To be Godly is to be good2

By Bayo Ogunmupe According to the Psalms of David in the Bible: “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners inn his ways.” Psalm 25:8. How would you define “goodness” or “the good life?” The French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau defined happiness as “a good bank account, a good cook and a good digestion.” Some would say the good life is physical. They think it doesn’t get any better than a long soak in a hot tub, a back rub and a drink at the pub. Others would say the good life is material. They think if you have the mansion, the Mercedes and the money, you’re living the good life. But the goodness isn’t about feeling good, looking good, or having goods. It’s about being good and doing good. And just like we need a clock to tell time and a ruler to measure distance, we need a universal standard for determining goodness. And we have one: God. “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.” Without a universally accepted standard for goodness, it becomes a grey area, a matter of opinion. Adolf Hitler thought annihilating the Jews was a good thing. Suicide bombers think killing innocent human beings is a good thing. And such thinking cannot be countered with a simple, “that’s not good.” What’s to keep a Hitler or suicide bomber from saying, “that’s just your opinion?” The word good stems from the old English word with the same connotation as God. It literally means to be like God. Goodbye is the shortened phrase for “God be with ye.” So, the universal standard for goodness can only be decided by one who is universally good, and that One can only be God. “The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, but gracious words are pure in His sight-“ Proverbs 15:26. Sometimes we say to people half in jest, “Try to be good, and if you can’t be good, be careful.” The idea that if can’t be good make sure you’re clever enough not to be caught. But in reality, our lack of goodness is no laughing matter. Goodness that used to meet a universal standard is now a matter of personal interpretation and preference. And an epidemic of public officials whose private conduct leaves us shocked hasn’t made things any better. James Madison one of the framers of the US constitution and who later became US president wrote: “The aim of every political constitution is to obtain as rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern and most virtue to pursue the common good of society.” Nowadays, surveys show that trust in our political and business leaders is at the lowest point on record. They have only two things in mind: to get rich and to stay in power. The Bible says, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people,” Proverbs 14:34. You must get personally involved in politics to stop evil from triumph. The revered British statesman Edmund Burke said: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” One person, plus God, can change things. Try to be that person.

