESCO, despite its nuanced distancing from the choice of location, why does this globally respected institution, however tacitly, involve itself in the endorsement of such a dubious location?” 

“It is weird, extremely weird that any mind with a sense of political and ethical honour should choose to site an institution for International Understanding within the premises of the man whose eight years of governance, marked by a consistent contempt for, and defiance of the rule of law, as earlier mentioned culminated in the murder of Democracy in his own nation in the 2007 Nigerian elections. 

This, let it be recalled, merely followed a crude, corrupt, bulldozer effort to subvert the nation’s constitution and award himself a third year in office. This totally avoidable dispute constitutes a legal question mark and a moral soul-searching for UNESCO, for the nation, and for cultural and intellectual forces everywhere.”  

A TRANSFORMATION IN LETTER AND SPIRIT? LAUNDROMAT LATEST —
by Wole Soyinka, September 25, 2008

For the education of the nation’s predictable claque of noisy but ignorant commentators, mostly of vested interests, but also in general public interest,  it is necessary to announce that the following transformation has now taken place in the petition newly  submitted (Sept. 5  2008) to the Executive Board of UNESCO.  All the documents referred to here are in the public domain and can be accessed in the Executive Board of UNESCO website.  This change of direction is a lesson – yet again! – of the need of public vigilance on the activities of the nation’s representatives, not only  within, but outside the nation’s borders.   

The crucial modulations in the new document, to a large extent, has put an end to the lavishly funded conspiracy to  - as the saying goes – apply lipstick to the lips of a pig.  Alas,  the most liberal application of that female   simply does not turn that beast into a beauty queen. 

First, we can now put aside the originating concern that launched the entire issue.  That luscious bone of contention, the Ulli Beier collection, is now guaranteed to head where it belongs – Osun state - as the core possession of the Ulli Beier Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, Those who believe that no attempt was ever made to swallow it entire by the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library are free to continue to delude themselves and gullible sections of the public. The documentary evidence is overwhelmingly eloquent.  Easily one of the most significant changes in the Sept.5 edition, newly submitted to the Executive Council, is that it underlines the autonomy of the Ulli Beier Centre, the now agreed repository of the Ulli Beier archives: 

“It should be noted that a distinction must be made between the institute (ICAIU) being presented for category 2 status and located at Abeokuta (Ogun State) and the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) located at Osogbo (Osun State). The CBCIU is just the first of the institutes/centres in Africa and the world that will broaden the national, regional and international network of organizations affiliated to the IACIU. The Centre will host the archives and collections of Ulli and Georgina Beier, who had been pioneers and catalysts of the Osogbo School of painting and arts in the 1950s, as well as of other relevant cultural and artistic materials and artefacts. While the Centre in Osogbo therefore enjoys a special symbiotic relationship with the Institute, it is the ICAIU, Institute for African Culture and International Understanding that is called upon to become a category 2 institute.” 

Originally, the Ulli Beier Centre was to be an ‘integral part” – see relevant documents - of the OO Library based Institute. Quite a transformation.  It ensures that we shall  no longer be bombarded with proposals  for  ‘temporary storage’ for the archives at OO Laundromat, or with thinly disguised hints  of  larceny in the making  embedded  in statements such as “After all, we were only offering them a place to stay”  or – the latest -  plans to build a museum on the OO premises, pointedly as suitable storage for  the coveted archives, backed by imported architects 

There is yet more matter to chew upon in the Sept. 5 document.  The relationship of the Institute itself to the Double-O Library is now clearly established as that between ‘landlord and tenant’.  The new document eliminates all the former deliberate ambiguity that linked the Obasanjo Library to the Category II designation.  It is the Institute – if the request is granted   – that will enjoy this recognition, will solicit and control funds, and manage its affairs, whose independence from the Library is now clearly articulated.  In the original document, only the Institute’s independence from the Nigerian government was considered even worth mentioning.  An oversight?  Or room for manipulation? 

