(C) NIGERIA: LEDUM MITEE ON THE NIGER DELTA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ABUJA 000220

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W, INR/AA
DOE FOR GEORGE PERSON
BAGHDAD FOR DUNDAS MCCULLOUGH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2019
TAGS: PGOV PINS PBTS EPET ECON NI
SUBJECT: (C) NIGERIA: LEDUM MITEE ON THE NIGER DELTA
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

REF: A. 08 ABUJA 1226

B. LAGOS 14

Classified By: Political Counselor Walter Pflaumer for reasons 1.4. (b
& d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On January 13 and 29, Ogoni activist and head
of the Niger Delta Technical Committee Ledum Mitee (protect
throughout) met with Consulate and Embassy Poloffs,
respectively, to present copies of the Technical Committee's
152-page report, delivered to President Yar'Adua in early
December. During the Lagos meeting, Mitee said that there
has been no response to date from the Presidency as to what,
if anything, it will do to implement the report. (Note: On
January 28, the local press reported that President Yar'Adua
had set up a committee to draft a white paper to guide the
Federal Government on implementation of the report. End
note.) The Technical Committee's subcommittee uncovered
names of high level government officials and details of their
participation in illegal bunkering; as a result of the
findings, Mitee "does not think that the country can get out
from under illegal bunkering." The Federal Government will
"look into" the Technical Committee's recommendation of
amnesty for militants. During the Abuja meeting, Mitee gave
his views on the core Niger Delta state governors, and went
on to comment on how the newly formed Niger Delta Ministry is
losing a power struggle with the Niger Delta Development
Corporation (NDDC). Mitee said Vice President Goodluck
Jonathan is incompetent and not trusted by President
Yar'Adua, and added that former Delta State Governor James
Ibori has aggregated so much power to himself that it is "as
if he is Vice President." The overall picture Mitee painted
was that of an administration with neither the ability nor
interest to solve the intractable problems facing the Niger
Delta, and that neither the Technical Committee nor the new
Ministry will likely have much of an impact. Ambassador will
be meeting with the new Niger Delta Minister next week to
follow up on these issues. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) On January 13, Ledum Mitee (protect throughout),
Chairman of the Technical Committee on the Niger Delta,
brought Lagos Pol-Econ Chief a long-awaited copy of volume
one of the Technical Committee's report, which was presented
to President Yar'Adua in December. (Note: The report itself
will be synopsized septel. End Note.) Mittee said that the
complete report is composed of three volumes, with additional
separate reports that the subcommittees produced. When Mitee
and the Committee met with the President to tender the
report, Mitee asked the President point blank whether the
President intended to solve the problem. Although the
President replied "Of course", Mitee said, so far there has
been no response as to what, if anything, it will do to
implement the report. (Note: On January 28, the local press
reported that President Yar'Adua had set up a committee to
draft a white paper to guide the Federal Government on
implementation of the Technical Committee report. End note.)
The Technical Committee also tried to make presentations to
the National Assembly, which had said it would set up a
committee to receive the report. However, Mitee said,
although he "begged" several times, he was never able to meet
with National Assembly members because they were always
traveling.

Can the Country Get Out of Illegal Bunkering?
--------------

3. (C) The Technial Committee's subcommittee on illegal
bunkering uncovered names of high-level government officials
and details of their participation in the illegal bunkering,
Mitee said. The information came from Naval intelligence
officers, who visited the subcommittee at midnight to ensure
that they were not observed, and whose visits were
facilitated by retired military officers serving as members
of the Technical Committee. Mitee does not think that the
country "can get out from under illegal bunkering." The
people who orchestrate the tapping of the pipelines, the
transportation of the oil through the creeks and the loading

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onto tankers are very influential people, he said. Although
he had heard "bits and pieces" over time, he had never
imagined the complexity of the situation, and knowing the
whole picture is frightening, he said.

