Quiet hands, lasting impact — by Olabode Opeseitan
At the University of Ibadan, a new chemical store now stands for safer laboratories and stronger science. It replaces an inadequate open-air storage arrangement in the university’s largest department. The Vice-Chancellor commissioned it with MacArthur Foundation support, and the gift came with little noise. Good philanthropy solves a real problem and then steps back.
That restraint goes back to the founders. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur were quiet givers who gave mostly to causes in the cities where they lived, and the Foundation was established on October 18, 1970. Since its founding, the Foundation has supported organizations in 119 countries. Its Nigeria story began in 1989 with its first grants. It opened an Ibadan office in 1994 and moved it to Abuja in 2000. It has awarded about $102 million in Nigeria, with much of the early money going to universities, Ibadan among them.
In 2024 MacArthur closed its On Nigeria grantmaking program, which had run since 2016 and targeted corruption. Yet the closing did not end the good. The program committed about $154 million through 340 grants to 135 partners. Its final evaluation found stronger administration of criminal justice, better-performing anti-corruption agencies and more citizens willing to report corruption. Since 2016, all 36 states and the FCT have adopted the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, up from five states and the FCT. Grantees left more connected and better skilled than when they started. The lesson is that philanthropy done well builds institutions and habits that outlast the funding. This chemical store in Ibadan is one example of that.
