NIGERIAN PRESIDENTIAL CONSULTANT DISCUSSES PLAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 000785 SIPDIS SIPDIS DOE FOR GEORGE PERSON E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2018 TAGS: PGOV NI SUBJECT: NIGERIAN PRESIDENTIAL CONSULTANT DISCUSSES PLAN FOR THE NIGER DELTA REF: ABUJA 643 Classified By: Political Counselor Walter Pflaumer for reasons 1.4. (b & d). ¶1. (C) On April 8, Mission Poloffs met Rajakumari Jandhyala (strictly protect),a private U.S. citizen consultant with extensive experience working with the governments of Uganda, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Sudan. Jandhyala is well- and favorably known to AF/RSA due to a previous position with the African Union, and was referred to Poloffs by AF/RSA on that basis. She is currently on 4-month loan from an ongoing contract with the Government of Uganda, and was hired by President Yar'Adua to assist him in developing a structured, long-term strategy for resolving unrest in the Niger Delta. She has spent approximately 16 hours a day for the past three months at the Presidential Villa to devise this plan, and is working closely with the President, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, and their advisors. She would not discuss the details of this proposal with Poloffs until President Yar'Adua completely understood the strategy's short- and long-term consequences and accepted the strategy as his own. She anticipated the President would make it public by the end of April (at least to stakeholders and foreign missions),and she said she thought Yar'Adua had the political will to institute change in the Niger Delta. ¶2. (C) Upon presenting this proposal to the public, Yar'Adua would seek buy-in at federal, state and local levels, including from community and civil society groups, she said, though she was not clear on how this buy-in would be achieved. Jandhyala noted this could be a difficult process, since there is much in-fighting both within and without the Presidency, as many individuals want to claim success for solving the Niger Delta problem. She looked unfavorably at the piecemeal and disjointed series of conferences, summits, papers, projects and plans put forward in recent years on the Niger Delta issue, describing them as lacking comprehensive support and strategic scope. She also hinted that her proposal would clearly identify the individual or institution responsible for overseeing changes in the Niger Delta. ¶3. (C) Jandhyala believed both Yar'Adua and Vice President Jonathan are still learning how to operate in a federal system, and many of their advisors, especially VP Jonathan's Bayelsa state cronies, have a lot of energy but little understanding of what needs to be done. She noted that Jonathan is still at least nominally the lead person on the Niger Delta, but she did not know whether this would continue and hinted that it was open to change. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: Post will recontact Jandhyala over the coming weeks to see if she is willing to provide more insight as to the future direction of GON attempts to address the Niger Delta crisis. In other circles we have heard that Jonathan has been sidelined by Yar'Adua as he has been disappointed in his lack of progress on Niger Delta issues, and rumors that he too has been handing out money to his cronies in Baylesa State to maintain his power base. END COMMENT. SANDERS