Before the curtain of déjà vu  is drawn over this tiresome, and convoluted  affair, the public may wish to take note of the following  transition  from the  obsequious public servant serving his master’s  interests, to the collective pragmatism of the new minders of the OO Laundromat: 

Professor Omolewa’s letter of 4th July 2007 to the Director-General – 177 Ex69 Annex – claims that the choice of the OO Library as location of the Institute was meant to “honour and acknowledge the seminal contribution made by President Obasanjo to expanding and fortifying collaboration of Nigeria with UNESCO” 

As the decision on the location was made by Olusegun Obasanjo himself while in office, the new Laundromat team, evidently more creative, must have realised   that drawing attention to that act of personal aggrandisement and abuse of office – not to speak of building a monument to oneself on the eve of departure from office - would once again work against the request. So, in the new document, we are made to understand that it is simply the philanthropist in the ex-president that led to the location of the institute on his premises, viz: 

“The Institute will be located in Abeokuta in the premises donated (!!!) by the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Foundation (OOPLP). 

Wait. There is even  more donation to come. The document continues: 

“The Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential library (OOPLF) will provide the Institute with basic equipment (computers, furniture, etc.) and will support the cost of its basic utilities for two years (running costs) With respect to the donation and other faculties by the OOPL Foundation to the Institute, a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed between the federal government and the OOPL” 

Donations galore. “27,000 square feet on the second floor of the main building’ – no less!   In the original Omolewa  document – 177 Ex 69 of 9th July 2007 – the unspecified premises were  simply to be ‘available for use’, albeit ‘free of charge’, ‘with sharing  of  common facilities’  - in effect,  intertwining the two entities, a tailor-made situation of the eventual absorption of one by the other – no prizes offered for guessing which would swallow the other -  a danger which was pointed out earlier and contributed to the rejection of the document in April. 

How the miracle of the spirit of giving was achieved, we do not know. Perhaps the informed opposition to the scheme had something to do with it?   No matter how, it is always salutary to have even a small portion of the wages of public extortion returned to the public.  UNESCO’s demand for an MOU between the landlord and the Nigerian government is more than mere caution, and the government had better make sure it is legally iron-clad.  It is not inconceivable that a falling out might develop between landlord and tenant, or that,  in a fit of expansionism to which we have now become accustomed,  the seekers after International Understanding might look up from their documents and discover – in more senses than one -  that the Otta chickens had come to roost. 

Despite this new and technically improved document, the dangers are by no means over.  However, all in all, UNESCO, whose choice of bed-fellows is our main interest, can claim that it has been left off the hook

Or has it indeed? 

II

LEGAL AND MORAL ISSUES

Is UNESCO now totally absolved? Morally and legally?  Well then, there is the pending litigation in the Nigerian courts, regarding the legal status of the Obasanjo Presidential Library. This challenge was filed by no less a legal luminary than Chief Gani Fawehinmi,  Senior Advocate of Nigeria and  a Bruno Kreisky  Laureate for Human Rights. That case is currently in the Appeal Courts, in short, it is sub judice.  After a decision by the Court of Appeal, it is certain that the losing side will head straight for the apex – the Supreme Court.  UNESCO’S endorsement of the location of such a prestigious Institute., among all possible sites in Abeokuta, in Nigeria, in West Africa, and in all of the African continent must raise serious concerns about UNESCO’s commitment to the rule of law, That such a case involves a former political ruler whose eight years in office were marked by a singular contempt for decisions of the courts – including the Supreme Court of the nation – is only incidental, but surely noteworthy.  The legality of the Olusegun Obasanjo Library is under legal dispute, so why does UNESCO wish to compromise its integrity in this case, and so unnecessarily? 

I attach, for the edification of UNESCO’s policy makers, the documents that define the legal status of the Olusegun Obasanjo Library -   sub judice.  This was evidently  a minor inconvenience overlooked by the Director-General’s fact-finding mission which, as a minor footnote, was  accompanied  at every  step, and at every meeting  throughout  its voyage of  enquiry,  by Obasanjo’s appointee to UNESCO as Nigeria’s representative, the spearhead of the Laundromat campaign. 

