Leon H. Sullivan Summits and Opportunism

Jul

2006

	By *Omoyele Sowore /Sahara Reporters* 29 July 2006

By Omoyele Sowore

There is no doubt that when the African-American, Reverend Leon H. Sullivan dreamt up the idea of African Summits, he did so with the noblest of intentions. Having fought apartheid all his life, he wasn’t content on just the idea of political freedom for the continent. He thought it was a great idea to get international political and business leaders together to dialogue about Africa and its various needs and to act on the consensus reached at these Summits. There have been six Summits so far. These were in Abidjan (1991), Libreville (1993), Dakar (1995), Harare (1997), Accra (1999) and Abuja (2003). Curiously, the seventh Summit has already kicked off in Abuja again and is scheduled to last till July 21, 2006. But Reverend Sullivan has been dead for five years now and today, there is increasing doubt as to whether his heirs are actually pursuing his principles, even though they claim to be doing so in his name. Indeed, when one assesses the activities and associations of the key personnel of the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, you can’t help but see vestiges of family aggrandizement and crony capitalism.

Hope Masters (nee Sullivan) is the President and CEO of the Foundation. In an elaborate ceremony sponsored by President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja, Nigeria, this daughter of Rev Sullivan married Carl Masters, Co-Founding Partner (with Andrew Young) of the Atlanta-based Goodworks International, a firm of lobbyists permanently retained by President Obasanjo (on a $60,000 monthly fee) to supposedly do public relations job for Nigeria in the US, even though the country operates an embassy and two consulates there. Mrs. Hope Masters with Andrew Young are the only members of the “Leadership” of the Foundation, while there is the ceremonial list of board members of big names, one of whom is former President Bill Clinton. In every function organized by the Foundation, Mr Carl Masters, even though not formally listed on the website as a member of the Leadership actually is the Secretary to the board. The relationship between President Obasanjo and his Goodworks International friends seems to overshadow whatever it is the Foundation is supposed to be doing. In fact, one wonders why Obasanjo has to host another Summit consecutively when there are literally scores of African venues outside Nigeria to do this.

Obviously, the leaders of the Foundation today are only paying lip-service to the principles of self-help, social responsibility, economic empowerment and human rights – principles Rev Sullivan himself espoused. Today, the reverend’s heirs are more interested in feathering their own nests in cahoots with tainted political operators in Africa. Rather than championing corporate responsibility in Africa, they’re actually exploiting its absence. For instance, they feel no scruples receiving millions of dollars in donations from Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Chrome Petroleum, Sea Petroleum and the like, while the Niger-Delta burns and their environment destroyed by callous oil exploitation. They take the money but feel no responsibility for Obasanjo and the oil companies’ unwillingness to truly show transparency with regard to proceeds from the oil revenues.

One of the most blatant abuses of their position was perpetrated by Carl Masters last year when he presided over one of the worst cases of abuse of office by Obasanjo as the chief organizer and fundraiser for the latter’s library project. It wasn’t just that a sitting president found it morally justifiable to set up a library in his name that rankles, but the fact that he did this by more or less coercing public and state officials to donate towards this project. We are talking of a country notorious for the corruption of its public officials and its President used his incumbent position to collect supposed donations from well-known pilferers of public funds, both serving and retired, to serve his private ends. They raised a whooping $50 million and Carl Masters, a Jamaican-American, was not ashamed to preside over this, even as Gani Fawehinmi, the irrepressible advocate of public propriety is in court challenging the affair. In fact, the largest single donor to the project, Mr Mike Adenuga, a local business magnate with extensive political connections, was recently arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He’d since been released, but up till now the reason for his arrest remains a mystery, as neither him nor the government are saying anything.

But anyone who’s followed young and co and their careers wouldn’t be surprised at what they’re doing in Africa, which is to cash in on Reverend Sullivan and Mr. Young’s statuses. As an ‘icon’ of the civil rights movement, a former mayor, ambassador and recognized elder in the African-American community, Mr. Young leads his acolytes on a mission to convert this status to cash by betraying his people’s trust to the highest bidder. Anyone who doubts this mission only needs to note the job that first catapulted Goodworks International into the big time in 1997. At a time when the world was waking up to the appalling atrocities being committed by Nike in its Asian shoe factories, Young and Masters took the Nike commission to burnish their image. Young produced a seventy-five page full colour report on Nike’s Asian operation. He concluded that there was “no evidence or pattern of widespread or systematic abuse or mistreatment of workers” in the twelve operations he examined, filling up the pages with doctored pictures of smiling, ostensibly happy workers. But a few weeks after, the accounting firm, Ernst & Young visited some of the same places Mr. Young claimed to have visited and put a lie to his report by detailing the unsafe, terrible and subhuman conditions under which these people work. But to Messrs Young and Masters, the principle is why let the truth get in the way of a big fat cheque? Goodworks International is on the map and they are now “international business consultants”, so what the heck!

