NIGERIA: POST'S FOLLOW UP TO THE CAIRO SPEECH AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ABUJA 001333

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W, INR/AA, S/P FOR GREG BEHRMAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID ECON OEXC OSCI PREL SCHUL ESENV SOCI
TNGD, TSPL, XF, SI, ZP, ZR, KISL, PGOV, NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: POST'S FOLLOW UP TO THE CAIRO SPEECH AND
RELATED ACTIVITIES

REF: A. STATE 71325

B. ABUJA 1296

C. ABUJA 1271

D. ABUJA 1270

E. ABUJA 1010


1. Summary: Following President Obama's June 4 speech in
Cairo, Mission Nigeria has engaged audiences throughout
Nigeria with various outreach activities, including meetings
with journalists, government officials, civil society
organizations, and traditional religious leaders. Post has
also compiled and distributed commemorative transcripts in
folders which include video of the Cairo speech; sent SMS
broadcast messaging on themes from the speech, held
discussions with Islamic leaders and other community
stakeholders, and Ambassador gave a speech in Nigeria's
conservative Northeast on themes from the Cairo speech and
held a roundtable with conservative Islamic leaders. In
addition to these recent events, the Mission has ongoing
development initiatives and public diplomacy programs that
support Muslim outreach. In order to bolster these existing
projects, Post recommends increased language training for
personnel, translation of speeches and important documents
into local languages, continued training and exchange
programs, and continued dialogue with the GON and Nigerian
civil society. End Summary.

CONTINUED DIALOGUE AFTER THE SPEECH
--------------

2. Beginning on June 4, Mission Nigeria engaged audiences
throughout Nigeria employing the following tools and
undertaking the following activities:

-- Prior to June 4, Post sent SMS broadcasts to 1,400 of the
U.S. Mission to Nigeria's Information Resource Center
contacts providing them with the date and time of the speech
and encouraging them to watch the speech.

-- On June 4, Ambassador hosted Muslim and Christian
religious leaders, as well as members of the press, for a
viewing of President Obama's speech followed by a roundtable
discussion (ref E). Ambassador then posted a message about
the discussion and the speech on her blog.

-- Following the speech, Mission Nigeria's Public Affairs
Section (PAS),in collaboration with Post's Mass Information
Support Team (MIST),compiled and distributed folders which
include the commemorative transcript of the speech, a
brochure about President Obama, and prepared a DVD with video
and text of the speech to our contacts including distributing
them in the north. The Mission's commemorative folders and
DVDs are being used as a best practice in AFRICOM and AF/PDPA
.

-- On June 10, PAS hosted 18 Nigerian journalists and
academics at an Africa Regional Services Paris organized
Digital Video Conference on President Obama's Early
Initiatives, including the speech in Cairo (septel).

-- On June 29-30, Ambassador discussed the Cairo speech with
government officials and traditional religious leaders in
Nigeria's conservative Northeast geopolitical zone, including
the Governor of Borno, Governor of Yobe, and the Deputy
Governor of Gombe, the Shehu of Borno and the Emir of Gombe
(ref C and D).

-- On July 1, Ambassador held a roundtable discussion with 15
prominent Imams, Sheikhs, and Islamic scholars in Maiduguri,
Borno State on the messages from the Cairo speech. Copies of
the aforementioned commemorative folder were distributed to
each participant (ref D).

-- On July 1, Mission distributed commemorative folders to
the Vice Chancellor and faculty at the University of
Maiduguri and left additional copies and other resources in
the American Corner located in the University's library (ref
D).


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-- On July 1, Ambassador delivered a policy speech entitled,
"A New Beginning - Reaffirming America's Partnership with
Nigeria" to government officials, religious and traditional
leaders, university students and faculty, youth, community
and business leaders, and journalists. The speech linked
themes from the POTUS Cairo speech to issues of concern to
Muslims in northern Nigeria. More than 50 commemorative
folders were also distributed at the venue (ref D).

-- On July 6, Ambassador held another roundtable with
democracy and human rights groups in Ekiti State, where they
discussed themes from the POTUS Cairo and Accra speeches,
such as the importance of governments who take care of their
people and promote transparency in holding free and fair
elections (ref D).

-- Mission linked a Hausa translation of the Cairo speech to
its web-site.

OUTCOMES FROM THE CAIRO SPEECH
--------------

3. Overall, Nigeria's Muslim community has been very
receptive to the opportunities to dialogue with the U.S.
Mission to Nigeria on these issues. In order to include the
wider non-English speaking northern Nigerian population as
part of the outreach audience, Post recommends that the
President's Cairo speech and other future relevant documents
be translated into local languages such as Hausa, Yoruba, and
Kanuri.