Let this be made absolutely clear: contrary to the virulent propaganda barrage mounted by the Olusegun Obasanjo entourage of jobbers, cronies, fellow-travelers and other lickspittles, no one, I repeat, no one has raised any objection to the creation of an Institute for Black Culture and International Understanding on the African continent, with a preference for Nigeria.  Absolutely no one. The question that sticks to the throat is – why site such a project, given its raison d’etre, in the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library?  Why? Why? Why? And why does UNESCO, despite its nuanced distancing from the choice of location, why does this globally respected institution, however tacitly, involve itself in the endorsement of such a dubious location? 

While it is now clear, in the new (Sept 5 document) that there is no suggestion of intellectual or cultural recognition being accorded by UNESCO to the entity known as the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, there remains, ultimately, a burden of profound moral disgust.  Individual memories are notoriously – or, should we say, conveniently - short in these parts.  Those who need their memories refreshed by just a few snippets in the exemplary trajectory  of this landlord should ensure that they read  Dr. Sola Adeyeye’s recent address at the anniversary of the murdered Attorney-General of the nation, Chief Bola Ige. It is weird, extremely weird that any mind with a sense of political and ethical honour should choose to site an institution for International Understanding within the premises of the man whose eight years of governance, marked by a consistent contempt for, and defiance of the rule of law – as earlier mentioned -   culminated in the murder of Democracy in his own nation in the 2007 Nigerian elections.  This, let it be recalled, merely  followed a crude, corrupt, bulldozer  effort  to  subvert the nation’s constitution  and award himself a third year in office. 

This totally avoidable dispute constitutes a legal question mark and a moral soul-searching for UNESCO, for the nation, and for cultural and intellectual forces everywhere.   We are in no doubt whatsoever regarding  what that choice would have been under the founding visionaries of this universally respected institution of Education, Science and  - CULTURE. 

PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY: AJIBADE, THENEWS EDITOR, DRAGS OBASANJO TO COURT

by Tony Amokeodo, Published: Wednesday, 8 Oct 2008

The Executive Director of TheNews magazine, Mr Kunle Ajibade has dragged former President Olusegun Obasanjo before the Federal High Court in Lagos, challenging the propriety of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library. 

In a suit filed by his lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, Ajibade is also asking the court to hold that since the library was established with N7bn gifts and donations received by Obasanjo when he was the president on May 14, 2005, the library was the Federal Government’s property. 

The plaintiff is also urging the court to restrain Obasanjo and his agents from establishing a UNESCO institute in the library. 

He claimed that Obasanjo had concluded arrangements on the matter in spite of protests from organisations and individuals. 

The plaintiff has joined the Attorney-General of the Federation and UNESCO as co-respondents in the suit. 

A copy of the court process dated October 7 was made available to our correspondent in Lagos on Tuesday. 

GROUP FAULTS UNESCO’S RECOGNITION OF OBASANJO LIBRARY
by Segun Olatunji, Kaduna, Punch: Monday, 20 Oct 2008

Leader of the Northern Civil Rights Coalition and Chairman of the Socialist Front, Mallam Shehu Sani, on Sunday in Kaduna faulted the recognition accorded the former president Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library by the United Nations Educational, Scientific And Cultural Organisation.  

Sani argued that the UNESCO recognition of the controversial Obasanjo Library was a mockery of Nigeria ’s democracy.  

He added that Nigerian human rights groups would soon embark on demonstrations to protest “this injustice.”  

The civil rights activist challenged UNESCO to show proof why the library built by Obasanjo under whose government the nation‘s economy was allegedly further plundered with impunity by corrupt public officials should be accorded such recognition.  

”It is unbecoming for an agency of the United Nations (UN) to celebrate corrupt leaders in Nigeria, and Africa in general at the detriment of the development of the fledging democracy of the countries”.  