Militants Want to Disarm
--------------

4. (C) Most militant leaders want to disarm; the only quid
pro quo they are asking is that the government not arrest
their "boys", and give them amnesty, Mitee told us. The
Technical Committee recommended amnesty for militants, and
the President said he would "look into it" and discuss the
matter with the National Security Advisor. Mitee has also
spoken with Governor Amaechi of Rivers State, who said he
would wait to decide on amnesty after he had seen what the
Federal Government will do. Speaking of the arrest of the
militant Jackrich in the palace of the Amayanabo of Calabar,
Mitee asked, "But what about his boys and his guns?" The
Governors do not want disarmament; they want to be able to
use the boys in the elections, and to be seen as the ones who
have leverage with the youths, he continued. Amaechi should
create a window so that militant youths who want to disarm
can be rehabilitated. The militant youths hate the
politicians, because they know they are being used; however,
they know that at least at election time they will earn some
money, Mitee said.

VP's Staff Made Committee's Work Difficult
--------------

5. (C) Mitee said the Technical Committee was under the
office of Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, which has only
one person, surnamed Akachukwu, who deals with the Niger
Delta. Mitee maintained that in the past Akachukwu did the
"dirty" jobs for the Vice President; as a result, the Vice
President cannot get rid of him, and no one dares complain
about him. Akachukwu was the person responsible for
orchestrating the failed Niger Delta Summit, which was
roundly rejected by Niger Delta stakeholders. Prior to the
collapse of the Summit, Akachukwu had already written the
report with the conclusions that he intended the Summit
participants to reach, and then issue as their own; when the
Summit did not happen, he tried unsuccessfully to get the
Technical Committee to validate the report. When the
Technical Committee refused, Akachukwu did everything he
could to frustrate its work, Mitee said. (Comment: Mitee
also mentioned Akachukwu in the Abuja meeting, describing him
as having previously worked as a "bagman" sent by the
international oil companies to pay off local villagers who
have complaints about oil operations. We believe that this
person is the Akachukwu Sullivan mentioned in reftel A. End
comment.) The Commission was told to work out of the Abuja
Hilton, but Mitee contended Committee members never received
their full per diem, which presented a hardship for them.
Arrangements were made by the Vice President's Office for
laptop computers for the Committee, which were leased from a
private firm at an exorbitant cost; Mitee said he could have
purchased two computers for the same price as charged by the
leasing firm for a ten day rental of just one. In addition,
when the Committee tried to travel to another location so
they could complete the report without interruption, they
were told that they could not take the leased laptops with
them. The Committee members ended up working at their own
expense.

Corruption in AG's Office, EFCC, Yet Hope in Some States
-------------- --------------

6. (C) What is needed is a Ribadu (an anti-corruption czar
for the Niger Delta),Mitee said. However, the days of
Ribadu are gone; now, according to Mitee, even lower level
officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) are collecting bribes like common policemen. Mitee
said he knows the EFCC official who comes to his village, and
in a recent conversation with him expressed surprise that the
offical was now taking bribes. The official replied that
since his superiors had begun doing so, he was following
suit. While the Committee was working at the Hilton, Mitee

ABUJA 00000220 003 OF 004


said, he joined a friend for a drink one day at the bar.
Also at the table was a young man buying 30,000 naira bottles
(approximately USD 200) of champagne; Mitee counted six
consumed while he was there. The young man was introduced to
Mitee as the younger brother of Attorney General Michael
Aondoakaa, "the one you talk to if you have a case at the
EFCC," an introduction the young man laughingly acknowledged.
Everyone is running after money, Mitee lamented.


7. (C) Asked where he looks for hope, Mitee said he
believes new Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has the
potential to do a good job. However, Edo State is a poor
state, and it will be difficult to do things without
resources. In Cross River, Donald Duke was corrupt, but less
so than other governors, and he got a lot right, Mitee said.
Anambra Governor Peter Obi is also good, but so "frugal" with
government spending that his commissioners do not like their
jobs. In Rivers, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni
People, (MOSOP),of which Mitee is a longtime leader, has
adopted an anti-kidnapping stance. Mitee said he had
approached Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi to ask if
MOSOP could partner with the state government to stop
kidnapping, and passed along credible information to the
Governor. Amaechi has yet to respond, Mitee said.


