Protocol
Let me start by thanking the Rotary Foundation District 9110 for extending this invitation to me. I also commend the Rotary Foundation International for all its work over the years in helping individuals and communities across the world, and in particular Nigeria. Certainly many lives have been touched and have changed for the better as a result of your efforts. Keep up your good work.
Yours is an organization dedicated to service and that service is philanthropy. At a time like this, when our country faces serious challenges such as rising unemployment, poverty, and insecurity, philanthropy has a bigger role to play. We need to do more in Nigeria, especially those who have benefitted immensely from what our country has to offer. We have produced many successful people in various works of life. They need to give back; they need to do more. Pick a cause; there is a crying need in all sectors: education, water supply, poverty, homelessness, health care, mental health issues, as well as infant and maternal mortality.
We can take a look at what is going on elsewhere in the world. In the United States, for instance, universities rely a lot on philanthropy for student support, infrastructure and research. Think of Bill Gates and his friend Warren Buffet and what they have been able to accomplish in so short a time. Now we do not need to be as rich as those two are in order to do our best to help our people and humanity. Large scale philanthropy is beginning to get serious in Nigeria, evidenced by the success of the recent fundraising in support of flood victims. But we need to do more. We need to build schools, hospitals or clinics, in our various communities or provide facilities in existing ones. We need to provide scholarship support for needy students. We also need recreational facilities for our young people to help them develop their athletic skills and lead healthier lives. The child who is unable to attend school because of lack of funds may be our future Einstein, Steve Jobs, Chinua Achebe, Bala Usman. The one without access to athletic facilities may have been our future Michael Jordan, Usain Bolt or J.J. Okocha.
What is Philanthropy?
Put simply philanthropy means doing good for others without expecting any personal gains in return. It is altruism; it is motivated by care, by the desire to help others without the expectation of personally benefitting from the good deed. Philanthropy is as old as human societies because we have always had the need and the desire to assist others in need.
In addition to the human impetus for cooperation and mutual assistance there is a greater need for philanthropy in the modern world. This is because modern capitalist society is characterized by high levels of inequality despite the unprecedented growth in productivity and wealth. Without strong government action to close the gap societies will be imperilled unless philanthropy helps to provide some cushion. A comparison of Nigeria’s GDP growth on the one hand and levels of poverty, illiteracy and infant and maternal mortality on the other hand will illustrate this urgency for more philanthropy in Nigeria. Nigeria’s GDP has grown exponentially, from $3.1 billion in 1960, $45 billion in 2000, and $244 billion in 2011. Our annual budgets have also grown exponentially over those years. However, 70% of our population lived in poverty as at 2010. Likewise, with over 74 deaths per 1,000 live births, Nigeria ranks 16th worst in the world in infant mortality. With a maternal mortality rate of 840 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births our country ranked the 9th worst in the world in 2008 and the 10thworst in 2010. The figures for literacy and housing are similarly depressing.
In traditional small scale societies, where everybody knew everybody else, philanthropy typically took the form of relations and neighbours helping one another. However, as societies become more complex with the growth of cities and free markets dominated by the profit motive, relationships become more impersonal; thus formal organizations become more important as instruments for addressing the needs of members of society. And as the economy and society change, disruptions will occur to people’s economic and social lives, with some needing assistance to get back up. Thus philanthropy, which has grown in scale and complexity, will be needed even more. In short, there is a need for us all to do more to help follow citizens.
The Need for Structure and Rethinking of Philanthropy:
All major religions, including traditional ones encourage philanthropy. But for philanthropy to have more impact for the greatest number of people it needs to be better structured; it needs to be organized. Philanthropy that is structured is also likely to outlive the philanthropist. With structure it will be easier for others to key into what already exists, to partner with an existing organization with additional resources, thus helping to scale up while reducing costs that would otherwise arise from duplication of organizations and efforts. And it is structure that makes it possible for the Rotary to continue to serve and to bring communities together after over 207 years.
We also need to rethink philanthropy. We need more creativity in philanthropy so as to have more impact. That rethinking is already taking place in some parts of the world. Philanthropy intended to alleviate immediate pain such as various forms of alms-giving is fine. But philanthropy should go beyond mere handouts and move to hands-up. We should endeavour to practice more of the kind of philanthropy that helps people to get up on their feet and lead independent sustainable lives. It will also help if philanthropists explore coordinated actions to deal with specific issues. We need more collaboration and coordination, pooling together to scale up and have the greatest impact possible. This will save cost and help us to learn from one another. These, I am told, are in fact the very objectives of the Rotary: bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.
The Welfare State and Development
But when all is said and done philanthropy is supposed to be augmentative; it is not supposed to be the primary source of sustenance for the less privileged. That is the job of government. Philanthropy can only support but cannot replace the state. It is only the state that has the capacity, the scale, and the reach and the coordination to lift the largest number of people out of poverty and to provide them other life-sustaining amenities. That is why it is important for government, especially in a developing country such as ours with enormous infrastructural, educational and welfare deficits, to rethink development and social provisioning. We must make the necessary investments to fix our power sector, roads, railways, air and sea ports, and facilities in our educational institutions. That is why our governments need to make immediate massive investments in infrastructure to create immediate employment for millions of our citizens and spur economic activities. They need to urgently make the critical investments that will get the economy firing on all cylinders so as to help raise our people’s living standards and restore their dignity.
Once more, I thank you for the invitation to be part of this gathering and the honour to speak to you. Thank you and God bless.
Being the Speech by Atiku Abubakar, GCON, former Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, at the Annual Rotary Foundation District 9110 Nigeria Fundraising Dinner/Dance, at Shell Hall, Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos 22 February, 2013.