Sani who stated this at a news conference argued that ”it should be an ideal thing for UNESCO as a notable International Organisation to identify and recognise notable institutions and personalities whose lives and works have potentials of impacting great intellectual, moral, literal and cultural values on the society”.  

He however stressed that ”it is condemnable for UNESCO to have given consideration to Obasanjo‘s Library or centre for a number of reasons”.

The civil rights activist added that the ex-president‘s library project had been a source of serious controversy and contention in the country, stressing that the sources of its funding and establishment remained questionable.  

”The Obasanjo eight years stewardship in office has not demonstrated a strong character of moral authority for an Organisation under the UN to have given him a positive consideration.” 

SHEHU SANI FAULTS UNESCO'S RECOGNITION OF OBASANJO'S LIBRARY
by Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna), Guardian, 21-10-2008

LEADER of Northern Civil Rights Coalition and Chairman of the Socialist Front (S.F), Mallam Shehu Sani, has faulted the recognition officials of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) accorded former President Olusegun Obasanjo's library in Otta, saying that it was undeserved and a mockrey of Nigeria's democracy. 

Sani, who challenged UNESCO to show proof why the library of the erstwhile President who allegedly ruined the nation's economy and celebrated corruption in all sectors during his administration should be accorded such recognition. "It is now unbecoming of the agencies of the United Nations (UN) to celebrate corrupt leaders in Nigeria, and Africa in general at the detriment of the development of the fledging democracy in the countries." 

The human rights activist who spoke in Kaduna yesterday while reacting to the recent recognition given by the UNESCO to Obasanjo's library, Otta, argued that, "it should be an ideal thing for UNESCO as a notable international organisation to identify and recognise notable institutions and personalities whose lives and works have potentials of impacting great intellectual, moral, literal and cultural values in the society."  

"It is condemnable for UNESCO to have given consideration to Obasanjo's library or centre for a number of reasons," he said. 

Saying that the ex-President's library has been under serious contention in the country, and with legitimacy crisis as far as the source of funds for its establishment is concerned, Sani added that, "the Obasanjo eight years stewardship in office has not demonstrated a strong character of moral authority for an organisation under the UN to have given him a positive consideration." 

Sani said he: "As far as Nigerians are concerned, Obasanjo's government for the eight years was characterised by violation of fundamental human rights, abuse of office, power and denial of freedom of Nigerians." 

"The government under him was a bad example of democratic development in Nigeria and the whole Africa. His Government became a symbol of violation of court orders and use of the anti-corruption agencies to pursue perceived enemies of the government." 

Sani continued: "The interpretation of the Supreme Court judgement became a way of disobeying court orders, persecution of party faithful for disloyalty, denial and disqualification of legitimate candidates on the ground of dissenting voices against his government and use of apparatus of the state against the people of Odi and Zakibiam, which led to the massacre of hundreds of innocent people." 

He queried: "How can an agency of the UN that ought to be promoting and encouraging development across the world and infusing democratic ideals and transparent culture now start eulogising and elevating a man who presided over one of the corrupt administrations in Nigeria, and in the history of Africa?" 

CORRUPTION: HOW RIBADU, LAMORDE CLEARED OBASANJO   
From Yusuf Alli,  Managing Editor, Northern Operation and Taiwo Abiodun, THE NATION, 26/10/2008

 AMIDST expectations of probe of corruption allegations against former President Olusegun Obasanjo by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) fresh facts have emerged that he had earlier been cleared by the agency under Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

An undated report of an investigation into allegations against Obasanjo made available to The Nation and signed by a former Director of Operations of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, stated that the former President had no case to answer.

Debo Adeniran, leader of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL which last week submitted a petition against Obasanjo to the EFCC, dismissed the reported clearance of the former President.

Adeniran who held a meeting with the EFCC Chairman yesterday said Ribadu  may have compiled a report of investigation  on Obasanjo's corrupt practices but it was not submitted to the National Assembly.

