NIGERIAN READOUT TO G-7 AMBASSADORS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001913

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2005
TAGS: EFIN PREL KCRM PINS NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN READOUT TO G-7 AMBASSADORS


REF: ABUJA 1597


CLASSIFIED BY CDA ANDREWS. REASON 1.5(B).



1. (C) Summary: The GON feels Africa needs more carrots and
fewer sticks to advance development, NPC Commissioner Isaac
Aluko Olokun told G-7 Heads of Mission in late May. He urged
greater understanding for Nigeria's institutional flaws and
argued that NePAD should be a process, not an institution.
He said African countries needed easier access to developed
country markets and brushed aside our point about slow GON
progress toward fulfilling AGO textile requirements, saying
the West had "given" Nigeria democracy and would have to live
with the results. The GON clearly feels that we should not
press it (or Africa as a whole) for immediate concrete steps.
Instead, the GON wants a dialogue in which the G-8 countries
offer both incentives and a sympathetic ear. Transmission of
this message was inadvertently delayed. End Summary.



2. (C) Ambassador Isaac Aluko-Olukun 24 May briefed G-7
Heads of Mission or charges (Russia not present) on the
Maputo NePAD/G-8 discussions. He was unhappy with G-8
resistance to discussion of middle income country debt
relief, the big issue for President Obasanjo. He stressed
that NePAD (New Partnership for African Development) should
be a process, not an institution. The issue of "NePAD
compliance" made many Africans uncomfortable; they felt
Baroness Amos's push for dealings only with those countries
that are "compliant" was out of place. President Obasanjo
believed that Africa needed carrots, carrots, carrots, stick,
but the G-8 seemed to have sticks, sticks, sticks, carrot in
mind. Africa also wanted more funds for infrastructure,
Aluko-Olukun said.



3. (C) British Acting High Commissioner Charles Bird bluntly
addressed the inadequacy of GON social spending (health and
education) and pushed pack hard against the NePAD desire for
"huge" infrastructure projects. These had in the past
generated "huge corruption." Aluko-Olukun responded in very
general terms ways and averred that the fight against
corruption was a priority for the Obasanjo administration.
He likened Nigeria to a loaded supertanker. So many years of
military rule had jaded the body politic and diminished its
understanding of democratic mores. The supertanker could not
change course nimbly. The G-8 should observe and appreciate
the small signs of course adjustment, not expect new
directions immediately.



4. (C) Changing the metaphor to foot travel, I commented
that the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single
step. As diplomats and official visitors to Nigeria's
capital observed life, corruption (allocation of parkland to
officials and political figures) and waste (convoys of
14-plus vehicles ferrying governors around town) were daily
evident. These were powerful, negative symbols. Could
Aluko-Olukun offer one or two examples of what the GON was
doing to combat corruption and eliminate waste? Aluko-Olukun
spoke eloquently but unspecifically about Obasanjo's strong
opposition to corruption. When Aluko-Olukun wound down, Bird
repeated the earlier question. The Nigerian official became
defensive, but he eventually cited the establishment of the
Independent Corrupt Practices Commission. Huge gubernatorial
convoys were wasteful, he agreed, but they were a product of
gubernatorial vanity and excess. The Federal Government
could not be held responsible. There needed to be "fiscal
federalism" (compelling the states to generate more revenue
internally) in order to instill responsibility, Aluko-Olukun
concluded.



5. (C) COMMENT: The ICPC is underfunded, lacks prosecutorial
powers and depends (for now) on U.S.-funded training for its
staff. In fact, the GON has taken a useful step to constrain
corruption, the establishment of a value-for-money audit of
major contracts called "due process." Nevertheless, corrupt
allocation of land within Abuja is an expensive and glaringly
obvious symbol of the Obasanjo Administration's inability to
get at the root of corruption. Aluko-Olukun briefly sought
to defend the practice, saying that Nigerian civil servants
lacked adequate pensions and needed some means to support
themselves in retirement. He dropped that tack when body
language made it clear that the diplomats around him were not
sympathetic. END COMMENT.



6. (C) Aluko-Olukun said there would be a gathering on the
margins of the AFDB annual meeting in Addis Ababa to advance
discussion on both the political and economic peer review
mechanisms. He did not suggest that final consensus would be
reached. He complained that Libya's Qadhafi was inciting
other African Heads of State against Obasanjo's efforts to
introduce greater transparency by caviling that they were
stalking horses for neocolonialism. Obasanjo needed strong
support, not questions and skepticism, in order to make the
peer review mechanism a reality.



7. (C) Africa civil society groups were also bedeviling the
NePAD Heads of State, Aluko-Olukun continued. They generally
opposed engagement with the G-8. Most Heads of State had the
electoral mandates the NGOs lacked and were resolute about
pursuing engagement, however. Bird encouraged continued
engagement with, and education of, the NGOs. Aluko-Olukun
agreed.



8. (C) Aluko-Olukun raised market access issues, worrying
that increased U.S. farm subsidies could eventually reduce
markets for African goods. I pointed out that Nigeria's
national legislature needed to make one minor change to a law
in order to take an important step toward AGOA eligibility.
Aluko-Olukun riposted that "you gave us democracy" and so had
to live with the results. Another participant asked what the
GON was doing to educate legislators. Aluko-Olukun replied
that efforts were in train but that few Nigerian legislators
were interested in NePAD. South Africa was having a bit more
success because its parliamentarians understood the potential
of NePAD.



9. (C) COMMENT: Many Nigerian Senators and House Members
pursue personal interests to the near-exclusion of concern
for the welfare of their fellow citizens -- a trait they
share with many officials of the Executive Branch. As
Aluko-Olukun's brief foray into justifying nontransparent
land-allocation practices suggests, changing these attitudes
will indeed take time. The GON apparently feels, probably
from its very top, that the G-8 countries should demand fewer
and less difficult concrete steps of struggling African
countries. Instead, we are asked to lend a sympathetic
listening ear and to provide carrots (incentives) rather than
to wield sticks. END COMMENT.



10. (U) NOTE: This message was prepared on May 28, 2002.
Post regrets that an oversight inadvertently delayed its
transmission.
ANDREWS