In February this year, true to type, Goodworks International continued its betrayal with the announcement that Mr. Young is now chair the Working Families for Wal-Mart. The world’s largest retailers, with a stinking reputation amongst women and minorities now have as their spokesperson an African-American civil rights icon – just for a few dollars! In fact, Wal-Mart proudly announced they were funding Young and Goodworks International, because they belong to a group of people “who understand and appreciate Wal-Mart’s positive impact on working families in America”. Of course, it matters not that Wal-Mart discriminates against minorities and women, pay poverty-level wages and are pushing competitors out of business.

As this Summit opens and close once again in Abuja with highfalutin jives and no action, Nigerians, nay Africans must be weary of these so-called do-gooders. Andrew Young and Carl Masters can use their friendship with Obasanjo and other notorious Africans to feather their own nest at the expense of the ordinary people of Nigeria and the continent while Rev Sullivan turns in his grave, but we mustn’t allow them to sell their snake oil as some kind of solution to African problems. Evidently, they do not care about democracy, constitutionalism and the rule of law, because if they do, they wouldn’t have supported Obasanjo’s attempt to subvert the Nigerian constitution towards his third term agenda. If they care, they wouldn’t be gallivanting in Abuja, laughing into their wines as their friend and benefactor, Olusegun Obasanjo presides over a repressive fascist and neo-military regime that cares very little about the welfare and economic well-being of Nigerians or the African people. African-Americans must also begin to take people like Young to task for cynically cashing in his Freedom Movement chips. It is not the dream of Martin Luther King, Rev Sullivan and Black America that their icons use the same putrid principles their oppressors used against them to fleece their African brethren.

It is time for Africans, African-Americans and Blacks everywhere to take a closer look at these Summits and ask the right questions.

Your Comments

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Robot

# 1 | 30.07.2006 00:41

	images/stories/Authors/sowore.JPG align=left />...Read the full article.

ExiledOne ExiledOne is offline

# 2 | 30.07.2006 04:21

	Peace Omoyele: Many Thanks for a fine article. The words African "American" so called leaders fear the most are accountability and integrity. My father knew and worked with Leon Sullivan in 1960s Philadelphia, where I lived. This tall (6'6") preacher had rocked snob wannabe Philly church activist circles. Yeh, he would whoop and holler in the streets about injustice. A number of Whites only employers, who made big dollars off of Black consumers had to employ 'some of us' when the strapping West Virginia native turned his sights on them! I read his book, Build Brother Build by age 14 and met the man in '78 at a talk he gave. He still had the fire. I disagreed about voting in the US electoral system, but respected his experience. But, I noted in those last days of US liberalism (and Andrew Young was Jimmy Carter's UN Ambassador briefly), few students at the university had turned up to hear Leon speak. In short, the rush to get to the table no one thought would ever accept us (integration posing as forced assimilation) was so swift that LS was left in its wake! By then, the Jesse Jacksons, and the then velvet tracksuit and medallion wearing (we'll leave the James Brown pressed hair issue out of this) Al Sharptons and others had perfected the art of the dirty deal. Where once boycotts and legal court actions or picketing forced corporations or municipalities to alter the racist exclusion or crude treatment, the cameras and lights flicked on to show grinning White execs shaking hands with Jesse Jackson staring, hero like, into the lens. Press conferences to announce deals--a percentage of the money went to JJ's organization or some other suited slickster. This replaced grassroots battle for practical people's needs. And so the intentions of Leon Sullivan may have been sincerely to link up Africans all over the globe in Africa, but it's a plain mess if corruption reigns. Clinton, he of the saxophone and Harlem residence, womanizer and war monger (from Balkans to Baltimore) can never convince me he wants Africans united in power. And, as you said, good Brother, the likes of Andrew Young, who if anything has disgraced the memory of Martin Luther King, is front and center, what are we working with? ML King was murdered in Memphis, Tennessee during his attempt to assist sanitation workers in gaining some rights. And this man is promoting Wal Mart? What has been crucially spelled out in your article is the nasty but hushed up reality of pirates using unity as a cloak. These cronies are lined up, from Lagos to Atlanta, doing deals of the mucky kind. Should we give it a name, this 21st century selling of the peoples wholesale to Western traffickers? How about Crooks United, Inc.? 30 July 2006 Bankole www.geocities.com/exiledone2002

