NIGERIA: NIGER DELTA YOUTH LEADER ON CHEVRON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000245

SIPDIS

DOE FOR GPERSON,CHAYLOCK
TREASURY FOR DFIELDS, AIERONIMO, RHALL
DOC FOR 3317/ITA/OA/KBURRESS
STATE PASS USTR FOR AGAMA
STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL EPET NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: NIGER DELTA YOUTH LEADER ON CHEVRON
PIPELINE, IJAW LEADERS, LOCAL CONTENT

REF: SEPTEL

Classified By: Consul General Donna Blair, Reasons 1.4 (B,D)


1. (C) Summary: Sheriff Mulade (strictly protect throughout),
President of the Gbaramatu Youth Council (GYC),told Acting
Consul General July 4 that youths from the Gbaramatu Kingdom
blew up the Chevron pipeline while he was in the United
States; Tom Polo allowed the youths to take the equipment and
explosives from Camp Five near Warri in Delta State. Chief
E.K. Clark, His Royal Majesty Charles Ayemi-Botu, Chief
Samson Y. Mamamu, and Chief Melford Okilo are strong leaders
who command respect in the Ijaw community. Timi Alaibe has
spent his time as Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta
Development Commission (NDDC) "dividing up the money"; and
under Chief Wellington Okirika, the Delta State Oil Producing
Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) has not lived up to
its potential. Companies owned by Ijaw or other Niger Delta
ethnicities do not get contracts because Yoruba and Igbo
employees in charge of local content for major oil companies
steer contracts to Yoruba and Igbo companies. End Summary.

Youths Blow Pipeline with Explosives from Camp 5
-------------- ---

2. (C) Sheriff Mulade (strictly protect throughout),
National President, Gbaramatu Youth Council told Acting
Consul General July 4 that youths from the Gbaramatu Kingdom
blew up the Chevron pipeline while he was in the United
States on an International Visitor leadership Program
(Septel). Tom Polo is putting himself forward as a
peacemaker, but he allowed the youths to get the equipment
and explosives they used from Camp Five near Warri in Delta
State, Mulade said. Now, repairs on the pipeline are
underway, but nearby communities are saying that they want
five million naira as compensation for allowing the repair
crews access to the area. According to Mulade, militant
leader Boyloaf commandeered the use of military Joint Task
Force (JTF) boats. (Comment: Mulade did not indicate when or
how the boats were used. End Comment)

Mulade Assesses Ijaw Leaders
--------------


3. (C) Asked his assessment of a number of Ijaw leaders,
Mulade said:

-- Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark is a strong leader who
consults widely before expressing views. When he speaks, he
shapes the opinion of others in the Niger Delta.

-- His Royal Majesty Charles Ayemi-Botu, traditional ruler
of the Sembeiri Kingdom in Delta State, is considered by
Niger Deltans to be one of the most effective traditional
rulers. Well-educated and capable, Ayemi-Botu was elected
Chairman of the Traditional Rulers of Oil and Mineral
Producing Communities (TROMPCOM) even though no oil is
produced in his kingdom.

-- Chief Samson Y. Mamamu, Chairman of the Western Zone of
the Ijaw National Congress, is a strong leader, who has stood
firmly against kidnapping and illegal bunkering. When former
President Obasanjo visited the Niger Delta, Mamamu is said to
have told him to his face that he was behind much of the
illegal bunkering taking place in the region.

-- Chief Melford Okilo, former Senator and Governor of Old
Rivers State, was in the past an influential leader; he has
been very ill for some time. Acting Consul General was
notified by the Okilo family on Saturday, July 5 that Chief
Okilo passed away during the evening of July 4.

-- Timi Alaibe, Chief Executive Officer, Niger Delta
Development Commission, was Chief Financial Officer for the
NNDC before becoming CEO. During the three years he has been
CEO, the NDDC has accomplished little; Alaibe has spent the
time "dividing up the money."


LAGOS 00000245 002 OF 002


-- Chief Wellington Okirika is a weak leader, in Mulade's
opinion, and that is why the Delta State Oil Producing Areas
Commission (DESOPADEC),which Okirika heads, has not lived up
to its potential. Chief Okirika "changes his mind whenever
the militants contact him."

Niger Deltans Do Not Benefit from Local Content
-------------- --


4. (C) Accordng to Mulade, Chevron recently organized a
training on local content in Warri, Delta State for local
contractors. This was a good thing, because Niger Delta
indigenes are seldom able to afford to attend major meetings
on local content policy, which are held in Abuja or Lagos.
It cost him 12,000 naira (approximately USD 102) to travel
from the Lagos airport to the site of a meeting on the Lekki
Peninsula that he was attending (Septel),and the least
expensive hotel room can cost over 10,000 naira
(approximately USD 85),which makes travel to Lagos
prohibitively expensive for most Niger Deltans. Mulade has
his own companies, including a supply company, which qualify
for contracts because he keeps his registrations up to date
with the relevant offices. However, he has never gotten a
contract from Shell, and he gets contracts from Chevron
mostly because he has been helpful to them in keeping the
peace in the Escravos area, he said.


5. (C) He believes that the major reason he does not get
contracts is because the Yoruba and Igbo local content
managers steer contracts to Yoruba and Igbo contractors. It
is not only Ijaws who are discriminated against, he said, but
also the Itsekiri, Urhobo, Ikwerre and other smaller ethnic
groups as well; he estimates that there are thousands of
local companies that would like to get contracts. Once, back
in 1996 when he was trying to get a contract from Shell, he
was asked for a bribe of 150,000 naira; foolishly he paid it,
then discovered that the individual had left the contracting
office and that he had to start all over again dealing with a
new person. Often, he said, indigenes blow up a pipeline,
then demand that one of the local companies get the contract
to repair it.
BLAIR