 Emboldened by the purported earlier clearance, The Nation learnt that the pro-Obasanjo camp might go to court to halt the fresh probe of the former President.  But sources close to the EFCC disclosed that the organisation is determined to press on with charges against the former President. Already, the EFCC boss, Mrs Farida Waziri has set up a team to work on the recent petitions of alleged abuse of office against Obasanjo.

 “It would amount to undue stress or double jeopardy to subject Obasanjo to fresh investigations by the EFCC when Ribadu had already cleared him.

“We may go to court to stop this fresh probe in the interest of justice. EFCC cannot approbate and reprobate on a case which Ribadu had closed,” a source close to Obasanjo group stated yesterday.

Out of the 13 allegations raised against Obasanjo by ex-Governor Orji Uzor Kalu and the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) in 2005 and 2007, the EFCC under Ribadu said the ex-President was not guilty of abuse of office.

Some of the 13-point allegations investigated by Ribadu were the launching of the N7billion presidential project; fraud in crude oil sales from 1999 to 2006; owning of foreign accounts, including a Platinum Credit Card; connivance and obtaining of money in oil and commissions from defense contracts and purchase of 200million Units of Transcorp shares. 

Others were the use of state funds for Obasanjo’s Third Term agenda; sinking of N521billion into power projects; exceeding 2005 budget by N133billion and collection of commissions over the sale of Ajaokuta Steel Company and Delta Steel rolling Mill, located in Aladja.  

The report reads in part: "Investigations carried out could not establish a single source to show where the former President diverted public money to pursue anything of that nature (Third Term agenda) and three key public institutions: NNPC, PDTF and the State House Accounts were thoroughly investigated, including checks through the Financial Intelligence Unit which did not reveal any illegal use of public funds.  

"Even when the Commission threw public challenges soliciting for evidence, especially from anti-third term forces in the National Assembly, nothing was secured and otherwise nothing in the nature of bribes or fraud could be linked to the prosecution of the third term process."  

Concerning the controversial presidential library projects, the report indicated that Obasanjo is not a signatory to the accounts of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Foundation.  

"Investigation has also revealed that the signatories to the Foundation’s accounts in three banks are HE (Amb.) Dr. Christopher Kolade; Dr. (Sen) Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello; and Mr. Nyaknno Osso."  

On the 2005 budget, the report claims: "Investigations at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation concerning the Federal Budget performance in 2005 did not support the claims of the petitioner who alleged that the former President exceeded spending on ministries, departments and government agencies by about N133billion.  

"Further investigations showed that contrary to that argument of the petitioner, the financial statements of the Federal Government for the year ended 31st December 2005 indicate that all financial activities were within the budget framework.  

"For example, the statement of consolidation of revenue funds for the period revealed a closing balance of N352, 174,301,371.57 while the statement of capital development for the same period had a closing balance of N171, 449, 497, 858.56.  

"Evidence revealed from the official statement at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation also showed that no extra-budgetary spending was incurred.  

"These are the established facts about the financial activities of the Federal Government for the 2005 financial year which is the year in reference as per the petition and a copy of the financial statement for the year ended 31 December 2005.  

"Going by the evidence from the facts assembled during the course of the investigation, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo could not be directly linked with the allegations.’’ 

On the power probe, the EFCC under Ribadu said Obasanjo did not abuse his office.  

The report adds: "In a summative view of the power sector spending in the period under review, a number of issues need to be cleared: First is the question of the procedures for the award and investigators found that the procedures for the award were transparent.  

"All the bids were advertised in reputable media repeatedly and interested contractors submit tenders upon which only successful bids get awards."  

The EFCC had on Wednesday received another petition against Obasanjo over his N7billion Presidential Library Project in Abeokuta , Ogun State .