Time to hone the Nigerian industrial strategy

By Bayo Ogunmupe The rapid rise of misery in Nigeria in the aftermath of petroleum scarcity and rising inflation have hasten the adoption of a new industrial strategy for Nigerian economic growth and prosperity. Moreover, the Debt Management Office (DMO) says that at December 2021, Nigeria’s debt has grown to N39.55 trillion. The Director general of the DMO, Patience Oniha said that was our total external and domestic debt. These borrowings from several sources including the Eurobond, Soverign Sukuk and the federal government bonds. Our total debt to GDP ratio of 22.47 percent. The debt ratio still remains below Nigeria’s limit of 40 percept. Meanwhile, campaigning has begun for the presidential election which in February 2023 will draw the curtain on eight years of Buhari’s nepotism, on whose somnolent watch Nigeria has sleepwalked closer to banditry induced disaster. President Buhari had overseen two economic slumps, skyrocketing debt and a calamitous increase in kidnapping, banditry—the one thing you might have thought a former general could control. We desperately need a leader whose energies go not into preserving its own privileges, but into providing public goods—resolving the impasse in education through paying the debts owed the Academic Staff Union of Universities, health and social welfare; rule of law through freeing Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho. Other problems waiting to be solved include: terrorism, uninterrupted power supply, roads and digital infrastructure. We need a leader to remove distortions in the salary structure and the removal of subsidies that disturb entrepreneurial activity. Large scale unemployment is one of the reasons why our moribund industrial strategy needs to be honed. Industrialization is the process by which an economy is transformed from agrarian production to manufacturing. As a country is transformed into an industrial society manual labour is replaced by mechanized mass production. Like the advanced societies of today, we need to break the vicious cycle of underdevelopment. Before Nigeria’s oil boom, we thrived on agricultural commodities which were exported for foreign exchange. It contributed more than 57 percent of our GDP; while the sold minerals like coal, iron, tin and columbite contributed more than 15 percent to the Gross Domestic Product. Sadly, the discovery of oil changed that as minerals were neglected in favour of oil and gas. Consequently, the Nigerian economy became volatile due to fluctuations in the price of crude oil. In fact the recessions experienced in Nigeria are attributable to the fall in oil prices. In 1986, we were forced to borrow money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) owing to the fall in oil prices in the world oil market. Also by 2014, the continuous decline in crude oil prices led Nigeria to experience yet another economic recession, largely caused by the slow growth of China which is the largest importer of crude oil in the world. Yet in 2016, the start of the most recent economic recession, which was as a result of the mining of shale oil in the United States as the largest buyer of Nigeria’s crude oil. Since 2020 after the outbreak of COVID19 pandemic, crude oil price sold below $40 per barrel Nigeria’s economy has been in a coma, with the galloping inflation on the rampage, this was further worsened by the scarcity of foreign exchange, worrisome debt and mass unemployment. All these have garnered clamours for the diversification of the economy and the honing of an industrial strategy to cater for the teeming unemployed. Presently, the media is agog with reports that Nigeria’s main oil companies are leaving Nigeria on the account of divestment for cleaner energy. In the words of the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, “Oil companies are leaving because they want to shift their portfolios to where they can add value and also add towards carbon net-zero commitment.” The Paris climate accord has set a climate goal that by the year 2050, global warming should have been reduced to 1.5C while Columbia Climate School reported that keeping global warming to below 2’C from industrial levels means that an estimated one third of oil reserves and 80 percent of coal reserves need to remain unused by 2050. In another report, the International Energy Agency has declared that no fossil fuel cars should be sold beyond 2035. This means that a country like Nigeria whose economy depends on oil faces more economic burdens due to its specialized economic structure. Sadly, the Russia/Ukraine war spells doom for Nigeria if appropriate measures are not taken. Nigeria maintains a good bilateral relations with Russia with trade to the tune of N994 billion. Reports show Nigeria is a major importer of various agricultural and mechanical products from both Russia and Ukraine. According to Bloomberg Russia is set to ban certain exports following sanctions she receives from other nations over her invasion of Ukraine. The implication of this is that there will be a reduced supply of many commodities to Nigeria increasing the rate of inflation in Nigeria. The new industrial strategy preferred are triple faced. Instead of wasteful and unrecoverable loans presently churned out by Central Bank of Nigeria such as trader money; there should be a N50 billion SME loans scheme without collateral, without interest. Secondly, another N50 billion loans scheme should set aside for import substitution industries. Finally, the Nigerian Enterprise Board should be empanelled to register, monitor and implement government policies regarding the recovery of these loans. It has been observed that the bulk of Nigeria’s manufacturing takes place in consumables such as food, beverage and tobacco. This corroborates the London School of Economics recommendation that Nigeria should adopt a new industrial strategy if she hopes to meet the necessity of creating an additional five million jobs per year for the next 10 years. Without these preferred measures Nigeria is threatened with disintegration in the near future. Nigeria needs import substitution industries more than ever before, for importation stokes unemployment. Lack of diversification of the economy has put the Nigerian economy in in danger. Let the states exploit the resources within their territory for their own survival. The onus lies on the states and the federation to exploit its opportunities for industrialization by promoting a value based economy, which drives the conversion of raw materials to finished goods before exportation. Nigeria needs a working manufacturing strategy that can absorb our teeming unemployed to prepare the country for the high quality skills that are needed in this modern age.

