dollars of Bayelsa State's poverty alleviation fund was spent by then
Governor Goodluck Jonathan on bringing American entertainers Beyonce
and Jay Z to Nigeria in 2006.
In a letter stamped and signed by Bayelsa officials, N150 million
(approximately a million dollars in 2006) was released from the
state's poverty alleviation fund for the first ThisDay Music Festival
in Lagos.
The document came to light after a controversy was ignited over how
much money American "reality TV" star Kim Kardashian was paid for a
brief visit to Nigeria.
Ms. Kardashian, star of a US TV show about her idle rich family and
who shot to international fame after a sex tape featuring her and her
rapper boyfriend went viral, was reportedly paid half a million
dollars for the 24-hour-visit last week.
The sources who provided the 2006 document for Beyonce and Jay Z's
visit told Saharareporters that there was a shady financial link
between the producers of some high profile entertainment events and
the governors and other officials who control budgets at the state and
federal levels. Mr. Obaigbena's newspaper, ThisDay, is a major sponsor
of entertainment events that brings US music stars as well as top
public figures for flying visits to Nigeria in exchange for gargantuan
paychecks.
"Mr. Obaigbena often lines up financial bonanzas from numerous
governors, ministers and other top government officials to finance his
jamborees," said one of the sources who is based in the UK and is
knowledgeable about such deals.
SaharaReporters obtained a letter from Mr. Obaigbena to the Bayelsa
State government soliciting funds from the oil-producing state ahead
of Nigeria's 46th independence celebrations in 2006. The publisher
wrote, "We invite you to partner with us as co-hosts of the festival."
The letter added: "With a total budget of $10 million, the co-host is
expected to contribute a minimum of $2.5 million (two million five
hundred thousand USD)."
At the bottom of the letter, minuted by hand and signed by then
Governor Jonathan's aides as well as the Bayelsa State accountant
general are the words, "Release N150,000,000.00 (One hundred and fifty
million naira) only to be drawn from the poverty alleviation subhead."
One source told SaharaReporters that Mr. Obaigbena sent similar
letters to other south-south states.
SaharaReporters could not ascertain how much of the released funds was
paid directly to performers at the festival. There is no indication
that Beyonce, one of the few entertainment stars internationally
famous enough to only need one name, was aware that her performance
was being subsidized by the poor people of Bayelsa.
But during Beyonce's celebrated rendition of the Nigerian national
anthem, pictures of Bayelsa State were projected onto the wall of the
Lagos concert venue.
According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, 47% of Bayelsans live
in poverty. The World Bank says that per capita gross domestic product
in the Niger Delta is significantly below the country's average.
According to the state's own 2005 development strategy, 80% of rural
communities have no access to safe drinking water, a key indicator in
judging poverty. In Yenagoa, the state capital and Bayelsa's largest
urban area, an estimated two out of every five residents do not have
access to safe drinking water.
In 2005, as part of its UN-approved strategy to combat poverty, the
state promised to make a fund of N100 million available as soft loans
and micro-credit to Bayelsans. The allocated fund was N50 million less
than Mr. Jonathan approved for Mr. Obaigbena's music festival. That
promise was made in the Bayelsa State Economic Empowerment and
Development Strategy, published by the United Nations Development
Program and signed by then Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. A civil
rights activist in Yenogoa told SaharaReporters that the state "has
been a woeful failure in its poverty reduction program."
The letter from Mr. Obaigbena to then-governor Goodluck Jonathan said
the concert was necessary to show that the news from Nigeria was "not
just…HIV/AIDS, conflicts, poverty, kidnapping, strife and riots."
The publisher added: "This is the longest ever period of democracy in
Nigeria, over seven years and counting! And a stable democracy means
more investment and economic prosperity for all."
The publisher went on to give reasons why the state government should
contribute to the concert.
The stars' performances would "tell the world, through music, that
Nigeria's time has come," Mr. Obaigbena wrote. The letter added, "And
once the good news catches on with the young and upwardly mobile,
music loving new generation it will catch on with the world of
investments and bountiful opportunities."
In 2006, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan had just become governor of Bayelsa
after his boss, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was impeached and convicted
on corruption charges. Mr. Jonathan was then elevated to Vice
President to then President Umaru Yar'Adua. Mr. Yar'Adua's death in
2010 enabled Mr. Jonathan, a zoologist whose PhD focused on tropical
fish, to assume the presidency.
Since 2006, Mr. Obaigbena's parent company, Leaders & Company, has
produced a number of high-profile events that have seen such American
stars as Rihanna, R Kelly, and Usher perform for Nigerians. The ticket
prices for these concerts are usually out of reach of the "average"
Nigerian. The events feature tickets that cost many tens of thousands
of naira, usually reserved for "VIP access." ThisDay has also hosted
political luminaries like former US President Bill Clinton and former
economic adviser to the Obama presidency, Lawrence Summers. At an
Africa Rising concert in London, former US Secretary of State Colin
Powell came on stage and danced to the popular Naija jam "Yahooze" by
Olu Maintain.
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