The Best You Can Have (Or Leave Behind) Is Investing in Humanity.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by saharaweeklyng.com

“Why building people is the highest-return legacy we can leave.”

There are fortunes you can spend and fortunes you can hoard. There are mansions that crumble and trusts that dissolve. But there is a single kind of investment that never truly depreciates: the investment in people. When we plant knowledge, health, opportunity and dignity in human beings, we fertilize futures for individuals, families, communities and whole nations. Put bluntly: MONEY spent on people compounds into safer streets, healthier economies, stronger democracies and a more humane world.

This is not SENTIMENTALISM. It is economics, ethics and hard evidence braided into one unarguable truth: human-capital investments deliver some of the most consistent (and measurable) returns of any expenditure a society can make. For instance, decades of global data show that each additional year of schooling raises an individual’s hourly earnings by roughly 9-10 percent; a return that lifts households and powers economies.

Education is the foundational example because it proves the principle in plain sight. Nelson Mandela understood this when he declared that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” That sentence is not merely rhetorical; it is a blueprint: equipped with learning, people can imagine alternatives, challenge injustice and build markets; and their children inherit that possibility.

Though education is only one axis of human investment. Health is another. The World Health Organization and allied studies show that well-targeted health spending can produce huge economic benefits and in some analyses returning as much as 40% growth effects over a five-year horizon by increasing productivity, reducing catastrophic household spending and preventing economic disruption. Put differently: vaccinating, treating and preventing disease is an investment that pays in lives saved and incomes protected.

Philosophy and policy converge here. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen framed development not as GDP alone but as expanding people’s capabilities but the real freedoms they need to be the authors of their lives. Economic growth that ignores human development is hollow; real prosperity is built when people’s freedoms, education and health are improved together. Investing in humanity is therefore not a charitable aside to development but it is the engine of sustainable development itself.

That engine runs on choices. Governments choose budgets, donors choose causes, business leaders choose hiring and training policies and citizens choose whether to care for the neighbor’s child as well as their own. When Muhammad Yunus, a pioneer of microfinance, speaks of doing business that serves human needs (not just profit) he is speaking to the same ethic: human-centred investment creates resilience and dignity and also it transforms poverty from a permanent condition into a solvable problem.

Why is the return on human investment so reliable? Because people are both producers and consumers. Educated, healthy people innovate; they create businesses, adopt new technologies, pay taxes and participate in civic life. When a child completes another year of schooling, the entire household’s earning potential shifts upward; when immunization coverage expands, communities avoid medical shocks that can bury families in debt. These ripple effects multiply across generations. The sums are not abstract: they reflect better lives and measurable economic growth.

The moral argument is inseparable from the pragmatic one. Investing in human beings is an investment in justice. When we prioritize education for girls, health for the poorest, vocational training for displaced youth and dignity for the marginalized, we reduce inequality, social fracture and societies that hold together are also safer and more prosperous. That is why development thinkers and frontline practitioners keep returning to the same prescription: spend on people first.

How should societies translate that prescription into practice? Policy must follow evidence. A few high-impact priorities should guide any serious investment in humanity:

Universal basic health coverage and early childhood interventions. Preventive care, maternal and child health, and vaccinations deliver outsized returns by protecting human capital before it is lost. WHO technical and investment analyses show that targeted interventions for mothers and young children produce wide-ranging economic and social benefits.

Universal access to quality schooling and to post-school technical and tertiary opportunities. The lifetime returns to an extra year of schooling are well-documented; tertiary education can return even higher income gains, particularly in regions where advanced skills are scarce. Investment must be matched to quality, relevance and equity so that marginalised students truly benefit.

Support for social enterprises and microfinance that unlock local entrepreneurship. In contexts of extreme poverty, access to small credit and support for social businesses empowers people to transform survival strategies into sustainable livelihoods. Muhammad Yunus’s work illustrates the catalytic effect of enabling entrepreneurial agency rather than merely dispensing charity.

Lifelong learning and labour-market alignment. The economy changes fast; investing in adult reskilling and apprenticeships keeps workers relevant and prevents entire communities from being left behind. This is not charity, it is smart risk management for societies facing technological disruption.

Civic and moral education that binds communities. Human investment must produce citizens capable of empathy, critical thought and cooperation. Without social cohesion, the material returns on education and health can be eroded by corruption, conflict or mistrust.