The Biography Of Ademola Olatunde Dixon

A review by Bayo Ogunmupe This book is partly biographical, ending as an autobiography. It started as a biography but ended being written by the protagonist Dr Ademola Dixon a medical doctor. It is hard backed, illustrated with the picture a motor park. With 350 pages, Three parts and 37 chapters. The Prologue speaks of laid out streets, well planned buildings, taps flowing, unblinking lights and food everywhere. It showed unfettered freedom with the pleasures of a peaceful existence. The quintessential physician, Dr Ademola Dixon isn’t a time traveller, he had only spent about a decade in Europe, studying and working. Through Omo Eko, he had only relived those near idyllic scenes of his youth in the 1940s when Lagos Island was the seat of the government of colonial Nigeria, with Lagos as the pearl on the West African coast. At such spells of reverie, you will see this lanky, light- complexioned, bespectacled gentleman standstill, oblivious of the bustles around him. Such equanimity and ordered lifestyle was the spirit of the time. With mother, father and grandfather born on the Island, this quintessential physician gloats of being a thoroughbred Lagosian imbued with the inalienable pride and integrity that make Lagos Islanders a special people. “Being a Lagosian mattered to me a lot initially,” said the doctor. “In my loud moments, I used to talk of being a Lagosian first, then a medical practitioner and a Christian…I was always conscious of being born on Lagos Island like my father and grandfather. The explanation was the great privilege and the tremendous freedom we enjoyed …on the Lagos Island—adequate provision of life’s basic necessities for little or nothing. Lagos was provided with food supplied from all nooks and crannies of Nigeria. Fresh fish, vegetables – name it- were available in abundance.” So Dixon’s youth was remarkably joyful. No pipes, only the tap at the backyard which never run dry. Now six months shy of his October 77th birthday anniversary Dr Dixon still relishes his admiration for the Igbo business spirit which he says was as evident in his youth as it is today. He remembers a particular Igbo customer of his grandma. After buying all the goods he needed, the man would call an alaaaru (porter) to ask how much he would take to convey the goods to the motor pack. After ascertaining the average price from three alaaaru the Igbo trader would then commence carrying all the materials himself – even if it took him several trips. What the Igbo trader does next is to take the exact amount he would have paid the porter to buy himself a sumptuous meal. Part 1 chronicled his Early Years. Unto us a Libran is born. He was born on October 6, 1945, at the time Hitler’s war, the Second World War was drawing to a close. For timeliness, Russian President Vladimir Putin is at the moment threatening with a nuclear strike in his war with Ukraine. “Announcing it means it is primarily a political message designed to impress us,” says Bruno Tertrais, an expert on nuclear deterrence at the Foundation for Strategic Research, a think- tank in Paris, France. He was the second son 20 year old Olayinka Agboola nee Awojobi would have for her printer husband, Adio Dixon. His paternal grandfather, known as Megida gave him his only Muslim name, Abdulfatai after being named Ademola Olatunde by his father. On the whole Ademola has linkages with the Ijesha people of Ilesha; the Aworis who migrated from Ife to live in uninhabited farmland of Lagos island. Through his mother, he is also linked with the Remos of Shagamu. You can see how he could comprehend the study and practice of medicine in the German language. It has been said that the offspring of a mixed breed is often more intelligent than children of the same breed. Gaining admission to a secondary school was tough then as now. In retrospect, says Dr Dixon, the three people who impacted him most favorably were the former Premier of Western Nigeria, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the former governor of Ondo State, the late Chief Adekunle Ajasin and the for mer Principal of Oriwu College, Ikorodu Chief E. I. A. Banwo who admitted Ademola into Oriwu College in 1959. At the end of his work at the sausage factory, Ademola was able to save a whopping 70 pounds sterling. By the time he got admission to study medicine at the oldest university in Germany, Heidelberg, Dixon was ready financially. He had a monthly allowance of twenty pounds from Mama; his two and half years stay in UK; the six months in Leicester and two years in London gave Dixon sufficient exposure and confidence to fend for himself anywhere. A most entertaining value of Omo Eko is the capture of the Cassius Clay of the Sonny Liston fights of May 1965, and February 1964. Cassius Clay (better known as Mohammed Ali) later in life. He won at the first round of the 15 round match. It was a technical knockout. Eventually, Dixon left for the seaport of Dover by train to get into a ferry to take him across the English Channel to Ostend, Belgium. After alighting from the ferry headed for Germany, arriving at Heidelberg by train on a Sunday morning. After four months in a German language school for foreign students, Dixon entered into the true study of medicine at Heidelberg University. According to Dixon, Heidelberg had a longstanding reputation for excellence, especially its medical school. In Germany, there was a deliberate policy by the government to align universities and research centres with the needs of the industrial sector. This is absent in Nigeria. Historically, there is a deep respect for the academia in the German society. Generally, the Germans do not see a university degree as a meal ticket. For them, a graduate was one who was willing to be trained and retrained to meet the demands of country in a facets of life. For life in Germany, efficiency is their watchword. Working as a medical doctor in Germany for over a year after graduation afforded Dixon great insight into the German work ethic which was very different from the British. A surprising episode of Dixon’s sojourn in Germany was a visit by his brother Folabi who resides in Chicago, USA. Folabi arrived at the Dusseldorf Airport in Germany on a Saturday. It was just half an hour’s drive from where Dixon was living then. “Having tried to reach me on the phone without success, Folabi asked at the airport for the fun areas in the town, hoping to while away time till night when I would be at home. Unknown to him I had also headed for Dusseldorf to have fun. Unexpectedly, he saw me! He suddenly announced himself; just imagine seeing a brother I had not seen in eight years!” Dixon’s only disappointment while in Germany was the passing unto glory of his grandma, the one who sponsored his study abroad. It was a premonition coming true. While leaving Nigeria back in 1965, he thought he might be seeing some of his relations for the last time. The premonition proved painfully true. Then, the Lagos Boy returns home. “As at 1975 when I came back to the country under full- blown military dictatorship, the NMA was radicalized.” But he eventually got employed by the Lagos State Government. Having found discriminatory practices in government service, he decided to resign at the end of his two year probation with the Lagos State Government. Now out of the restrictive government service, he could now enjoy Lagos life full- blown. “This period 1975 to 1977, was at the climax of the oil boom when the U.S. dollar was less than one naira. Petrol was being sold at 77kobo per litre. Four brand new tyres cost not more than N50. Full comprehensive car maintenance cost less than N10. Nigerians then had difficulty remaining sane most of the time.” Indeed, Dr Dixon admits that he was also caught up in the spending spree. To show he had arrived he celebrated his 30th birthday in October 1975. After many years of exposure and participation in the healthcare services in Lagos, Nigeria, Dr Dixon considers it a duty to undertake an appraisal of these services. For good healthcare services, he recommends the availability of potable water, efficient waste disposal system and a health bank like the bank of industry where loans could be obtained by citizens to build and run state of the art hospitals. Dr Dixon shares the experience of the loss of his first child, Adebola Olugbenga Dixon 1977—2011. A Unilag graduate in Economics, he died of kidney failure. His grieving is an unconscious catharsis to relieve a pain that cuts deep to the soul. On cars and travelling, Dr Dixon being a slow driver, isn’t an admirer of the Japanese fast cars. “Before this one, I was using a flat engine Mercedes Benz which I bought in 1987 and used for many years until my siblings, out of annoyance, bought the V boot for me as they felt sufficiently embarrassed by the flat engine. Two of my siblings also bought the same type of car at the same time. They have since then changed their vehicles three times while I am still running around with mine.” By his birthday anniversary next year, a second edition of this biography with additional information on his roots will be on sale. Thank you for your attention.

