NIGERIA: FOREIGN MINISTER DISCUSSES AU SUMMIT AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001210

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W, INR/AA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAGR EAID EWWT KCRM PBTS PHSA PARCA
UNSC, G8, KN, NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: FOREIGN MINISTER DISCUSSES AU SUMMIT AND
G-8 ISSUES, RAISES NEED FOR U.S. PRESENCE IN KANO, KADUNA
OR ENUGU STATES

REF: A. STATE 065744

B. STATE 61133

C. STATE 58996

D. STATE 61231

E. ABUJA 1175

Classified By: Ambassador Robin R. Sanders for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Ambassador had a short June 28 breakfast meeting with
Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe at his residence a few
hours before his departure for Libya for the African Union
(AU) Summit. Ambassador covered a range of issues ranging
from Nigeria,s delegation to both the AU and upcoming G-8
Summits. On the AU Summit, Maduekwe said that he was still
waiting for the final word from the President whether he was
going to attend or not, which was why his departure to Libya
had been delayed until the final decision (which he hoped
would be later that afternoon) was made. He added that he
would serve as delegation head if the President ultimately
did not go. Ambassador than went through a range of the
possible issues for the AU Summit, including the USG position
on not establishing an international tribunal for Somali
piracy (ref B) to which the FonMin concurred. On AU
meetings, Ambassador noted that if, in the end, President
Yar,Adua did not travel to Libya and given that the Foreign
Minister had just had a 2-hour meeting with A/S Carson that
the emphasis in Tripoli would be for A/S Carson to meet with
those heads of state and foreign ministers that he had not
yet engaged with since assuming his new position. Maduekwe
understood this, but still added he would like to say "hello
via a short courtesy call" if possible with the Assistant
Secretary if time permitted, and if not he would understand
given the generous amount of time A/S Carson had already
given to him in Washington. Ambassador said she would pass
this back, but reiterated that given the time constraints the
emphasis on meetings would likely be as she just described.
Maduekwe said once he had a definitive answer from President
Yar,Adua about his AU attendance he would let the Ambassador
know.


2. (C) On G-8 Summit, the FonMin affirmed that President
Yar,Adua would be attending and that the GON had hopes
during the G-8 Yar,Adua could meet on the margins with
POTUS. Ambassador said she would pass this request back to
Washington. She then went over the G-8 USG non-paper (ref C)
that she had sent to the FonMin reviewing the USG positions
on a variety of issues, but particularly on food security.
Without hesitating the Maduekwe said he thought the GON could
support our positions, and restated (see ref E) that
certainly the GON was with us on food security issues
presented by the global financial crisis that were covered in
the non-paper. On ref D North Korea demarche he was
non-committal.


3. (C) Out of the blue as Ambassador was leaving, the FonMin
said he had a meeting in his Ministry recently where it was
raised that countries like the USG should consider reopening
their presence in cities like Kano, Kaduna, and Enugu (in the
southeast). Without mentioning USG internal discussions,
Ambassador noted A/S Carson,s remarks during his
confirmation hearings on the need for the USG to look at
reaching out more through reestablishing selected consulates,
including in Nigeria. Maduekwe went on to add that it was
important to have more of an "American consular presence in
various cities in Nigeria to address the heavy visa demand."
Ambassador did not respond to his remarks on the visa issue,
but just reiterated the entire idea of reopening some
location was something that had been mentioned and that she
would pass back to the Department his Ministry,s support for
the reestablishment of a U.S. Consulate in any of these three
cities.


4. (C) Ambassador took advantage of the short meeting to get
a better clarification on the June 24 "Niger Delta Amnesty
Proclamation" signed by President Yar,Adua. She noted there
was a bit of confusion on the details of the proclamation as
on one hand there was a timeline of 60 days, but also a date

ABUJA 00001210 002 OF 002


of October 4, 2009 (which is 100 days from the date of the
proclamation) given as the deadline for various "militant
elements" to lay down their arms. FonMin said he would check
on that detail.

Ambassador said she had read teh FonMin's recent comments at
CSIS in Washington on the Niger Delta (ND),and on the GON's
negative view of any outside or international mediation on ND
issues. She asked if the GON stance would be the same on
amnesty implementation, as there were numerous international
bodies that had worked on these types of issues over the
years which might be helpful. Maduekwe began by saying he
hoped the international community would publicly recognize
what Yar,Adua had just done with the amnesty proclamation,
and that he believed that his government would hope that
various "templates," best practices, and shared experiences
on amnesty implementation in other countries would be shared
with Nigeria during this process. He cited examples from
Ireland to Indonesia as "templates" from which the GON could
take best practices as regards to the details, technical
assistance, and sharing of experiences to ensure that the ND
Amnesty Proclamation is successful, and is concluded in the
manner we all wish, with peace coming to the region by
year,s end.


5. (C) Comment: FonMin Maduekwe's comments notwithstanding,
we believe it is unlikely that President Yar'Adua will attend
the AU Summit. He has not attended previous sessions, and is
dealing with serious health problems which make travel
increasingly difficult. Yar'Adua does not appear to give
Nigeria's international role the same kind of high priority
given it by his predecessor, Olusegun Obasanjo. End comment.


6. (U) This cable was coordinated with Consulate Lagos.
SANDERS