NIGERIA: EMBASSY ENGAGES MEDIA ON AFRICOM

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 000249 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2018 TAGS: PREL MASS PGOV NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: EMBASSY ENGAGES MEDIA ON AFRICOM Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Heather Merritt for reasons 1 .4. (b & d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On January 30, Ambassador while in Lagos and Poloff in Abuja, engaged with the Nigerian media on Africom in an attempt to reduce the overall negative coverage to date on the issue. Ambassador first met with a group of leading newspapers in Lagos to dispel fears and distrust of Africom, while Poloff in Abuja, as part of a session with the House Defense Committee, did the same. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) During Ambassador's January 30 press roundtable on U.S.-Nigerian relations, the issue of Africom featured prominently. Of note, the journalists outlined the same questions that Embassy and other USG officials have covered on the Africom issue. The Ambassador adamantly pointed out that the U.S. was not seeking to invade Nigeria or the Niger Delta, and that the assistance offered under Africom was an enhancement of the U.S.-Nigerian partnership. She also stressed that Africom was not a military base and that the headquarters was currently in Stuttgart, Germany. ¶3. (C) Concurrently, Abuja Poloff met with nine members of the Nigerian House of Representatives Defense Committee to discuss Africom. Print, radio, and television journalists were present throughout. Subsequent to Poloff's brief comments, committee members spent the next hour asking questions that included basic inquiries about the nature of the command, whether or not Africom was a U.S. plot for cornering African natural resources (particularly in the Gulf of Guinea),and how Nigeria could tangibly benefit from the reorganization. The representatives were surprised to learn the degree to which Nigeria already benefits from existing mil-to-mil programs now carried out by Africom. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: Both press events helped move the dialogue on Africom in a positive direction. Several journalists and lawmakers said they understood what the USG is trying to do and that to a degree they support the new command. In addition, both in public and private a few GON officials have spoken with a changed tone that may indicate the GON is trying to move the conversation forward. President Yar'Adua, for example, in press reports from the AU Summit in Addis Ababa, discussed -- with using the term "Africom" -- his desire to have the USG assist with security issues in the Gulf of Guinea, an area where Africom could play a key role. Coverage of both events was extensive. Even "This Day" newspaper, which has carried some of the more virulent anti-Africom articles, covered the Ambassador's remarks accurately, refraining from adding their own typically negative and inflammatory commentary. ¶5. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED: As for the Defense Committee in particular, it seems to be exercising more active oversight of the military, although they still have a long way to go before becoming fully effective. Members of the Defense Committee were open to interactions with Poloff and grateful for the Embassy's attention to them; should civilian military oversight in Nigeria continue to grow and develop, the National Assembly could become one of Post's key pol/mil constituencies. END COMMENT. SANDERS