NIGERIA: BINATIONAL COMMISSION NIGER DELTA AND REGIONAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ABUJA 002052 C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - Paragraph markings SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL, INR/AA, S/CIEA, AF/PDPA USAID FOR AFR/WA (DALZOUMA) E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINS PTER KDEM NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: BINATIONAL COMMISSION NIGER DELTA AND REGIONAL SECURITY COOPERATION WORKING GROUP GAME PLAN REF: ABUJA 2016 ABUJA 2046 ABUJA 00002052 001.2 OF 004 ¶1. Mission Nigeria has met several times to review current and proposed initiatives for consideration under the Niger Delta and Regional Security Cooperation Working Group (ND/RSC) of the proposed U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission (BNC). The goal of this BNC Working Group would be to provide immediate, tangible development and economic opportunities to Niger Delta inhabitants and to enhance our partnership with the Nigerian Government (GON) on regional security. Consistent stability and security will be required to allow the U.S. to provide technical assistance in these areas. While the fragile amnesty provides a good start, it requires further support on rehabilitation, reintegration and training of "ex-militants". END SUMMARY. -------------- CURRENT USG NIGER DELTA ACTIVITIES -------------- ¶2. The Mission's current Work Plan envisages ongoing technical and development assistance in the Niger Delta. Past violence, an unstable security situation, and the threat of kidnapping have hindered past efforts to provide the full range of assistance in this region. With implementation of amnesty for militants and the subsequent reduction in violence, the USG is seeking to expand its program and provide additional development and economic opportunities for the Niger Delta. The USG has actively engaged in various activities during the last 12 months in this region that we could continue to build upon as part of the ND/RSC working group. Illustrative examples of current activities in the Delta region follow below: -- Training 62 environmental officers in oil spill detection and recovery methods through the Science Fellows Program. -- Assisting the Nigerian Navy in Regional Maritime Awareness Capability (RMAC) with the installation of the Automated Information System (AIS),placing RMAC sensors in Lagos and Bonny Island; we plan to install another RMAC device at Naval Headquarters in Abuja in the next couple of months. -- Training and providing equipment to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to improve its capacity to interdict trafficking, smuggling, poaching, and illegal bunkering through intensive training and cooperation with the US Coast Guard; more collaboration will occur when the USCG ship Gallatin visits in summer 2010. This includes adding an RMAC sensor at NIMASA's search and rescue center. -- Installing body scanner x-ray machines and drug-explosive- detection itemizers at Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers State. -- Helping to establish an internationally recognized and accredited maritime training institution for Niger Delta youth in maritime trades, focusing on youth with low education levels who can learn skills through rapid training for various maritime trades for which a large international demand exists. -- Refurbishing a skills acquisition center in Yenagoa for skills including mechanics, welding, hair-dressing, and dress-making, and the Gbaramatu Rural Handicraft Center, both in Bayelsa state, under Office of Defense Cooperation auspices. QOffice of Defense Cooperation auspices. -- Increasing the capacity of government institutions, civil society, business groups, and other stakeholders to prevent, manage, and mitigate the impacts of conflict through USAID's CALM project. -- Training civilian and military personnel in transnational threats through three Trans-Sahara Security symposia held in 2009 and in legal aspects of combating terrorism; and training military intelligence officers to improve Nigeria's capacity for intelligence analysis, dissemination, and sharing. --Providing technical assistance to the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Defence to conduct quarterly HIV/AIDS clinical, laboratory, and prevention technical working group meetings. Providing additional supply chain management, pediatric AIDS treatment and counseling and ABUJA 00002052 002.2 OF 004 testing for HIV/AIDS in the Niger Delta region. -- Providing technical assistance and capacity building to Bayelsa state through the U.S. Mission's interagency Pilot Engagement with States (PES) initiative. The Ambassador leads interagency teams of program, policy and agency specialists to work in states where the governor has provided counterpart funds, in a true stakeholder relationship for state development, including fiscal responsibility and transparency in procurement. USAID has conducted several fiscal training workshops with Bayelsa state legislators on fiscal responsibility. -- Providing scholarships and grants to schools and local communities through the Ambassador's Special Self-Help Fund and the Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship program. -- Providing over 5,530,246 insecticide treated bed nets in Cross River state. -- Providing technical assistance to support biosafety regulations framework for genetically-modified crops in Cross River State. -- Helping to increase agricultural productivity for cereals and tubers in the region under the Food Security program. Implementing public-private partnerships to improve technology value chains to reduce costs and increase productivity. -- Training youth in IT and entrepreneurial skills through Public Diplomacy (PD) and through IFESH. -- Conducting quarterly sessions with civil society on election reform and other issues. -- Including Delta states in Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Public