ACOTA PROGRAM MOVES FORWARD IN NIGERIA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001532

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV MASS MCAP PHUM KPKO NI
SUBJECT: ACOTA PROGRAM MOVES FORWARD IN NIGERIA


1. SUMMARY. During 8-11 August 2005, an African Contingency
Operations Training and Assistance (ACOTA) Program team met
with officials of the Nigerian Army to jointly plan the
future of the ACOTA program in Nigeria. The meetings
resulted in decisive progress in terms of a concept and
schedule for ACOTA peace support operations training as well
as agreement on ACOTA equipment support for Nigerian peace
support operations trainers and peacekeepers. Beyond the
plans achieved for ACOTA training and equipping activities,
the Nigerian Army requested receipt of a battalion
deployment equipment package from the Global Operations
Initiative (GPOI). The purpose of this requested equipment
would be to support Nigeria's recent deployment of three
battalions of peacekeepers to the African Union Mission in
Sudan (AMIS II/Darfur),ongoing Nigerian battalion
deployments to peacekeeping operations in Liberia (UNMIL)
and Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL),and projected battalion
deployments to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).
END SUMMARY


2. The ACOTA team consisted of Chip Beck, State Department
ACOTA Policy Coordinator, Richard Roan, State Department
ACOTA Training Manager, Charles Ikins, OSD ACOTA Project
Officer and Major Brent Bidus, U.S. European Command ACOTA
Project Officer. Colonel Sue Ann Sandusky, U.S. Defense
Attache to Nigeria accompanied the team to all meetings.
The ACOTA team met in several sessions with Brigadier
General I. I. Hassan, Director of Peacekeeping Operations
for the Nigerian Army and officers of his staff. The ACOTA
team also visited the site of projected ACOTA training at
the Infantry Corps Centre School at Jaji, Nigeria.


3. General Hassan and his staff were exceptionally
receptive, professional, cordial and well prepared. This
same level of receptivity and preparedness was exhibited by
Major General B.S. Biloyok, the commander of the Infantry
Corps Centre and School (ICCS) at Jaji, and his staff. The
Nigerians expressed complete acceptance of the ACOTA program
and were well prepared to move forward with definitive
planning and action. This approach was a significant step
beyond the hesitance about ACOTA partnership expressed by
Nigerian Defense Headquarters senior staff members during
the ACOTA team's last visit to Abuja in April 2005.


4. The ACOTA team achieved agreement with the Nigerian
military on ACOTA training and equipping activities. In
April-May 2006 ACOTA will provide four weeks of command and
staff training for Nigerian Army trainers. In June-July
2006, ACOTA is projected to provide three weeks of peace
support operations soldier skills field training for
Nigerian Army trainers. In October-November 2006, ACOTA is
projected to commence mentoring and assisting Nigerian
trainers in training battalions preparing for deployment to
peacekeeping operations. The Nigerian Army intends to
employ ACOTA-trained trainers in providing peace support
operations pre-deployment training for as many as twelve
battalions annually at the Peacekeeping Wing of the ICCS at
Jaji. In regard to equipping activities, the ACOTA team and
Nigerian officers together reviewed Nigeria's requirements
and agreed on the details of the provision of training
support equipment for the Peacekeeping Wing of the ICCS as
well as individual equipment for Nigerian soldiers
participating in ACOTA training.


5. The Nigerian Army requested three areas of assistance
beyond the scope of the ACOTA training and equipping
activities outlined above. These include, (1) approximately
$350,000 to support the completion of ongoing facility
construction at the Peacekeeping Training Wing at Jaji, (2)
extension of the current MPRI Simulation Center Support at
the Nigerian Armed Forces Staff College at Jaji (one year
beyond the current expiration of December 2005),and (3)
receipt of at least one battalion deployment equipment
package from the Global Operations Initiative (GPOI). The
purpose of this latter equipment would be to support
Nigeria's recent deployment of three battalions of
peacekeepers to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS
II/Darfur),ongoing Nigerian battalion deployments to
peacekeeping operations in Liberia (UNMIL) and Sierra Leone
(UNAMSIL),and projected battalion deployments to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).


6. The ACOTA team expressed the commitment to ensuring that
all ACOTA training and equipping activities are full
complementary with the ongoing efforts of the United Kingdom
in supporting the creation and sustainment of the ICCS
Peacekeeping Wing at Jaji. Full cooperation with the United
Kingdom was explicitly requested by the Nigerian Army Chief
of Staff. The Commander of the British Defense Advisory
Team in Abuja, Colonel Robert Russell, accompanied the ACOTA
team on initial meetings with General Hassan and his staff
and assured the ACOTA team that all of the ACOTA plans were
welcomed by the United Kingdom and fully complementary with
the UK's strategy at Jaji. Both Colonel Russell and General
Hassan invited ACOTA trainers and U.S. military personnel to
observe joint British-Nigerian peace support operations
training at the Peacekeeping Wing in November-December 2005.

CAMPBELL