gwobezentashi gwobezentashi is offline

# 3 | 30.07.2006 05:02

	Today, the reverend’s heirs are more interested in feathering their own nests in cahoots with tainted political operators in Africa. Rather than championing corporate responsibility in Africa, they’re actually exploiting its absence. For instance, they feel no scruples receiving millions of dollars in donations from Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Chrome Petroleum, Sea Petroleum and the like, while the Niger-Delta burns and their environment destroyed by callous oil exploitation. They take the money but feel no responsibility for Obasanjo and the oil companies’ unwillingness to truly show transparency with regard to proceeds from the oil revenues. One of the most blatant abuses of their position was perpetrated by Carl Masters last year when he presided over one of the worst cases of abuse of office by Obasanjo as the chief organizer and fundraiser for the latter’s library project. It wasn’t just that a sitting president found it morally justifiable to set up a library in his name that rankles, but the fact that he did this by more or less coercing public and state officials to donate towards this project. We are talking of a country notorious for the corruption of its public officials and its President used his incumbent position to collect supposed donations from well-known pilferers of public funds, both serving and retired, to serve his private ends. They raised a whooping $50 million and Carl Masters, a Jamaican-American, was not ashamed to preside over this, even as Gani Fawehinmi, the irrepressible advocate of public propriety is in court challenging the affair. In fact, the largest single donor to the project, Mr Mike Adenuga, a local business magnate with extensive political connections, was recently arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He’d since been released, but up till now the reason for his arrest remains a mystery, as neither him nor the government are saying anything. All it proves is that nothing has changed. As one group was moved out of power thanks to the collective efforts of all Nigerians and particularly the civil rights movements then another one moved in (from prison kpa kpa) to carry on business as usual. As they say, everyday for the thief, one day for the owner but will they listen? INTERNATIONAL THIEF THIEF * INTERNATIONAL THIEF THIEF (x3) I.T.T * INTERNATIONAL THIEF THIEF – International Thief Oh (CHORUS) INTERNATIONAL THIEF THIEF (x2)　 I.T.T. INTERNATIONAL THIEF THIEF – Oh, eh (CHORUS) INTERNATIONAL THIEF THIEF (x2) <<>> Wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella-- Ha (x2) Wella, (this is true) wella, wella, wella, Wella, wella, wella, wella, wella Wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella Wella, wella Wella, wella, wella, wella, wella Wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella, wella---Ha - Yeh- Ch – Ch – Ch -Ch Mother fu-ckers, Bastard Mother fu-ckers (CHORUS) YEAH – We yab* dem *(make fun of/abuse) Hurry up der Say, “yeah” Wella well, na true I want talk again o (CHORUS) WELL WELL – Na true I want talk again o If I dey lie o Make Osiri punish me Make Ifa dey punish me o Make Edumare punish me o Make the land dey punish me o Make Edumare punish me o I read ‘em for book ee-o I see so myself ee-o (2x on the 3rd repetition) Well-ee well-ee o (CHORUS/LEAD) WELL WELL-EH-EH-EH-EH-EH-EH-ELL- WELL WELL Well-ee well-ee o (CHORUS/LEAD) WELL WELL-EH-EH-EH-EH-EH-EH-ELL- WELL WELL Long time ago Long, long time ago (CHORUS) LONG TIME AGO – Long, long, long, long time ago African man we no dey carry sh-it We dey sh-it in-side big big hole For Yourba-land na "Shalanga" For Igbo-land na "Onunu-insi" For Hausa-land na "Salunga" For Ga-land na "Tiafi" For Ashanti-land na “Yarni" For Ethiopia-land na "Sagara-bet" For Voodoo-land na “Cho-Cho” For Bemba-land na “Chimbuzi” For Tunga-land na “Echibuzi” Long, long, long, long time ago African man we no dey carry sh-it We dey sh-it inside big big hole Long, long, long, long time ago Long, long, long, long time ago Before them come for suss us away as slaves During the time them come for suss us away as slaves Na European man, na him dey carry sh-it Na for them culture to carry sh-it During the time dem come colonize us Dem come teach us to carry sh-it Long, long, long, long time ago African man weh no dey carry sh-it Na European man teach us to carry sh-it Many foreign companies dey Africa carry all our money go (CHORUS) SAY AM, SAY AM – Many foreign companies dey Africa carry all our money go Dem go write big English for newspaper, Dabaru we Africans Dem go write big English for newspaper, Dabaru we Africans I read about one of them inside book like that- Them call him name na I.T.T I read about one of them inside book like that- Them call him name na I.T.T Them go dey cause confusion (CHORUS) CONFUSION Cause corruption (CHORUS) CORRUPTION Cause oppression * (CHORUS) OPPRESSION Cause inflation (CHORUS) INFLATION Dem go dey, Cause oppression (CHORUS) OPPRESSION Cause confusion (CHORUS) CONFUSION Cause corruption (CHORUS) CORRUPTION Cause inflation (CHORUS) INFLATION Cause oppression (CHORUS) OPPRESSION Cause confusion (CHORUS) CONFUSION Cause inflation (CHORUS) INFLATION Cause oppression (CHORUS) OPPRESSION Oppression, Opression, Inflation, Corruption, Opression, Inflation---- Dem get one style wey dem dey use Dem go pick one African-i man A man with low mentality Them go give am million naira breads To become of high position here Him go bribe some thousand naira bread To become one useless-i chief Like rat dey do, dem go, Dey do from Corner corner pass-ee, pass-ee Under, under pass-ee, pass-ee Inside-ee, Inside-ee pass-ee, pass-ee In-ee, in-ee, pass-ee, pass-ee Out-ee, out-ee, pass-ee, pass-ee Peep-peep, peep-peep, pass-ee pass-ee In-ee, in-ee, pass-ee, pass-ee Corner corner, pass-ee, pass-ee Under, under, pass-ee, pass-ee Inside-ee, Inside-ee, pass-ee, pass-ee Over world, pass-ee, pass-ee Corner corner, pass-ee, pass-ee Under, under, pass-ee, pass-ee Inside- inside Then he gradually, gradually, gradually, gradually (2x) Them go be: Friend friend to journalist Friend to friend to Commissioner Friend friend to Permanent Secretary Friend to friend to Minister Friend to friend to Head of State* Then start start to steal money Start start them corruption Start start them inflation Start start them oppression Start start them confusion Start start them oppression Start start to steal money Start start to steal money Like Obasanjo and Abiola (CHORUS) INTERNATIONAL THIEF THIEF　– I.T.T International rogue International thief We fight them, Well well (CHORUS) WELL WELL - Wella wella We don tire to carry anymore of them sh-it