Diplomacy (PD),and Self-Help projects such as the Cochran program, trade missions and exchange programs. Of note, PD held education workshops for Bayelsa state, and both FAS and USCS have included Delta state participants in all their programs. -------------- PROPOSED USG NIGER DELTA ACTIVITIES -------------- ¶3. As part of a nationwide BNC game plan, Mission Nigeria could add more activities in the Niger Delta on maritime awareness, and economic and development opportunities for militants in the rehabilitation camps. Contingent on availability of sufficient funding, these activities could include: -- Continuing Africa Partnership Station (APS) activities and training that build better maritime awareness. An APS visit occurred in March 2009, and two will occur in early 2010. -- Continuing APS activities, including adding an ECOWAS APS ship rider and long-term temporary duty (TDY) individual to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on maritime issues. -- Adding another AIS RMAC sensor to the Eastern Reserve in Calabar to provide full Niger Delta coverage of ship and smuggling activities. -- Enhancing Coast Guard and Navy capabilities through training and provision of equipment to monitor coastal waters for smuggling, including of illegally bunkered oil. -- Enhancing port security of Lagos port, including through the Energy Department's Megaports initiative and the Homeland Security Department's Container Security Initiative (CSI) to reduce smuggling of contraband, including weapons, into and out of the nearby Niger Qof contraband, including weapons, into and out of the nearby Niger Delta. -- Renewing our offer to identify origins of weapons for which the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Defence would have to provide serial numbers. -- Revisiting our offer to assist on oil bunkering through electronic bill of lading or develop other options and processes. -- Enhancing Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ability to conduct investigations into corruption, including diversion of GON ABUJA 00002052 003.2 OF 004 funding intended for Niger Delta communities. -- Enhancing Customs Service capabilities through training and provision of equipment to detect contraband at ports, airports, and land borders. -- Establishing a framework for training youth in simple, environmental clean-up techniques and employing many youth to start cleaning up oil spills throughout the Niger Delta. The Nigerian partner organization could be the Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA). -- Helping to establish neighborhood watch groups to report spills; encouraging communities to become actively involved in cleaning up and protecting their environment. -- Providing training in deep-sea fishing. Nigeria has vast, untouched marine resources currently poached by large, commercial vessels operating illegally in Nigerian waters, according the Nigerian Fisheries Department. Yet, most traditional fishermen lack capacity to reach these resources further off-shore than reached by traditional fishing craft, such as canoes. The Nigerian Trawler Owners' Association claims that it could triple its fleet if the security situation improved and it had sufficient trained personnel. -- Establishing a subsidiary of the maritime institute in Warri, Delta State, and Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to train fishermen. -- Providing training in fish farming (aquaculture) to Niger Delta coastal communities under the food security initiative. Nigeria currently imports up to 80 percent of its fish. Many fish varieties and shrimp could be produced in fish farms both for local consumption or export. -- Providing assistance on commercial rice production and food storage techniques under the food security initiative. -- Helping develop health care capacity by working with state commissioners of health, international NGOs, or Nigerian NGOs, such as Rural Africa Health Initiative, which uses mobile surgical clinics and teams of medical professional volunteers to provide medical treatment to isolate communities in the creeks. -- Providing vocational training to "ex-militants" in skills useful to the Niger Delta area. Although we are helping refurbish two training centers, the USG does not currently have a good program to fund vocational training. -- Encouraging sport and artistic exchanges with youth along the lines of the basketball coaches from Global Sports Advantage who have operated basketball camps in Port Harcourt for the last three years; they recruit potential talent and help the youth obtain sports scholarships to the U.S. Such programs could focus on various sports, involving girls and boys, and other disciplines, such as theater, music, and dance, if we identify the appropriate U.S. partners. -- Working with the Niger Delta Wetlands Center to replicate their successful solar-powered, 900-foot well in Kiama, Bayelsa State. Most wells in the region are too shallow, access non-potable water, and lack reliable power sources; solar-powered wells would overcome such challenges by providing reliable power without recourse to diesel-powered generators and tapping into drinking-quality water at Qdiesel-powered generators and tapping into drinking-quality water at greater depths. -- Expanding the U.S. Mission Pilot Engagement with States (PES) program to include other Niger Delta States besides Bayelsa. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶4. Mission Country Team Members are coordinating closely on possible assistance the USG can provide to Niger Delta communities during the post-amnesty phases under the BNC. These activities cut across all agencies and sectors and possess potential to make significant differences in the lives of the region's inhabitants, assuming the security situation remains stable enough to permit a prolonged presence in the Niger Delta. ABUJA 00002052 004.2 OF 004 ¶5. Embassy coordinated this telegram with ConGen Lagos. SANDERS