Standing to confront bad leadership

By Bayo Ogunmupe The spate of corruption and stealing in government necessitates the establishment of Aso Villa fellows like the White House fellows in the United States. The White House Fellows is a dozen of experts, a presidential Think Tank which sits weekly to solve raging issues in creative problem solving meetings. It reminds me of Brigadier –General Aminu Kano Maude, former Director of Finance, Army Headquarters who stole all the money allocated to be used to buy arms for the Army to fight Boko Haram. General Maude used the money to buy over 30 petrol filling stations, buildings and shopping malls all over Nigeria. It took over five years for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to trace the loot. The money was over N20 billion. The EFCC was able to recover 29 properties worth N10 billion. The EFCC is still searching for others. When caught while alive, EFCC couldn’t detain or prosecute him because of his links with the Fulani ruling caliphate of Kano emirate. It was only after he died of cancer that the embezzlement was made pubic. Along with the looting presided over by President Jonathan’s National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, Nigeria cannot endure another lily livered leader who will allow his aides to loot Nigeria with impunity. Which is why we must confront and stop the 2022 Committee from foisting another clueless president on the nation. We don’t enjoy confrontation, but it’s impossible to grow without it. Healthy confrontation calls for speaking the truth in love. Just as God confronts each of us in areas where we need to grow, He expects us to do the same for others. Here are some guiding principles to help you criticize others without causing injury. One, talk to them not about them. Talk to them in private where possible, to be delivered graciously but firmly. Two, don’t exaggerate; give specific examples. Don’t hide behind words like, “I believe the Lord had shown me that you’re wrong.” Three, don’t leave them in a stew without clear direction on how to improve or what to do. The best approach is to calmly identify the problem and suggest ways it can be resolved. In the Nigerian political case, we are to get involved in guiding the politicians through the conventions to elect their flag bearers. Your goal isn’t to expose a politician’s weakness but to show the qualities necessary in the in-coming leader. Four, admonish like a good wife who criticizes her husband not to hurt him but to correct him. Be compassionate in criticism; confront rather than condemn. Healthy confrontation calls for your putting the other person’s well-being above your own. “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity,” Proverbs 11:3. Every honest or dishonest word and action either adds to or takes away from character. That’s what the Bible is saying in that quotation. You should therefore strive for integrity in all your dealings with others.

