By Innocent Edemhanria, ANEEJ Program Manager
On Tuesday December 12, 2023, the East West Management Institute (EWMI), New York and the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Nigeria, organized a side event at The Carter Centre in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This was one of many side events featuring ANEEJ during the 10th Conference of State Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (CoSP10) in Atlanta from 10th – 15th December 2023. The side event, part of a larger series of panels hosted by The Carter Center entitled “Exploring Multi-faceted Approaches to Prevent Corruption and Enhance Accountability,” provided us the opportunity to present the Nigerian Endowments through Asset Transformation (NEAT) Initiative to stakeholders and galvanize support for the adoption and implementation of the initiative.
At the side event, entitled “The NEAT Initiative: Securing Recovered Assets through Philanthropic Endowments in Nigeria,” Chelsea Newhouse, Senior Program Manager at EWMI, Aaron Bornstein, PtP Consultant and Former Executive Director of the BOTA Foundation in Kazakhstan, David Ugolor, Executive Director of ANEEJ, and Uchenna Arisukwu, National Civil Society Advisor, Open Government Partnership – Nigeria, presented the NEAT/PtP Initiative to the audience. They captured—among other issues—the NEAT/PtP concept, goals, key challenges, targeted asset classes, advantages, and key lessons learned from the BOTA Foundation experience, and drew the links between the NEAT Initiative, the MANTRA Project, and the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Initiative. A strong case was made for Nigerian CSOs to own and drive the NEAT initiative. The alignment between the NEAT Initiative and the OGP was also highlighted by Mr. Arisukwu—as both champion transparency, accountability, and inclusion. It was agreed that the NEAT/PtP model could empower CSOs to participate more actively in co-creating and implementing OGP commitments in the country.
The mixed audience included staff of The Carter Centre, delegates from other countries, Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu, Special Advisor to Nigeria’s president on Justice Reform and International Asset Recovery, and CSOs from Nigeria. Audience members shared their views on the suitability of the initiative for the Nigerian context and other jurisdictions where there is the likelihood of re-looting of recovered loot.
The NEAT Initiative
The NEAT Initiative is pursuing the application of a well-documented framework in Nigeria, called “Philanthropication through Privatization,” or simply put “PtP.” Fundamentally, the PtP-inspired NEAT Initiative seeks to transform a portion of state-controlled resources from recovered stolen assets, extractives industry proceeds, and/or debt swaps into endowments for independent, accountable, community-responsive foundations to address the pressing economic, social, and climate needs of the Nigerian people.
At its heart, the PtP concept has three elements. Firstly, there is an asset that is owned, controlled, or substantially subsidized by government. Secondly, there is a planned transaction through which this asset is being sold, leased, or otherwise transformed or transferred yielding significant proceeds. Thirdly, an agreement is made that all or a portion of these proceeds will be channeled into an independent, private, charitable foundation dedicated to priority public-purpose objectives operating under best practice principles of transparency, accountability, and community responsiveness.
Importantly, case studies exist of similar models which have been successfully implemented in other jurisdictions. Aaron Bornstein shared the key experience of the BOTA Foundation in Kazakhstan, which was established through a multi-lateral agreement to accountably and efficiently distribute returned corruption-based assets to the neediest citizens of Kazakhstan. The BOTA Foundation has been widely cited as one of the most effective and successful examples of asset return administration, including by Transparency International France in its 2022 “Handbook for Asset Restitution.”
Justification for the NEAT Initiative
Nigerian civil society organizations (CSOs) rely disproportionately on international donors, with more than 500,000 organizations competing for scarce donor funds, even as Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Nigeria has declined from $11.43 billion in 2006 to just $3.38 billion in 2020—a 70% drop. As a result, alternative funding sources for development work are needed.
The NEAT Initiative can address this issue and ultimately help to fill gaps in the areas of corruption, insecurity, infrastructure deficiency, and poverty by enabling CSOs to promote good governance in Nigeria and fill service gaps; however, sustainable, locally generated resources are needed in Nigeria to support this internal development work. While some private philanthropy exists in the country, primarily from high-net-worth individuals, it is insufficient to meet the needs of CSOs, especially for advocacy organizations championing human rights, climate change adaptation and resilience, inequality, and other broad governance work. The fact is, Nigerian CSOs need funding that is reliable, transparent, and sufficient to be effective partners in addressing the country’s pressing social needs.
The NEAT Approach and GFAR Principles
Importantly, in terms of recovered stolen assets, the NEAT Initiative speaks to all 10 of the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) Principles for the Disposition and Transfer of Confiscated Stolen Assets in Corruption Cases. Specifically, the NEAT approach encourages meaningful dialogue and partnership between the transferring and receiving countries in developing case-specific disposition plans that provide for oversight and monitoring within existing institutional frameworks and development strategies. This approach relates directly to Principles 1–3 and 7-8 of GFAR. It also ensures transparent and accountable disposition of the returned assets as expressed in Principle 4 of GFAR. It further provides a means for the input, oversight, and direct benefit of those impacted by the underlying corruption and offers a framework to silo the returning assets from the potential re-capture by corrupt government officials, as directly captured in GFAR Principles 5 and 9. Lastly, it fundamentally incorporates the involvement of civil society actors in the return process, while providing a means to strengthen the sector in support of anti-corruption efforts—directly connected to Principles 10 and 6 of GFAR.
About ANEEJ
The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) is a non-government organization whose goal is to amplify the voice of the weak, the less privileged and the marginalized groups in the society including women, youths, and People Living With Disabilities in order to increase their participation in the democratic decision-making process. As its basis, ANEEJ believes in a democratic system for managing human interest and operates within two broad focal areas namely environmental and economic justice. Specifically, ANEEJ implements projects relating to governance and democracy, human rights (including migration and development issues), anti-corruption, peace building and conflict resolution, development effectiveness, environment including water, sanitation, and hygiene among others. Since 1997, ANEEJ has championed the call for stoppage of illicit financial flows from Nigeria and other developing countries to the secrecy jurisdictions in western countries. It has in same vein championed the campaign for the repatriation of looted assets of Nigeria stashed in Western banks and was active in calling for a UN instrument against corruption, money laundering, and illicit financial flows. In April 2016, the UNCAC Coalition Coordination Committee (CCC) approved ANEEJ’s application to become an ordinary member of the new Association: UNCAC Coalition. In addition to their on-going work in relation to the three identified asset classes, ANEEJ has been involved in the initial PtP exploratory work in Nigeria since 2019, including direct outreach, research, and coalition building.
About EWMI
Founded in 1988, the East-West Management Institute (EWMI) is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthening civil society, economic and legal reform globally and a worldwide leader in rule of law promotion and civil society development. EWMI’s success is based on over 30 years of field experience in over 30 countries, including implementation of numerous programs throughout Southeast Asia, as well as in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. EWMI works to strengthen democratic systems, emphasizing the importance of bringing together government, civil society, and the private sector to solve problems. With funding from USAID, the U.S. Department of State, U.K. DfID, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Union, and various private foundations, EWMI has developed justice sector institutions in emerging democracies that are accountable, capable, and transparent; has played an instrumental role in building sustainable civil society institutions that advocate for their citizens, in promoting governmental responsiveness, and in assisting governments with privatization; and has pioneered efforts in developing countries to monitor and encourage corporate social responsibility. EWMI concentrates on developing and leaving local institutions that are accountable, capable, and transparent, and thus able to constructively fulfill their mandate long after donors depart. In cooperation with the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies, EWMI launched the PtP Project in 2008.