Abraxas Abraxas is offline

# 4 | 30.07.2006 05:11

	Hi, my good friend and small brother, Señor Omoleye Sowore! Your mama born you well! (You hear?). I concur, in toto, with your observations that the strange relationship between General Okikiolakan Obasanjo (The Great) and his parasitic gang of non-Nigerian so-called “very close friends” seems to contradict their projected intentions. The question still remains unanswered: “Why must General Olusegun (Baba 3rd Term) Aremu Mathew Okikiolakan Obasanjo (GCFR), in the name of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, host TWO (2) consecutive Leon H. Sullivan Summits?” What exactly does Nigeria have to gain from such un-budgeted frivolities like the Leon H. Sullivan Summit that General Obasanjo seems to revel in? Nigerians need to know, as a matter of right. Annually, a bunch of shamelessly parasitic and voraciously predatory Black Americans, including their Nigerian "paddy men" and sidekicks, some of them in the so-called Diaspora, some in Nigeria, routinely pay lip service to such noble strategies for addressing the country’s myriad challenges (like self-help, social responsibility, economic empowerment, and human rights) that the late Rev. Leon H. Sullivan actively espoused. Today, we observe with maximum disappointment, and with grief in our hearts, that Rev. Leon H. Sullivan’s children and surviving family are more interested in looting Africa, feathering their private nests, in joint venture with their co-conspirators in high political positions all across Africa. Instead of standing up for transparency, probity, accountability and corporate responsibility in Africa, they callously manipulate, or/and exploit the glaring absence of accountability in the continent. They willingly and effortlessly assist in looting the Nigerian treasury dry, and feel no qualms, whatsoever, to even feebly ensure transparency in governance in Nigeria, and indeed, across Africa. In 2005, Carl Masters presided over an unmistakably blatant case of abuse of office by General Olusegun (Baba 3rd Term) Mathew Aremu Obasanjo, in his capacity as the chief organizer and fund raiser for Obasanjo’s post-2007 so-called presidential library project, more or less, by intimidating public and private businesses operating in Nigeria, to openly patronise the private project. Incidentally, General Obasanjo sponsored his marriage in Abuja (from the Nigerian treasury) ! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! (Yeh! Paripa-ta-a-a!!) Mr. Andrew Young, another so-called ‘icon’ of the African-American Civil Rights Movement, a former Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, and UN ambassador under elder statesman US President Jimmy Carter, leads a cabal of opportunistic Blacks worldwide (i.e.: in the USA, in Africa, and in the EU) on a mission to convert their status into raw cash, by betraying the trust of their fellow Black men and women, with maddening insensitivity, and rabid impunity. As the Leon H. Sullivan Summit comes to a predictably purposeless, meaningless, futile, and unfruitful end, Nigerians must begin to be more vigilant and proactive in their perception of these transcontinental predators and parasites, who use their phoney, and questionable acquaintance with people like General Obasanjo, General Danjuma, General Babangida, General Yar’Adua, General Useni, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, General Gussau, General David Mark, General Tunde Ogbeha, General Marwa, Admiral Nyanko, Admiral Koshoni, Admiral Aikhomu, Admiral Akhigbe, Customs Officer Atiku Abubakar, and a host of other loot-addicted vermin scattered all over Nigeria, who unrepentantly feather their private piggy-banks overseas, at the expense of Nigerians. As seasoned and hardened autocrats like General Mathew Aremu (Baba 3rd Term) Olusegun Okikiolakan Obasanjo (Balogun Owu), who presides over a repressive, autocratic, and quasi-military dictatorship, get more and more addicted to their impunity, Nigerians and African-Americans must also begin to challenge the impudence of their external backers and accomplices, like Andrew Young, for exploiting and manipulating the hospitality, open-mindedness, and/or blissful naïveté of Nigerians, using the very same rancid methods that their Caucasian American oppressors used against African Americans, to short-change Nigerians in broad daylight! It is time we “zoom-in” into these so-called “international summits, seminars, and workshops”, take a very good and close look, and then, ask the appropriate question: Could such summits, workshops, and seminars be very good examples of on-going executive 419 in Nigeria? More jazz to your funk! Keep on truckin'! Hit it again, my burodah. Muchas gracias, mi amigo.

