By DAVID OMOM
Staff Writer
 

On September 18th, at the annual fundraising and awards dinner of the United Nations Association of the United States of America, Ted Turner, the founder of global newsleader, Cable News Network (CNN) made a suprising announcement that stunned friends and foes alike. Standing to accept an award honouring his timeless services to the global organization, the staunch pro-UN mogul made a record shattering donation of $1 billion to the United Nations that sent the gathering wheeling with misbelief and glee.

Enroute to New York, Turner had apparently been reading about the appreciation of his stock in the giant Time Warner conglomerate, when the idea first occurred to him, "I thought hey, $1 billion is a good round figure?" he is reported to have told journalists after. With the most unexpected statement this year, the Maverick Media baron had recreated the history of philanthropy.

"It is a wonderful gesture and I hope a sign of things to come..." said the Secretary General fo the cash-strapped body, Mr. Koffi Annan, adding that he hoped it would inspire governments to pay up their dues, in a thin vieled critique to the obstinate US Congress, which continues to make the USA the single largest defaulter of UN monetary obligations.

To the United Nations, this donation will undoubtedly give it a new lease of life, from the verge of slow death it was imminently gravitation towards as a result of member countrieds, delaying in the payment of thier dues.

But to skeptics and foes who will be digging deep for any secret motive, this is just the beginning of a long hunt for any hint of suspicion. The Economist cleverly summarized skeptics' views when it asked whether we are just about to begin witnessing UN brokered peace truces bieng signed on CNN letterheads. These questions will linger on for sometime to come.

If the donation is as clean as it appears to be, and whether Ted Turner will seek to exercise some behind-the-scene influence on UN policy perhaps to favour CNN or other business ventures he has stakes in are some of the observations that will need to be addressed.

To the skeptics, maybe we are just about to see UN peacekeepers obliged to wear CNN sweatshirts in wartime Bosnia or maybe the Atlantabased TV network will be the UN mouthpiece in the future. But, whether this becomes a reality or not is only a matter of time.

Ted Turner left his legacy of having one of the greatest and largest charitable commitments ever, and how honest this was perhaps only history will tell.