The war on terror should be re-invigorated

A Guardian Editorial As bandits attack Kaduna airport, killing one and abducting 11 in Zaria, the battle to control terror is intensifying rather than abating. Within the past month, bandits killed 43 in Kaduna and Zamfara as the Kaduna State governor imposed a 24-hour curfew in two local government areas. Tension mounts as gunmen threaten schools in Imo State forcing President Buhari to approve additional security units for the state. Moreover, 70 houses were burnt in Kaduna making the security situation in the states of Kaduna, Zamfara and Imo intolerable. As against the opinion of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, Nigeria isn’t winning the war on terror. With five killed, scored injured as bandits open fire on travellers in Katsina and in Benue herdsmen continue taking people hostage daily, demanding money and food; which forced governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom to say that Nigeria is drifting towards anarchy. Thus, it is noteworthy that we pay scant attention to various forms of bias and self blinding falsehood in which we help deception to interact with one another in our national life. “When regard for truth has been broken down, or even weakened, all things will remain doubtful,” St Augustine. We’re not out of the scourge of terror yet, we are still waiting to recover the missing Chibok girls. General Irabor is just mimicking our political office holders who live in denial of the rampaging banditry and corruption in the country. It is as if our leaders are conniving with terrorism with the way they turned a blind eye to the ethnic cleansing in Kaduna and Zamfara states. A justification for government connivance with terror is the alleged disappearance of 178,459 arms and ammunition belonging to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). The details of the missing arms on pages 383-391 of the Auditor General of the Federation (AuGF’s) annual report on non-compliance/internal control weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government for the year ended 31st December 2019. The report indicated that 88,078 AK-47 rifles, 3,907 assorted rifles and pistols from different formations nationwide could not be accounted for as of January 2020. It further queried the failure of Police Headquarters to provide comprehensive details about unserviceable weapons even when such arms could fall into some unauthorized hands. According to the report, this contravenes paragraph 2603 of the Financial Regulations document which stipulates that, “in the event of any loss of stores, the officer in charge of the store in which loss occurs shall report immediately to the head of Department of unit but not later than three (£) days by the fastest means possible, if loss occurs away from headquarters.” Sadly, records obtained from force armament at the Force Headquarters showed that 21Police Mobile Force Squadron Abuja did not report a single case of missing firearm, whereas the schedule of missing arms obtained from the same police formation showed a total of 46 missing arms between 2000 and 2019. The value of the lost firearms could not be ascertained because no document relating to their cost was presented for examination. The above anomalies could be attributed to connivance by the authorities. Like those funding terrorism, government has refused to prosecute them. Just about ending this editorial, breaking news has it that many are feared abducted as terrorists attack a Kaduna bound train, detonating explosives and opening fire on about 970 passengers on board. The train derailed as explosives planted on the rail track went off close to Rigasa station. On the same day, gunmen killed three persons in Kabo, Gurara Local Government of Niger State. Further more 15 villagers were killed by terrorists at Hayin Kanwa in Giwa Local Government of Kaduna State. A government whose security operatives cannot protect its citizens from rampaging marauders and terrorists and kidnappers cannot wield any influence on the global stage. There is no short cut to greatness, Nigeria must reform or disintegrate. The way forward is delivering good governance. Without running Nigeria on its natural contours of diversity, disaster and an unfavourable image will persist. With about 370, 000 police personnel for a population of about 211 million, Nigeria cannot meet the United Nations 340 to 100,000 police to citizen ratio. Nigeria’s current police format is not congenial to effective policing in a federation. The zones should be empowered to secure their own territories. Let us utilize the regional policing exemplified by the Amotekun police force from the South West and the Hisbah of the North West. The federal Government must of necessity immediately embark on recruiting and equipping commensurate numbers of policemen in line with our population. More so, the military should face its core duty of protecting Nigeria’s territorial integrity. A state of emergency on national security should be declared enabling government to use every available strategy to protect the lives and property, which is the function of President Buhari’s government. With the killings, abductions and arson reported daily around the country, it is clear, weapons are in dangerous hands. Worse still, arms are being shipped into the country illegally on a consistent basis. The National Guard Force proposed many years ago to complement the police should be revived.