Johntina Johntina is offline

# 5 | 30.07.2006 06:35

	Issues like this really make me worry about the racist notion that the Black race is cursed and will never mmake any sustainable progress. It is deeply depressing that those who have the clout to mobilise the Black world towards self redefinition and determination choose to abuse their opportunities for primitive interests. With a handful of educated people in the 1940s, Black people mobilised themselves unitedly, towards independences and improved civil rights, but today with millions of graduates and professors (Nigeria has over 70 Universities), we are unable to organise ourselves. And those who have the voice to push for better future for their communities and the Black race in general choose to serve their selfish interests. There really seems to be something mysteriously wrong with us and I have always proposed that we take this concern head on rather than pretend that we are moving forward.

gwobezentashi gwobezentashi is offline

# 6 | 30.07.2006 07:39

	Mullings wants int'l audit of Jamaica-Nigeria oil transactions By balford henry Sunday Observer writer Monday, July 31, 2006 Clive Mullings, the Opposition spokesman on mining, energy and telecommunications, wants the government to retain an international oil consultant to audit all Jamaica-Nigeria oil trading transactions since 1999 when the services of US firm GoodWorks International was acquired. "The country must know what role does GoodWorks plays in these transactions and what it has cost to date," Mullings insisted, as he made his sectoral debate presentation at Gordon House on Wednesday night. GoodWorks International is an Atlanta, Georgia-based consulting firm which has retained the services of former Prime Minister PJ Patterson since his retirement. An allegation by the leader of the opposition, Bruce Golding, that it was involved in the sale of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to Mirant has been denied by GoodWorks. Mirant bought a 90 per cent stake in JPS during Patterson's tenure as prime minister. Mullings told the House that prior to 1999, the oil arrangement between Jamaica and Nigeria was handled by a joint venture between the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) and international oil trading company Vitol SA Inc. "This joint venture partnership allowed PCJ to share 50/50 in the profits," Mullings said. "PCJ was indemnified against losses and the partnership was audited frequently by an international oil consultant. "We are advised in a letter to Mr Audley Shaw (the Opposition spokesman on finance and the public service), under the signature of the permanent secretary, that 'The absence of a Jamaican high commissioner in Abuja, Nigeria during 1999 was one of the reasons that led PCJ to acquire the services of GoodWorks International, an Atlanta-based firm, to assist in the process of acquiring new liftings of Nigerian oil'." Mullings said he wanted to know what qualifications GoodWorks had in the oil industry that could have prompted their involvement in the government-to-government negotiations. He said that a three-way arrangement now exists between PCJ, GoodWorks and a new oil trader, Trafigura Limited, and questioned why those arrangements were not being audited. Added Mullings :"One wonders whether this was the reason why the Ministry of Finance and Planning instructed the PCJ that, with effect from April 1, 2005 the net income from the Nigerian oil facility was to be paid into the consolidated fund?" source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20060730T000000-0500_110117_OBS_MULLINGS_WANTS_INT_L_AUDIT_OF_JAMAICA_NIGERIA_OIL_TRANSACTIONS.asp

