American civil rights leader under fire for his ties to Nigeria
LAGOS: For years, Andrew Young, the American civil rights leader, has been deeply involved in this country through the lobbying and consulting firm he heads, GoodWorks International. Its motto is: “We do well by doing good.”
But the question of what exactly GoodWorks is or is not doing here has turned Young and his firm into something of a lightning rod, as Nigerians prepare to elect Saturday a successor to this countrys president, Olusegun Obasanjo, whom Young has known for 30 years.
“We believe that the relationship between GoodWorks International and Nigeria is foisted on juicy financial benefits to the former,” said an editorial earlier this year in a newspaper here, This Day.
For his part, Young, a former congressman, UN ambassador and mayor of Atlanta, dismissed such comments as sniping by opponents of Obasanjos party, which is expected to win the election.
But there is also little question that Nigeria has been very good for GoodWorks; thanks to Youngs long ties to Obasanjo, his Atlanta-based firm has earned millions of dollars here over the years, through a network of business dealings that extend far beyond lobbying.
As business has gone increasingly global, many consulting firms based in the United States like GoodWorks have increased their operations abroad, taking on assignments in developing nations like Nigeria, where power and wealth is frequently concentrated in a few hands. And consulting experts say it is common for U.S. firms that lobby for foreign governments in Washington to also have business interests in those countries.
A look at the activities of GoodWorks in Nigeria, based on interviews and documents, provides a window into how embedded such lobbyists can become in developing economies.
Along with lobbying for Nigeria, for example, GoodWorks is paid to represent dozens of major companies like Chevron, General Electric and Motorola that seek big contracts from the Nigerian government.
In addition, executives of GoodWorks have stakes in Nigerian oil industry, the countrys main source of wealth. And several years ago, the firms chief executive, Carlton Masters, started an American company with close relatives of Obasanjo that bought an expensive Miami property with money invested by Masters, Florida records show.
It is not illegal for American lobbyists to simultaneously represent foreign countries and companies seeking business from them. And they are not barred from having business interests in countries they represent in Washington.
Young and Masters also said in recent interviews that they were scrupulous in avoiding conflicts between their governmental and corporate clients. They added that their clients that have won contracts in Nigeria have done so fairly, by outbidding competitors.
“We dont pay anyone under the table and we dont accept any kind of questionable payments or relationships,” Young said. “We dont work with people where there are questions of integrity involved.”
For Young, the involvement of GoodWorks in Nigeria is also one of the lesser-known chapters in a long, celebrated and at times controversial career.
Last year, for example, Young, who first became well known as a top aide to the Martin Luther King Jr., resigned as a consultant to Wal-Mart after he said that Jewish, Arab and Korean store owners had “ripped off” black communities by “selling us stale bread and bad meat.” He subsequently apologized for the remarks.
GoodWorks has also generated controversy here. Two years ago, for instance, one local activist filed a complaint that, among other things, criticized Masters for his role in fund-raising for a $50 million, American-style presidential library named after Obasanjo that is being built in his hometown north of this chaotic and desperately poor city.
Also in 2005, the Nigerian leader was the host for Masterss wedding at the official presidential banquet hall, an event that drew outcries from Obasanjos critics.
Several activists in Nigeria said in recent interviews that they believed that Young had decided simply to profit here from his legacy rather than use it to help a country that remains beset by problems that include political corruption, crumbling infrastructure and failed school systems.
“Andrew Young has never been interested in these issues,” said Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer who is also president of the West African Bar Association. “He is just here making money.”
GoodWorkss dealings in Nigeria reflect Youngs relationship over three decades with Obasanjo. And like much else in Youngs life, it is a relationship filled with a mix of drama, ideals and opportunism.
The two men met in the late 1970s, when Obasanjo, then a general, first served as this countrys president as one in a long line of military figures who ruled Nigeria.