There are myths to dispel. Investing in people is not merely an expense that drains public coffers; it is a productive capital allocation. It does not require an either/or choice between infrastructure and people: real infrastructure (roads, energy, internet) amplifies the payoff of human investments. Nor is investment in humanity naively idealistic; it is the clearest route to durable economic gain.

The practical finance follows. Budgets should be rebalanced to reflect these long-term returns. Donors and private investors should treat education, health and human-centred enterprises as assets, not subsidies. Businesses should internalize social returns by training workers and sourcing locally. And civil society must hold institutions accountable when short-term politics underfunds long-term human capital.

Finally, legacy matters. Wealth that dies with a person but leaves no change in other lives is fragile. The best estate is one that seeds scholarships, hospitals, schools and enterprises; structures that outlast any single lifespan. The greatest tribute we can make to our children is not a house full of consumer goods but a world where those children can live healthy, educated, capable lives.

If you want a tidy summation to hang above a lifetime of action: invest in a human and you invest in a future; invest in many humans and you change history. The evidence, the ethics and the experience of giants is from Mandela’s insistence on education to Amartya Sen’s capability framework and Yunus’s social business model and all point to the same verdict. When we place our capital and our conscience on human beings, the returns are measured not only in currency but in lives realized, dignity restored and futures unlocked.

Let every policy, donation and personal choice be weighed by this standard: WILL THIS INVESTMENT MAKE PEOPLE FREER, HEALTHIER, WISER OR MORE CAPABLE? If the answer is YES, then you are not merely spending, You are building. And that, in the ledger of human history, is wealth that never depreciates.

George Omagbemi Sylvester is the author. Published by saharaweeklyng.com.

Holding You Against Your Will: Why Our Freedom Truly Matters.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by saharaweeklyng.com

“How the denial of liberty crushes dignity, opportunity and progress and why reclaiming freedom is the first, last and only path to justice.”

Freedom is not a decorative privilege or a political gift bestowed by those in power. It is the core substance of human dignity, the foundation upon which every modern society is built, and the indispensable right that determines whether a human being is treated as a person or as a possession. To be held against your will — whether through physical detention, economic oppression, legislative injustice, or deliberate bureaucratic cruelty — is to be stripped of the very oxygen of humanity. This essay exposes the many faces of unfreedom, including one of the most shameful contemporary examples: the arrest and detention of foreign nationals for documentation the host country itself refuses to issue.

At the moral level, freedom is non-negotiable. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states unequivocally: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” This is not poetic language — it is a binding ethical standard. Any government or institution that undermines liberty undermines the global moral order and breaks faith with the universal principles that hold civilization together. When a person is confined, coerced, or punished unjustly, the offense goes beyond the individual; it is an assault on humanity’s shared dignity.

Freedom as the Engine of Human Development

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen provides one of the most powerful frameworks for understanding why freedom matters beyond emotion. In Development as Freedom, he argues that liberties — political, social, and economic — are the mechanisms through which societies progress. Freedom is not a luxury; it is the engine of development, innovation, and social harmony. When people can choose, speak, work, move, and organize without fear, possibilities expand. When these freedoms are constrained, societies stagnate, talent dies, and poverty deepens.

This is why the denial of documentation to foreign nationals — followed by their arrest for lacking the same documents — is one of the most grotesque modern forms of unfreedom. It is a deliberate entrapment, a manufactured criminality, and a violation of the fundamental human right to liberty.

When You Are Arrested for Papers the Host Country Refuses to Provide

Across various countries, especially in regions struggling with immigration policy, migrants and foreign nationals face an unconscionable paradox:

They are expected to possess valid documentation, yet the same governments often refuse, delay, or frustrate the issuance or renewal of these documents.

Then comes the nightmare:

They are arrested, detained, or threatened with deportation for not having the very papers the state intentionally withholds.

This is not law enforcement — this is systemic harassment.

This is not immigration management — this is state-induced vulnerability.

This is not justice — this is engineered captivity.

Respected migration scholars have described this phenomenon as “administrative violence” — the use of bureaucracy to punish, immobilize, and control individuals without the transparency or accountability that accompanies normal legal processes. Criminologist Dr. Didier Fassin calls such practices “the criminalization of mere existence.”

To arrest a person for a document they cannot obtain is to hold them against their will in the purest and most destructive sense.

The Psychological and Social Violence of Forced Detention

Detention — especially unjust detention — destroys more than physical freedom. It erodes dignity, shatters mental stability, and silences potential. Philosopher John Stuart Mill’s powerful declaration remains timeless: “Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.” When a state violates that sovereignty, the result is humiliation, broken trust, and civic alienation.