Ciollele Ciollele is online

# 7 | 30.07.2006 08:15

	Brother Sowore: Anytime you hit, you hit with the biggest bang. Always with punch, clarity and a deafening slap accross the face of crooks. Me had wondered why no Nigerian writer saw the 419 goings in the name of Leon Sullivan last week in Abuja. But here you are with the real message that must send these bastards scampering by now. I remember your interview with Carl Masters below. You are the best! Written by Sowore Omoyele Friday, 20 May 2005 Interview with Carlton Masters: the man behind Obasanjoâ€™s multi-million-dollar Private Library by Omoyele Sowore Nigeria is a country that is bedeviled by hunger, unemployment, decayed infrastructure and most importantly a decimated educational system. President Obasanjo continues to thrive, having built for himself a multi-billion naira farm. He is also building a University known as â€œBell Universityâ€ to be based in Otta, Ogun State before or soon after he leaves office. The latest of these presidential initiatives is a $50 million privately funded Presidential Library for President Obasanjo when he leaves office, the completion of which is to coincide with his 70th birthday. By the admission of the man behind the project the Presidential Library will complete by March 6, 2007. I tried to locate Mr. Carlton Masters in Nigeria when I got wind of his activities on behalf of the Presidential Library to which he is the Co-Chairman. When I first called him he was in the midst of the fund raising ceremony, he couldnâ€™t speak to me he said. I gave him my number to call me back after telling him that I wanted to know what all these was about, especially knowing that he works for Goodworks International, a lobby group based in Atlanta, Georgia and Washington DC involved in an annual multi-million dollar contract with the government of Nigeria since 1999. I tried to locate Mr. Carlton Masters in Nigeria when I got wind of his activities on behalf of the Presidential Library to which he is the Co-Chairman. When I first called him he was in the midst of the fund raising ceremony, he couldnâ€™t speak to me he said. I gave him my number to call me back after telling him that I wanted to know what all these was about, especially knowing that he works for Goodworks International, a lobby group based in Atlanta, Georgia and Washington DC involved in an annual multi-million dollar contract with the government of Nigeria since 1999. Masters is a smooth talking individual with a Caribbean accent who said heâ€™s an American citizen and tried to bully me when I said, I was concerned about his activities in Nigeria. When I called him on Monday to confirm a few things regarding the interview, he went off on me threatening again that he was an American citizen (He later told me that he is a naturalized American originally from Jamaica). When his bully tactics didnâ€™t work on me, he had his lawyers call me from Chicago to â€œput me on noticeâ€ that they will sue me, if I publish anything â€œslanderous or libelousâ€ against their client especially if I make any references to â€œconflict of interestâ€. EXCERPTS OF THE INTERVIEW: Q: I learnt that you are leading an effort to build a Library for President Obasanjo of Nigeria? A: Yes, yes, I am in Nigeria for that purpose; I have been here since Thursday Q: So, who gave the initial â€˜grantâ€™ money to start the process of building a Library, can you please tell me? A: We did not get any grant to start with; this is purely a private effort in which everyone puts in his or her own resource to start off the process we are witnessing today. As regards those others involved in this I donâ€™t have information complete information here on me; because I donâ€™t want give any wrong information. But as of today I can tell you that Chief Christopher Kolade, the Nigeria Ambassador to the UK is very seriously involved. Q: My understanding is that your company Goodworks International is paid by the Obasanjo government to lobby on behalf of the Nigerian government in the US isnâ€™t there a conflict there? A: Yes that is correct. No, not at all there is no conflict, since you live in the US you should know that out-going presidents have a Library set up for them and funded by the Federal Government. Cuts in: My concern here is that Presidential Libraries in the US are not built by outside lobby groups who work directly for the government and also in the US there is an enabling law that guides fund raising efforts for such projects? A: Please, donâ€™t give me that concern stuff! Yes, in Nigeria there is no law guiding the establishment of Presidential Libraries. This is actually 100% private effort; I am not getting paid to do this. I am just a member of the Board of Trustees and doing this purely because of my love for the president