The petition was submitted to Ikoyi, Lagos office of the EFCC by the (CACOL)  

Other allegations in the petition border on alleged primitive accumulation of resources from oil sales; involvement in Siemens, Halliburton, Wilbros and power contract scandals; illegal acquisition of 200m shares in Transcorp and building of a private university with public funds.  

The commission had since raised a five-man investigative team on the petition.  

Investigations by The Nation, however, revealed that the clearance of the ex-President in the undated report by Ribadu and his team had triggered a fresh petition by CACOL.  

Findings revealed that a former Executive Governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu and CACOL had written petitions against Obasanjo but the EFCC only investigated allegations raised by CACOL on November 11, 2007.  

As at press time, a source said: "The new Chairman of the EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri seems determined to go on with the probe of Obasanjo given the speed with which she assigned the latest petition to an investigative team. 

"Although Waziri had raised an investigative team on Thursday but this undated report seems to be the joker already worked out between Obasanjo and Ribadu to halt her work with the sudden appearance of the clearance report given to the former president." 

Adeniran said Obasanjo may end up in jail if found guilty of all the allegations of corruption levelled against him, and that the library, Transcorps among other companies he corruptly enriched himself which would be confiscated.  

"Obasanjo may end up in jail. I met Madam Waziri and she confirmed our petition and she said nobody is above the law. She however said they would investigate all the cases levelled against Obasanjo as no stone will be left unturned." 

According to Adeniran, the EFCC has called all Nigerians who have evidence to either come forward or put it into writing as these would help in investigating the case. He however added that the five man panel to investigate Obasanjo must be made up of people of high integrity as he would protest if the panel constitute people with questionable character. 

HOW SOYINKA CAUSED DIPLOMATIC ROW AT UNESCO
From Laolu Akande (New York), Guardian, 26-10-08

NIGERIA'S recent victory on the UNESCO Category 2 institute was not recorded without an open diplomatic row at the head offices of the world body in Paris, France.  

And the cause of that row was a strong and widely circulated letter from Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka warning UNESCO that the institute ought not be sited at the controversial Obasanjo Presidential Library. 

Soyinka agreed to the idea of brining the institute to Nigeria, but not the Obasanjo library.  

Diplomatic sources revealed that few weeks to the meeting of the UNESCO Executive Board, held on Oct 13, Soyinka, who had made his objection to the idea very clear, wrote a letter to the President of the Board, Director-General of UNESCO and members of the Executive Board, which included the US Ambassador to UNESCO, Ms. Louise Oliver.  

His letter reportedly caused a sharp cleavage between African Ambassadors and others from developing nations on the one had supporting Nigeria and their counterparts from developed nations led by the US on the other hand, who wanted, at least, to delay the decision. 

The division reared its head at the open meeting of the UNESCO Executive Board last Monday when it sat to decide on Nigeria's request for a UNESCO category 2 institute, among other issues. 

The Soyinka letter, dated September 20, 2008, and widely circulated in UNESCO, noted that, "further to my letter to you on the above subject, I have the honour to send you a copy of an article that will appear in the Nigerian media, timed, quite deliberately for the eve of the meeting of the Executive Council." 

The UNESCO Executive Board meeting lasted till around 11pm before a decision was reached to grant Nigeria's request to have the UNESCO category 2 institute on culture sited in Abeokuta, using the premises of the Obasanjo Presidential Library. 

At the Oct 13 meeting, signs of a diplomatic row emerged very early at the afternoon session, as the US and a few other developed countries tried to stall the Board from taking the decision on Nigeria's request. 

An earlier plan of the Board to decide the issue in April failed, according to UNESCO sources partly because of Soyinka's influence and an earlier intervention being a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. 

But the effort of the US to prevent a discussion of the agenda item on UNESCO category 2 institutes failed amidst a wide range of support from African ambassadors and other developing nations including India, and Pakistan. African Ambassadors, especially the delegation from South Africa, actively countered the US effort. 

Based on Soyinka's objection as a world reputed writer, Nobel Laureate and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, a source said it was simply difficult for developed countries, especially the US, to ignore the issues raised by the famous Nigerian playwright. 