Foreign nationals who are detained for documentation issues experience more than temporary confinement:

They lose jobs and income.

Their children suffer educational and emotional trauma.

Their mental health deteriorates through fear, uncertainty, and stigma.

They become targets of xenophobia and public suspicion.

They are treated as criminals without having committed a crime.

The injustice is compounded by the knowledge that their only “offense” is being trapped by a system designed to fail them.

The Political and Economic Cost of Denying Freedom

Societies that weaponize documentation or manipulate immigration laws pay a heavy price:

They lose the contributions of skilled workers.

They drive innovation and entrepreneurship out of their borders.

They weaken social cohesion.

They damage international reputation and diplomatic credibility.

They create cycles of resentment, fear, and hostility.

Freedom House reports that societies restricting personal liberties or targeting minorities with arbitrary detention experience higher instability, weaker economies, and declining democratic ratings. Political repression does not produce safety — it produces fragility.

Freedom Is Never Voluntarily Given

In Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote:

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

This applies not only to citizens but also to migrants, asylum seekers, and foreign nationals living under unjust administrative structures. Freedom must be insisted upon — legally, socially, diplomatically, and morally.

Freedom Is Responsibility, Not Chaos

Nelson Mandela reminds us:

“To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

True freedom thrives in societies where:

Laws protect, not persecute.

Institutions serve, not suffocate.

Documentation systems enable, not entrap.

Immigration frameworks respect human dignity, not exploit vulnerability.

What Must Be Done

To prevent people from being held against their will — physically or administratively — societies must:

Guarantee transparent and fair documentation processes for migrants and foreign nationals.

End detention for documentation the state refuses to issue.

Establish independent oversight to prevent abuse.

Ensure that immigration enforcement aligns with international human rights standards.

Educate the public to dismantle the xenophobic narratives that justify these injustices.

Hold leaders and institutions accountable for policies that violate human dignity.

Summative Insight: Freedom Is Humanity’s Most Sacred Asset

Being held against your will (whether in a jail cell, a detention center, or inside the invisible cage of bureaucratic oppression) is the most brutal violation of human dignity. Freedom is not optional; it is the priceless heartbeat of existence. When states arrest people for documents they themselves refuse to provide, they are not ENFORCING LAW; they are MANUFACTURING INJUSTICE.

A society that cannot protect liberty will never achieve peace, progress, or prosperity.

And a people who do not defend their freedom will eventually lose it.

Freedom is the one inheritance we cannot afford to bargain away. It must be defended, protected, insisted upon, and expanded — for ourselves and for everyone who calls our society home.

BON 2025: Obasa Endows Best Indigenous Movie

…As Addme, Indomie, Abundish Join Award Sponsors

Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa has graciously endowed the coveted Best Indigenous Movie (Yoruba) category at the 2025 Best of Nollywood Awards holding this Sunday, December 14, at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts (formerly known as the National Arts Theatre), Iganmu, Lagos.

The founder of BON Awards, Seun Oloketuyi, says, “Rt. Hon. Obasa’s endowment of the award underscores his passion and promotion of the Yoruba Language. Indeed, he has always been at the forefront of the preservation of our rich cultural narratives through film, and his endowment of the Best Indigenous Movie award emphasises this in no small measure.”

Further bolstering the prestigious awards ceremony, now in its 17th year, are corporate sponsors like Addme, which has endowed the Best Actress of the Year category, while Indomie shows its support for emerging talent through the Best Child Actor award.

Abundish, an agricultural produce wholesaler, highlights the creative technical aspects of filmmaking by endowing the Best Use of Food in a Movie category.

Oloketuyi noted that these endorsements provide crucial resources and prestige to the categories, ensuring the continued celebration of authentic storytelling and technical innovation within the industry.

Further, he said, “This year’s awards are not only a recognition of Nollywood’s best creative and technical talents but also a showcase of significant corporate and private support for the industry. These endowments underscore the value placed on acting prowess and the creative technical elements that bring our stories to life while underlining a strategic partnership between the film industry and various high-profile entities and personalities.”

The BON Awards 2025 will be hosted by the dynamic duo of Bukunmi ‘KieKie’ Adeaga-Ilori and Adams Ibrahim Adebola, popularly known as VJ Adams, with the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, serving as the official Host Governor. The ceremony promises to be a spectacular celebration of cinematic excellence.