of Nigeria. Q: But we know that you have been sending letters to oil companies and individuals doing business in Nigeria to donate money to this library that you claim is â€œPrivateâ€ also we know that the state Governors pooled money together and gave as donation, isnâ€™t that public money? A: Yes, we sent out letters to oil companies and we hope that they will all donate generously, they better do! The oil companies in Nigeria operating fully according to Nigerian laws and as such they will never do anything illegal. Cuts in: What about Halliburton and its subsidiary in Nigeria and all the gigantic fraud they have been involved in Nigeria since the Liquefied Natural Gas scandal and recently the fraud at Nigeriaâ€™s equivalent of the Internal Revenue Service, the oppression and the devastation of the Niger Delta environment, how are those according to Nigerian laws? A: I wonâ€™t make any comments about that Q: Why not? A: All I know is that US companies operate fully according to Nigerian laws. Q: Donâ€™t you think that any company asked to donate and refuses to do so might fear reprisals from this very powerful President, I mean, isnâ€™t this a form of extortion on behalf of the President? A: I donâ€™t think so; they are going to be making the donations out of their own free will. Q: But you also know that the Managing Director of NNPC, Mr. Kupolokun is also using his offices to ask oil companies to make donations A: Well, I donâ€™t know Q: Did you know that President Obasanjo on assumption of office did take over similar foundations by General Abacha and that of his wife because he claimed that they established such foundation through corrupt means and abused their offices, isnâ€™t it ironic that heâ€™s doing the same thing now? A: I donâ€™t know what kind of Nigerian you are; all the press people are here at the launching today, why are they not raising such questions. The President has come a long way and we are doing this to give him something befitting. Q: Canâ€™t he wait till he is out of office before building a library of this size, it is apparent that the fund raising process is unfair, most people or companies doing this are either seeking favors or too afraid to decline making donations? A: We are not building this Library till the President is out of office. (But then he says) the Library will be completed by March 6, 2007 and handed over to the President as his 70th Birthday gift, we hope that by then the election of a new president would have taken place. You also know that raising fund for this type of project when he is out of office will be difficult. I like to refer you to certain publications in Nigeria who have all raised those type of concern Question: Can you tell me how much you guys raised today? Answer: I donâ€™t know how much we raised exactly, but I can tell you that I am really proud of Nigerians, they came out in large numbers and made contributions to the project. You should be proud as a Nigerian today. Question: Apart from yourself, Mr. Carlton, who else is on the Board of Trustees? Chief Kolade is the Co-Chairman; Mr. Obasanjoâ€™s daughter is also on the boardd as well as Mr. Richard Bransonâ€¦. Q: See, that is part of the problem I am talking about, why would the owner of Virgin Atlantic be on the Board of the Presidential Library and you tell me that there is no conflict, this guy is trying to start an airline in Nigeria? A: Listen up, let me explain to you. I am really very sensitive about this conflict of interest issue, and I need to remind you that I am an American citizen and I will act strongly against you if you publish anything negative about me. Q: Sir, let me be clear that any kind of threat will not resolve this issue really, it will serve the reading public better if we go to the main issue and abandon this abrasive style, this will be the second time that you will use these type of language of threat on me. It simply doesnâ€™t fly with me. You should know better than that by now. A: I am not threatening you, I just need to be clear to you that there is no conflict here, we are building a Library for the President of Nigeria and this project is the first in Africa. I might have come off a littleâ€¦ but I might have come off that way because I am a passionate person. I want to apologize if you feel that wayâ€¦ Q: So, is Goodworks International making any contributions to the Presidential Library? A: Yes, we will. Q: How much are you contributing? A: I donâ€™t know yet, we havenâ€™t decided but we will. Q: Finally, Mr. Carlton, can you please tell the reading public how much your company, Goodworks International gets paid by the Nigerian government for your lobbying activities? Q: I cannot discuss that with you here, it is public information, and you can always go and find out for yourself.