According to the US Ambassador, while the American delegation was not opposed to siting the UNESCO institute in Nigeria, she had to raise questions based on "documents received," referring to Soyinka's letter. 

She argued that a legal dispute was subsisting on the Obasanjo Presidential Library and urged the Board to delay its final decision on the issue until resolution of the case. 

The US Ambassador also argued that the MoU between the Nigerian government and the Obasanjo Library, which was to be signed to facilitate the institute's location, was still unsigned at the time the Board meeting started. 

Besides, she claimed that the institute proposed for Nigeria was yet to develop its mission and suggested that a workshop be organised for such, for which reason she asked for more time before the UNESCO institute would be granted.  

Her objections sparked diplomatic fury at UNESCO, because, according to sources, a caucus meeting of the UNESCO envoys, including the US Ambassador, had already agreed to grant Nigeria's request. The envoys had even written a draft resolution behind closed doors ahead of the open meeting. 

In the letter, Soyinka restated his opposition, not to the idea of locating the institute in Nigeria, but siting it at the controversial Obasanjo Presidential Library. 

According to Soyinka, "the institute, let me state this clearly, is welcomed by all, across the nation. The location, however, is frankly ill-conceived." 

Soyinka also enclosed a copy of the court action processes against the Obasanjo Library and warned the UNESCO Executive Board members including the US Ambassador on the implications of granting the request of the Nigeria's government to site the UNESCO institute in the Obasanjo library. 

UNESCO sources, however, added that the federal government also countered Soyinka's petition by writing back that the case had been thrown out at the court of first instance.  

A position that Soyinka had also foreseen as he stated in his letter to UNESCO that the case was currently on appeal and "a further appeal to the Supreme Court of Nigeria is extremely likely, rendering uncertain at what date the Olusegun Obasanjo Library premises will become a truly legitimate entity."

 Further referring to his articles on the matter, Soyinka said his interventions "does not fail to touch upon the moral issues involved in the location of this institute."  

"It is my view that UNESCO, given its fundamental mission statement, cannot fail to address such issues even before they enter public controversy, and affect the moral choices that are made by this organisation," he said. 

At the meeting and in response to the US objections, the Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, stated that the court of first instance had thrown out the case.  

He said that the mission of the institute was already put in place and the MoU between the federal government and the Obasanjo Library would be signed. In fact, the MoU was signed immediately after the meeting last Monday night. 

The UNESCO Executive Board is made up of 58 members comprising of UNESCO Ambassadors from all continents elected by the General Assembly of UNESCO, which is called-the General Conference. 

The General Conference meets once in two years and elects members of the UNESCO Board, which runs the organisation much like the Security Council at the UN headquarters except that at the UNESCO Executive Council there are no permanent members nor are there veto powers. 

Sources said Soyinka's influence at the UNESCO could not be ignored easily being a Goodwill Ambassador of the organisation designated in 1991 "for the promotion of African culture, programmes, media and communication."  

According to UNESCO when he was designated, Soyinka was seen "as one of the most eminent intellectuals of the African continent," whose struggle for the defense of freedom of speech and human rights "has been ongoing ever since he began his literary career."  

"Wole Soyinka is an active participant in high-level conferences and forums addressing the issues of African social development," it said.

All the stories used for this compilation are culled from newspapers, journals and from credible, authoritative and responsible internet websites. 

Please visit again for readers' comments on a continuous basis

A File on BAKASSI

Please send comments or enquires to cyberschuulnews@yahoo.co.uk

For daily update of news, visit www.cyberschuulnews.com

 To subscribe to CyberschuulNews,
Send subscription request to subscribe@cyberschuulnews.com   
For removal, send removal request to remove@cyberschuulnews.com      

Cyberschuulnews.com Group is published in Abuja, Manchester & Long Island

Readership: over 36,000 telecom/IT executives, professionals, and enthusiasts in all continents