4. The commemorative folders are in great demand, but between
the video and the written speech, the text is in higher
demand. One of our partner media outlets also translated the
speech into Hausa, which we have linked to the Mission's
web-site. The folders are an excellent example of
partnership between the Department of State and the
Department of Defense. Based on the success of the folders
in Nigeria, AFRICOM has agreed to fund the production and
distribution of up to 35,000 additional folders throughout
Africa based on Mission Nigeria's model.

U.S. MISSION INITIATIVES THAT
SUPPORT MUSLIM OUTREACH
--------------

5. USAID has a number of ongoing initiatives which support
the Mission's efforts to engage Muslim communities. USAID
provides support to the Interfaith Mediation Center (IMC) and
three Conflict Mitigation and Management Regional Councils
(CMMRCs),made up of 37 Muslim and 30 Christian clerics in
Kano, Kaduna, and Plateau states. USAID is also training the
CMMRCs to collect and disseminate early warning information
to relevant agencies and to respond directly and quickly to
threats to peace and ethnic religious tensions.


6. USAID works with a broad range of institutions and groups
including public primary schools in northern Nigeria, which
teach the core Quranic curriculum as well as math, English,
and social science. In late 2009, USAID will initiate
several new education projects, including a Northern
Education Initiative that will address policy development and
implementation, strengthen information management and use of
data for decision-making, human resource development,
performance management and accountability, and demand-side
capacity development. The inclusion of Islamiyyah schools
constitutes an essential element of Muslim outreach. Over
the four-year life of the program 600,000 students, 24,000
teachers and 1,000 administrators will receive benefits from
these USG interventions. Interventions will address systems
that support both public and Islamiyyah primary schools, as
well as provide learning centers for the provision of
non-formal education to Almajari boys. Additional resources
beyond those currently anticipated by USAID would permit the
expansion of this program to additional northern states.


7. The new teacher training initiative will have a special
focus on increasing the enrollment of females in teacher
training programs, especially in the north where female
teachers are in the minority, to facilitate efforts to

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increase girl-child enrollment and retention. USAID will
also provide training and technical assistance to IMC to
enhance its capacity to develop and implement interfaith
activities, conduct outreach, and ensure sustainability The
project will include implementation of the new National
Teacher Education Policy (approved in January 2009 and
developed with USAID assistance),review the curriculum in
primary and pre-school education, and introduce reading and
child centered pedagogy courses. It is also expected to
increase the enrollment of women in Primary education Studies
and Early Child Development teacher training programs,
focused on selected northern states.


8. USAID and Sesame Workshop have been implementing a pilot
to bring "Sesame Street," the critically-acclaimed children's
program to Nigeria. The goal is to mobilize Nigeria's major
mass media outlets, including television, radio, print media,
and Internet to provide consistent and daily access to
education programming to young children. Significant early
support was provided through PEPFAR funding. The Mission's
initial agreement length of program was from February 25,
2008 through April 25, 2009, but the agreement has just been
extended for another five years. Additional resources would
allow for the development of an inter-faith conflict
prevention and mitigation model that would support the
expansion of Muslim outreach.


9. The Mission's USAID, PEPFAR, and CDC offices have worked
closely with the GON and Nigerian Islamic leaders and
scholars to develop an Islamic policy on HIV/AIDS prevention,
care, and treatment. The policy development and distribution
includes efforts to address HIV/AIDS stigma issues within the
Nigerian Ummah.


10. The Mission supported several significant outreach
efforts, under the leadership of the Sultan of Sokoto and the
Emir of Kano to improve awareness and advocacy efforts on
polio eradication among traditional leaders and Islamic
clerics in northern states. In coordination with Nigeria's
National Primary Health Care Development Agency, USAID held
several conferences and workshops were supported to directly
address misinformation and secure active support in favor of
the immunization campaigns. USAID also contributed to the
expansion of the Voice of America Hausa Service, which has
boosted listenership in the northern Muslim states and
bordering countries with key maternal child health, family
planning and reproductive health messages. The Hausa Service
has supported several town hall meetings, inviting community
leaders, women's group leaders, clergy and traditional
leaders to participate in open debates about key issues
affecting the northern Muslim communities. Each of these
meetings has drawn crowds of standing room only and has been
taped for re-broadcast. These initiatives will continue in
2009; additional resources would allow for widened scope and
increased outreach.