8. (C) Some days, Mitee said, it is hard for him to sleep.
He took on the job as Technical Committee Chairman because he
thought there was space to make a difference, to make a
change for the better. Now, however, he fears he is flogging
a dead horse. The poor in the Niger Delta are suffering;
they do not know who to trust because everyone is connected
to someone. The Niger Delta people are angry and are getting
angrier, and things could get worse before they get better,
Mitee said. When the price of oil was high, the government
could afford the losses from illegal bunkering. Now however,
with the oil price down, revenues are falling. The
government could "lose its grip on everything" -- it would
only take a small trigger, Mitee opined. He had had so much
hope for this government when it began, but in two years it
has brought nothing but corruption.

The Core Delta State Governors
--------------

9. (C) On January 29, Mitee also met with Abuja Poloffs to
give them a copy of the Niger Delta Technical Committee's
report. While much of what he said was the same as described
above, Mitee gave his views on core Niger Delta governors and
the growing rivalry between Niger Delta Ministry Minister
Obong Ufot Ekaette and the NDDC's Managing Director Timi
Alaibe. Mitee said that Delta State Governor Emmanuel
Uduaghan had been most helpful to the Technical Committee,
providing staff that he put up in the Sheraton Hotel who
daily worked alongside the Committee. He also said Uduaghan
was looking for a middle ground with the militants, and was
open to compromise. He said that Rivers Governor Amaechi's
"zero tolerance" attitude toward ferreting the militants out
of their camps could be helpful, but also he said that
Amaechi had a short attention span and did not follow through
on some issues regarding the militants. He said Bayelsa
Governor Timipre Sylva "doesn't have the (leadership)
capacity to get things done," and agreed that his strategy of
buying peace with the militants was a temporary expedient
only, and would not lead to lasting solutions. Finally,
Mitee said that Akwa Ibom Governor Godswill Akpabio was
"unfocused, but means well."

The NDDC, Alaibe, and Ibori
--------------

10. (C) Mitee said the new Niger Delta Ministry was off to an
inauspicious start, with Minister Ekaette having originally
been given no budget with which to set up his Ministry; he
also had to hire staff from scratch, and only found office
space in early January. The office has no computers except
those few that Ekaette apparently paid for out of his own
pocket. Ekaette, he said, "has a blank look on his face" and
"doesn't have a clue" as to how to proceed. Although from

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the Ibibio tribe of Akwa Ibom state, Mitee maintained Ekaette
has been out of the Delta so long he has lost touch with the
issues on the ground. He added that Ekaette has been stymied
at every turn by NDDC Managing Director Alaibe, who has been
emboldened by Yar'Adua's failure to explicitly subordinate
the NDDC to the new Ministry from the start. According to
Mitee, Alaibe wanted the Minister slot, and upon not
receiving it, has grown more insubordinate and hostile as the
weeks pass. Mitee told us Alaibe recently removed Ekaette's
photographs from NDDC offices, violating the protocol that
offices display the photo of the Minister to whom they
report. Lastly, Mitee commented that former Delta Governor
James Ibori was an unseen hand in many of the President's
decisions, saying he was "acting like the Vice President."
Mitee told us President Yar'Adua told him that he mistrusts
Jonathan's staff. Jonathan himself, Mitee pointed out, "was
not completely neutral" in delaying with the Delta.


11. (C) COMMENT: Mitee paints a depressing picture, sadly
consistent with the first 19 months of Yar'Adua's Presidency.
Yar'Adua's weak management style and health problems have
created a vacuum into which chaos, malfeasance, and competing
egos have stepped. It would be difficult enough for the
Niger Delta Ministry to overcome entrenched interests to
bring a lasting solution to the Delta region. To do so
without personnel, resources, or political support from the
presidency is likely impossible. END COMMENT.


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