NIGERIA: MILITANTS TELL THEIR STORIES AT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000305 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - HANDLE ACCORDINGLY SIPDIS DOE FOR GPERSON,CHAYLOCK TREASURY FOR DFIELDS, AIERONIMO, RHALL DOC FOR 3317/ITA/OA/KBURRESS STATE PASS USTR FOR USTR AGAMA STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: MILITANTS TELL THEIR STORIES AT NON-VIOLENCE TRAINING GRADUATION REF: A) SEPTEL B) LAGOS 244 Sensitive But Unclassified; Handle Accordingly ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Over 100 formerly militant Niger Delta youths graduated from nonviolence training sponsored by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) through the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony (FEHN) with trainers from the University of Rhode Island's Center for the Study of Peace and Nonviolence on July 12. NDDC Managing Director Timi Alaibe Director told the youths he would turn the potential they showed through their militant ventures toward productive pursuits through skills training to follow the second phase of nonviolence training in South Africa. Whether Alaibe's training plans are as solid as he made them sound remains to be seen. End Summary ¶2. (SBU) Pol-Econ Chief attended the graduation ceremony for the final class of over 100 former militants from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)-sponsored training in nonviolence principles and practices conducted by the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony (FEHN) with trainers from the University of Rhode Island's Center for the Study of Peace and Nonviolence. Graduates spoke positively about the impact the five day training had had on their lives. NDDC Promises Training, Jobs -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Timi Alaibe, Managing Director of NDDC, told the group he knows how much potential they have because some of them had "left Bayelsa at midnight and gone 75 kilometers out into the sea through dangerous reefs with no compass" to Bonga. Others he said had "left Port Harcourt and spent three hours on the sea to travel to Bakassi, with 6 drums of fuel in your boats." This natural seafaring talent and raw strength is what he wants to turn into positive skills and opportunities, Alaibe said. He told the women he understood how crucial their roles had been in militant activity; sleeping with those targeted for kidnapping, obtaining and passing information; they too need to learn new talents to put to productive use. ¶4. (SBU) Following the second phase of nonviolence training, to take place in South Africa, Alaibe has arranged to have some of the youths train in Norway in seafaring techniques. This will give them the skills with which to take up the positions as pilots that are mandated to go to Nigerians under Nigeria's cabotage law. He has also arranged for some youths to receive training as crane operators, divers, undersea welders, and in other marketable skills. While some of these skills are connected to the oil industry, he will also provide skills training for them in agriculture, in aquaculture, in raising of grasscutters (Note: An edible rodent. End note) and snails. ¶5. (SBU) Alaibe told the youths that they do not need a grant of amnesty from the Federal Government; they have amnesty by reason of having taken the training and giving up violence. Alaibe thanked Dr. Bernard LaFayette of the University of Rhode Island's Center for Peace and Nonviolence Studies, who, Alaibe said, was "subsidizing" the current NDDC-funded training for 600 students. He said he wants to train another 5,000 youths, and called on the trainers to take the trainings into the camps themselves so that more youths could be reached by the program. ¶6. (SBU) Following the speech, Alaibe told Pol-Econ Chief he believes that the transformation that these youths undergo through training in nonviolence is essential to their success in subsequent endeavors. In the past, youths who have not had this training were uncontrollable. When their payday fell on a Saturday, they were not willing to wait until Monday to get their salaries; instead they tore up the office, breaking furniture and windows, Alaibe said. He introduced two youths LAGOS 00000305 002 OF 002 who had gone through the earliest trainings in 2006 who are now working for NDDC, as well as one who is now working for the Delta State government, he said. ¶7. (SBU) Comment: These youths, many of whom came straight from militant camps only five days before, were unassuming, polite and deferential, especially to the NDDC Director who received bows and a standing ovation at the close of his speech. Whether the plans for skills training Alaibe described are as solid as he made them sound remains to be seen. This cable has been cleared by Embassy Abuja. BLAIR