11. The Department of Defense Mass Information Support Team
(MIST) and Civil- Military Support Element (CMSE) assist
northern Nigerian communities with development projects, such
as constructing bore holes, restoring classrooms, and
distributing supplies to Muslim schools and clinics.

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PROGRAMS SUPPORTING MUSLIM OUTREACH
-------------- --------------

12. PAS routinely includes Muslim community leaders, youth,
business leaders, and religious clerics in its programs. In
July 2009, the CPAO, Public Affairs personnel, PolOff, and
Econ Intern attended the Speech and Prize Giving Day of new
Horizons College in Minna, Niger State - one of four schools
established by the Islamic Education Trust to provide Muslim
children with balanced education rooted in Islamic Studies.
In June, the Mission donated books to Sunrise International
School (another Islamic Education Trust School) after the
school completed a reading program encouraging young children
to read. The CPAO will also attend the school's Speech and
Prize Giving Day in Abuja.


13. The Ambassador has met with, visited, and had a dialogue

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with all of the senior Emirs and traditional leaders in the
North (including the Sultan of Sokoto),except the new Emir
of Katsina who was not available during her two trips to the
state.


14. In May, the DCM attended a symposium on Nigeria's Arabic
and Ajami manuscript resources. The Mission supports the
preservation of Nigeria's Islamic manuscripts as part of its
commitment to investing in people, in this case by preserving
part of Nigeria's unique culture and history. Facilitation
efforts of the U.S. Mission to Nigerian in collaboration with
Arewa House have encouraged private partners to contributed
through training, equipment, and grants.


15. PAS has held several roundtable discussions throughout
northern Nigeria, as well as in Abuja, Lagos, and Port
Harcourt, which centered around American values including
diversity, tolerance, non-violent change, and peace.


16. The Mission hosts annual outreach events throughout
Nigeria during Ramadan, including Iftar dinners.


17. Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program was initially
worrisome to a number of Islamic clerics who were weary of
what they perceived to be another attempt by the West to
indoctrinate Islamic youth. However, after a group of
concerned Nigerian citizens paid a visit to the U.S. in an
attempt to better understand the program, widespread support
and acknowledgment of benefits from the program has grown.
Participants are now included from 5 northern states. The
Mission has designed and distributed a YES program brochure
which is widely distributed to interested students. In July,
the Embassy hosted thirty high school students and one
teacher selected for this year's exchange for a pre-departure
program where the country director said increased commitment
to community service and religious tolerance are among the
benefits participants obtain.


18. In June, PolOff and PolAsst attend the first Islamic
Summit hosted in Kano (ref A). PolOff gave a message of
appreciation for the opportunity to demonstrate USG desire to
listen and learn, partnering with Islamic institutions in
promoting common understanding.

RECOMMENDATIONS
--------------

19. The Mission recommends that additional staff receive
training in appropriate local language skills. Post also
recommends that the USG increase support for the Voice of
America Hausa Service in order to increase their capacity to
report fair and balanced views on communal conflict and human
rights issues.


20. Post advocates for the continued USG sponsorship of
exchange programs for religious leaders, civil society
activists, and government officials, on the topics of
religious freedom, tolerance, and human rights. Post also
advocates for the continued USG support and funding of the
Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative.


21. Post recommends that the USG expand support for communal
conflict prevention and mitigation through increased funding,
training and assistance to the Nigerian federal police force
and Nigerian military, especially in regards to non-lethal
responses to crowd control, response to sectarian violence
and increased investigative and conflict prevention
capacities.


22. The U.S. Mission to Nigeria will continue to urge the GON
to ensure that Shari'a codes uphold the principle of equality
under the law, do not apply Shari'a criminal codes to
non-Muslims or individual Muslims who do not wish to go
before Shari'a courts, and to ensure that practice of Shari'a
law does not result in the violation of human rights. In
addition, we will urge the GON to cease official support for
the Hisbah (religious police) and entrusting professional law
enforcement agencies with defined jurisdiction to enforce the
law.

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23. The Mission will continue to work with existing Nigerian
social institutions including civil society and
non-governmental organizations, and religious bodies -
especially those which address conflict prevention and
mitigation, promote peace, are committed to inter-religious
and inter-ethnic reconciliation, emphasize capacity-building
at the local level, and assist human rights defenders. We
recommend the USG support the expansion of the Nigerian
Inter-Religious Council to promote dialogue between
Christians and Muslims, and replicate the council at state
and local levels.


24. This cable was coordinated with Consulate Lagos.
SANDERS