jafolayan jafolayan is offline

# 8 | 30.07.2006 08:54

	Dear Mr. Sowore, I was very shocked to read your article about the just concluded and very successful Leon Summit V11 which took place in Abuja. Reading your article has revealed that you were definitely not at the summit. If you must know how successful a forum, summit, conference or seminar is, the starting point will have to be a systematic survey, or informal feedback from attendees who would have been there from all facets of different societies. I never met Mr and Mrs Masters, Ambassador Young, Mr Bill Clinton, the World Bank President and other Resource people and Facilitators until Summit V11 in Abuja. For me, this summit was the best I ever attended, and I tell you I have attended a few in my time worldwide. First of all, you mentioned that members of the board of the Leon Sullivan Foundation have deviated from the original summit plan. I beg to differ sir. The Rev. Leon H. Sullivan was a man of a deep and abiding faith. He was convinced that his work in Africa was part of God's greater plan. He wanted to build bridges between African-Americans, other Africans in the Diaspora and Africans in Africa. The foundation through the Abuja summit achieved that considering the galaxy of 1000 African-Americans, Africans in the Diaspora and Africans in Africa from all walks of life that graced the meeting. Two, President Obasanjo did not pay for the summit. Sullivan Summit V11 took place mostly at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel where most delegates also stayed. All attendees paid to attend the summit. For Africans, five hundred dollars or seventy thousand naira happened to be the entry fees. For a five day summit, including lunch and dinner and other activities, these fees were very reasonable. President Obasanjo only hosted delegates to dinners as the President of Nigeria out of courtesy. Three, contrary to your opinion that it was a jamboree, I believe most African Heads of State who graced the summit in Abuja will disagree with you giving the level of support secured from the foundation. For example, Mr. Clinton on behalf of the Clinton Foundation which is geared towards the fight against HIV/AIDS signed a Partnership Agreement with President Obasanjo in Abuja. One million books have been shipped to universities in Africa though the foundation after Summit V1. A teaching Hospital in northern Nigeria was also announced at the just concluded summit V11 as a beneficiary of large sum of money to procure medical equipment for its wards. Since the first summit, over $750 million in new business agreements have been initiated as a direct result of the Summit movement. Hence, this is not some talk shop where privileged people gather every two years. Moreso, companies, large and small were strongly encouraged to support the Global Sullivan Principles of Corporate Social Responsibility by becoming Endorsers at the Abuja summit. Four, in relation to corporate sponsorships, there is nothing wrong in Chevron and other multinationals sponsoring these summits. For the sake of Corporate Social Responsibility, they should continue to give back to societies where they make money in all ways. I am happy that the Foundation was not accused of misusing the funds. Believe me, the money goes to the ordinary African person one way or the other. Check the totality of the work of the foundation and not the summits alone. On a final and lighter note, Summit V111 will take place in May of 2008 in Tanzania. I hope Mr. Sowore will be able to make it to this very useful summit for our continent. As for me, if the Almighty God is willing, I shall definitely be there. By attending the next summit, Mr. Sowore may have a change of heart. Joe Afolayan CEO, Trade Development Centre Ireland www.tdcafrica.com

Joe Blow Joe Blow is online

# 9 | 30.07.2006 11:26

	Namesake- Here is the information in Sowore's article broken down to your level:Carl Masters, Andrew Young and his wife,daughter of Chief Leon h Sullivan are crooks! Sowore forgot perhaps to mention that Andrew Young had a long history of scams with Nigeria-Remember the "Fertilizer Armanda" in the late 70's? Bloke, get it straight, the article is not about the jamboree you attended in Abuja to hand out your business cards and become part of the "Baba boys club" at Aso Rock. Truth be told, Joseph you are not exactly in the business of saving the world. You too, wants to collaborate in the looting of Nigeria, if you are permitted. If not, how can you reference Chevron's donation to Leon H Sullivan Foundation as 'giving back' to the community, when this article raises the issue of corporate responsibility? Since when did big gathering of African heads of state translate to action or positive developments,?quick examples: OAU, AU, NEPAD, Peer review and all other jamborees! What does it matter if Sowore attended it or not, please send me his ticket to the next one on World Airways (call it North American Airline) the officila airline to the conference- the same airline that left Nigerians stranded at the Mohammed Murtala aAirport in Decemeber 2004? There is a powerful message in this article. Don't try to gloss over the real issues by telling us how much fun you had in Abuja while the rest of humanity of Nigeria was wallowing in darkness and getting killed by assasins all over. When will will learn from our past experiences? How can tokenistic actions of donating seconda -hand hospital equipments or reading glasses to unsuspecting Nigerians be celebrated as a feat from a bunch of 419-ers who are making cool millions exporting crude oil from Nigeria to Jamaica as reported in the Jamaican observer today!

Exxcuzme Exxcuzme is offline

# 10 | 31.07.2006 10:14

	__________________________________________________________________________ Rev Sullivan married Carl Masters, Co-Founding Partner (with Andrew Young) of the Atlanta-based Goodworks International, a firm of lobbyists permanently retained by President Obasanjo (on a $60,000 monthly fee) to supposedly do public relations job for Nigeria in the US, even though the country operates an embassy and two consulates there. __________________________________________________________________________ Where was this Atlanta based organization when CNN(also based in Atlanta) was maligning Nigeria and Nigerians? It's time they lose their lobbyist contract.

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