Being educated means knowing truth from error, By Bayo Ogunmupe

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. The farmer's workers went to him and and said, Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds. An enemy has done this, the farmer exclaimed. Should we pull out the weeds? they asked.No, he replied, you will uproot the wheat if you do.let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds." There are two lessons here: One, You must know God's Word so well that error, regardless of how convincingly it's presented, can't mislead you. Apostle Paul warned the leaders of the church at Ephesus: Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! From this you are to be at alert from false promises by politicians and false friends. Two, You must stay spiritually awake and alert. Notice, the seeds that were sown that night didn't produce harvest of weeds until later. And at that point they could not be uprooted. As such you should beware; something could be harmless enough; but if you stay on that trajectory long enough, you will end up far from where God wants you and realize, an enemy has done this. Which is why you must be at alert always, being educated means you are able to checkmate enemies through knowing their snares and deception. In the same vein, you must be of great courage to succeed in life. Walk your own life path alone. You do not need the approval of anyone to get ahead in your chosen profession. If people do not like you, let them be. life is not about pleasing everyone. Just do what is right for you. The person you are becoming will cost you people, relationships and material things. Choose yourself over anything. Focus on what you really want. Act by doing whatever is necessary to achieve your goal. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord," jeremiah 17:7. You can if you will take action.Initiators don't wait for others to motivate them. They know it is their responsibility to move forward beyond their comfort zone; and they make it a practice. Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt once said: There is nothing brilliant or outstanding in my record, except perhaps this one thing. I do the things I believe ought to be done. And when I make up my mind to do one thing, I act." Also,learn from your failures and keep moving forward.The good news about achievers is that they make things happen. But they also make a lot of mistakes. The greater your potential, the greater your chance for failure. United States Senator Robert Kennedy said, "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." Are you constantly on the lookout for opportunity or are you waiting for it to come to you? Are you willing to pray and take a leap of faith, or do you endlessly doubt everything? As a former chairman of Chrysler, Lee Iacocca said, "Even the correct decision is wrong when it was taken too late." If you haven't moved yourself out of your comfort zone lately, you might have to jumpstart your initiative. Lastly, being educated is being able to change your mindset. Do not allow risk taking to scare you. "The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe," Proverbs 29:25. A snare is a trap, and whenever you see your fears as a trap, you will want to be free from them. Since opportunities seldom come knocking on your door, you have to look for them. "God has given each of us different gifts to use," Romans 12:6. When you notice an opportunity, act on it. Everyone has a great idea in the shower, but a few step out and do something about it. Choose the best opportunity you find, pray about it; do the best you can do about it. Keep struggling with it until you have done everything possible to make it happen. And when you have done your best--trust God to do the rest. Winston Churchill once said, "Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because it is the quality which guarantees all the other qualities." and where does courage comes from? It is from God! "Trust in the Lord forever for in the Lord, is everlasting strength," Isaiah 26:4.

Asset Recovery as Tool for curbing corruption

By Bayo Ogunmupe

Asset recovery has been discovered to be a powerful tool in the fight against local and global corruption. It is noteworthy that global corruption now costs around $1 trillion yearly. Moreover, Asset recovery is an overlooked means of returning money to countries and people it was stolen from. It can be used to provide development funds in impoverished countries like Nigeria and among nations most impacted by corruption. However, the private sector is key to fighting corruption. Everyone bears the burden of corruption. Our political and economic systems need to be grounded in transparency, accountability and integrity from now. The release of Pandora Papers, nearly 12 million leaked financial records, exposes the extent to which the world’s wealthiest and powerful use legal loopholes to launder money, avoid paying taxes and hide assets. While much of the financial activity isn’t illegal itself, it is precisely the type that is used to conceal the proceeds of corruption. More than 330 public officials in more than 90 countries, including 14 current world leaders, have been implicated in the papers’ release. This trove of information provides us with a guide to how the global cost of corruption has swelled to around $1 trillion yearly, (more than $20 to $40 billion of that loss from developing countries) and also insights into how to fight it. The revelations in the Pandora Papers have inspired United States lawmakers to take another look at regulating global corruption, including evasive financial practices. Indeed, two U.S. representatives from the two major parties are co- chairing a new Congressional caucus against kleptocracy, and they have a strong ally in the White House. U.S. President Joseph Biden has repeatedly touted fighting corruption as a top foreign policy priority of the United States, and in a June 2021 memo officially established countering corruption as a core national security interest. While the transparency which investigative journalism exposed like the Pandora Papers provides, potential US regulations are important steps to reduce illicit financial flows, there is another powerful but often overlooked anti- corruption mechanism in the law’s toolkit: asset recovery and return. Through this mechanism, which President Biden cited in his memo, stolen funds can be returned to their rightful owners – citizens in a fair and effective manner. But achieving justice in this way will require investment and reform. Asset recovery is a process that roots out the proceeds of public corruption and gives them back to the countries and the people from which they were originally stolen. When implemented well, asset recovery can provide needed development funds, right the wrongs of corruption and rebuild social trust. If even a fraction of the billions of pilfered dollars were recovered and returned, citizens would benefit and corrupt officials would be held accountable, all without expense to taxpayers. To fulfill the twin goals of justice and development, lawmakers should urgently invest in asset recovery efforts as a way of taking on kleptocracy and achieving positive social change. The BOTA Foundation shows the potential and power of asset recovery. Founded in 2008 by the governments of Kazakhstan, US and Switzerland and the civil society leaders in Kazakhstan, it was set up as a means of returning more than $115 million in assets stolen from government coffers to vulnerable Kazakh children, youth and their families. BOTA distributed these funds to the country’s poorest people through needs based scholarships for youth to attend institutions of higher learning, direct cash transfers to encourage and enable households to access early childhood education and prenatal health services and the expansion of social services such as a crisis hotline or at- risk youth and a new foster care model. Fortunately, there are opportunities to apply the lessons from BOTA and other past efforts today. Frozen assets in Ukraine belonging to former President Yanukovych are ripe for return, pending the result of ongoing litigation. Officials in Sierra Leone and Angola are also litigating cases that have the potential for asset recovery. Some countries, such as Mozambique, are passing laws extending their capability to recover illicit assets, while others like Kenya are confiscating assets at an increasingly rapid pace. To fully capitalize on these opportunities, lawmakers aiming to elevate asset recovery efforts will need to invest in four key areas: Increased money and manpower for the Ministry of Justice Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) kleptocracy team, which is responsible for investigation and litigation to recover the proceeds of foreign official corruption. Better inter- agency coordination at all levels between MLARS, which freezes stolen assets and USAID, which should be brought in to coordinate their return in an efficient and impactful manner. Stronger legislation to allow the US to freeze foreign assets suspected of being illicitly gained. Lawmakers should follow the example set by countries like Switzerland to pass legislation providing opportunities for legal cooperation between the US and states where the assets originated, and to allow governments to start working on how to return the cash – and how it will be spent.- as soon as the recovery process starts. More engagement in and support for ways to share information and evidence, such as the World Bank’s Global Asset Recovery Forum and smaller regionally focused forums that engage civil society and government actors. Media training or investigative reporting initiatives are also valuable in raising awareness. Corruption is both a cause and result of poor governance, imposing steep costs on societies as it holds back economic and human development. The process of asset recovery has the potential to reverse those costs. Currently, over $4 billion in assets have been frozen and await either adjudication or disbursement; a massive source of potential funding for social programmes in developing countries, which could quickly overtake current levels of official development assistance. The Pandora Papers offer a sobering look at how deeply entrenched evasive financial practices and corruption have become globally. United States lawmakers and the Biden administration should capitalize on the current moment with corruption at the forefront of public consciousness, and broad bipartisan appeal for anti- corruption reform, to invest in asset recovery to the benefit of millions of people worldwide. We should not let this moment pass. It is up to the National Assembly to make asset recovery laws and the Federal Government to seek the cooperation of other countries. Sadly the pardoning of governors Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame shows President Buhari isn’t serious about fighting corruption.